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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To put my cats outside for the night?

45 replies

oldbeforetime · 22/01/2011 23:31

I've always had my cats in at night they are only 9 months old.

I'm tired and want to go to bed, one cat came in an hour ago then went back out, half an hour ago the other one came back in.

He's currently stuck inside meowing and scratching the door and wanting to go out, and the other one despite calling hasn't returned.

Unfortunately we don't have a cat flap.

So I'm now thinking of letting the other one out, shutting the back door and going to bed, would this be foolish to do?

OP posts:

BunnyWunny · 23/01/2011 09:32

Cats can survive in cold!

Sonea · 23/01/2011 09:33

My cats have always preferred to be outside, they have an old duvet and some wooly jumpers in the shed that they curl up on in the shed. However, they are very old now 15 and 17 and for the last two winters they have spent more and more time indoors during the winter and generally come in around 9.00 pm for the night.

But last week when we had a couple of mild nights, I was stood outside the back door shouting for one of them at midnight and he'd obviously decided he wasn't coming in for the night but was going to stay out.

Cat98 · 23/01/2011 09:40

It's a myth that cats are ok in the cold. Actually, they manage better in very warm weather than in very cold weather. Also, as other posters have said, there are risks such as traffic (they can be blinded by the headlights so more at risk of getting run over) and foxes. Ours has stayed out a handful of times in the summer when she just refused to come in, but I try and keep her in at night when possible.

purepurple · 23/01/2011 09:44

YABU
if they leave their poo in anybody else's garden
and if they wail all bloody night

Shall I let my dog out so it can shit in your garden and bark outside your window all night?

Bloodymary · 23/01/2011 11:09

I know that it has been said earlier, but get a catflap and then they can do what they want.
I have one that you can lock from the inside if you wish, as your kitten is still quite young.

mamatomany · 23/01/2011 11:17

Ours go out every night and on the few occasions we've felt sorry for them and let them stay in they have rewarded us by crapping on the carpet, surrounded by laminate flooring so sought out a bit of carpet to shit on, despite having a clean litter tray which only one cat will use.

AlicesWonderland · 23/01/2011 11:25

DO NOT GET A CATFLAP!!

You will wake up to a room full of half dead mice and birds if your cats are anything like mine

Or if they are as stupid as my tom cat they will not be able to work out how to use it...despite being shown upteen time

Our tom cat currently keeps climbing on the conservatory roof and miouwing until he is let in a 3am every morning

LaWeaselMys · 23/01/2011 11:34

Get a catflap. Honestly letting them call the shots will reduce the crazy running around like their bum is on fire/scratching antics so much.

Sometimes my cat goes out for the night, sometimes he doesn't. The weather doesn't seem to have that much to do with it, but seems to me you can't rule in or out all the time. I do have the extra element of trust with my cat that he hates traffic and doesn't go near.

I'd probably wait until they were one though. Just because they must still be pretty small and vulnerable.

AnnaBubbles · 23/01/2011 11:49

We bring ours in at dusk. We are wary of foxes, the cold and also they of course hunt at night and we would prefer they did not eat the local wildlife.

Original poster

oldbeforetime · 23/01/2011 12:11

Thanks for all the advice.

Inside the house they have a number of toys, and scratching posts - this does not stop them sitting behind the front or back door ready to scarper out as soon as anyone opens either, nor does it stop them from scratching the sofa!!!

Outside they have access to the garage at all times, that has a cat bed with blanket in it, and a lot of the times during the day, they sleep on top of the boxes, and look out of a high window, so they are safe off the ground from other predators, and it is an obstacle course to get to.

They bring me presents of live mice, and are instantly bored, and leave them for me!

Regards to pooing in other people's gardens I wish they would , when outside they meow to come in, use their litter tray and then go back outside again!!!

If I do leave them out, to use the garage, I'll have to put a litter tray in there, otherwise they'll be meowing at me that there's nowhere to do their business!

OP posts:

Limelight · 23/01/2011 12:23

Mine goes out at night quite regularly. We sort of let her choose to be honest, and she's very good at letting her preference be known! She has a cat kennel in the garden too (or large rabbit hutch in fact) which is stuffed full of straw and it's by far her favourite place to sleep (inc. during the day).

It's worth adding that she's fairly elderly, and lived on the streets for a long time so she's quite independent spirited. Her age means she doesn't tend to get much further than our garden, and I suspect she doesn't look that tasty to any passing foxes (she's got old lady scrawniness going on in a big way!).

babypickles · 23/01/2011 12:26

Euw I sometimes hear cats having sex in the night. Keep them inside.

DitaVonCheese · 23/01/2011 12:31

Cats that are outside overnight aren't actually outside though, are they? Most of them are in my grandmother's house, for starters.

2rebecca · 23/01/2011 12:42

This thread makes me wonder yet again why anyone bothers with them. Waking at 3am for thirsty baby fine, waking 3am by bored cat not fine, especially if every night.

fealta · 23/01/2011 12:50

No.
Mine are 4 years old and have gone out at night for the last two as would not stay off the kitchen table and worktops. They wake the children and miaow at 6am if not shut away from bedrooms.
They have access to a shed and a blanket in a box but do not use it even when it is freezing or snowing.
They are thick coated and healthy, no illnesses ever.

babypickles · 23/01/2011 12:53

Why do people like cats. I don't get it.

DitaVonCheese · 23/01/2011 12:58

2rebecca YANBU. My (mad) granny has a cat, who has a catflap and comes and goes all night (as do several other cats). Quite often she has to get up to break up fights or protect her cat from intruders or to put small creatures back outside. She gets up two or three times a night to feed him, which takes ages because apparently he will only eat off a clean plate He also climbs into bed with her, including when he is soaking wet. I have to listen to stories along these lines several times a week but she will not shut the damn animal out (or even close the door to the conservatory so he can get in there but not get into the rest of the house).

We will be burying the cat with her ...

Original poster

oldbeforetime · 23/01/2011 13:13

Ditavoncheese

OP posts:

ensure · 23/01/2011 13:22

I have never had a cat and thought they all went outside at night too!

FranSanDisco · 23/01/2011 13:27

Our cat is was a stray when we took her in so loves being outside at night. She's like a barometer though as when it gets a little too cold she stays in. Can't have a cat flap as she a hunter and often leaves mice and pigeons on the door step, even a dead squirrel [boak] one year.

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