Thanks for clearing that up, ForumBot. I’m so relieved he’s doing okay so far! I honestly couldn’t tell from your OP whether he’d lived or died.
Give him a hug for me - my three cats Mina, Sophie and Therblig send their best too. Well, they would if they weren’t all slothing about as usual.
Now that I know he’s okay, I’m gonna put my oar in with the rest of the folks entreating you to keep your cat inside. Here’s a story. My cat Choie (hence my screenname) was a stray who ended up on my family’s doorstep back in 1983. We took her in, and yes, she was largely indoors but would often go out roaming in our extremely suburban neighborhood - little traffic, no wackos with rifles, just lots of grass and squirrels. She would whine and moan whenever we wouldn’t let her outdoors (if it was raining, say), and it was hard to resist.
Well, a couple of years after we first got her, I was driving along a nearby road when I saw a black and white cat lying dead in the gutter. As little traffic as there was in my immediate neighborhood, this particular street was a fairly busy area for cars. I didn’t really process it until I’d passed it by, but when I did I realized it looked just like Choie. And when I’d left the house, Choie had been outside as usual. My heart froze and I continued on my way home, praying I was mistaken. (I couldn’t stomach turning back … what can I say, I was only 17 or so at the time.) Anyway, I reached my driveway, got out, started calling for her. Usually whenever I’d call her name, I’d hear her little bell collar tinkle as she’d bound her way back to me. But there was only silence.
Hoping against hope that my mom had brought Choie back inside while I was gone, I tore my way through the house, yelling her name, growing more certain she was dead. Finally I reached my bedroom where Choie lay sleeping in what I’d call a “cho nest,” i.e. a circular impression on my pillow. Thereupon I collapsed into hysterical tears, falling onto my bed, hugging her and promising I’d never let anything happen to her. (She eyed me suspiciously, as cats are wont to do with such vulgar displays of emotion.)
After that, Choie remained indoors whenever I had the power to prevent it. (My parents weren’t as assiduous.) And Choie lived to be nearly 20 – a happy, healthy cat, with plenty of toys, window boxes and other cats to keep her company.
I wish the U.S. were like Britain, which seems positively bucolic and much more cat-friendly. But the U.S. isn’t. From the sound of your neighborhood, it’s way too dangerous for a cat to be roaming. Unhappy he may be for a while (I recommend Feliway spray, a great natural product to help calm nervous or unhappy animals), but in the end it comes to this: do you want a live cat or dead cat?