Cat got hit by a car and died :(

[lilyflower1803]

hi, we had two outdoor cats, unfortunately one got hit by a car on Wednesday and died. We are obviously heartbroken but struggling on what to do with our other cat. We want to keep him inside or as mad as it is, try a cat harness (but he hates being restrained so don’t think that will be effective. Has anyone got any tips on transitioning an outdoor cat into an indoor cat? We only have a two bed flat at the moment so space is limited.

thank you so much

I’m so sorry about your cat.

I can understand why you want to but I don’t think it’s fair to try to make the other cat indoor only, especially if you haven’t a lot of space indoors for them to exercise. Can you catproof your garden (if you have one)?

I don’t have our own garden, although we have large garden, as we live in a shared communal flat so that’s not an option. Our cat got hit right outside on our road which has become an extremely busy and dangerous road since living here being used as a rat run. He’s already mainly indoors most of the day as he has been bullied and attacked by neighbourhood cats. I’m mainly asking for advice on how to offer him enough stimulation inside as he is here 85% of the time anyway. It’s either that or giving him up for adoption when we rescued both our cats not that long ago anyway, so we would lose both our cats. We are planning on moving in the next year or two, where hopefully he can be made a fully outdoor cat again. I have my reasons to consider this, if he was like our other cat there would be no hope in transitioning him inside as our other cat was out 95% of the time anyway!

Ok, if he’s mostly indoors anyway and you’ll be moving soonish then I can see keeping him in until you move.

There was a thread recently about ideas for indoor cats, someone had a cat wheel (!) or there are shelves you can put up on the walls to make a little obstacle course for them. Will see if I can find it.

I appreciate your concern for him but my question would be to you, how comfortable would you feel letting your other cat out knowing your cat was killed 10metres away? Considering he is home majority of them time and seeks comfort at home, I believe this is a transition he is able to make, if he starts to show stress signs then obviously we will re-evaluate and weigh up the pros and cons to him. We aren’t thoughtless owners, Infact we kept letting them out knowing the danger of the road was getting worse and letting them out when we were quite uncomfortable doing so so they had their opportunity for freedom!

Thank you, sorry if I got my back up a bit, I’m a bit stressed about the whole thing as really wanted to do right for both the cats and feel we have failed both of them :( I’ve seen a cat wheel- looks great fun even for us 😆

Hey I already said I changed my mind!!

Anyway here’s the thread I mentioned with some ideas

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5479199-how-can-i-transition-my-cat-to-be-completely-indoors?page=3&reply=150083083

Ha series of cross posts I think. Hope the thread I linked has some ideas for you

Sorry for your loss.

Our neighbor ran over and killed our cat years ago. It was awful.
However I understand was an unfortunate accident and have continued to let our other cat go outside. I think it also taught the neighbour to be more aware when pulling out of a parking spot (they've since moved)

Unfortunately accidents happen, but the chance of it happening again to your other cat, is slim.

Sorry again for your loss

I’m not sure, I saw our remaining cat lose a couple of his 9 lives by wandering aimlessly into a road a good few times and almost getting hit by a lorry 😣 the remaining one is less street-wise than the one that got hit! If the road was quieter, I probably wouldn’t think much about letting him out again, but the road is particularly busy at the moment and has continued to be with dodgy parking and bad visibility.

I think I’m going to try keep him in, at least to see, so if anyone has any tips or toys that are good to install, then I would be all ears :)

Sorry to hear about your cat too, it is a horrible accident.

Can I just ask are both cats neutered/spayed. If a tom is neutered I believe they are less inclined to fight and to roam looking for a female. The cat i found dead on the side of the road at 5.30am on the way to the horse one cold dark Saturday in January was a beautiful big Tom. Never been neutered. He hadn't a mark on him and was still warm. It broke my heart at the senseless loss of life.

I'd never have a cat for that reason. Can you not make a cat run and a large cage outside? There are loads of big wooden cat runs on ebay for £50

Hi both our cats were neutered as we adopted them from a sanctuary. He just liked to roam unfortunately. Yes our cat was like that Tom, a lovely chunky boy, he was in good condition too when hit. Just heartbreaking! The bully cat that harassed our boys on the other hand I’m not sure about! The morning after our cat died, he was hissing through the flap trying to attack our other cat! Talk about bad timing! But yes they were both neutered the one who got hit was more confident and loved the outdoors and hunting mice.

