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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Do you let your cat out at night?

50 replies

Ski37 · 25/09/2017 20:26

I've recently had a cat flap fitted so my cat can come and go during the days when I am at work. He loves it! It's a sureflap one and I've been locking it at night at 9pm so he can come back in but not leave again until I open it in the morning. The other day I was called into work during the day and expected to be home before too long so left it open but I didn't get back until 6 in the morning. Cat was out but came back when I rattled his treats only to go straight out again ( I needed some sleep so I let him!) Since then every night when I've locked the flap at night I can hear him bashing on it almost on the hour, every hour trying to get out, this can continue for 15 minutes and so far I've just been ignoring it. I always said I wouldn't let him go out all night but he just seems so desperate! The roads around me are extremely quiet at night but I know I will still worry about him and he has also got into fights/ been attacked by a local tom and this has only happened when he's been out late. Do I stick to my guns and just ignore all his attempts to get out and hope he settles or should I just let him go about his catty business as he wants despite the fact I will probably be worried sick (but maybe get a better nights sleep without the continuous noise )?

OP posts:
KingJoffreysRestingCuntface · 25/09/2017 20:28

Mine have free reign. One of them in particular likes to go off and do her own thing.

I did try locking them in but they smashed it open.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 25/09/2017 20:29

I do, simply because she's miserable if I keep her in. I don't think she goes very far, just doesn't like to feel that I have clipped her wings. I figure she needs to have a full cat life, rather than a miserable (if admittedly more safe one).

Fluffycloudland77 · 25/09/2017 20:31

Yes, he's in from 9pm or so.

I put the spin dryer over the flap because he can smash them open.

Battyoldbat · 25/09/2017 20:34

If they are in when we go to bed then we shut them in (they are shut away from the cat flap by a solid door, a locked cat flap doesn't stop them for long!). They then sleep all night either on a bed with a willing human or on the sofa. We do it to cut down the corpse count rather than for safety reasons.

StarfishSeahorse · 25/09/2017 20:34

I’m trying not to at the moment, he’s pushing 16 and is still getting in to scraps like some young Tom. Hes comes home with cuts and scrapes twice this week which is really worrying me, he’s too old for that shit now, but will he listen?!

Wolfiefan · 25/09/2017 20:36

In at night.
Risk of being hit by a car, attacked by other cats or other wildlife is higher at night. Plus mine like their comfy spots in the house to sleep on.

KirstyJC · 25/09/2017 20:37

Mine sleeps all day on the settee and then spends all night going in and out. I did want to get rid of the cat flap (only put it in as home visit by rescue said we needed to and we never had one with previous cat) but he uses it all night long. I did try and close it but the noise drove me mad so I gave up.

TonicAndTonic · 25/09/2017 20:37

Mine is in at night, and doesn't seem bothered about being stuck inside. But we don't have a cat flap and he's never been out overnight so he doesn't know any different. More than cars, it's the fighting and hunting that I wanted to limit.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 25/09/2017 20:38

We don't have a cat flap so each cat decides if it wants to be out at night or not - generally depends on the weather. Once out they are out for the night because they are too thick to work out that they could get back in through a window (our previous generation of cats could manage it - no idea why current two can't). Worst that happens is that are woken up by wailing outside at 5.00 in the morning.

Original poster
Ski37 · 25/09/2017 20:52

Thanks for the replies!
KirstyJC I'm worried that is what mine is going to do- he did initially use it all day but once he's been out catting all night all he wants to do is sleep during the day.
KingJoffreysRestingCuntface I think that's what may end up happening with mine- the cat flap is pretty strong but he's determined and the noise he makes with it.......
SpongeBobJudgeyPants I don't think mine goes very far either- when I shook his treats the other morning he appeared over the fence immediately!
Wolfiefan being attacked is one of the things I'm concerned about (there is one road close to me but it is very quiet at night and other than that it is fields) - he's such a wimp that despite being a big ( neutered ) tom he is terrified of other cats and ends up getting chased back to the house, I don't think I've ever seen him fight back, although he could probably sit on them and win!

OP posts:
Weedsnseeds1 · 25/09/2017 21:00

Mine is free to come and go, but chooses to spend the night on my bed. He'll generally pop out around 7 am for his ablutions and is in and out until about 10pm.
I do live in a quiet, rural area though.

