Research overview: length of stay, capacity for care and shelter cat welfare

How long cats remain in a shelter strongly affects their welfare, and overcrowding beyond a facility's capacity for care worsens stress, disease and outcomes. This overview surveys the concept of capacity for care, the idea that matching population to the resources available for housing, enrichment and individual attention improves welfare and, counterintuitively, can increase live-release rates. It examines evidence that managed intake, reduced length of stay, adequate per-cat space and proactive adoption and foster programs lower disease and stress. It discusses metrics shelters use to balance intake and capacity. The synthesis frames population management as a welfare intervention in its own right, arguing that doing well by fewer cats at a time often serves more cats overall.