cat roaming territories/busy roads

lolo62

i had a look in other threads but couldnt find what i was looking for so if i have missed it apologies!

firstly i believe in allowing cats outside

i had two ginger toms (brothers) from when they were a month old until three years of age renting different properties

first place i had them was in terenure and they had a lot of roaming territory in one direction which kept them away from the main terenure road down from the estate

second place was down a lane set off the monkstown road where they had woodland and lots of estates away from the busy road

they are with my mother last two years (needed to move in a hurry alone and could NOT find a landlord who would allow cats ) in lucan with again plenty of roaming space so no need to go near the n4 (which is quite close) or the main lucan road

i am now living in ballyfermot and would love to have my babies back with me but im just off the sarsfield road (which is really busy) and even though im in an estate cars regurlarly whiz up and down my road at top speed so im wondering if maybe the cats have been a bit spoiled for space and would find where i am now difficult?

i am also considering moving to find somewhere more suitable but even if i can find a landlord who will agree to the cats im wondering how much of a territory they will need...

anyone moved around with cats who can give me some tips?

Mo60

Prepare for onslaught.

star-pants

Mo60 wrote: »

Prepare for onslaught.

I suggest you post advice to the OPs query or not at all.

Mo60

My advice to OP would be, if you are near a busy road, to leave the cats where they are.

homerhop

from the documentary The Secret Lives of cats

Fortunately only one of our GPS cats crossed a busy road during the study. This is
consistent with other recent research which found that living near a busy road does not
increase the risk of a cat being in a road traffic accident as the constant movement and
noise can act as a barrier for most cats.
Cats that have been found to be at most risk were aged between seven months and
two years old. As cats became older they were less likely to be involved in a road traffic
accident. Also according to our GPS data, male cats were more at risk as they normally
covered a larger area than female cats and as a result were more likely to be crossing
busy roads.

http://www.spotonwormer4cats.com/cattitude/downloads/Secret%20Lives%20of%20CatsLOW.pdf

lolo62

homerhop wrote: »

from the documentary The Secret Lives of cats



http://www.spotonwormer4cats.com/cattitude/downloads/Secret%20Lives%20of%20CatsLOW.pdf

thats really interesting thank you! looking forward to giving the whole thing a read

i'd love to see where they go and the routes they take when they go out, have often wondered!

candle_wax

I'm no expert, but I've never really thought of how much space they need in terms of acres or anything. I think a lot depends on the cats themselves. Are they neutered? That would help as they tend to get a bit lazier,

I've been in a similar situation - had to move a couple of times and ended up leaving two cats with my OH's grandparents. They love them now though, so no chance we'd ever get them back!

If the cats are happy where they are it would be a shame to move them I think. One idea would be to get another cat and keep in indoors if the road worries you. The downside of that is (as with any cat who's never allowed outdoors...) is that if they ever escape (as is their nature a lot of the time), they'll have no road sense and be completely disorientated by all the new smells.

If you do decide to bring them with you, I'd be sure to keep them inside for at least a couple of weeks til they settle in and see it as their new home (in case they try to wander back to your mother!). And then, if possible, let them out for small periods of time before they start their day-long rambles!

homerhop

lolo62 wrote: »

thats really interesting thank you! looking forward to giving the whole thing a read

i'd love to see where they go and the routes they take when they go out, have often wondered!

if you go onto youtube the documentary is on there
found it quiet interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdC-REmX14w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5PrkczngZ8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7w1-BoEoEE&feature=related

lolo62

they're both neutered.
one is still quite wild though in that he spends most if his time outside and regularly goes missing for 48 hours during the summer.
he'd be the one id worry about in that he's quite adventurous.
the other guy is just a big hungry pet who thinks hes human so spends most of his time hanging around the fridge or meowing outside to come in after five minutes of being let out.


it'd be great if you could get a print out of the cats movements from the microchip to determine the kind of territory the cats cover so you could have some idea of the kind of space they need (am i a cat slave or what?!)

leaving them where they are might be an option but much and all as my mum loves them i think she'd like to get a little dog and cant do that while she has the two cats

went to see a flat yesterday where the landlord said he would think about putting in a cat flap so things are looking up!

lolo62

had a look at the documentary too...its amazing, really enjoyed it!

one thing that was interesting was the choice of music they used ( im a musician so bit of a nerd)

when describing some of the most interesting features of cats there was this kind of duhn duhn duuuhn..... type atmosphere from the horror-film background music.
as though cats abilities are frightening!

Alun

Little GPS trackers for cats are available, see here http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_o2_en.htm Pretty cheap too!

lolo62

Alun wrote: »

Little GPS trackers for cats are available, see here http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_o2_en.htm Pretty cheap too!

wowzers! thanks a million...ive been talking about doing it for ages as if it would be impossible...seems there are others out there who are even bigger slaves

be a great way to determine how much space an individual cat needs, have you bought from those guys?

Alun

No I've not, but I had been following the site for a while now ever since the owner set it up. First of all he was only doing the CatCam, and was putting up galleries of photos taken by his cat Mr. Lee on his travels, see http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_u.htm

If the CatTrack had been around 8 or 9 years ago I'd have got one in a flash, just to see where one of my cats, Buffy, got to, as I suspected she probably roamed quite far, but the furthest she gets these days is the back wall of the garden as far as I can tell.

lolo62

Alun wrote: »

No I've not, but I had been following the site for a while now ever since the owner set it up. First of all he was only doing the CatCam, and was putting up galleries of photos taken by his cat Mr. Lee on his travels, see http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_u.htm

If the CatTrack had been around 8 or 9 years ago I'd have got one in a flash, just to see where one of my cats, Buffy, got to, as I suspected she probably roamed quite far, but the furthest she gets these days is the back wall of the garden as far as I can tell.

i wanted to check it was a trustworthy site to make a payment on, sounds like it is from what youre saying


good point about roaming, just because a cat spends a lot of time outside doesnt necessarily mean they go far!

Discodog

Busy roads are less dangerous than quiet country roads because the flow of traffic acts as a deterrent. But even busy roads can go quiet. The road near me is a busy main road but it has claimed lots of cats & dogs. The real danger is a gap in the traffic that coincides with a distraction or attraction that makes the cat want to cross. There is also the risk that the cat might be chased or scared into crossing the road.

The sad thing is all the houses along the road have huge areas of fields behind the houses but cats will go the way that they choose.