Cats always getting killed on the roads

[JuliaBrett]

On Facebook not a week goes by without someone saying 'have you seen my cat' or 'cat missing or there is a dead /dying cat on the road.' Isn't it about time we stopped allowing cats to roam free and for their own safety either keep them in the garden with secure fencing, keep them indoors or don't keep a cat at all.
It's cruel, we don't allow dogs out on the road so why do we allow cats? If you love your cat keep them safe.

You can give them access to the outside without letting them roam all over the place.

My cat doesn't roam free and she's perfectly happy to just potter round the garden under supervision.

It can be done, people just don't want to do it.

Cats can be harness trained. They can have catios or cat proof fencing, both of which allow them to access the outdoors in a safe and controlled way. They can be kept indoors and have enrichment such as giant wheels for exercise, lots of interactive toys, hell, an ipad playing their favourite bird song would be something.

It's as cruel to cats as it is to dogs to keep them under control. I'm sure dogs would love to lead the wild life of their ancestors but we don't do that. We train them. We restrain them. We ensure they don't wander off.

There's no reason such care cannot be taken of cats. No actual reason.

Cats and dogs are inherently different. Dogs are pack animals and look up to their masters, eager to please. Cats are nothing like this. They are independent and often solitary animals who do not crave the same human attention and are therefore naturally much less biddable and trainable. The solution is not so simple or easy as to just tell people to ‘train their cats’

My cat is very bonded to us and quite clingy tbh. The whole aloof cat thing is a stereotype.

And even if not all cats can be trained, that doesnt mean some cant. They can and are and it doesn't mean you can't make other provisions to restrain and control them such as catios, cat proof fencing and indoor enrichment.

Well aware of that - I have 3 very different personalities despite all being from the same litter. One clingy, one cheeky and very outgoing, one shy. You’re the one generalising here that all cats can be trained.

It is a simple fact that you just cannot train a cat like you would train a dog. I could teach our golden retriever a new trick or skill in minutes, she’s always eager to learn. The cats would just sit and look at me as if I’ve gone nuts.

I really don’t think that cat training is a realistic thing.

You're not concerned about the carnage among birds then?

Humans have it our power to avoid killing off other species. We've done horribly in the past. We need to take responsibility for the work of our cats. This is something in our power, and we know that cats can lead happy and healthy lives indoors.

I really think the number of cats who are killed on the road is tiny compared to the number of cats in the world.

Do you ever travel in a car? - people are always being killed in cars, maybe they should be made illegal.

If one of my cats had ever been killed on the road I would comfort myself that at least they were out enjoying themselves rather than being kept inside a house all day, which they would have hated. So far it hasn't happened and from memory I've had over a dozen in my lifetime.

I agree there are a lot of people looking for lost cats on F/book - most of them around here turn up again.

You do what you want with your own cats, and let the rest of us do as we want.

You do realise that there is a food chain, and that the native birds and small mammal species are eating other things smaller than them?

Are you as concerned about what mankind is doing to the natural world?

Honestly, I swear some of you on this thread haven't the faintest idea about cats and their nature, and frankly I feel sorry for the cats who have the misfortune to belong to you. They aren't toys to be kept inside and oohed and aahed over.

For all the comments on cats killing wildlife are you serious animals were here long before vehicles, pollutions, poisons etc which kill our wildlife by the thousands daily and that is for no reason! A cat that kills for food is totally and utterly different

I've grown up with cats, my parents had one when I was born, now in my 50s still living with cats. Ours were always allowed to roam but we now have a brother and sister aged 8 that have always been house cats, we do have a lovely enclosed garden they go in daily for a sniff around etc, when it's time to go in just a click of the aerosol cream lid and they shoot straight back in. They have never known any different so I'm certain they are happy cats.

The female definitely tries to climb the fence to explore but the male seems far less bothered, I do wonder what they think looking out of the window seeing other cats free to roam but I'm afraid I've read far to many social media upsetting stories of missing or dead cats that we felt no choice but to choose this option, I have to say if we didn't have our garden and perhaps lived in a flat I feel that would be unpleasant fir them.

