My lovely female cat spent the first two years of her life as an indoor cat as we lived in a flat. We got her as an 8 week old kitten.
We moved 18 months ago to a house with big back to back gardens and kept her in but eventually curiosity got the better of her and she started to venture out just into our garden and only for a few minutes at a time.
She had been spayed anyway but I decided to start with flea/worm treatments and got her booster shots as she spent more and more time outside.
A year on she's very much an outdoor cat, refuses to use her litter tray preferring to go out and scratches the back door when she needs to- we rent so no cat flap but I'm home a lot.
A complete personality change Too,from a shy scaredy cat who hid under beds if anyone visited to a cat happy around a garden full of screaming toddlers and who also chases other cats and foxes out our garden!
Lately however she goes out at night and doesn't come back until the morning, sometimes two days. I've spent nights out looking for her sick with worry (croydon cat killer catchment).
I do try and call her back in over a period of two hours before I go to bed, treat bag shaking and laser light but she doesn't come back.
A few times now she's brought me a mouse present- poor mouse but I'm secretly proud of her, she really was the most timid thing before. She'll sleep all day now as she's out all night. I don't want to keep her from her natural behaviour but I can't help but worry.
Should I just leave her to do what she's doing or keep her in from much earlier and try to break the cycle?