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The litter tray

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

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Original poster

How long does your cat tend to spend in the garden each day?

25 replies

Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:05

Hi everyone,

We've had our two very nervous young rescue cats for what is coming up to three months now. They've come on leaps and bounds since we adopted them (even spending a bit of time on the sofa with us these past few evenings!) and we're thinking that we'll probably look at letting them out into the garden around mid-June. By that time they'll have been with us for five months (the same amount of time they spent in the rescue centre) and will - we hope - be fully relaxed around the house by that stage.

I'm interested to know how much time everyone else's cats tend to spend in the garden each day? Also, do they prefer to be outdoors rather than indoors? I'm just wondering what to expect when we do finally let ours out - hopefully the weather should be nice by then too!

OP posts:

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:10

Oops - just spotted there's a very similar thread to this already, about halfway down the page! Sorry all!

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Toddlerteaplease · 11/04/2018 15:02

About five minutes. That's if they go out at all!

SimonBridges · 11/04/2018 15:27

It depends on the weather.
On a sunny days she’ll be out there for hours. On a cold wet day, only for a few minutes.
We have always kept her in at night.

Justonedayatatime11 · 11/04/2018 15:35

Cat proofed garden so they can be out as much as they like. Normally a couple of hours in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. Always indoors at night. I have no doubt that if we ever see some sunshine they’ll want to be out there all day!

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 17:14

Thanks everyone. Excited (but nervous) about introducing mine to the outside world! x

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pilates · 11/04/2018 19:21

Mine is in and out all day but keep her in from late afternoon/early evening until the following morning.

findingmyfeet12 · 11/04/2018 19:23

About 5 minutes and she rushes back in as soon as she sees any movement from inside the house.

Rac11 · 11/04/2018 19:31

About 5-10 minutes at a time a couple of times a day, longer if someone stays out there with her. Runs indoors if she hears any sounds out there that startle her and crouches down in the grass when she sees a bird flying overheard....I half think she thinks she's going to be carried away by one by the look on her face lol

TentUpFirstBunkUpLater · 11/04/2018 19:44

When the weather is warm, they won't come in at all buggers during the day, unless they want biscuit

They regulate themselves mainly all year round though, in respect of in and out as they have a microchip catflap which means no intruders can get in and they can let themselves out

They are lazy though, as they sit by the door to go out and and knock on the flap to come in

They are rescues and very timid around strangers, plastic bags and they hate the door bell!!!

OnTopOfSpaghetti · 12/04/2018 08:24

I have had mine just over a year and I have found that during the warmer months they love to be outside, boy cat especially, but during all this cold wet weather they have stayed in much more. I have decided they are fair weather cats!

piebarm · 12/04/2018 08:30

One of mine will be out for days, then it gets to the point when I start to worry and he'll waltz in and have a mammoth 24 hr sleep on my bed

One has his breakfast and wanders out, has a mad half hour chasing invisible things in the garden then spends a chunk of time on the shed roof if it's nice or under a bush if not

The third one goes out, has a quick wee and comes straight back in -lazy sod!

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheT1meG0es · 12/04/2018 09:05

Very weather dependent, in winter they tend to go out for 10 mins after breakfast (they are shut in overnight) then snooze till after lunch and only pop out for short spells in the afternoon. In summer they stay out longer, sunbathing, chasing insects, etc. They don't wander far from home, we can always see them either in our garden or next door.

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheT1meG0es · 12/04/2018 09:06

Ours have a microchip catflap too, so they can come and go freely during the day.

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 12/04/2018 09:42

Thanks all! I'm getting a microchip cat flap installed soon in preparation. I know you have to pass the cat through the flap for it to "register" the microchip. Do you have to actually pass the cat through yourself, or will the flap just register the cat when they jump through?

TentUp - my cats are rescues too and sound exactly like yours!

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OnTopOfSpaghetti · 12/04/2018 10:05

With our microchip cat flap you had to press a button to put it into programme mode then pass the cat through so it registered that chip.

