Can cats survive alongside a busy road?

I think OP that there is no answer to your question as it depends on your cat and circumstances. What I would say is that we have lost several cats to the road over the years, and our road is a quiet country road. One of those cats was actually the local farms cat who decided to move into our house - the cat had been an "outside" cat for several years before it moved in, he was the most "road-wise" cat I'd ever known and I'd seen him literally look before he crossed the road so we thought we were totally safe letting him in and out as he pleased. One day he was killed on the road, unbelievably the day after one of our other cats had been killed on it as well. That was a horrendous 2 days...

After the above, I decided I couldn't go through that again so my 2 Bengals are kept inside generally but I had a 6ft high mesh fence put up round our back patio so I let them out into there when I'm around and keeping a close eye on them. I live on a quiet country road now, but its a straight bit so people do go too fast and we have woods directly opposite so I bet that would attract them over if I let them out. Mine aren't road wise at all and I know wouldn't last a week.
 
MagicMelon said:
I think OP that there is no answer to your question as it depends on your cat and circumstances. What I would say is that we have lost several cats to the road over the years, and our road is a quiet country road. One of those cats was actually the local farms cat who decided to move into our house - the cat had been an "outside" cat for several years before it moved in, he was the most "road-wise" cat I'd ever known and I'd seen him literally look before he crossed the road so we thought we were totally safe letting him in and out as he pleased. One day he was killed on the road, unbelievably the day after one of our other cats had been killed on it as well. That was a horrendous 2 days...

After the above, I decided I couldn't go through that again so my 2 Bengals are kept inside generally but I had a 6ft high mesh fence put up round our back patio so I let them out into there when I'm around and keeping a close eye on them. I live on a quiet country road now, but its a straight bit so people do go too fast and we have woods directly opposite so I bet that would attract them over if I let them out. Mine aren't road wise at all and I know wouldn't last a week.
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Thank you MagicMelon for sharing that sad experience. I think in view of the number of cats that are run over (1 in 4) I have decided not to go ahead with our rescue cat. I am very disappointed but rather that than risking it being killed. Our last house was set further back from the road and anyway since then I reckon the amount of traffic in Devon has doubled.
 
Patchworkpony said:
Thank you MagicMelon for sharing that sad experience. I think in view of the number of cats that are run over (1 in 4) I have decided not to go ahead with our rescue cat. I am very disappointed but rather that than risking it being killed. Our last house was set further back from the road and anyway since then I reckon the amount of traffic in Devon has doubled.
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Or you can keep looking until you find the right cat. I knew that I could never live with the worry of a cat being run over, but a cat with cerebral hypoplasia (a congenital condition much like cerebral palsy in humans) came into our local RSPCA. He is very wobbly, can't jump very well and is a bit 'simple' so could never be let out unsupervised, but lives a happy life inside with us and is an absolute joy (apart from when he purrs so much on your chest in the morning that he dribbles on your face). If you take a cat with an 'issue' you could make a massive difference to their life and not have the worry and stress of the roads?
 
Please don't not consider getting a rescue cat just because of the road. You can cat proof a garden and keep them in by building a fence with an overhang on the inside so they're not tempted to jump.
Or you can get a cat with an illness/three legged cat that's fine indoors. I think even most healthy cats can be adapted to life indoors if given the right toys and scratching stuff.
 
I live on a road that has about 4 cars an hour. Both my cats have got run over. They sit and wait for them, i swear.
 
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