Do cats have road sense?

Laiste

I have a 6 month old kitten. I got her at 8 weeks and she has been a member of our family ever since.

I am planning on getting her neutered even if I decide to keep her as an indoor cat.

But I wanted to ask, do most people have outdoor cats? Is it cruel to keep them in?

I ask because I live on a main road. Behind my house I have a small yard, which leads to a small enclosed pathway behind other peoples houses.

My next door neighbour let their cat out, a neighbour across the road let their cat out and a neighbour who lives behind me lets their cat out.

So far they have had no problems in the years that they have lived there.

Though I worry about the main road. Currently my baby girl has been sitting on the window sill meowing. If I go out of the back door to put things into the bin she tries to dark outside. I guess more curiosity than anything else?

She is happy indoors, has plenty of toys, a scratching post and is showered with attention. But am I being cruel not letting her out?

I understand that she may not be allowed out anyway until she is at least 12 months.

I guess what I am asking is, those who have cats do you keep them in or allow them out? Do you live near main roads or in quiet areas?

Thanks in advance.

balletshoes

Laiste wrote: »

I have a 6 month old kitten. I got her at 8 weeks and she has been a member of our family ever since.

I am planning on getting her neutered even if I decide to keep her as an indoor cat.

But I wanted to ask, do most people have outdoor cats? Is it cruel to keep them in?

I ask because I live on a main road. Behind my house I have a small yard, which leads to a small enclosed pathway behind other peoples houses.

My next door neighbour let their cat out, a neighbour across the road let their cat out and a neighbour who lives behind me lets their cat out.

So far they have had no problems in the years that they have lived there.

Though I worry about the main road. Currently my baby girl has been sitting on the window sill meowing. If I go out of the back door to put things into the bin she tries to dark outside. I guess more curiosity than anything else?

She is happy indoors, has plenty of toys, a scratching post and is showered with attention. But am I being cruel not letting her out?

I understand that she may not be allowed out anyway until she is at least 12 months.

I guess what I am asking is, those who have cats do you keep them in or allow them out? Do you live near main roads or in quiet areas?

Thanks in advance.

She is 6 months old, she can be spayed now. Has she had her innoculations?

Some people keep cats indoors only, my current kit is 10 months old, we got him at 9 weeks, and so far he is an indoor cat. However this is mainly because he has shown no interest in going out. Your cat wants to go out - so get her spayed, check her innoculations are up-to-date, then let her out.

My previous cat liked to be out, not for long though (maybe half an hour and then he'd be back in our garden), and he wasn't out overnight.

We live in a housing estate, so roads all around us really.

Angelicdevil

It's only cruel to keep a cat indoors if it wants to be out

Both of mine show now interest in going out, they'll sit on window ledges but never meow to be let out and they'll sit at open doors but won't wander out and rush back in when I'm back in.

I don't think you can tell if a cat has road sense until it's too late though.....

CharlieRabbit01

My kitten is 7 months and he is an indoor cat.

He will look out the front door when its open but the cars usually frighten him, this road is really only busy during school runs.

Out the back its fairly quiet we have a small garden and gated driveway and leads eventually to fields, he'll come out with us but only for a few minutes and then back inside.

so he's indoors by his own choice.

farfromhome

No, it's not cruel to keep her inside as long as she has plenty to stimulate her which you already do.

However, please get her spayed even if you do decide to keep her indoors. Otherwise, she will try her hardest to get out once she gets into season and, even worse, every unneutered tom cat from miles around will try and mate her. I have experienced the yowling and fighting between the males when one of our neighbours decided that she wanted her kitten to have one litter (and then had problems finding good homes for all of them!).

We had one cat that definitely seemed to have some road sense as she would look left and right before stepping off the pavement and she did wait until any cars had passed. But......if she was hunting, then nothing stopped her from running into the road. I have more or less decided that any cats we get in the future will be indoors, my nerves can't stand the strain when they don't get in at night at the usual time or, even worse, don't turn up for a day or so.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Do cats have [STRIKE]road[/STRIKE] sense

No

valk_scot

I have three cats, they're all indoor cats. Their predecessors, a brother and sister pair, got killed on our main road at 15 and 18 months old respectively. I do feel a bit sad for our current cats in some ways but then again, they've all lived longer now than the last two. And they have each other for company, I'm at home all day and it's a big house with lots going on.


If you do decide to keep her as an indoor cat you should still have her spayed otherwise she'll be desperate to get out when in season. Get her chipped at the same time just in case. And it would be worth thinking about getting a second young cat to keep her company. The one thing I really think is a big negative about indoor cats is if they never ever had any company of their own species.

krlyr

Angelicdevil wrote: »

It's only cruel to keep a cat indoors if it wants to be out

My dogs "want" to run around like loonies on the road, but obviously that isn't safe for anyone involved! They'd also quite like to eat chocolate, but that's not particularly good for them either.

Yes, it's about meeting an animal's needs - but it's also a case of keeping them safe. I personally am not a fan of outdoor cats - like I say, what they want and what's safe for them aren't always the same thing. I just don't think the world nowadays is a safe place for any pet to be roaming unsupervised, not just because of the danger of roads but other things - malicious attacks from people, accidentally getting trapped in sheds or garages, ingesting antifreeze, wild animals that could attack them and so on.

I know others are perfectly happy letting their cats roam, but there's my opinion for you!

Spirit_2

I think it is the luck of teh draw and down to the cats own sense of adventure/self preservation. I live on a rural road, however it is national speed limit and sadly we have lost three young male cats on it. They could not resist the field across the road and its bounty of shrews and mice. Another male cat was knocked down and injured.

On the other hand our female cat is 13, and our neighbours had cats who grew to old age.


We have fields behind us but the boy cats wanted more.:(

GobbledyGook

I think it depends on luck and your cats entirely.

We have two older boys (they are either 10 or 13, no-one is entirely sure) and a three year old.

The boys are outdoor cats and from what we know always have been. We live in a town with busy roads. There was three of them and one was rehomed on a farm and the two boys with us - the boy on the farm was knocked down on a quiet country road whereas our two give me heart failure by sunning themselves in the middle of the road!

Our girl has full access to outdoor the same as the boys, but she'll go out for maybe half an hour max. Even when she is out I can always hear her bell tinkling as she doesn't go far.

topsales

I am in the same quandary - Chloe has just been spayed and chipped and jags are up to date. But I have a very busy main road at the front of the house although gardens and a small river behind. I have had two male cats killed on country roads before moving into town. She sits on the windowsill and chitters at the birds and tries to get out when I let the dogs into the garden. Can't decide what to do for the best.