To let my cat out at night?

[Deargodletitgo]

I have two rescues, both fixed, both chipped and one of whom wears a tracker after getting himself locked in a neighbours house for a week last year and scaring the crap out of me.

Their schedule is out from early morning and then able to come and go till dusk when they are locked inside. Except twat face my boy cat is now waking me up at 2.30am onwards to demand to be let out. If its light, I've let him out (4.30am onwards and gone back to sleep) but last two nights I've waited until the sun comes up and had over an hour of claws, abuse and terrorist activity from him. And no, locking him out of the room isn't an option as he'll claw through the door and meow the house down keeping everyone awake.

Issue is we lost a cat a couple of years back during the early morning on a road when we lived in another village and so I'm a bit paranoid. AIBU to just say to hell with it and let the little sod out into the dark?

Mine has started staying out all night, there is no getting her in these days.
The last couple of years I’ve got up at 3:30/4am or whenever she has loudly made it know she wants out.
It terrifies me her being out, I too lost a cat in a RTA and it devastated me. Ultimately, mine is happier out playing all night. I feel that it would be cruel to keep her contained tbh so I have to accept the risks and let her be happy outside rather than miserable.

I keep mine in but he insists on a couple of hours out between 22.00 and midnight and while the weather is this good I have to entice him in with cheese. I think with cats, you have to compromise, depending on what the cat wants.

I only let my cats out at night. No.1 cause of death is cars and there’s less cars at night so they get let out at eleven and they are all back by seven. We’re quite lucky though because they don’t live on a road and I did start by walking them to give them some idea of where to be when I call them.

Ours comes and goes as he likes, whatever time it is. He’s his own man.

Cat flap that opens with cat collar would be my solution

I have a cat flap, he will use it, my other cat thinks its the work of the devil. Twat face can also break through it if it's locked.

It looks like I'm being an over protective cat mum

I'm having this quandary too @Deargodletitgo I like my boy in over night but the last week he's really pushing it! I've been a bit more flexible as it's much cooler then but it does worry me. We have a cat flap, I lock that at 10:30, so once he's in he's in. But we too have had 1:30 attacks wanting to go out! Such fun eh?!

What is your reason for preventing them going out at night?

I would just have a cat flap and let them come and go as they please.

After losing a young cat on the road at night a few years back I've become more anxious about it.

Ours is mainly out at night and then sleeps in the house most of the day. Surely night time when there's less traffic and people about is safer?

Personally I wouldn't let him out at night. Yes, fewer cars but they're going faster and less likely to see a cat in the dark. Plus it's better for wildlife if cats are in between dusk and dawn.

However, we've had cats in the past who have made life utter hell by wanting to go out at 3am, and have two now who often refuse to come in. They like to point out I'm talking absolute crap about being in at dusk and they'll do as they please regardless of what i think!

The trouble is, give in just once and that's it, you're stuffed as it literally takes them getting their own way once and then if you don't give in again they really up their attack 🤣

Not a cat person but if I were I think I'd rather it was out and about happily being a cat. Part of the risk of that is it wanders off or gets run over on the road.

Is there anything one can do to mitigate the risk of RTC - retro reflective/dayglo collar for example?

They shouldn’t be out and about harassing your neighbours anyway. They should be catproofed in your garden.

You’re not a “cat mum”. You’re a pet owner.

Helpful 🙄

Isn’t it loads more safe at night when there aren’t any (far fewer ) cars ?

Get a pet, let it wander at will to shit in neighbours gardens and kill all small rodents and songbirds in the area, but handwring just in case it gets run over. Only cat owners do this, if I pulled this shit with my dogs (or any other pet) i would quite rightly be castigated for it. Cat owners really need to take responsibility for their cats. Either keep the vile things in your house or shut in a catio or don't have them.

I’m a CatMum
👍😀👍

Keeping them in when it's hot is like being in a sauna for them . They like to hunt at night when it's cooler .

Well at least cats don't poop or pee all over the pavements

Whataboutery at its finest. Well done 🙄

It might be safer to keep him in, in terms of road safety, but some cats become absolutely mental and aggressive if they’re stopped from going out. So you might have no choice in the end and have to risk it unfortunately.

Wow, you sound nice 🙄 The main cause of wildlife decimation is human activity/destruction of natural habitats, not cats.

Keep your pet inside and keep the local wildlife safe.

I don't have a source for this claim, but I read 78% of cats killed on the road are at night. Ours is a rescue cat and the charity recommends that they're kept in at night due to road risk, also they're more likely to fight other animals / be at risk from unpleasant humans. I guess depends as well on where you live. However we've always kept in our big, bruiser of an ex-Tom cat stray at nights, and after he got used to the routine he was fine. We play with him before bed, fill his stomach and he mostly sleeps through now. His snoring can wake us sometimes.