You had a cat hit by a car and you still think it is a good idea to let them roam? Disgusting.
He was 15 years old. He lived a long wonderful life, with plenty of food, adventures, and all the veterinary care he could possibly benefit from. Children sometimes get hit by cars too — that’s not a reason to keep them locked indoors all their lives. Quality of life is important, and cats don’t give a hoot whether they live one year, or 10 years, or 20 years, but they care if they’re comfortable and enjoying themselves from minute to minute. They don’t have plans to spend their retirement years golfing or playing with their grandchildren or volunteering for a charity.
Little Gordon apparently fell asleep quickly from internal bleeding, after retreating to a favorite spot under the bookstore owner’s car, a few feet from where he’d been hit, and only a close inspection by the vet revealed that he’d been hit. His passing certainly involved no more suffering than if he’d lived a longer (or shorter) time, and had met his demise after coming down with kidney or liver or heart failure, or cancer, etc. Many indoor cats have died much younger, in some cases with their terminal illness brought on sooner due to obesity/lack of exercise/etc, and they’ve usually had much less enjoyment while they were alive. Yep, I think it’s a great idea to let them roam, and so do they.