I imagine we wouldn’t get permission from our management agency to build that, the only thing I can think of is we have a balcony we could try cat proof but again I reckon it would get rejected due to not being in keeping with the building. I really have tried to think of everything to keep them safe, especially when they were both being bullied by the other cats and hurt with abscesses all the time, I even considered then keeping them indoors but kept letting them out.

Here for ideas.

We have a 3 almost 4 year old and the cat who died was her best friend, she is struggling with him being gone and the idea of putting the other cat at risk is hard too, as it would be awful if the other met the same fate. Lots of factors to think about in this with not one easy solution.

Thank you, I’m not sure it would be possible sadly:( I’ve watched lots of Jackson galaxy videos about catification 😆

I used to let mine go out my bedroom window into a communal garden during the summer. I stopped when a new cat moved into the area and attacked my smallest cat. Luckily my giant boy was there and stepped in to defend her so she was unhurt but he got a nasty abscess from the fight.

Since they were already used to being indoors over the winter (too cold to have the bedroom window wide open all year) and inside at night they took the transition quite well. It sounds like your cat is similar so will probably take it well.

I bought them lots of new toys and I rotate them around so when they start getting bored of one it goes in th cupboard for a couple of months and an old one comes out. I also got some more interactive toys that require me to operate and spend a few mins each day playing with them and give them treats. They are happy and healthy indoors and don't ever ask to go out now - one escaped recently and shot back inside in less than a minute.

Hi thank you! Have you got any good toys you would recommend. I feel my boy is getting bored of the toys we have at the moment. Good to hear your cats settled well, I think mine would be the same. But I have noticed even before him staying inside that he seemed withdrawn and wanting to stay in more I think because he was being bullied, he is still playing but not as much so just trying to find stuff that will keep him entertained :)

What’s your balcony like?

I’m in a 2nd floor flat, I catproofed mine using sticky hooks, white netting & a lot of cable ties, so it’s barely noticeable from the ground. The balcony has cat friendly plants & my cat practically lives out there in summer.

Inside we’ve got cat trees at a range of heights with scratching posts & hanging toys, a ball track, a big tunnel & a toybox so lots to do.

Happy to go into more detail about any of it if that would help.

It’s not huge, but it’s ground floor, front facing which makes a difference as our management agency want all balconies to be uniform, we aren’t even allowed to dry our washing out there! Maybe I could look into translucent netting and see what I could do, my cat likes to sit and sunbathe on the greenhouse on the balcony anyway so enjoyed time out there!

we currently compete for space between cat toys and children’s toys- cannot wait to get a bigger property 😆 I’ll look into some shelving or something for him to climb on

Foam mini footballs go down well - when they pounce on them their claws get a bit stuck and it flings the balls across the room for them to go chasing after. They often sell cheep little tinsel balls and they do similar. I also got a pack of plastic springs last week and they seem to love those.

I have some mouse toys with a pouch you can fill with cat nip and I top it up once a week and they have a good wrestle with it.

I got some toys that are various takes on balls in a track they can bat around like a kitty train track. They do play with them but get bored after an hour so I keep them in the cupboard and bring one out every couple of weeks.

A giant scratching post that's a meter tall and wide enough to sit on top and can support their weight scaling it - they love climbing up it and getting a fuss "face to face" while sitting on top.

I also got some puzzle balls that you put dreamies in and they have to bat it about to get them out.

Interactive stuff - a bird on a string that I wave around and they go crazy leaping at it. A laser pen that's safe for eyes for them to chase. A bird on elastic that I hang on a nail above the doorway - when they jump and snag it it bounces up and drives them crazy.

Edit : one of my cats is more than a little bit stupid, he often stares blankly at toys until one of the other cats plays with it and teaches him what to do. If yours isn't too smart then keep that in mind when buying the fancier toys. It's the cheep ones mine have loved the most though.