If one of my cats had ever been killed on the road I would comfort myself that at least they were out enjoying themselves rather than being kept inside a house all day

But what about the poor person who ran them over?

I've been that person. It was horrific.

A cat ran right in front of my car on a 30mph road and nothing I could do. I could see it writhing in the road in my mirror but by the time I'd stopped and ran back it had crawled into the undergrowth. I tried to find it to no avail, then went knocking on nearby doors to find an owner.

I went back later that day and found the owners, a neighbour had told them what happened and they'd managed to find the cat. It probably died an awful death.

I was so upset even though I knew it wasn't my fault.

(It also did almost £200 of damage to my car but hey ho, the cat had a good life!)

My 2 cats go outside when they want. Very little at the moment, a lot more in the spring and summer, they never go outside of the garden, just like sunbathing and milling around. I would never keep them inside, one of them particularly is grumpy anxious and aggressive in winter because she wants to go outside but hates the rain and cold, despite enrichment inside she needs the outside, it massively improves her quality of life.

I mean given all the dead birds on the road that have been hit by cars along with other small mammal wildlife I dont understand why you arent protesting cars and demanding they be kept off the roads

Dont you care about wildlife deaths 😲

(It also did almost £200 of damage to my car but hey ho, the cat had a good life!)

How big was this cat?

@MaloneMeadow

To be honest my ddog used to like to go on a wander too - he wasn't meant to but he could scale 6 foot fences in his younger days. He always came home but was spotted by friends a mile away a few times. Dogs can navigate well and he knows about roads, traffic lights etc. I did wonder if he thought he was a cat! Ddog was very popular with the neighbours because he was very keen on fox patrol protecting their foxes, rabbits etc. (you can imagine I was expecting upset neighbours but no he chased the foxes away!)

I can see both sides tbh. We had two older cats when we moved to our current house. They weren’t really wanderers, so we took the chance that they wouldn’t wander when we moved. One of them did take to little Adventures and he did get run over and killed (5 years after we moved), but I know he enjoyed his life to the max and would have been utterly miserable as an indoor cat (his sister had died of kidney disease previously).
It did, however lead to a decision not to have any more cats in the current house. The road is only busy at school time and that’s when he was run over. Traffic at slow speed but preoccupied drivers - the one who killed him didn’t bother to stop and he only made it to the drive at the side of the house so they would have been able to see where he went and knock on doors but obviously couldn’t be bothered

i dont think you can have a blanket rule
a colleague got 4 kittens
one by one they were killed on the roads

That's great.
Great to ask if you're worried.
Great the cats usually come back.
I don't see the issue. Seems like a great use of a pretty awful platform.

This is a bit mad.

The cat isn't the slave, I am.
The cat comes and goes when they please. Sleeps where they want. Comes and miaows at me and I feed them. Cat is running the show. If they didn't want to live here they wouldn't keep coming back and badgering me for food and cuddle my feet all night.

Mine are house cats, no way are they going outside. They seem perfectly happy. I am just about to spend a fortune on a catio attached to the house.

I think if you have a pet, you should be able to meet their needs.

Unfortunately many city / suburbia cats are a nuisance to other people or a danger to themselves.
I think it's a reasonable request to keep a cat on your property.

If you can't, maybe a cat is the wrong pet for you.

Having a cat means my previous landlords stopped putting poison down for the constant mouse problem with have.

The mice know there is a cat and self exclude and no poison is entering the ecosystem from our house which is think is much better for wildlife personally. We do keep a bell on the cat to give the birds a warning though.

Birds die from eating poisoned pests too.

im pretty sure cats domesticated humans not the other way around

Conflicted here. I have one. Have had three in my life. None of which ever got hurt outside.
I think keeping cats indoors is awful for the ones that want to go out.
My latest cat is the only hunter I’ve had. Virtually all mice and shrews. Two birds.
Figures show that cats bring home about 40% of what they kill. They are territorial and generally stay within 1-200m of their home.
Any choice has risks and benefits and I don’t think cat haters understand how much their owners can dote on them. My boy brings absolute joy to my family.
Ww are good people. Volunteer litter pickers. Upstanding community members. Work hard and pay our taxes. Abide by the law. Allow us our beloved cat! 🐈