Do cats mind being outside all night?

[AhBiscuits]

My neighbours don't have a catflap and their cat is out overnight. We got a door camera a few months ago and it always picks him up at about 11pm coming into our slightly covered porch area and sleeping on our doormat until about 5am, when he wanders off. He's not a young cat, they've had him since we moved here so he's at least 10.
It's starting to get pretty cold at night. I wondered about putting a folded blanket down for him or something so he's more off the cold floor. But I guess he's been OK up to now, before I knew about him visiting.

I'm a softie and would definitely leave some sort of mat/blankie.

And I'd check for ways to banish draughts.

Mine ask to go out at night so depends on the cat - if we don’t let them out shout at the door! The only time they don’t is if it’s freezing or raining heavily. But if you feel bad for it maybe put something there to make it more cosy for him.

Blankets can freeze
Box stuffed with straw is good and cheap

Cats shouldn’t be left out at night, but here is some information about making a shelter for strays or ones locked out by their owners like this one. Blankets are not a good idea https://www.cats.org.uk/cats-blog/how-to-make-stray-cat-shelter

Poor cat. We don't have a cat flap, they can come and go when I'm around and the back door is open, but dinner is the best way to trap them in, so they're always in overnight. But then I was paranoid about the Croydon cat killer so the pattern stuck. A blanket would be nice, it's not pleasant out there with rain and cold right now .

Oh good point re blankets freezing.

Mine have always insisted on going out all night. Is it perhaps worth mentioning to neighbour that the cat is in your porch come morning. My DD can't have a cat flap, but leaves a window open a bit.

Poor cat, most cats want in late evening they are not nocturnal and sleep till dawn.

Its too cold to be out at night now unless your a hard core cat who thinks beds are for sissies.

Let him in!

A cardboard box on its side would be good as it will keep their heat in and make them feel safer.
It's really nice of you to think about this cat''s welfare :)

Aaah thinking of putting a blanket out is so cute. Cats kind of decide themselves if it’s too cold or wet out overnight for them. Mine will stay out most of the day and all night in the summer but dips in and out this time of year. Like to try to make sure he’s indoors overnight when it’s cold but sometimes he just wants to do his own thing. He has a terrible fear of missing out so if he meows to go out we let him x

A little box with a blanket is kind; it's cold and wet.

Though there is some truth to the cat sat on the mat. My cat likes to sit on mine and the neighbours doormats as a kind of "this is mine" move.

I have 5 cats but my one girl who is 8 prefers to be outside. She sleeps outside most of the year but as soon as it gets cold, she she ventures into the kitchen and sleeps on a blanket.
She hates one of my boys as he picks on her so I know she finds it hard to come in and has to check for him first.
Reason I explain all this is because I know she would much prefer to be outside but the cold gets the better of her. So definitely try put something out to help this cat keep warm if possible. Especially as they get on in years.

Saying that, growing up in the 70s, all our cats were put out at night.

I have a heat mat on my terrace for the random feral and stray cats that want somewhere warm to hunker down at night. But the cat that adopted us and who sleeps in the house all day, goes out at night and sleeps in my polytunnel.

I have a range of covered places for various cats around the garden.

It's a myth that cats should be put out at night . They feel the cold just like any other human/animal.
You need to have a word with your neighbour. The cat is seeking warmth where it can.
I have a cat shelter in my back garden with straw in ( it doesn't freeze) in case any cats need it in the night

Poor cat, cats sleep at night they aren't nocturnal and it's really cold at the moment. They tend to be active at dusk and dawn and want to find somewhere safe to sleep in between.

I'd try to make it a little shelter for it.

Our neighbours cat does this too. We figured it was sleeping in our shed as we saw it there. We have a window left partially open
I put an igloo cat bed in there a couple of weeks ago so it can stay warm over winter.

I agree with Medlady, let him in. I've had cats all my life, and that's a long time but I've never let them out at night. My cut off time is 9pm and they accept that quite happily, I let my guard down with one of my cats, it was summer and he wanted to go out and I thought it's only 9pm, he can go out for half an hour, he never came back he was knocked over by a van. Added to that, cats aren't safe at night, we have no idea what's out there, better to be safe than sorry, they've got all day to be out and about if they want but night is a definite no.

Poor cat. When we rescued ours the shelter was emphatic that we never leave it out at night as it’s cruel and also dangerous. Turns out the cat barely wants to go outside - only on warm summer evenings!

It depends on the cat. Our cat used to opt to be out overnight quite a lot when she was younger. She was always given the option to come in before we went to bed. She won't use a cat flap. Nowadays she is elderly and rarely goes out and only then for between 30 and 90 seconds.

However, she did do two whole nights out over the summer. We have cameras and could see that at 2am she wanted back in, but we didn't hear her, so out she stayed.

Cats generally know what they want. Although mostly it is to be on the other side of the door from the one they are on! However, you could tell the owners as they may have got used to their cat preferring to be out but haven't recently offered to let the cat come back in overnight.

Our old neighbour was like this. We ended up buying a second hand cat carrier and covering it with a waterproof bit of tarpaulin and putting straw inside. We put the basket in a protected corner of the garden. Mandu (his name) slept there for years.

My 2 love to be outdoors all night in the warmer weather, but recently they're only popping out for a wee (or other). I have a new back door and am currently leaving it open as no cat flap yet - kitchen is freezing, need a cat flap!

That's very kind of you. Cats love any kind of box, I hope you get a picture of him/her climbing in and conking out 😍

Definitely no feeding though lol

Sometimes ours look to go out at night, especially our boy. I find the 2 females are looking to stay in at night in this cold weather. One of them is 9 so I’m ok with it. We don’t have litter boxes but they are clean indoors anyway. We live in the countryside, I don’t know where they sleep outside. I know one used to sleep on the trampoline in summer. Very independent creatures really. Nice of you op to be concerned about the neighbours cat, put a box of straw on the porch and he might use it.

Absolutely provide a little shelter. Lots of info on how to do it cheaply and safely...