SynthesisBiology letters2019
Who let the cats out? A global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats ( Felis catus).
Synthesis in Biology letters, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of Toxocara and Toxascaris infection among human and animals in Iran with meta-analysis approach.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Who let the cats out? A global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats ( Felis catus).Biology letters · 2019Pooled it
- Factors influencing feline antiparasitic prescriptions by veterinarians and demographics across parts of the UK.Veterinary record open · 2026Article
- Bella and Charlie Are Not the Problem-It's Us: The Real Causes of Wildlife Rescue in NSW.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Molecular detection of zoonotic pathogens in fleas collected from dogs and cats in Portugal.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Outdoor roaming of owned cats elevates risk of zoonotic pathogen exposure: A global synthesis.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Understanding Australian Cat Caregiver Motivations and Reactions to Behaviour-Change Messaging on Cat Containment: Insights for Campaign Design.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Microscopic and molecular identification ofOpen veterinary journal · 2026Article
- The Cat Is Already Out of the Bag: Humane and Pragmatic Solutions for Cats on Dairy Farms. Reply to Calver et al. It's Premature to Encourage Working Cats for Rodent Control on Australian Dairy Farms.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- From cats to cortex:Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Discounting multiple benefits of cat containment by reframing them as trade-offs: Response to GlanvilleAnimal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Keeping Cats Safe at Home (KCSAH): Lessons Learned from a Human Behaviour Change Campaign to Reduce the Impacts of Free-Roaming Domestic Cats.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A Discrete Choice Experiment to Assess Cat Owners' Preferences for Topical Antiparasitics and the Comparative Ease of Use of a Combined Selamectin and Sarolaner Formulation: An International Survey.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Seroprevalence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Wildcat That Lives in Me: A Review on Free-Roaming Cats (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Clinical Guidelines for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Companion Animals.Advances in small animal care · 2024Article
- Cats as a sentinel species for human infectious diseases - toxoplasmosis, trichinellosis, and COVID-19.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2024Article
- Article
- Characterization of the microbiome and volatile compounds in anal gland secretions from domestic cats (Felis catus) using metagenomics and metabolomics.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Characterization of the Domestic Cat Population of Uruguay: Breeds, Coat Colors, Hair Length, Lifestyle, Sex and Spay/Neuter Status According to Guardian Report.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Parasitic infection risks in domestic animals may increase as a result of outdoor activities, often leading to transmission events to and from owners, other domestic animals and wildlife. Furthermore, outdoor access has not been quantified in domestic animals as a risk factor with respect to latitude or parasite transmission pathway. Cats are an ideal model to test parasitic infection risk in outdoor animals because there have been many studies analysing this risk factor in this species; and there is a useful dichotomy in cat ownership between indoor-only cats and those with outdoor access. Thus, we used meta-analysis to determine whether outdoor access is a significant risk factor for parasitic infection in domestic pet cats across 19 different pathogens including many relevant to human, domestic animal and wildlife health, such as Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara cati. Cats with outdoor access were 2.77 times more likely to be infected with parasites than indoor-only cats. Furthermore, absolute latitude trended towards significance such that each degree increase in absolute latitude increased infection likelihood by 4%. Thus, restricting outdoor access can reduce the risk of parasitic infection in cats and reduce the risk of zoonotic parasite transmission, spillover to sympatric wildlife and negative impacts on feline health.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.