Can your cat roam outside your garden?

[CroccyWoccy]

If you have a cat that has access to the outdoors, can it get out of your garden and roam further afield? And if so, can it or does it get to a road?

Trying to adopt another cat and one of the objections raised by a cat rescue is that a cat could get out of our back garden, round the front of our house and onto the (very quiet) road at the front.

This strikes me as a perfectly ordinary set up and that most people don't have a cat-proofed garden? Or am I wrong?

Cats will go where they want. Ours wander into a couple of neighbouring gardens but they don’t have a big range; they’re scared of bigger cats. Other cats can have a huge range.

It is completely normal not to have a completely cat-proof garden. In the UK it's quite uncommon to restrict cats' roaming (less so in the US, where cats are often kept indoors and obesity in cats is endemic)

It's also really common for rescues to insist on cloud cuckoo land, which is why most perfectly good prospective cat owners get rejected and end up buying a cat instead 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yeah, I’ve always found it very weird that cat rescues complain about being overwhelmed, and then set such unrealistic restrictions.

My garden is cat proofed so my cats have access to it but they can’t get out and neighbours ( horrible) cat can’t get in.
A lot of rescues refuse to home to homes that are not indoor homes or enclosed gardens.

That's a similar excuse we had from a well known rescue - it was crazy how they said they were struggling to keep up with the animals they had, but being so restrictive on things like roads (almost everyone is near one!). We ended up using a local rescue who were lovely and so understanding, I would recommend seeing if you have one close to you.

DP's older cat used to roam around everywhere. She managed to get neighbours including small shop owners and chefs on a high street in London feed her. She now as she is about 18 just goes out into the back garden.

The younger cat was initially a house cat and just goes in and out of the garden. (He was rehomed from social media due to where we are. The person was actually someone DP knows by sight.)

Two other cats similar age to DP's older cat have now stopped their extensive roaming as well. One, female, lives near an A road while another, male, lives near roads that are randomly very busy.

Your location sounds exactly like ours. Two sibling cats also from a cat rescue place - no one objected.

Ours only frequent their own garden when they’re feeling lazy! Mostly they patrol the other gardens beyond - we’re not quite sure how far they travel over walls and fences.

They’re not much fussed about the front garden and very quiet road - they mostly just observe from the window and silently judge any neighbourhood cats who come into view.

But they’re definitely very much outdoor cats. Only food and warmth tempt them inside.

I once house-sat an indoor cat in a flat in New York. Its life seemed cruel and stunted to me, though it was in all respects well looked after.

Yes I often see "enclosed garden" as a requirement and have never been entirely sure whether that meant fully cat-proofed or just enclosed in the regular sense of having an ordinary fence.

Yes mine goes everywhere. The gardne can’t be cat proofed as it isn’t a flat area and we can’t add high fences here by law so he just walks out through or over a hedge.
Mine walks pretty far away, he’s been know to pop out high in the woods above and found at the local cider barn (about 15min fast walk away)

Yes, ours can roam anywhere. We back on to fields, and live on a cul-de-sac. I've never seen him out the front of the house - I'm not sure he knows it exists!

He goes out of his cat door into the back garden and off into the field.

We have had various cats here over the years (ours and neighbours) and only a very few bother to go round the front of the houses (we're in a terraced row with front-rear access pathways every half-dozen houses or so).

The only one of our cats who ever went round the front of the house onto the road was a proper roamer who had a massive territory. Our current cats just like to venture about 6ft onto the patio and sunbathe!

I often see "enclosed garden" as a requirement and have never been entirely sure whether that meant fully cat-proofed

The smaller cat charities normally state why the cat needs this.

I live in the U.S. our rescue doesn’t allow outdoor cats. Even in a catproofed garden they would be hunted by hawks and eagles. We watch them hunt the squirrels and rabbits. It is quite impressive. Cats can only go out in a fully enclosed catio.

our cats live very long, happy lives with lots of toys and attention.

Some just seem to have "access to an enclosed garden" as standard. I know some want a catio or cat-proofed garden for specific reasons (I have a friend who cat-proofed her fences to adopt a blind cat).

