{"id":917543,"date":"2026-10-06T00:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T00:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917543\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T00:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T00:08:16","slug":"cats-roaming-risks-obi-nearly-lost-an-eye-doing-something-thousands-of-cat-owners-let-their-pets-do-every-day-without-a-second-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/917543\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats roaming risks: Obi nearly lost an eye doing something thousands of cat owners let their pets do every day without a second thought"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cat owner Kylie has never been a huge fan of roaming<\/a>, and always kept her two cats<\/a> inside. But when Obi, the kitty next door, took up residence in her yard and eventually went into her care she felt it would be \u201cmean\u201d to stop him going on his neighbourhood strolls.<\/p>\n

Racked with stress over the possibility Obi could get hurt or go missing, Kylie got a \u201cgood wake-up call\u201d when her fear became a reality, and he was seriously injured in a fight with another cat, almost losing an eye.<\/p>\n

\"Obi<\/p>\n

Obi was the next-door neighbour\u2019s cat until they got a dog and he made Kylie\u2019s place his home.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh well, he doesn\u2019t go far, and he\u2019s used to it, and it\u2019d be really cruel and mean if I just kept him in the backyard all day because he\u2019s not used to it, and he\u2019s six years old\u2019,\u201d she told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

The scratch to Obi\u2019s eye resulted in $1500 worth of vet bills, plus hundreds of dollars in medication, which required a detailed regime of four eye drops in a specific order, four times a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe poor darling \u2026 He was so good, but to have to put him through what he went through … 20 drops a day for a week or two, and then it got better, so we could back it off a bit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[He had] reviews every seven days for about three weeks with the ophthalmologist to see how his eye is going. So then having to take time off work, which of course I don\u2019t mind, but it\u2019s bloody stressful! I\u2019m like, Jesus Christ, [letting him roam is] not worth it … this cat, he doesn\u2019t deserve this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kylie and Obi\u2019s experience isn\u2019t unique. RSPCA data shows that 4000 cats go missing in New South Wales every year and simply stopping them from leaving their owners properties would change that.<\/p>\n

Dr Gemma Ma, RSPCA NSW campaign manager, said the organisation\u2019s No Lost Cats campaign is raising awareness of the risks of roaming to keep both native wildlife and pet cats safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest risk [to cats] we see is cats being hit by cars. There was a survey done in 2019 of Australian cat owners that found two in three … have previously had a cat that\u2019s died or gone missing with a roaming related accident,\u201d she told nine.com.au. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne in three Australian cat owners have had a cat that\u2019s died from being hit by a car. We also know cats will usually die if they\u2019re hit by a car, so only about three in 10 will actually survive their injuries, and we see that all the time in our vet clinics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another sad fact is that roaming cats live on average 10 years less than cats kept within their owner\u2019s property.<\/p>\n

Now, with bird flu in Australia, there is also the risk of cats coming across a sick or dead bird while roaming and becoming infected themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cCats can catch bird flu<\/a>, and they\u2019re actually really susceptible to the virus, so they\u2019ll often die or be really seriously affected from contact with birds,\u201d Dr Ma said.<\/p>\n

Some owners let their cats roam because their cats have always done it, while other cats just get out and about before their owners can stop them by jumping fences and rushing out the door.<\/p>\n

The RSPCA\u2019s research shows owners tend to only put a stop to roaming after something happens to their cat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe find most of the time when people have changed their mind it’s because something really bad has happened; their cat’s been hit by a car, they’ve lost a cat, or they’ve broken a leg or had to have some really expensive veterinary treatment, and that’s the thing that kind of triggers people to change their mind and change their behaviour,\u201d Dr Ma said.<\/p>\n

To keep cats safe but still have access to the outside world, the RSPCA encourages modifying fences so they can\u2019t get over them, or simply providing supervised time in the yard.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Two of Kylie\u2019s cats safely enjoying the outdoors in their catio.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Another option is to set up an enclosure using mesh or install a catio, like Kylie ended up doing for Obi and her two other cats so they can see into the yard without risking their safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really helped the transition enormously because my three cats, every morning now, we have our routine, I get up, they get up, I feed them, and then I walk to the front room, and as I\u2019m walking in the front room, they all converge and sit at the front sliding door because they\u2019re like, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s go out now! Yay!\u2019,\u201d Kylie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey love it so much, and they\u2019re content, they\u2019re happy, they\u2019re calm, everything. It made a massive difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for Kylie, having her kitties in the catio has also reduced her stress levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a calmer heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cat owner Kylie has never been a huge fan of roaming, and always kept her two cats inside.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128],"class_list":["post-917543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}