Cat - no road sense!

[thirtysomething]

We've just adopted a young cat and she's been going outside for a few days now but she seems to have no road sense at all. Shejust ambles across the road at her own pace. I'm convinced she's not deaf either. Other than not letting her out I don't know what to do to make sure she's safe. any hints?

keep her in when the road is busy! Cats are crap on roads. Get her a luminous collar as well for night time.

Cat's don't generally have road sense. Just varying degrees of luck.

Agree, I don't think I've ever met a cat with road sense, just the sense to run fast when faced with approaching car!

I'm afraid if the road is busy she should be kept as a house cat, if she's young it won't disrupt her.

If you really want to let her out then make sure you don't do it at busy times (normally between 8 and 10am and 4 and 6pm) and give her a really bright collar.

Be aware though that there are some sick idiots out there that will aim for the cat.

Agree with all said. Cat's have no road sense, so one can't rely on it. Last weekend I had the task of lifting a dead cat off the road outside my house,put it in a bag and find which owner/neighbour to pass it on to.

local authorities should be doing this, but only Mon-Fri it seems.

Perhaps only letting the cat out the back, if you are in a house, rather than a flat.

Cats have no understanding or even heard of The Green Cross Code.

Thanks everyone! By no road sense I mean less than most cats I've watched, i.e. when a car approaches she doesn't hurry up across the road, she just carried on strolling! I've tried just letting her out at the back but she always finds her way to the front! It's a busy road in tha it's a rat-run but not a main road or anything.

Either keep it indoors or kiss it goodbye everytime you let it out. It will be dead before you know it.

Afraid it's par for the course with cats average lifespan of an outdoor cat is 4 years, indoors is about 14 (from memory). I used to work in a vets and nearly every day a cat was brought in after being hit by a car. Even if you live in a quiet street they do wander away, their territory can be quite large even when neutered/spayed. I have had cats killed on roads, now I have 3 mostly indoor cats that are only allowed out in the back garden when we are there.

we had a cat who's road sense was so bad he regularly stopped traffic (he used to sleep in the road and refuse to move) and who's party trick was running into moving cars (i.e. him hitting them, not them hitting him).

HE wasn't particularly bright to put it mildly.

Eventually died of old age about 18 months ago after having many operations to repair damage over the years (as well as damage from otehr stupid things he did).

His brother who rarely left house adn was ultra careful - got hit by a car adn killed on his first time out in weeks

My cats now (as I live just off a very busy main road) are not let out front - just out back. Houses are terraced and all join together so no way through. I am not risking them.

Thanks for responses. I'm a bit shocked that you are all so negative or maybe it's just being realistic? My parents had a cat who lived to 16 and they lived on a very main road and she went out; all our neighbours have cats who cross the same road (albeit more sensibly than ours). Is is really a given that all outdoor cats get run over?

We had a cat that got run over so I'm of the opinion that living by a road is not the safest place.

Not all cats who live outside get run over but if you live near a fairly busy road it is ALOT more likely.
We live a little distance from a road but they still only go out for twice a day just before breakfast and then just before lunch. This way they don't wander too far cos they think they're going to miss their food.

Our cats came from rescue centre and were wild before they got there, they've got used to not going out much and are fine with it. It doesn't hurt a cat not going out much.