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Original poster

Cat people. Do you let your cat out at night?

116 replies

Spidermama · 24/08/2007 14:40

We're in the process of trying to get two rescue kittens but I'm finding it hard. Firstly they're not keen to home them with young children (understandable I guess) but then they (The Cats Protection League) adcise you to bring the cats in overnight and lock them indoors. When I was a kid my cats loved night time the best as they would hunt and enjoy themselves.

I'm not sure I'd want to keep a cat in at night. Surely the whole point with a cat is you put in cat door then they can come and go as they please.

OP posts:
Tanee58 · 24/08/2007 15:50
  • I suppose they thought they were keeping your larder well stocked!
Tanee58 · 24/08/2007 15:52

I actually felt quite sorry for the live ratlet. I put it in a waste paper basket and released it at the bottom of the garden. My mother - made of tougher stuff for all she's five foot nothing, couldn't believe I didn't just drop a stone on its head.

barnstaple · 24/08/2007 15:52

Yes, one of them did once bring me a lovely fillet of plaice. And a lot of leaves to have with it.

hatwoman · 24/08/2007 15:53

spidermama - I started a thread on exactly this - because our 9 month old was run over . Most people said they did let them out. I'm not sure if the risk is greater or not but I am keeping our other one in at the moment. can I blatantly use this thread of cat lovers to invite you to look at my lovely pics? I tried to upload them when I started the other thread but it didn;t work - then I noticed that they'd spontaneously appeared on my profile.

KerryMumbledore · 24/08/2007 15:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tanee58 · 24/08/2007 15:56

Hatwoman, how elegant they are!

Tanee58 · 24/08/2007 15:58

Ooh Kerry, now you've started it... But you have a point. I get a lot of cat poo in my garden, and it appears overnight - so I know it's not my cats' poo as they stey in and use their litter tray. I do resent having to clear up after other people's cats.

Having said that, one of the poos that sometimes appears in the middle of the lawn is large and dog -like - I suspect an urban fox.

twinsetandpearls · 24/08/2007 15:58

beautiful cats hatwoman

MellowMa · 24/08/2007 16:04

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MellowMa · 24/08/2007 16:06

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emj2007 · 24/08/2007 16:21

well my cat goes out at night all the time it would be cruel to keep her in as long as theyve had there injections and in my case spade theyll be fine obviously depending on were abouts you live depends how safe it is if you live right next to a motor way then it most probably wouldnt be safe to get one , cats a very clever animals its natural instinct for them to go out , hunt , and servive , who are we to denie them this , when i got my bermise kitten i got told oh keep her in all the time shes and indoor cat and i let her out a few weeks after she came to live with us and do know what if i dont let her out she cries and cries because she wants to go out and do what is natural she loves it , also i would like to add that ive noticed people put bells on the cat collers and do u know thats the worst thing u can do how can they hunt when everytime they jump round the corner to pounce on there prey there collar starts dingalinging its so cruel , how would you like it if u were a cat and u can see this yummy bit of bird infront of you you go to creep up behind it and wham ur bell starts goin off the bird flys away youd be well cheesed off! cats are buetiful animals treat them with a bit of respect cause they give so much love to us , dont keep them cooped up because you want them to its just cruel

Whizzz · 24/08/2007 16:38

Our cat has a bell on her collar & has still caught 2 mice today & brought them back into the house alive. I am now panicing as to whether she has done this before when we weren't in to see them......(visions of mice running round the house & hiding in cupboards ....ewwwww)

cece · 24/08/2007 16:40

Our cat stays in during the winter and goes out at night during the summer. We were told by the rescue home we got her from to keep her in every night but that didn't last long as she would meou at us till we let her out in the middle of the night.

hatwoman · 24/08/2007 16:42

MellowMa - your Reuben is lovely (lovely name too). and a dog as well! I'd love to fill my house with animals. I grew up in total awe of a family friend who had cats and dogs and chickens. her sister had sheep as well. she would hatch eggs undera mop in the aga....heigh ho that's my other life...

MellowMa · 24/08/2007 16:48

Message withdrawn

DumbledoresGirl · 24/08/2007 16:48

Spidermama, only read your OP: we adopted 2 cats from the CPL 2 years ago. They were only 13 weeks old and I was told to keep them in until they were 6 months old which is the time you have to have them spayed if you adopt from the CPL (they insist on it). In fact I managed it until they were about 5 months (so for about 2 months) after which I was completely fed up with emptying and cleaning litter trays and would let them out during the day. Now they are 2 years old and are total outdoor cats - I only see them in the evenings for food (ds2 feeds them in the morning before I get up).

