To think if you live on a busy road...

[Shakirasma]

Particularly one you complain that the speed limit should be lowered, yet you choose to allow your cat out to roam amongst the traffic, then it's no use crying and ranting about selfish, evil drivers when said cat gets run over and killed?

Whilst I am truly sorry for any cats suffering, AIBU to think it's the owners fault just as much, if not more than the driver's?

I don't allow my cat to do what he wants. He's a cat, not an omniscient being.

When I was growing up in the 1970s it was common to see dogs taking themselves for walks. People would be horrified by that now - not least some of the hysterics on MN. I was never scared by an unaccompanied dog but you saw a hell of a lot of dog shit about. Usually white. That ended after the '70s also.

If you let your cat out unaccompanied, it may well get run over, and it will definitely shit in someone else's garden.

My cat got killed by a car driver last week. Unfortunately, she liked to escape and would often climb over the garage and garden wall in order to do so. While I didn't encourage her to go out of the back garden, it was impossible to keep track of her all the time. It was a fairly busy road, but to be honest most busy roads are only around a corner from quieter roads and cats do roam so it is a false security to think a cat will be safe living in a quiet road.

I don't blame the driver because I don't know what happened. My cat may have darted into the road just as the car was approaching, or maybe the car was travelling too fast to slow down. I am upset though - she was 8 years old and was used to the area.

We moved to a rural A road when our cat was 11. We had open countryside behind our third of an acre garden and he never - to the best if my knowledge - ventured beyond our driveway. Last year we moved to a quieter road but at the age of 15 he no longer seems to want to go out so has become a house cat.

Previously we had two cats killed when we lived on a very quiet (city) road - the first was knocked over right outside our door whilst we had driven my mum home, and the cat - who never usually went out to the front of our house - shot past us on our way out. We tried to get him back in but he had disappeared. Twenty minutes later we returned home to find him lying dead in the street.

The second cat followed me when I walked to the shops that were at the end of our road - in a much busier street - and unbeknown to me ran across the road towards the shop I was in, getting hit by a young girl driving a car who kindly stopped and offered to drive me with the cat - who died in my arms - to an out of hours vet as it was Sunday and I didn't drive.

Both were young cats - less than a year old - and were not at all streetwise.

OP, you say you would never say this to a pet owner, but you have. Plenty of us on here are pet owners. Why would you think there would be none?

It is an unfortunate fact that many cats, just like other animals, are killed on the road. I worry about mine when he goes out, but it goes with the territory. He is rarely out for more than a few minutes at a time these days and I am in a fairly quiet residential street.

Your comments are blasé and insensitive.

YANBU.

There is a terrible culture in this country that letting tiny vulnerable creatures out to fend for themselves is 'natural'. I wish people would think independently instead of following the culture of just letting their cats outside.

Cats I've loved have died on the roads, I've picked up other people's pets who have been run over to save them the anguish, so much unnecessary and totally avoidable death.

If you let your cat outside, the most likely cause of death or serious trauma is being run over. No matter if they are otherwise fit, healthy and happy, their life can be snubbed out prematurely.

A cat I loved dearly was killed on the road 2 weeks ago. It was witnessed - it was quick but not instant. I'm bereft at the thought of his last seconds being filled with pain and fear. He died without his family with him. It is all just so needless.

Agree with 0P.
Letting cats roam free is outdated and negligent.
My cat lived to 18.5 years. Only outdoors on long reins. Very healthy & happy life.

I think YABU. It depends on the animal really. some cats can live by the road quite happily and never venture over it. I've had 3 cats over the past 7 years and lost 2 (in completely different streets, one a quiet culdesac and the other a slightly more busy town)

Present cat has lived in all these places and now we live rurally, but with a national speed limit road close to the house where people drive quite quickly. Touch wood, he's by nature a cautious beast and, has free range to come and go but doesn't really take risks.

And people do drive like twats. I know cats loom out, but that doesn't negate the fact that people do drive like twats. It's a whole range of circumstances that go into losing a much loved pet and its just a chance the owner and cat take.

Outdoor on reigns

Similarly on my parents street, again a quiet street but with a road outside it, a few cats have been lost and some, with equally free reign, have live into their 20's. It really depends on the animal.

My cat goes nuts kept in for a day. Let alone for his life! It really really depends on the cat. They are like people, individuals.
I talked to my vet (whose house backed onto the south circular) and his theory was if the cat wants to go out, better a short happy life than an unhappy long inside one. He let his cat out, his cat got to 18 perhaps more a sign of the awful traffic jams
My current cat hates leads, hates harnesses, hates collars. he was a rescue, had he been a kitten- maybe I could have got him used to it.
I have seen rolly bars you can put round your garden fences that stop them getting out the garden. That seemed a good idea

I ran over and killed my neighbours cat in my tiny cul de sac doing about 5 miles an hour. I didn't even see it! Cats are stupid creatures and getting hit by cars is a risk of letting them outside to live their lives to the full.

That said. I own two cats and am looking to move at the moment. We would have discounted any houses on busy roads as if either of them were killed it would be our fault.

I see your point but the thing is Cats do roam around outside unless of course they're indoor cats, and they should be safe and free to do so. I do believe you are lovely op but you could put things across a bit nicer . Saying it would be the owners fault as much as the drivers if their cat was killed on the Road.
You can't blame the bloody owner of the cat for letting it out, just like you couldn't and I hope wouldn't blame the parents if they allowed their child out and tgey got ran over. You can't keep animals cooped up.
If the driver was speeding tgen Its his/her fault alone. If not then it would just be a tragic accident but noone's fault.

I can see what you're saying shak, but I do think you sound a little insensitive with it, as somebody said earlier, I'm sure there are a lot of grieving cat owners who would and have come across this thread. My mum has always kept cats, lived on a very quiet road, and has inevitably lost a few regardless of that fact... Never once has she blamed the driver, so to say they always blame the driver of the car is out of line. Cats roam and cars are big and fast, accidents happen. It is sad for the owners and I'm sure distressing for the person who hit the cat. Just maybe think about wording x