Is the cat a victim of light pollution?

Abstract

There are more than 75 million cats in Europe, a number that is constantly increasing. It is an animal that adapts very well to a reduced space and can live alone. However, it is also a predator, a behavior that requires frequent wandering away from its familiar environment. Along with the dog, it is the most medicalized animal species and whose life expectancy is increasing. Living in close contact with man, it shares its environment, and is thus subjected to the same environmental impacts such as light pollution: reduction of darkness in time and space and its replacement by artificial light. A recent study has shown that 45% of sedentary cats are overweight or even obese. We hypothesize that among the factors favouring obesity, the extension of domestic lighting would play an important role. In human, obesity is a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes, which is a public health problem. The same is true for obese cats. As a clinical expression of a homologous human disease, it is THE animal model of type 2 diabetes so much sought after by the scientific community. Light pollution presents another risk for the wandering cat: the probability of encountering wild animals (rodents, mustelids, birds, etc.) which, especially during the confinement period, are attracted by the space released by humans. This risk is important to consider because of the cat's sensitivity to coronaviruses, in particular Sars-CoV-2, which it is likely to contract from with the wild animals that it may encounter. In the context of a pandemic situation, the question of unrestricted itinerancy of cats must be addressed. Cats should only be allowed to roam freely when they are vaccinated and undergo regular anti-parasite treatments.