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

[PandaWorld]

As in if they are 14 or over ? Obviously talking about cats who are actually allowed out and not just indoor cats.

Yeees, but will admit i'm having a bit of a crises about it at the moment.
I've 5 in total, 2 who are well on to elderly. They both love being outside, and have always had free roam, but they're slower now, sleep more deeply, i recently spotted a large local fox etc.
I'm honestly tempted to start keeping them in with one of those smart cat flap things. Let them out when i can at least shake the dreamies tin if i get worried.

Sorry, bit of a rambling answer!

Ours is 12...in at 9 pm ish for food and straight up to bed... Never been out all night. Not sure I would sleep!

Mine is younger but we stopped letting her out at night when she came home with a bite to her front paw😢

She only wants to go out late evening but she’s shut in from 9pm now😻

If cats had MN she’d be complaining like mad!!

That made me laugh @Doyouthinktheyknow . A whole AIBU forum of the ramblings of various cats. Would be filled with indignation !

No, I shut them in at 9pm-ish. One had an encounter with a fox last summer and wouldn't come in till 2am, and since then I've been cautious. Never anything like that when younger, he was a bruiser!

They're nearly 17 though and mostly sleep, just got out for a morning and evening look around unless it's very warm.

I don’t let my younger cat out at night! I’m of the opinion that the risk from cars and foxes is much higher after dark, and I also don’t like the idea of her wanting to come home and not being able to. More selfishly, I can relax properly if I know she’s home safe, so we bring her in and don’t let her out again about an hour before dark. Unless we’re out in the garden on summer evenings, and then we let her stay out. She just sits with us then anyway.

Mine are nearly 7 and 18 months. They go out in the morning and after they come in at teatime to be fed they stay in. I've never allowed them out after dark.

Can you imagine the Tortitude?

With regard to older cats out at night, strong no. Their hearing won't be as sharp as it used to be, probably not even noticeable in normal circumstances but vital for them.

They won't be able to regulate their body temperature as well (just like kittens) and at increased risk of hypothermia.

They might not appreciate it, but there's a reason outdoor cats have a much shorter life expectancy than indoor cats.

our cat is 17 and goes out at night. She has a cat flap and comes and goes as she pleases.

However we live in a very quiet rural area with few cars and don't have any foxes at all as we are in Jersey

We have a secure garden and in the summer she will sleep on a chair on the patio, but with cooler temperatures she’s putting herself to bed in my husband’s chair around 9!

Ours are free roaming from about 7am, till 8, 9pm this time of year. They come in for snacks and treats and get locked in. Summer, it can be 10, 11 pm. Like a pp, I can't fully relax till I know all 3 are snoozing in various cosy beds.

No never have .Was never keen on cats out overnight anyway so tried really hard to have routine that kept them in .I hate the howling of cats overnight. The weather the risk of injury etc .Not worth it

Yes, I have always done it and nver had one go missing, they usually stick close to home near the end anyway.
We had one cat PTS last month at age 14 and she stopped wandering a week or so before she got ill. We still have her sister and she uses the catflap as she wants

No i stopped. They were getting into fights. Constant vet trips for antibiotics for the bites/ abscesses i couldn’t sort out with in-depth cleaning.
They were then both run over right after each other.
i had stopped then going out at late night but it still happened.

Nope, he's never allowed out at night. Black cat and I don't trust people

No. Once you've worked as an animal rescue officer you would never let cats out at night. Majority of traffic collisions and fights between cats happen at night. Major welfare charities recommend keeping cats in at night for this reason.

Mine have always been allowed out whenever they want. I currently have three, the older 2 are 13 and 15 and are mostly out overnight and come home when I get up in the morning. They can come in and out of the catflap whenever they want, but why go to that effort when some fool will be along to open the door for them....

My 15 year old cat doesn't go out much but we still lock the cat flap at dusk. He stays in quite happily overnight. I couldn't relax if he wasn't it when it was dark out. Our other cat is about 6 and we got him when his owners- neighbours- moved house and left him behind. He's used to being out more so he can stay out but once he's in, that's it.

I never let my last old cat out after dark. She was 22 when she died and was deaf and very short sighted. We've always had a lot of foxes in our garden, and I ended up not even letting her out when I wasn't around after I had to run down the garden to scoop her up when a fox was stalking her. The fox didn't even back off when I got close, and the poor old cat was completely oblivious and enjoying sitting in the sun.

When I got our current cat, I made sure he got used to coming in at dusk and he's been as good as gold.

Two older boys here. 17 & 15. (Both have three legs too!)
In summer 17YO was out all the time. But on a garden chair. Now it's winter he never leaves the house.
15 year old treats the Catflap like a revolving door, I can never keep him in. He scratches and yowls, let him out, he potters for five mins and is back in again.
The micrcchip Catflap is just set to open all the time. The only time I try is around firework night but the big dopey ginger boy sits on the log store watching rockets go off.

Ours have never been allowed out at night. Strict policy that the cat flap is locked when they come in for dinner and not opened until after breakfast. Because it's always been like this, they thwack the cat flap a couple of times, then stare at it sadly for a while, then give up.

We don’t let our 2 year old or previous 15 year old at night because of the number of foxes (London).

One of our cats wasn’t interested in going outside, day or night, after about age 10.

Another preferred to be outside than in and only ever came in to eat, even up to age 16.

They’ve all just come and gone as they liked.

My current cats (both younger) typically go out at 10pm and come in at 7am, and sleep all day.

We live on a very road where we normally only get a couple of cars through the night vs a car every 5 or 10 minutes in the day so it feels safer for them to be out at night than in the day.

P.S. Never had any of mine attacked by foxes. I’m sure there are plenty around!

Our cat has always been kept in at night, mainly due to living not far from a main road, though there are a couple of foxes around as well.

Cat is 18 and comes and goes as he pleases. Tends to check the perimeter of the garden around 10pm but is in for his 10:30pm supper. Then snoozes for a few hours before going out in the early hours to check the perimeter again. Snoozes indoors until breakfast. He only goes out briefly during the day too preferring to watch the world from a sunny spot in the house.

Older cats (22 and 24 when they died) also came and went as they pleased - the older they got the less they went out at night. They both preferred to go outside than use a litter tray although we had them available (especially when it was wet!)