Welfare is not a mood you guess at. It is 5 domains you can score: nutrition, physical environment, health, behavioral interaction, and mental state. Four items per domain, 0 to 3 points each, 20 items, 60 points total, once a month, about 20 minutes. The point of the sheet is the 4 items that score 0, not the total.
The 5 domains in one line each
Nutrition covers water and food that match the cat's needs. Physical environment covers temperature, litter, resting places and light. Health covers the body the cat is living in. Behavioral interaction covers what the cat can do, choose and avoid. Mental state covers the felt result: calm, fearful, frustrated, or flat. Score the first 4 from what you can see and measure, and score mental state last, because it is the sum of the other 4 rather than a separate opinion.
How the 20 items score
Each item gets 0 for fails, 1 for poor, 2 for adequate, 3 for good. Twelve points per domain, 60 total. A domain under 8 out of 12 is a failing domain even if the total looks fine: a 52 out of 60 built on 4 out of 12 in health is a cat in pain with a nice house. Score monthly on the same date, and keep the 6 month trend, because a slow slide from 54 to 44 matters more than any single month.
Domain 1, nutrition: items 1 to 4
- 1. Intake: an adult cat needs roughly 45 to 60 kcal per kg per day. Weigh the day's food; intake within 10 percent of the target scores 3.
- 2. Weight: weigh weekly on a kitchen scale, body condition 4 or 5 on a 9 point scale, month to month change under 2 percent.
- 3. Water: 40 to 60 ml per kg per day, 2 or more bowls away from food, and at least 1 wet meal daily.
- 4. Feeding pattern: 3 or 4 small meals, or a puzzle feeder, with no gap over 12 hours.
Domain 2, physical environment: items 5 to 8
- 5. Temperature: 18 to 24 C in the main rooms, with no resting spot above 28 C in summer.
- 6. Litter: 1 box per cat plus 1, scooped 2 times a day, full change every 14 days.
- 7. Resting: 3 elevated places, at least 1 at 1.5 m, all reachable in 1 jump.
- 8. Light and noise: a 12 hour light cycle, background under 50 dB by day, and 1 dark place the cat can use at night.
Domain 3, health: items 9 to 12
- 9. Mouth: gums pink, tartar band under 1 mm, breath not foul. Any of the 3 wrong scores 0 and books a dental check.
- 10. Mobility: jumps 1.5 m, lands without a 2 second pause, no stiffness in the first 5 steps after rest.
- 11. Skin and coat: no scabs over 1 cm, grooming under 5 minutes per session, no flea dirt on a 10 comb pass.
- 12. Preventive care: parasite control every 1 to 3 months, dental check every 12 months, bloodwork from age 7.
Domain 4, behavioral interaction: items 13 to 16
- 13. Play: 2 sessions of 10 minutes, cat engages within 60 seconds, 5 or more successful catches.
- 14. Scratching: 2 surfaces used daily, no new damage on the same 3 pieces of furniture.
- 15. Social choice: the cat comes within 1 m at least 3 times a day, and can walk away without being followed.
- 16. Exploration: uses 3 of the 4 main rooms weekly, investigates a new object within 10 minutes.
Domain 5, mental state: items 17 to 20
- 17. Sleep: 12 to 16 hours in 2 or more locations, no waking with a startle.
- 18. Anticipation: comes for food within 5 minutes of the cue on 4 days out of 5.
- 19. Recovery: settles within 48 hours after a change such as a new person, furniture or schedule.
- 20. Absence of 5 stress signs: no bald patch over 1 cm, no more than 2 hairballs a week, no pacing over 10 minutes, no litter box avoidance, no hiding over 4 hours a day.
Pass lines per domain, not just the total
| Domain | Items | Max | Pass | Re-check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrition | 4 | 12 | 8 | 14 days |
| Environment | 4 | 12 | 9 | 30 days |
| Health | 4 | 12 | 10 | 7 days |
| Behavior | 4 | 12 | 8 | 21 days |
| Mental state | 4 | 12 | 8 | 14 days |
| Total | 20 | 60 | 45 | 30 days |
Any single 0 in the health domain sends the cat to a vet within 7 days regardless of the other 19 items, because pain and dental disease both read as behavior problems on this sheet and cannot be trained away.
Run it once a month, same 20 minutes
Do it in this order and the sheet almost fills itself. Minutes 0 to 5: weight, food weight, water level marks. Minutes 5 to 10: walk the 4 rooms and score items 5 to 8. Minutes 10 to 15: hands-on check for items 9 to 11, plus 10 minutes of play for item 13. Minutes 15 to 20: watch without interacting, then score 15 to 20. Photograph the sheet into a single folder so the 12 month trend is one scroll. Cats over 11 years old move to every 3 weeks, since both weight loss and mobility loss move faster than the calendar suggests.
What not to do with a welfare score
Do not average a 0 away. Do not score mental state from a single 2 minute look, because a cat that hides during a party can still be a 10 out of 12 in a quiet week. Do not score during the first 14 days of a new medication, a new home, or a new pet, when 3 of the 5 domains are temporarily depressed for reasons that will resolve. Do not use the sheet instead of a veterinary exam: item 12 is a reminder, not a diagnosis. Do not compare scores between 2 cats, only within 1 cat over time. And do not let a high total hide a failing domain, which is the single most common way this tool gets misused.
From score to 3 actions
Convert the 2 lowest domains into 1 action each, with a number and a deadline. Nutrition at 6 out of 12 becomes 1 wet meal of 40 g at 18:00 plus a 2 bowl water station in the hallway, re-scored in 14 days. Health at 7 becomes a dental check within 7 days and a 3 month parasite date. Behavior at 5 becomes 2 play sessions at 10 minutes plus 1 shelf by the window. Then take 1 baseline video of the cat walking toward you, because gait changes are easier to see side by side than in memory. For cats whose behavioral domain fails on items 13 and 16, a structured enrichment plan helps: see the towel wrap routine and the tap obsession plan, and check whether breed-typical energy needs are being met with the breed quiz.
Terms mentioned in this article
Frequently asked
Why does the health domain need 10 of 12 when the others pass at 8?
Health gets the highest pass line because one missed item there, such as a tartar band over 1 mm or a 2 second pause before jumping, is the most common hidden cause of a change that looks environmental. A domain scored 9 of 12 often means 1 painful item is being averaged away.
Can I score the 5 domains in any order?
Score mental state last. Items 17 to 20 depend on what you saw during the first 15 minutes, and scoring them first anchors the whole sheet to an impression. If you only have 10 minutes, score health and skip the rest, never the reverse.
Does an 11-year-old cat use the same 20 items?
Same items, every 3 weeks instead of monthly, with closer notes on weight and mobility because both move faster after 11. Bloodwork also shifts from yearly to every 6 months, on the schedule your vet sets.