To ask if you let your older cats out at night ?

Parents cat is 19 and can go out at night, he doesn't go out that much anymore though.

All our cats are in at night except when they refuse to show their little furry faces! The oldest is always brought in though, as a) I think he's too old now to cope with being out at night and b) he wanders too far as it is, he would go way too far if out all night.

We've always tried to keep ours in at night and even more so as they get older.

All our cats are in at night except when they refuse to show their little furry faces! The oldest is always brought in though, as a) I think he's too old now to cope with being out at night and b) he wanders too far as it is, he would go way too far if out all night.

We've always tried to keep ours in at night and even more so as they get older.

I've an enclosed garden so she does go out after dark now, but when she was proper free roaming, she was always in on a night. She knew her curfew and would be home at dusk!

Mine is 16 and still goes out at night, but he doesn't go too far now. He just has a mooch about our cul de sac, visits a few of the neighbours or sits/sleeps/sunbathes in our garden.

Now it's colder he's started staying in at night (and sleeps on the middle of the stairs 🙄)but I expect next summer he'll stay out again - he only comes into the house when the weather is warm for food then buggers off.

We don't need to worry too much about cars but he's had a few scraps with foxes and younger cats throughout his life but now seems to be in old cat mode and just let's the younger cats take over his territory and the foxes are just after the food waste bins so seem to leave him be.

We got our middle aged cat from battersea last year
They advised bringing her in at night.
Foxes, traffic and lots of cats here.

So I have one fully outdoor. He never comes in or home at all for a good while. He's more a neighbourhood cat who I take to the vets, flea etc.

Then I have 4 indoor/outdoor, who come and go as they please, but I do try to get them in at night and keep them in as soon as it goes dark. In the summer with windows open etc they do sneak out again sometimes, but they do normally come back

Anyone who frets about hygiene in that scenario has no soul. Knowing my little girl is curled up next to me makes me happier than anything.

My cat is 18 and has arthritis, plus she is now completely deaf. We also have foxes and badgers that come through our garden frequently. She is free to come and go whenever she wishes, but she has recently decided that it isn't any fun going out in the cold and wet so we have had to give her a litter tray. She is still free to go out whenever she likes, but she chooses not to a lot of the time.

Our gorgeous boy is 14. We've never let him out at night. He's black with no road sense so I would never have slept for worrying if he was out and about. He very quickly adjusted to our sleep patterns; I tell him it's bedtime, he trots up with me (and on weekends when I stay up later he sometimes tells me it's bedtime by looking at me, then looking at the stairs repeatedly). Most nights he sleeps snuggled up next to me or on my pillow. Some people may think unhygenic but we frequently wash bedding and it makes us very happy.

I do in summer, but it’s very exposed and rural here, so i keep them in during cold weather.

Our nearly 14 year old goes out mostly at night, he tends to sleep in the day. Sometimes he is out all night, others just a few hours. All weather, we can’t keep him in. He cries and scratches to go out. We’ve tried.

I think he stays pretty local at night, we are in a quiet street. I’ve seen him sleep under the BBQ cover or in a bush. Even when it’s pouring he comes in pretty much bone dry.

I imagine as he gets older he will naturally want to stay in more.

My old boy only goes outside when it is warm or to do a toilet run.
My little cat who is also older fooled us into thinking she stayed in all night. However when I had a bout of insomnia I discovered she actually pops out for a few hours and returns around 3 or 4am!
We are in South East London and foxes swarm here. I have one with a poorly back leg who will walk into the house if I leave the back door open.
My boy cat does tend to bully the cubs and teenage foxes. None of the regular foxes are horrible to either cat. Obviously animals all have different personalities and some foxes are nasty there just aren't many round our way thankfully.

All our cats are in at night or from when it gets dark, so around 9pm in summer and 4pm winter.

Nope - my cat is in from dusk til dawn, and ideally fully light at both ends of the day. Cats kill most wildlife at night and twilight, so he's kept in.

My cat is 19. Until he was 17, he had free access through a cat flap, but I was starting to worry about younger cats challenging him and possibly chasing him away from his home. Since moving house, he's had access to an enclosed courtyard, and learned a new type of meow very quickly to let me know he wants outside. He does get into arguments occasionally with a 15yo cat that also lives in the building, but because he only gets to go out now when I am there, I can intervene quickly if it's getting too much. I close the door when I go to bed, and he seems to be happy enough with that: while he takes many trips outside, they are all very short these days, and he spends most of his time sleeping.

No, we have 5 cats and none of them go out at night.

My cat is 14 and has a cat flap and is free to come and go. It never occurred to me that his age made a difference. We live in a very quiet rural area.

No. As per previous posts, it's more dangerous for them at night. Mine put themselves to bed. It's adorable.

One of my past cats disappeared after I saw him chase a fox. It was broad daylight. He never came home. His body was taken in by the RSPCA who whilst putting posters up to say that they had found a cat and me being able to confirm that he was mine, wouldn't even tell me how they thought he had died 😔

I never used to worry about my cats being out at night because I figured there’s less cars. You don’t really get many cars driving past my house at 1am, so my boy used to like staying out all night and coming in in the morning. That is until one morning I opened the door and he came hobbling in, he had fractured one of his legs. He was only 2 at the time as well. Since then both of my cats do not go out after 9pm. One time, my boy went out at 4pm and didn’t come back home until 3am.. I couldn’t sleep at all. I was wondering the streets every hour calling his name, convinced something had happened to him. Too much danger at night, I hate it

Yes. Our aging prince can come and go as he pleases. He has in the past had fights and been injured but not for a long time now. He doesn't stay out long if he does decide to go out at night now.

We have an almost two year old and he is in overnight. Previous girl had to be pts unexpectedly (cancer) aged ten earlier this year and was very occasionally out overnight on a summer evening, but had access to the utility room. Neither cat has particularly been a roamer, both generally in our garden/next door, but I am happier to keep them in.

We don’t have a cat flap so in through the day if we are at work too. Our wee boy comes in to use the litter tray if he’s out so he’d be crossing his paws if he was left to it.

No never, cats in at night safe and sound.

Never considered keeping my cats in at all. Our 16yo sleeps on my bed but pops out a few times at night. We have cats, foxes and once saw a badger in the garden (during a very bad drought) but the trail camera has never caught any interaction other than between Young Cat and Neighbours Cat and that's never been more than a Mexican Standoff.