Cat Going Across The Street

[dana17]

how does everyone deal with having your ferals crossing the streets and road and roaming! Outs won't stay in our yard and afraid they will be hit by cars

 

[dana17]

Do u recommend cat repellent by the roads

 

[Sarthur2]

I think it is very difficult to keep ferals from wandering, especially if they are not neutered.

 

[surya]

Are they fixed? Is somebody feeding them across the street?

 

[dana17]

The one roaming yes we had her fixed

 

[surya]

And you are feeding her right? I'm guessing somebody across the street is feeding her too and that why she is going over there?

 

[MJO12]

I know it's not funny, but I can't help laughing. You are worrying, and the cat is across the street stuffing herself. I hope she is a street smart cat. I cared for a colony for three years in a city, and none of them got run over, but probably I saw only the survivors. Cats can be smart about cars. I hope yours is one of them, because she will not stop crossing the street for a meal. I suppose you can talk to the neighbor, but the neighbor may enjoy the pleasure of her company.

 

[msaimee]

True ferals are too savvy to get hit by cars. Unless your kitty is crossing a busy hghway, I wouldn't worry about it. Even ferals who are fixed sometimes roam and cross streets. Strays tend to be the ones who get hit by cars because they don't have experience surviving outside.

 

[surya]

True ferals are too savvy to get hit by cars.

I'm not sure I buy this. How would you know this?

 

[msaimee]

I amend this to say that none of the ferals my neighbors and I have known and cared for over the past 6 years have, to our knowledge, gotten hit by cars. Some would disappear for days or longer but would always find their way back safely. Feral cats teach their kittens how to survive outside. Strays, on the other hand, were not taught those skills by their cat parents, which is why they're prone to starvation, getting attacked by other cats, and getting hit by cars when they find themselves outside. I will also amend that while there likely are some ferals who get hit by cars, most ferals are savvy enough to know how to move about safely to avoid cars. There are greater dangers they face, such as hostile people who shoot and poison them,, disease, and getting injured in fights. Those were the kinds of things I worried about, and saw happen. Luckily my neighbors and I socialized and adopted almost all of them (aged 3 months to a year) and now they live safe and spoiled inside our homes. The only way to truly have peace of mind is to take the cat inside if he's at an age and temperment where he can adjust to being indoors.