Put a GPS tracker on my cat and now wish I hadn’t

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

We live in a large private estate with huge communal gardens. There’s a large main road over one side of a fence and I always assumed my cats never crossed that road because it’s so busy.

We got a tracker for them and 3 of them just roam the estate, which was expected. But the last one is now wearing it and he goes all the way over that very busy road every night and spends a decent portion of the night hunting over there, I guess. The time looked to be about 11pm - 4.30am. He’s been out all day today too, on and off and hasn’t strayed from the estate so it’ll be interesting to see if he goes again tonight.

The road is a real worry. It’s very busy in the day but obviously much quieter at night. My boy is about 18 months old and neutered. I don’t really know what to do. He wears a reflective collar but he’s all black. I’ve tried keeping them all in over night but they’re not all siblings and letting them out gives them the space they need. It’s now just going to worry me every night but the alternative is having him go crazy with frustration if I keep him in.

(By the way, the person who hits a cat rarely realises what happens. It tends to be the driver behind them or a pedestrian who sees it - that was my experience anyway, in terms of who came to tell me.)

This just reminded me of the little shits that deliberately speed up to hit animals on the roads.

I know someone who lost a young cat that way, he was crossing the road to go home, she was waiting for him on the pavement, and a car of kids sped up so they could hit him.

And the pretty little cat that lived at the top of my road, found one evening in the gutter, we have speed bumps, people don't care.

I couldn't be responsible for letting a cat out in the dark. I now have indoor cats, and a catio because even living on a semi rural lane it wasn't safe once the builders trucks started speeding along.

We now keep our cats in when it’s dark since one of them went missing for 3 months. He was eventually found about 3 miles away. They do come in and out most of the day and are happy to settle down in the evening.