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?

My girl goes out to our back garden, under the fence, and into the park. Thankfully she has shown no interest in going out the front so far. touches wood.

She came from Cats Protection who didn’t do any kind of home visit. However the lady who was fostering her used to live on our road and knew how quiet our street is.

I'm on cat number 3 at my current house which fronts a main-ish road. Original cat came here with us and did sadly eventually get run over, but she was quite old and deaf at that point and would take massive risks to get out if she was confined. Last and current cats were both 'streetwise' rescues and I had no problem adopting, both go beyond the garden at the back, never near the front. My neighbours' cats (all rescues) also stay away from the road.

Our four cats are all from Battersea and are free roaming. They spend a lot of time going over the (very quiet) road to go mousing in the fields opposite. Battersea were happy with us based at a look on street view.

Our cat can’t scale a 6ft Fence so she only has a territory of 2 gardens now we fixed the broken fence panels.

She’s a dim witted ragdoll so that’s perfect. She used to be able to get round the front via next door but they replaced their gate with a high one which scuppered her.

Cats will do what they wish, not sure you can control it without cat proofing unless like my cat, they are a big lump that can’t climb🤣

Mine can roam if she wants, in practice she is too timid so just stays in the garden, preferably (on her part) with me. Even if she did roam she would have to go through about six gardens to get to a road, as we are mid-terrace.

Your entire garden has a net over it?

Yep my entire garden is surrounded with six foot fences with extenders on top which mean the netting sits about 8/9 foot high, higher at patio leading from house.
I have done/do lots of rescue and fostering and totally disagree with people who argue that cats ‘must be allowed to wander’.. it’s 2024, cars are fast and quiet and the average age of an outdoor cat is 2years. My guys are all settled, content and happy. They get plenty of enrichment, have climbing walls and beds inside the house and not one of them even bothers to try and get out my front door. Yes it’s more work but they are safe. My lot are all rescues from various very sad backgrounds and they are living their best lives

I don't know why cat rescues say such silly things. My cats have always had free access to outside and roamed as far as they liked. Two lived in to their late teens- and the cat I have now was bought from a dodgy bloke on the internet because cat rescues were not helpful. He's living his best life keeping the neighbourhood mouse free.

the average age of an outdoor cat is 2years

What??? That is nonsense, where on earth is that figure from?

The average outdoor cat can’t be 2 year old.
Whilst cats do get injured by cars, or other things outside, that can’t be right. Growing up all our and neighbours cats roamed and none died before 15-16+ years.
Ours neighbourhood now of about 20 houses has around 10 cats. Ours is the youngest at nearly 6, the rest all ancient, one is 21!

average age of an outdoor cat is 2years.

Horseshit.
The average age of an outdoor cat might be 2 years less than an indoor one, but not two years total.

I must say, my eyebrows shot up at that statement! I just don’t think it’s accurate, not in the uk, anyway.

I always wonder about this on cat rescue sites. My cat just goes in our garden by choice but he is visited daily in his garden by five cats who live in our road or in the road behind us. One of them, a very friendly tiny ginger cat, is a classic roamer, he is outside at all times of day and in all weathers. He seems super happy.

My cat was indoors for 12 years as I lived in a flat. I fostered her for a charity and she decided she would attack any prospective owners so stayed with me. She never attacked me or anyone that now comes near her. I think she chose me. she was happy indoors. Other cats I fostered were desperate to go out.

I moved to a quiet estate with an enclosed garden. Did debate whether to let her out, but she kept asking so tried it. she loves it in the summer and is actually street smart, despite living inside for most of her life.

She can’t jump onto the fence, but has managed to escape out of the garden through the tiniest gap. But she stays local and comes back when called. She doesn’t wander far and is very fussy when she goes out. Winter is a no no.

the charity I fostered through would want outside space, but pragmatic with what they considered safe or a suitable cat for indoors.

I have two rescue cats who roam wherever they like, our garden is not remotely secure. We live on a road that has regular traffic, but isn't usually very busy. They can get to the front if they choose to but they usually stay at the back where there is ample hunting opportunities and places to explore. I would feel very mean if they couldn't get out of the garden, they seem very happy with their lives.
The rescue people came to view the house and seemed happy with the garden. They seemed to mainly check that the cats could access the outside and that we didn't live on a hideously busy road.

My two roam freely (one rescue). She is 16 and happily vaults the 5 bar gate! We live on a quiet lane but 100 yds from a main road up a hill. She mainly roams in the field hunting mice. The 3 yo mainly goes in our garden and next doors garden, sometimes to the edge of the field

Our rescue cat roams but never goes near the road; she won’t even go on the driveway as the traffic noise scares her (very skittish), so she goes to the back garden and roams there amongst the neighbours etc.

We got her from a well-known rescue centre and they weren’t bothered that we are on a main road (the first thing they did when we registered in person was look at our property on Google Earth).

All ours are or were country cats and have roamed as they please. Our current road is fairly quiet but very narrow so cars have to slow down. All the neighbours' cats know to scarper as soon as they hear an engine. There's a lot of rural land to explore, my current cat loves it. There's no way we could keep him just in the garden, I wouldn't feel right about it.

Actually it’s not nonsense

All the rescues here have rejected me because there is a main road 300 yards away.
Luckily I've found a cat lady and the first thing my cat did was go up onto the roof. Then he went over the back fence.
THere are about 3 local cats who follow a run behind our hedges that leads into another avenue and they spend a lot of time stalking each other. He hates being in.

Of course it is. It's a ridiculous claim.

The majority of U.K. cats go outside. An average lifespan of 2 years is an improbable statistic.

What is your source?

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to cat proof a garden. My cats all roam, one more then the others. I catch him trotting down the road but if he sees me he comes straight home! He knows!
Cats will climb fences and trees, get up on roofs, squeeze through tiny gaps in fences and bushes - they love to go where they please so containing them is hard! And also goes against their nature.

Our garden is “enclosed” in that it has high stone walls (about seven ft tall) on three sides, with the house being the fourth. Our cat can happily scale them if she wants to, particularly the back one which has handy trees to use as a ladder. She generally is in our garden or next door, never makes her way round the front to the road, and we don’t have a cat flap so she’s always in overnight and in the day when we’re out at work. She’s very good at coming to her name - we trained her with Dreamies when we first started letting her out! I’m a lecturer and have the majority of the summer off so sometimes would leave her out on a sunny day if I eg went out for lunch - she’ll pretty much always be napping in the same sunny spot I left her in when I return!

Never had a cat who didn't like to be out and about

Purina website says most outdoor cats have an average lifespan of 13-14 years
USA outdoor cats average 2-5 years