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Original poster

do you let your cats out at night

22 replies

hatwoman · 07/08/2007 08:20

OP posts:

IdrisTheDragon · 07/08/2007 08:21

Yes. Does mean there are often "presents" in the kitchen in the morning though .

magnolia1 · 07/08/2007 08:22

I usually chuck them out at night as they meiow loudly to go out at 5am

batey · 07/08/2007 08:23

Yep, she has free run of her cat flap. But we are in a quiet area. when we were in london she could only get access to the garden. She tends to come in around 11 anyway though. HTH

FlameBatfink · 07/08/2007 08:23

We always did - had a catflap etc so not like "putting them out" iyswim, but not shut in.

batey · 07/08/2007 08:24

No presents here, she cant be bothered!

Radley · 07/08/2007 08:30

They tend to choose themselves, we always open the stable door at night for five minutes to give them time to go out and come back in etc, but, if they don't come when we call them, they stay out.

My 9 month old has just spent his first night outside, he literally jumped into my arms, he's now breakfasted and laid purring on my knee.

IdrisTheDragon · 07/08/2007 08:31

The cat can come back in again (as you would hopefully guess by the presents). Wouldn't put her "out".

Olihan · 07/08/2007 08:36

We used to in our old house as all the neighbourhood cats were coming in through the night and we had cat spray everywhere [vomit]. Now we've moved they have a cat flap in the utility room and their beds are in there so they come and go as they please.

We get presents here too but luckily they're always left in the garden. We had a baby rabbit yesterday that was still alive and unharmed - usually we just find the heads .

Whizzz · 07/08/2007 08:39

Our cat has a catflap to come & go as she pleases in the day but at night we don't let her out.

Original poster

hatwoman · 07/08/2007 08:42

well your answers are making me feel less guilty. after some initial reluctance we started letting ours out (letting, not putting) about 3 weeks ago. I woke up this morning to find one dead on the road . she was only about 9 months old. she was very very beautiful and dd1 adored her - it was a real pleasure to see them together - dd spent lots of time just sitting and cuddling her. If Little My got on her knee dd wouldn't move until the cat did. I'm so cross with myself. I didn;t want to let them out at night but I let myself be persuaded it would be ok. we let our previous 2 out for years.

OP posts:

Whizzz · 07/08/2007 08:44

pucca · 07/08/2007 08:47

Oh hatwoman, i am so sorry

We do allow ours out, but we have a cat flap so they come and go, 2 cats of mine went missing and i haven't got a clue what happened to them it has been 2 years now...still gutted though.

So sorry for your poor kitten, and don't beat yourself up, it was an accident,most people let their cats go out.

magnolia1 · 07/08/2007 08:48

Oh hatwoman Is it a busy road?

FlameBatfink · 07/08/2007 09:17

expatinscotland · 07/08/2007 09:18

No. They are indoors only.

binklehasflipped · 07/08/2007 09:22

We live on a main road and I let my cat out each night, naively assuming that she couldnt get out of the back garden (very high walls). She went missing for the a few days once and I put posters up and was phoned by a lady 12 streets away (over the main road) to say she had seen her on the lawn the previous day.

I couldnt believe it, I assumed she stayed in the back garden well away from the road. I know she wouldnt be happy in all night so I do let her out, thankfully, she never brings anything in the house.

Sorry about your loss hatwoman

Original poster

hatwoman · 07/08/2007 09:30

it's not a busy road - it's not a cul-de-sac but it is quiet - it's one way and has speed bumps so people don;t use it much.

OP posts:

binklehasflipped · 07/08/2007 09:39

you musnt blame yourself hatwoman - these things are completely random unfortunately and cant be anticipated. Like you said, you let your other cats out for years without incident.

You are not to blame, accidents just happen.(I understand how upsetting it is as this happened to me many years ago) but you did nothing wrong and everything right for the cat - it had lots of love whilst it was with you and some animals aren't even that lucky.

Hope you feel better soon

SueW · 07/08/2007 09:46

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

Radley · 07/08/2007 10:31

Oh hatwoman. I'm so sorry. I can totally empathise with you. I went away with work a few years ago and my 10 month old ginger tom got knocked over whilst away.

I was walking home from being dropped off and found his head at one side of the road and his body and collar at the other. I like to think he didn't suffer.

Kewcumber · 07/08/2007 10:33

so sorry hatwoman, I let mine out they would be unhappy if I didn't.

KITTENSOCKS · 07/08/2007 12:11

I'm so sorry for all your losses. I used to let my old cats do as they liked, in and out of the catflap day and night, the presents live or dead were the least of my problems. But other cats coming in, eating food and fighting were worse. There is nowhere in our current house we can have a flap that limits entry to one room, open plan lounge, so the current young adult cat is brought in for the night. Plus there's a high population of cats locally. It is a sad fact that cats aged approx. 9mths are at greatest risk of accidents, They are at their "teenage" stage, and more adventurous. Cats Protection advise keeping cats in at night, but it's purely up to the individual choice.

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