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 12/04/2018 10:49

Thanks OnTopOf. I'm wondering if I could press the button then tempt them through with a Dreamie on the other side? My two are quite nervous and don't like being picked up, so it could be tricky!

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OnTopOfSpaghetti · 12/04/2018 11:57

I did get mine used to using the cat flap with dreamies, but the actual programming of the flap was an undignified shove through I'm afraid. Helpful if there's two of you, one to post the cat and one to hold it open.

TentUpFirstBunkUpLater · 12/04/2018 12:43

We had a regular cat flap before and had constant visitors and my girls were always on edge. The visitors would come in and spray.

The microchip cat flap is fabulous. One of my best buys ever

InappropriateGavels · 12/04/2018 12:51

I'm not sure it's predictable.

I adopted my little guy last summer, didn't let him out for the first 6 weeks I think so that he got used to the house and us, then when we were letting him out we would just leave the door open and he would come and go, he would never be out for more than about 10-15 minutes. During the winter months, because of the cold it was generally less than that.

Now that the weather is getting better he's recently been going off for longer periods. We know that he goes off on adventures with one of the neighbour's cats, and he's also making friends with a friendly vocal stray cat, so sometimes he's gone for half an hour or more. Then this past week I've found him lounging in the sun on our garden chairs, asleep after quite some time. Also, having been in a cattery for a while when we were on holiday he's become more chilled out which I think has impacted on this. However, if he knows that I'm going off for a nap he'll forego his outside time and join me in bed, even on a lovely day.

Mine doesn't go out at night, never will.

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 12/04/2018 12:53

Thanks OnTopOf! I'm a bit nervous about it as think I might get very scratched! Does anyone have any tips on how best to do this - should I post them through the flap before it's installed in the glass or wait till it's in situ?

Also, I've just been quoted £420 to install the flap (I have double glazed doors), which includes the cost of the flap itself. I'm in south London - does that sound reasonable or too much?

Thanks!

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bandito · 12/04/2018 13:32

We've just done this with our rescue. He hangs around in the garden after an initial explore of the street and he goes out for about 5-30 mins at a time. He's probably kicking himself because he made an almighty fuss about wanting to go out and when we said "go on then", he's like "oh. it's a bit boring". He likes to poo out there in a corner now though, which is good.

We did the microchip thing before we put it into the wall. Easy with some dreamies, on the other side of the flap, They only need to put their heads in up to the chip, not completely go through, so he poked his head through to snaffle the dreamie and it registered him. Easier than I thought. Good luck.

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 12/04/2018 14:32

Thanks Bandito - good to hear they don't have to go the whole way through the flap!

If anyone has any thoughts on the figure I've been quoted, I would love to hear what you think!

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bandito · 13/04/2018 09:06

The figure sounds about right - we had a laugh about that because our is fitted in a conservatory and we had to rule out that option - I just don't love DCat that much!

We have a dwarf external wall around the bottom of the conservatory and fitted the flap in the wall rather than the glass, using the tunnel fittings that you can buy. It was a sureflap and the instructions were very clear. It took a while but a competent DIYer could do it. Might be an option?

Original poster

Sunshine49 · 13/04/2018 10:38

Thanks Bandito - I'll look into the wall option, as £420 is a lot of money! How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?

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bandito · 13/04/2018 11:58

I bought the sureflap from Amazon (about £50) and the tunnel extensions (I needed 5 as it is a thick external wall) about £25 so plus the correct drill bit which DP bought so I didn't ask how much that was but I expect it came in altogther at less than £100. We had a look at the window option and it was about £400 and that's the best part of what we spend on a family camping holiday so there was just no way. We are terraced so external walls are hard to find, but we even toyed with replacing the tumbledryer vent for a catflap (with steps!) and getting a new condensing dryer - it would still cheaper than getting the flap mounted in double glazing!

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