If an observation of a domestic cat shows no evidence that the cat was captive, please do not mark it captive!
See the following observation, read the discussion, and please mark this animal wild.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72382474
“These cats are out in the park all day killing birds and rodents. To call them “captive” and put them in the same category as someone’s house plant (and make it invisible on iNaturalist) seems to be missing the bigger impact they are having on park ecology. I’m more interested in studying impacts to the ecology in the state park (supposedly a protected wild area) than in determining if any of these cats has an owner somewhere. I know for a fact that the majority do not have owners.” @bruin_mike
It does no good to track the effects of cats if domestic cat observations get marked captive by default! If the cat is inside a house, has a collar on, etc. yes, mark it captive. But once again, if the observation gives no indication that the cat is a pet, then please do not mark it captive.
If you find a cat carcass or cat skull, chances are that was a feral cat! Many cities have thousands of feral cats—please don’t go marking cats in cities that you are not familiar with captive if they’re outdoors. Doing so blunts any efforts to track or build awareness around feral cats and their devastating impacts.