In this case there were no specific needs, we were just turned down as a prospective adopter because we couldn't prevent any cat accessing a road.

On a lightly different note, we have three Maine Coons, live in a semi-rural area and they have the freedom to come and go as they please; I just think "house cats" must be so frustrated. On the occasions I've been asked whether they're allowed outside, it transpires people aren't so much concerned for their safety; it's more a case of being worried they'll be stolen.🙄

Yes my cat can roam freely just as any cat should. My brother and his wife keep a “house cat”, she’s constantly trying to escape and must live the worst life, poor thing. Let cats exhibit their natural behaviour.

No - our garden is cat proofed because we back on to a busy road that sees a shocking number of cat fatalities and injuries.

We live in a mid terrace house, cat flap at the back, so although in theory our cat could get to a road, she’d have to go through quite a lot of gardens first (maybe 4 one direction, 8 the other) and in reality she never bothers. Sounds similar to your set up.

How busy is the road?

I've lived in my house for 35 years and always had cats who were free to roam where ever they liked.No accidents. I lost my old one ( old age) in 2021 and decided to get 2 kittens. Cat rescue s were reluctant because I live on (a country) road, so I bought 2 littermates.
One was knocked down and badly injured at 11 months old. I nursed her back to health. The other was knocked down and killed 2 weeks after the first one was hit. Heartbreaking. I've since got another kitten.
I won't be letting them out to roam free. I've had a large enclosure built for them. They can spend time out on the grass in the fresh air, but they are safe from cars. Added bonus is that they can't catch birds or poo in other people's gardens.

I don’t think you can tell a cat where to go. I have a street cat. He lived in an urban area from being a kitten. He knows how to get himself a takeaway and cross the road looking both ways. His territory is massive, and sometimes he goes walkabout for days. He might live longer in an enclosed area but he’d be very sad. And the looks I would get…
Never cross a ginger. 🙀

You’re correct.

The cat rescue is being weird.

It is very very difficult to completely cat proof a garden, particularly if any plants or trees are near the fence. Look at those big cats jumped out of their zoo enclosures at Port Lympne. Trying to ‘cat proof’ a garden also carries a risk the cat may escape but not be able to get back in!

Call a few different cat rescues and if they’re all being annoying just buy kittens on gumtree / homes4pets. Make sure that it isn’t a kitten farm though - there are lots of dodgy liars on those aites but there are also plenty of genuine families who just couldn’t resist letting their cat have a litter of kittens before neutering. I’ve always bought kittens instead of rescuing becase the cat shelters make it so much harder to use them.

Be aware that where the kitten comes from it may arrive with fleas unless it’s been treated with Advocate or something similar before you collect it.

Anyway. I’ve always had free roaming cats and never had any problems with roads. Live in suburbs but the cats roam far despite me not letting them out of the front door. Cats are extremely clever animals. (But they can be dumb too and kittens may jump out of your upstairs windows/ climb up your chimney just to see what happens 🙈)

It means fully enclosed for the cats by way of a catio or cat proofing.. you can buy commercial kits or do it yourself. In my previous house I had a catio built. In my current home I had extenders put untop of my six foot fencing then I netted the entire garden so everyone can wander in/out and patio doors can be open all summer.

I have a roamer. We live opposite a field, and yes, the rescues are right, a cat will cross a road to go into the field. Arthur spends hours and hours in that field, it's where he catches most of his mice. I am prepared for the possibility that he may be run over, but...... he has the most wonderful free, happy and healthy life. He is big, and muscly, and entirely content.

P.s. We got him from a friend, after rescues had declared our house unsuitable.

We got my Emmeline from a man who had had her as an indoor only cat for years, but the moment she came to us, she had other ideas about that. She likes to cross our road (she is quite good about looking for traffic, however) and hang out at the bus stop at the end of the road, where everyone dotes on her and even brings her food, since somehow she cons everyone into thinking that she's a poor, starving, lonely, lost creature (she wears a collar with her name and phone number on it and she is not slender). It drives me mad, but I truly believe she's living her best life.

My neighbour's cat certainly has decided to give himself access to my back and front gardens, my roof and even my kitchen...