Where do we go from here?

As we look forward to marking the Cats Protection centenary in 2027, there will quite rightly be plenty of opportunities to look back at how life for cats has changed over the past 100 years. But anniversaries should also make us look forward. The world in which cats and people live is changing quickly, and I think our challenge is to understand those changes and make sure they work for cats, rather than against them. 

At the heart of that is something we are increasingly talking about at Cats Protection: what does a healthy, balanced cat population actually look like? For me, it is one in which cats can experience good welfare and where we try to prevent problems rather than simply deal with their consequences. 

Neutering remains an important part of that, and declining rates deserve our attention. We continue to recommend that owned cats are neutered at or by four months, and we need to make sure help is available for people who might otherwise struggle to access it. But neutering is not an end in itself. A balanced cat population also requires responsible breeding, good preventative healthcare, appropriate management of unowned cats and, above all, people who understand what cats need. 

There is a balance to strike here too. We do not want a future in which almost all breeding of cats is confined to an increasingly narrow pedigree population. The moggy matters. Keeping the gene pool broad and resilient is important for the future health of cats as a species. 

At the same time, we urgently need to tackle the breeding of cats with extreme characteristics. Features which might look cute, unusual or amusing on social media can cause very real health and welfare problems. The same concerns arise with some wildcat hybrids, whose needs may be very difficult to meet in a domestic home. We need to be prepared to challenge these trends before today’s fashion becomes tomorrow’s welfare problem. Breeders, owners, vets, charities, the media and social media influencers all have a part to play in shaping what becomes acceptable or desirable. 

Our approach to everyday cat care will continue to change too. Parasite control is a good example. Rather than automatically doing the same thing for every cat, the future is likely to be about assessing the individual cat, their lifestyle and their risk. That can protect cats while also recognising concerns about the environmental impact of some treatments. 

Technology is another fascinating area. Automated feeders, water fountains and microchip-operated cat flaps can genuinely help people meet their cats’ needs. And I suspect we have only begun to see what technology might offer. But convenience does not automatically equal good welfare. Electronic shock collars, for example, are cruel and should have no place in cat care. Trackers can be useful, but batteries fail and devices get lost. When it comes to permanently identifying a cat, nothing beats a microchip. 

Perhaps the biggest change, though, is how people find information. Increasingly, they turn to online communities, social media influencers or have a conversation with an AI tool. I think we should welcome that curiosity. The challenge is making sure the answers people find are good ones. Echo chambers can reinforce poor advice, while something repeated often enough can start to look authoritative even when there is little evidence behind it. 

That means organisations like Cats Protection cannot simply put good information on a website and hope people find it. We need to be curious about new technology ourselves and work with responsible influencers and others who can help reliable, evidence-based information cut through. 

As we approach our 100th anniversary, there is much to celebrate. But the best way to honour our history is to use what we have learned to shape what happens next. Technology will change, fashions will change and our knowledge will continue to develop. Through all of that, I think we need to keep asking one very simple question: what does this mean for the cats? 

If we keep that question at the heart of what we do, there is every reason to be optimistic about the next 100 years.