Mark Sayer, a vet at the Berry Street Veterinary Hospital, said a lack of sunlight, resulting from keeping cats indoors, could lead to vitamin D deficiencies in the animals.

“Any cattery or quarantine stations where long-term accommodations for cats are always have some arrangement where they can see sunlight and can possibly get out into open spaces,” he said.

“While it may be necessary to keep cats indoors for other reasons, it’s certainly not ideal.”

Australia’s threatened species commissioner Gregory Andrews believes cat owners should keep their pets indoors around the clock, claiming it keeps them happy and healthier while also protecting native animals.

Mr Sayer, who has five cats in his family, said while keeping cats confined wouldn’t cause any serious harm to them, it wasn’t in their nature to be indoors-only pets.

“If a cat is left to its natural devices it’ll travel and wander,” he said.

Last year, when a Victorian council floated the idea of a cat curfew, Wagga cat lover Janey Adams told the Advertiser keeping cats indoors was good for the animals.

“Being indoors is actually in the cat’s best interest as they are likely to have a much longer life span because they aren’t exposed to traffic or discarded rubbish,” Ms Adams said.

Ms Adams, the president of Best Friends Pet Rescue in Wagga, said cats would be far less likely to be subjected to diseases, such as feline AIDS.

The main argument put forward by advocates of cat curfews is they protect native animals, who can often be hunted by cats, particularly in semi-rural areas.

However, there’s no one size fits all approach to the issue, according to Mr Sayer, given cats in urban areas are unlikely to encounter native animals at all.

“We’re in a tight urban environment, so we’re not terribly concerned about (our cats) doing damage to native wildlife,” he said.

“In the 10 years where we’ve lived, they’ve never brought back a native animal.”

As part of the federal government’s feral cat plan, which seeks to cut two million feral cats nationwide, the government plans to seek support for expanded 24-hour containment requirements, particularly close to “identified conservation areas of significance”.

Mr Sayer, however, doubts a nationwide cat curfew would ever be introduced.