Paulina Pereda Gutiérrez
paulina.pereda@uaq.mx
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, México
José Carlos Baños Cervantes
jc.banos87@gmail.com
Universidad TecMilenio, México
Abstract:
This article reports on some research work that explored how people account for and make sense of keeping their domestic cats indoors or outdoors. Drawing on a qualitative, interpretive, and scoping approach, we applied an open-ended survey to 114 individuals from various urban areas in Mexico. Inductive analysis led us to identify four analytical dimensions, namely, prior experiences and learning, views regarding cats, views about care and welfare, and spatial representations. The results show some prevailing indoor spatiality (68.42%) and bring evidence that decisions on spatiality are a response to material conditions involving wellbeing, risk, freedom, safety, and care. Conformity with the chosen spatiality relies upon the possibility to materialize the care way each individual deems appropriate for their cats. Thus, domestic cat spatiality is a decision relying upon imaginaries, prior experiences, and representations of space, care, and interspecies relationships.
Keywords: animal wellbeing, care, feline spatiality, interspecies family, daily life.