I am sad that I don't get to see them more but they are not cuddly cats anyway (I think because they were not handled enough as tiny kittens) but I am pleased to have given them such a fine life. We live on a busy road but they never go on the road. We have a large garden that borders a stream and ultimately countryside and they spend their days and nights living a very natural cat life which I think is great for them.

ernest · 24/08/2007 17:04

we keep our in at night. I read up loads before we got our cat. Many sources recommending keeping cat inside permanently. Mortality rate amongts cats allowed to wander 100% freely very high and life expectancy much lower. Much of this due to being hit by cars or injured in fights. And most of this happens at night.

I didn't feel happy with keeping cat 100% indoors, so our compromise is she can wander freely all day, is let out 1st thing in morning, but once it gets dusk/drak, when she comes in we lock the door. I think it's a small price to pay for greatly reduceing the risk of her being killed/badly injured

She's a very happy cat.

Pixel · 24/08/2007 20:34

Ernest, our cat is the same, out as much as he likes during the day but in at night. He comes running in quite happily and settles down because that is what he is used to. He certainly isn't deprived! I couldn't leave him out with all the foxes around here. I know people say that foxes don't bother cats but my mum saw a fox carrying a cat in its mouth when she was on her way to work early one morning so I'm not taking a chance. Our cat gets plenty of hunting practice during the day to satisfy his urges what with the frogs, lizards and grass-snakes he has brought in recently. Sometimes he gets to hunt at night as well. The other night we were woken by a lot of crashing and banging in the bathroom and found moggy chasing moths!

Twinklemegan · 24/08/2007 20:41

I would never ever leave our cats out at night, not since witnessing the deaths of two cats belonging to neighbours . I don't go to bed until both cats are in, and have been known to go out roaming the garden, rattling biscuits etc. to tempt them in.

Recently, it's been much easier to get them in - don't know why.

I can kind of see if you have a cat flap that you might leave it open for the cat to come and go, I suppose, though I never would. But what I really can't understand at all is people who just shut the cat out at night. That is cruelty IMO.

Original poster
Spidermama · 24/08/2007 20:45

I've got two kittens now.

I went to get them this evening. They're still under the cooker.

OP posts:
Jojay · 24/08/2007 20:54

My cat comes and goes as he pleases 24/7, and has a great time hunting and doing cat stuff.

But we live in a really quiet, rural area, so the risk from traffic / nasty people is minimal.

Peachy · 24/08/2007 20:56

As they will be for a while LOL Spidey

Actually our dc2 is pretty good now, compared to the nervus wreck who pee'd himself if he even saww a human when we got him. he loves cussling up to us at night, though he is still nervous of legs, which when you had your lims and head all but kicked off is fairly understandable! Gorgeous loving cat now.... people who did it, scum.

when my sis called to see if we could take kitbits (real name tripod LOL but known as..) she ahd the injection to put him down in the syringe (she's allwed! Vet nurse!). rather puts the 'should he be out at night' thing in perspective... a loving home, care and warmt. A blinkin miracle for the little soul.

DC1 is sadly aging and I think starting to edge towards his end (he was a rescue cat as well, some idiot sealed hgim in a cardboard box and left him in a field- fortuantely baosted to a friend of a friend). When he passes, wwe will go back to my sister toa rrange to take a last-chancer as clearly its my life talent LOL.

sparklygothkat · 24/08/2007 21:03

My cat was shot last year, during the day, I actually think he is safer at night, at least he can sneak about without being shot. He could have lost his leg, but the vet managed to save it.

Please get insurance for your kittys SM. It cost over £1800 to fit our cat's leg, lucky I had insurance

Chipstick · 24/08/2007 21:06

Haven't read the whole thread but both my cats are nocturnal! At 7pm, the kids go to bed and the cats get up to play - they chase moths in the early evening, regularly bring me home presents of mice, frogs and the occasional slow worm. By 8am they look like they've had a night on the tiles and collapse on my bed for the whole day.

Oh to be a cat in my next life (as long as I live in the UK with a cat flap )

pointydog · 24/08/2007 21:14

Cats Protection are extremely...er.. protective. Mad, lovely but protective.

Surely when you get the cats, it's really up to you if you let them out at night?

Cats Protection are worried they will be run over or have a scrap. Protect at all costs, they preach. I'd rather the cat had a happier if shorter life. It's an animal.

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