Original poster
Ski37 · 25/09/2017 21:03

I should add that I can't keep him out of the room with the cat flap as the kitchen/ diner is open plan and leads to the upstairs ( and I'm not locking him in the living room with the sofa that he likes to scratch!)
He has form for this as when I got him he scratched and yowled at my bedroom door for a month before I relented and let him come into my room at night- he then took to sleeping happily outside my open door and coming to check on me occasionally - he either comes to sit on me ( always a bit of a shock) or just stares at me ( even more of a shock to wake up with a silent hairy cat face inches from mine!)
I'm going let him stay out later than usual tonight to see if this helps .... I'm not hopeful though!

OP posts:
Fiona1984 · 25/09/2017 21:05

We don't have a cat flap, cat is always in at night. I feel safer that way, and he sleeps on our bed all night anyway, he's brilliant. He comes and lies on my chest when I wake up.

Judydreamsofhorses · 25/09/2017 21:12

We don't have a cat flap. Madam generally goes out in the morning when I get up at 6.30 and will usually come in when I shout her before I leave at 8. Currently DP is at home in the day so he will let her out if she wants to go, but she generally wants to be with whoever's in - I teach so in the summer she spent a lot of time sitting under the garden table while I read out there. In the evening she potters around the garden a bit but mainly wants to come in when we're eating dinner, about 8ish, then will usually be in for the night. (Currently practically singeing herself on the radiator, despite her cosy bed just beside it...) We tend to leave the back door propped open if she's out so she can go into the utility room where she has an extra water dish/biscuits and a bed, but she's very vocal so we know we're being summonsed to let her in!

Archfarchnad · 25/09/2017 21:40

We've kept Archcat's flap closed at night from the start, and he doesn't like it but does accept it - with a fair bit of tail swinging and staring out the window into the dark garden. He is, however, thick as mince, so we have no fears that he'll bash the locked flap in, despite being something of a bruiser. He still finds it hugely puzzling that sometimes it will open for him and other times not.

DavetheCat2001 · 25/09/2017 21:51

We get ours in at night, no cat flap but she's happy to come in when it starts getting dark.

A bit too close for comfort to a lot of the cat/animal killing that seems to be going on at the moment. I feel much happier that she is inside at night.

Oncewaswho · 25/09/2017 22:12

We put the catflap to in only mid-evening, after that once they are in they stay in and don't seem to mind, although they sometimes make a break for it if we open a door to go to the bin or similar.

Thegiantofillinois · 25/09/2017 22:17

grumpy that's our cats! The neighbours must hate us. I hate us when one or more bastard cats stays out.

DramaAlpaca · 25/09/2017 22:21

Our cat is completely free range and comes and goes as he pleases, day & night. He'd be miserable if we kept him in.

hugoagogo · 25/09/2017 22:24

I lock the flap when it gets dark.
I have found dead cats on our street a couple of times always first thing in the morning, no way do I want my hairy baby to be next.Sad

TheKidsAreTakingMySanity · 25/09/2017 22:25

Mine is out during the day and in at night. At our house there was a huge feral colony of cats (we trapped and neutered them as their ancestor's owner didn't care for them) and as the farm was on a busy main road, it's what kept the numbers of cats down unfortunately. Every single one killed on the road happened overnight. And we're not talking about just 3 or 4 kitties. It was at minimum, monthly. For years.
So my girl stays in at night and so far, so good. Shes outlived most of her former colony mates.

HidingBehindTheWallpaper · 25/09/2017 22:29

Mine is in from 7pm or nightfall whichever happens first. She’s never known any different and doesn’t seem bothered.

Iris65 · 25/09/2017 22:29

Our kitty comes and goes as she pleases. Most of the night she's asleep inside but occasionally she pootles in the garden. She can't get to the front of the house and the road though as we live in a high and long terrace. Its a large square of gardens, almost like a college quad, so it seems safe.

Ollivander84 · 25/09/2017 22:33

No, he's in after about 7pm. Croydon cat killer has been as far up as Manchester and is killing prolifically

Vinorosso74 · 25/09/2017 22:46

No we have "kitty curfew" here. She needs to be in for insulin injections anyway but since we got her she's in overnight and is used to it. It's safer especially with scum out there killing cats.