Cat & fast road

fairy_lights

It's a difficult one, but personally I would continue to let her go out.
You can't explain to a cat that staying indoors might be in their best interests, they don't understand the dangers of traffic or have a concept of their own mortality like we do. All they know is that they want to go outside and do cat stuff, and if they're used to going out then I'd imagine it would be very difficult for them to adjust to an indoor life.

Some cats do adjust though, my sister moved to a second floor flat and her cat went from being an outdoor to an indoor cat with no fuss, they have a balcony he can sit on to get some Fresh air and watch the birds and he is content with that. My cat on the other hand spends most of his time outdoors and howls if he's shut in, I know that he would be thoroughly miserable if we tried to keep him indoors and have accepted that wherever we live he will need to be able to go out. It was actually something we took in to consideration when house hunting earlier this year, anything on a main road was ruled out.

TBagpuss

I think it depends on the cat. I have met cats who have adapted to being indoor cats and others for whom it would be sheer cruelty.

Would you be able to build an outside run for her in the garden, rather than securing the whole thing?

A friend of mine has had a big run (wood frame plus chicken wire) for her cats, as one of them was really unhappy about being indoor only and could not be allowed out (for complicated reasons not relevant here) It gives the cat a safe, outdoor space, cat is not stressed by other carts as they can't get in, so territory is not a problem. Even a relatively small area could work, particularly if you are able to include branches to climb and grass to play / hide in.

My friend's cats enjoy theirs so much that they will go out even when there is 5' of snow on the ground.

I think hat there is also an issue that most cats do learn about roads - she may well be past the most risky point.

You could try making the front less attractive for her - think about how easy it is for her to get out into the fields at the back, compared to the front, consider prickle strips on the front wall/fence, or blocking the bottom of any gates, for instance, to try to encourage her to go out of the back rather than the front.

no1catman

Sorry to read of what's happened and your quandary!


I used to live in a terraced house, in a side road, with a very small garden - cats would walk if they could along the back wall. I say 'if they could' as my cat then would chase them off. Then 2007 we moved to a semi - on a dual carriageway - again 40 mph but often traffic faster. We do have a (front) side gate matching with next-door. But besides that, the cat was elderly - so the front was of no interest. Sadly she passed away 18 months later - PTD due CRF.
Fast forward, to January last year, when we took on a rescue cat, fortunately, she is not interested in the front, confines herself (touch wood) to ours and neighbour's gardens. Perhaps, because she can be a 'nervous' cat she's too put off by the traffic noise.
A visiting Tom, though we have seen, in front gardens, but again fortunately just the one side.
Sadly, new neighbours - across the road, lost their cat just outside not long after moving in!
A 'she' may be less adventurous, try and be out with her - but always let her out the back, and encourage her to explore there - and have water pistol handy if she ventures out the front! Even, when inside, encourage her to look out of back facing windows.


HTHs
Good luck

snowscreamer

We have never let our cat out the front - there's a catflap out the back - so she's found her way there on her own; if not down by the side of our house then by the side of our neighbour's house after crossing into her garden.

I'm too scared to let her out here at all now after what happened to her brother after he established territory across the road. He was hit two months after we first saw him cross the road. I actually wonder if it would be safer if the road was busy all the time and therefore completely off-putting. The trouble is, it can appear quite quiet outside of rush hour but then a car will whip round the corner with no warning. We can park on the road but people don't where possible due to a large number of wing mirror incidents in the past and a car being written off. It was the first thing neighbours warned us about when we first moved in. There are no houses or pavement on the other side of the road so it's only our side where people can park. It doesn't stop the cars from travelling at stupid speeds even when there are cars parked - we only get increased hooting when two cars approach at once.

We've basically ruled out letting her out here again so the two options are indoor-only or rehoming. I think we are going to see how indoor-only goes for a little while before making a decision. Until quite recently (sunny weather) she was largely indoors anyway - never the explorer that her brother was. I suspect that her preference for the indoors led to difficulties establishing territory amongst so many existing cats hence leading her across the road. There have been quite a few fights too - she came home with an infected paw once from suspected cat fight.

A big thank you to pinkteapot for the advice on adjusting her to indoor-only. The 'airlock' is a superb idea. As we are worried about her pawing and mewing at the cat flap at least initially we have been shutting the kitchen/hallway door anyway so we will start using the kitchen patio door to enter and leave the house.

I have ordered the following to try to make indoors more interesting:
Rosewood Mechanical Mouse Cat Toy
Kitty City Mouse Hunt
Purrshire Lookout Cat Activity Centre
Purrshire Rattan Fun Ball

Let's see how it goes...

stir_crazy

Can you install a cat run/ catio? It would give her time outside but she wouldnt be able to roam.

snowscreamer

fairy_lights wrote: »

It's a difficult one, but personally I would continue to let her go out.
You can't explain to a cat that staying indoors might be in their best interests, they don't understand the dangers of traffic or have a concept of their own mortality like we do. All they know is that they want to go outside and do cat stuff, and if they're used to going out then I'd imagine it would be very difficult for them to adjust to an indoor life.

Some cats do adjust though, my sister moved to a second floor flat and her cat went from being an outdoor to an indoor cat with no fuss, they have a balcony he can sit on to get some Fresh air and watch the birds and he is content with that. My cat on the other hand spends most of his time outdoors and howls if he's shut in, I know that he would be thoroughly miserable if we tried to keep him indoors and have accepted that wherever we live he will need to be able to go out. It was actually something we took in to consideration when house hunting earlier this year, anything on a main road was ruled out.

Thanks for this. I want to see how it goes with our little girl. I suspect her brother the intrepid explorer would have had trouble adjusting back to the indoors; but I think there's a reasonably high chance she will manage. Literally just the last month she has been going out more than an hour a day, with a cat flap so she was able to come and go as she pleased.

If we were to continue to let her go out where we live I think we were looking at her not surviving the summer so we have ruled that out. Not to mention the stress it would put me and OH under!!

snowscreamer

stir_crazy wrote: »

Can you install a cat run/ catio? It would give her time outside but she wouldnt be able to roam.

We will definitely consider this if we keep her. But money is a little tight at the moment!

Shrike

Sounds as though you should get onto the council about the road anyway - traffic calming isn't just about ignorable speed limits, there may be other measures they can take.

GwylimT

Our cats have always has access to the outdoors at an appropriate age eg twelve months, but we have made sure our gardens are cat proof so they can't get out. Its really easy to do, there are specialist companies who can do it but really its easy enough to do yourself, much easier than a run.

snowscreamer

GwylimT wrote: »

Our cats have always has access to the outdoors at an appropriate age eg twelve months, but we have made sure our gardens are cat proof so they can't get out. Its really easy to do, there are specialist companies who can do it but really its easy enough to do yourself, much easier than a run.

Thank you. We may be able to do this but only after our garage is removed (in the plan but no funds for at least a year). At the moment cats can get onto its roof and there is a gap between it and next door's garage with no fence.