Cat & Road Sense..

We have 3 cats and they are all inside/outside cats who always come in at night.. Now we have a dilema and that is that the 1yr old isn't scared of cars.. We have tried to scare him but nothing seems to work..

What can we do in order to put some sense into this kitty? The other cats understand and know cars are bad..

BTW i know alot of you are going to say don't let him outside but its not that simple because he sneeks between our feet to run outside (almost trips us over at times), so its something we have to do in order to keep him from getting hurt if he does get out!

You have my full sympathy: Jake thinks he's supercat and wants to rule the world beyond the garden, and lies in wait for the front door to open. The only solution sadly IS to keep them in, or make your garden escape proof - which I have FINALLY succeeded in, God Bless you Securacat - or accept that the risks are sadly inevitable and something that you live with. I live in a 'safe' area, and lost my maine coon on a road last June. He was very intelligent, very active, wouldn't approach people and had road sense. He died chasing something which ran out onto the road- and his instincts said follow. That for me was the end of my willingness personally to live with that risk, I miss Markie terribly and I know how guilty I feel about his death. He was only two. And while my guys have 24 hour access to the garden and I love them having access to outdoors, it's been tried, tested, fixed and PROVED that not even Jake can find a way out of it. It's also been something I've had to be willing to invest time and money in. And I now shut Jake in the kitchen or pick him up every time the front door gets opened. That's what makes me comfortable, it isn't to say what's right for you - but it does come down to really your level of comfort with the risk. Mark knew about cars and roads, and it still didn't save him. It was a risk we lived with, and sadly it was a risk that caught up with us.

I could never let my 10 month old female run around outside either. My male I could (though I dont, I take them out on leashes) because he is afraid of strangers and doesnt like the road.. Aerowyn .. however.. likes people very much, expecially children. There is a man who drives a motercyle down the street and if I'm in the front yard with her she will look up and trot after him until her leash gets to the end of it. O_O I know its hard sometimes to keep cats inside (We have a porch with a door so its a bit easier for us) you probably will just have to watch your door better. My cats try to sneak outside the main door somtimes but we can catch them 80 percent of the time. Also maybe you should think about investing in leashes and harnesses? pet stores should sell cat harnesses and leashes ( I reccommend retractable) and sometimes you can find cheap leashes at discount stores ( we have a liquidators down the road and I bought two, 25 foot leashes for three dolllars each (compared to like 13 each at kmart or petco/petsmart) Cat harnesses are usually pretty cheap also, the one i bought for my girl kitten cost only four dollars, though I had to buy a small dog harness for Elliot because he is a big cat( it cost me like 7 or 11 dollars. i dont remember O_O I think 11 though). They might not like the harneses and leashes at first, but if you put the harnesses on them inside the house for a while, and try to get them used to a leash, you could at least take them outside for a while and let them walk around ( mine are a bit better than most because they would stay in the back yard even w/o leashes, and they usually just lay around in the back yard) O_O Hope that helps a bit! I know some people cant stand to let their cats be inside only cats so a leash and harness, besdies an escape proof area, are your best bets.

Heck if its just that ONE cat then it should be alot easier than training all three of them. Hm... have you ever tried tying cans to the back of your car, and having him in a carrier or something, anpull up into the driveway? or drive by on the street? (might want to do this sometime when it wont bother anyone, lol) your cat might get so freaked by the noise it wont go on the street anymore