Leaving cat for one night outside?

[Poodle123456]

We are going away for one night, we’ll be leaving in the evening and returning the following evening. Our cat in this warm weather has been spending most nights out all night, she doesn’t have a cat flap but can climb through our bedroom window which we leave open for her. She spends all day and most of the night outside and only comes in to eat. We don’t live near any main roads, very end of a quiet cul de sac.

As she’s such an outdoor cat I think it would be more cruel to lock her in for 24 hours whilst we go away than it would to leave her outside. We have an outdoor office which we could leave the door open for her with her food, blankets and water in so she’d have somewhere to go if she needed to.

Is this a bad idea? The alternative is taking her to my MILs for 3 nights as she’d go Friday but not come back until Monday….but she’d be shut inside there too.

Advice welcome ☺️ AIBU to leave her the one night?

You know your cat. If she’s the kind of cat that’s miserable and distressed if she’s locked indoors, and essentially she usually just pops in occasionally to eat and spends 90% of her time outdoors, then she’ll be fine for a night with food, water and shelter in the office if she needs it. It’s 24 hours.

Luckily we haven’t had one in our bedroom through the window we leave open for her but don’t think she’s skilled enough to navigate climbing with her bird/mouse with her

She's got 24 hours to learn a new skill.
She'll be sitting there thinking What to do today....ah. Window and search for something partially dead and portable .
To welcome you home .
Nothing says "I missed you" like a disembowelled sparrow on your bed

Sorry to hear that, but a cat could also become unexpectedly ill while its owner was out at work, or while the cat was exploring further afield. The OP’s cat is no more likely to succumb to a painful illness in the 24 hours she’s away than it is when she’s out shopping for a few hours or at any other time. It isn’t really a valid reason for shutting an outdoor roaming cat up in a cattery for a day.

I wouldn't. You can't guarantee that she would get her dinner and you can't guarantee she might have a mishap or accident and there nobody there to help.

I read online that you can leave a healthy adult cat 24-48 hrs, we did this for a wedding a couple of years ago, I’m sure your cat will be fine, as long as you leave plenty of water and dry food to last him/her they probably won’t even notice you’re gone

It depends if she would be upset that nobody is there. A few years ago we went away and left our cat with my then teenage son. The cat used to jump onto a flat roof and scratch at the bedroom window to be let in. My son didn't hear him scratching, cat took the hump and moved into a small wood round the corner. It took us a a fortnight to coax him back home 😬😬

Get a cat sitter, don't leave the cat out all night, other nasty toms might fight with it or it could disappear and never come back if it thinks you've abandoned it

Honestly I would keep her in. I get that she would prefer to be outside, but its more about her safety then preferences.

id ask someone to come and stay in the house for the night. Ideally someone she knows. Sleeps in a different bedroom but hopefully having someone there in the house means you can leave your bedroom window open. Otherwise she may get confused why she can’t come in her usual way and get distressed. Alternatively, leave her in the house.

In is better than out.

Op has said cat is frequently out all night, if it was going to get bullied off its patch by local Tom's would have happened by now!!!

She's not going to get mugged by a gang of field mice, is she?

I would. It's less stressful for an outdoor cat which spends most of its time outside than to be suddenly locked in.

I another one who’d keep her in. Would be typical this is the one night another cat tries to beat her up. She might not like it but she’d be safe. Cats sho go to the cattery for a week don’t like it but they are ok. At least this is her own home.

I do this with my cat. I leave her some biscuits and water outside. She pretty much lives outside during the summer. Some days I only see her for ten minutes when she comes in for food and then she's immediately off again.

It puts my mind at rest, actually. I live on my own so if something happened to me and I couldn't get back, she'd be trapped inside. I prefer to leave her in a position where she could at least scavenge some food and water.

She doesn't roam at all. If I thought she'd go off on adventures, I might leave her in. But she's middle aged and extremely lazy. I've never seen her go more than twenty metres from the house. Plus, where I am is really quiet with hardly any cars.

I wouldn’t either.

In fact I stopped leaving my cat at home with a neighbour popping in and started taking them to the cattery just because they had an accident that wasn’t picked up by my neighbour on a visit because the cat was outside when they popped in.

I’d leave them in the house.

Personally I'd not do it unless she had a way to access the house. Whether that means leaving the window open or getting a cat flap. You can always close it after. It's not just about weather, it's about her security to access her safe space if she's startled, chased or attacked. If she can't get in home, she could run away.

If she hangs out with the neighbourhood cats then will a neighbour check her at night then in the morning. I’ve left cats for a few days before with just someone checking.

Cat flap?

She will be fine, both of my cats spend most of the summer outside all night. I don't leave them food out either as they both like to hunt, which is why they like being out!

I'm sure she'll be fine but I'd still get the neighbours/ trustworthy teen to keep an eye out. Sounds like you live in a cat friendly zone so I'm sure they'd be happy to help (I am that neighbour - I have a list of felines to feed and stroke over the summer).

I know my Mum used to do this with cats for all her holidays. They just left the shed window open and someone put food in the shed.