Road too busy to rehome cats?

morg_monster

Hiya
DH and I will be moving into our first (bought) home before Christmas, we can't wait!! We are quite keen to have cats as although neither of us have had "big" pets before (just hamsters, rabbits, stick insects, goldfish) etc, we do utterly love our friends' and family's cats and have always said that once we had our own place, we'd get our own. We want to get them from a rescue, and can't have kittens, as we both work during the day. For this reason also we'd like to get 2 so they'd keep each other company.

I'm worrying about the road our house is on, though. It's single carriageway A road with 30mph limit but fairly busy in the rush hours. Has some parking on the road too which i'm guessing isn't great for kitties, but does keep speeds down. Apart from this road the area is quite quiet, and we have quite a big garden, and behind us is a strip of woodland and then a golf course.

Obviously we would just have to have a home check and see when the time came, but how busy is too busy?!! We want cats to be safe of course, but do you ever see "This cat could be homed near a busy road" on the rescue description?!! Are indoor cats the only answer?

rita-rabbit

Yes - indoor cats are your best bet - for both yourselves & the cats! You can make a pen - run a search on the site - inside your garden if you want them to go out but there are lots of cats needing homes that would be (or in fact are already) ideal indoor cars.

http://www.catchat.org/

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Fire_Fox

I think it's a great sign that you are thinking so carefully about what sort of cat would be right for your home! :T An open-minded rescue will come and home check you if you explain that you are not sure whether an outdoor cat is for you due to the proximity of the road, but that you are open to suggestions and perhaps cat proofing your garden. Being willing to take on two adults when you are out at work all day will definitely count in your favour.

I live in a city centre flat and have not long adopted an adult cat with a health condition that means he cannot go outside. My local branch of the RSPCA refused to entertain the idea of indoor cats, but the CP home checker believed there is a cat suited to a wide range of environments!!

bethie

we also have an indoor cat. we take him out in the garden sometimes- depending on how brave he feels.

just keep in mind that each RSPCA branch has its own rules - so what may be true for some branches could be different for others - and i assume that would also hold true for the Cats Protection branches as well.

Our local RSPCA does indoor adoptions where it would be in the best interest of the cat and the house!

h007

i was in the same situation as you, however the cpl let me adopt a cat they knew to be street wise (she had been stray) and she really is. she never goes out the front towards the road and stays in the garden and the neighbours gardens.
i dont think this is really normal from reading others experiences of adopting but you might find an open minded rescue place.

tandraig

would you be willing to adopt cats who are FIV? (feline aids) they are usually rehomed as house cats and i dont think the proximity of busy road would put rescue centre off! especially if you have secure garden for those cats who like to go outside. my last cat was FIV - his meds cost about £25 per month and he lived with us for 3 years - and i adored him! unfortunately he was in a bad state when i found him - but many cats with FIV do not get sick and live a fairly normal life. btw - they cannot pass on the virus to humans - just other cats.

morg_monster

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! With the setup of our garden and where the back door is, I'm not sure a run would work too well, (but it's definitely something to think about), so maybe a "proper" indoor cat would work better. Tandraig i was reading about FIV today, that certainly seems a possibility.
Thanks everyone! :-) !!!

chocdonuty

We used to live on a busy main road and wanted a cat/kitten, fell in love with a little kitten at the rescue centre but the rescue said that a kitten would not be suitable for a main road due to having no road sense but an older cat would be. They mentioned a couple of cats that would be ok that were at the centre and we chose one who was perfect, she never even attempted to go out the front and was mainly an indoor cat, though had the choice either way and she also never went far.
Rescue centres are good at matching moggies to their owners, it's not an impossibility to have a cat near a busy road

MrsTinks

Definitely some cats prefer being indoors... next door has a cat that was a stray until she was caught by the RSPCA and was rehomed once she'd recovered from having the litter of kittens she was pregnant with at the time. we live in a cul de sac away from the main road and yet she hates going outside... she will venture into their back garden on a sunny day when the backdoor is open, but at the slightest sound she flees back inside and then sits and monitors the garden from the door... she could happily live without ever going outdoors again I think So look for the right cat for you - it's out there (or they!)

Fire_Fox

morg_monster wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! With the setup of our garden and where the back door is, I'm not sure a run would work too well, (but it's definitely something to think about), so maybe a "proper" indoor cat would work better. Tandraig i was reading about FIV today, that certainly seems a possibility.
Thanks everyone! :-) !!!

There are (at least) two ways to cat-proof your garden, firstly to provide a completely enclosed run attached to your back door, secondly add something that cats cannot climb over to the top of all fences. This might be a mesh, or clear acrylic or some other material angled in to the garden to stop the cat trying to jump over. :j

Some elaborate set ups:
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm

The Purrs guide to cat-proofing with lots of links:
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,4802.0.html

If you opt for completely indoor, there are a number of companies that can supply mesh to go over windows and doors so that these can be opened in summer for fresh air, but kitty cannot escape. :T

paddypaws101

I have heard that cats are at their most vulnerable from traffic in the first year or so of life. Sadly quite a lot of them don't survive that initial period and their learning curve is too steep...ending in tragedy. An adult cat that has previously been allowed out should have sussed out the dangers of cars...and a rescue centre should be able to give information about this aspect. Also...they may have cats that have ended up in their care because of a car accident. These animals will have learnt a very strong lesson to keep away from traffic. Neutered cats are less likely to stray far as well.
My house is on a quiet side street...but only a few doors down from a busy main road and I have NEVER seen any of my bunch go beyond a certain point in the direction of the busier traffic, ditto all the other cats on the street.
Good Luck