As a cat 'purrent' one of your main worries about your cat's safety outdoors will be the risk of road traffic accidents. Whether you live in a suburban area with busy roads or in a rural area with fast roads, your cat will probably cross the road regularly to access their full territory. Only 25% of cats hit in road traffic accidents are killed outright so follow our step-by-step guidance as your fast actions could make a real difference to your cat's survival chances:
- Check for injuries like bleeding from nose, mouth or ears, broken bones, unable to stand or walk properly, laboured breathing and acting in an unusual way. In minor incidents, scuffed paws and claws can be a a sign of impact.
- There is a guide to roadside first aid here including CPR.
- If your cat is comfortable to be moved, take your cat to the vets for examination. The quicker the better! Twenty-four hour vets can be found on Google. Equally vets can be called to the scene.
- When your vet allows your kitty back home, keep them inside with lots of choices of beds and hidey holes to reduce stress and provide their favourite blanket for familiar scents. Keep lots of fresh water and tasty food close by. The vet may provide easy to digest food.
How to prevent cat road accidents from happening in the future:
- Neutering your cat reduces their desire for an expansive territory and reduces the risk of them crossing multiple roads.
- Microchip your cat for identification. This is vital in identifying your kitty. It means if anything happens outside of the house and you are unaware, the vets will be able to contact you. Make sure you keep your contact details up to date at Petlog.
- Create a night-time curfew. You can try training your cats to come home at a certain time for food, shaking a bag of dreamies and calling their name certainly helps! This means they are safe and sound indoors all night, which will reduce the risk of an RTA. Consider using a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect to control when your cats can leave the house.
- Consider creating a secure and controlled outdoor territory (Catio or Cat Fence Barrier). This allows them to freely access the outdoors, but not be in any danger.
- Take a pet first aid course, this could add crucial and lifesaving time onto your cats 9 lives after an RTA.
#CatsMatter estimate that 1 in 10 UK drivers have left a cat to die alone after a collision. Consider supporting their campaign to make reporting cat RTAs to the police mandatory.