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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

Cat coming home later and later

17 replies

EsmeShelby · 04/08/2020 14:32

My cat is 2 and goes out. He is coming home later and later, 11pm last night. Any ideas how I can encourage hime to come home at a decent hour? DH can't settle until he's in.

OP posts:

JorisBonson · 04/08/2020 14:33

Mine stay out late (all night sometimes ) when the weather is warm, and pretty much stay in when it's cold / raining. Maybe just enjoying the summer?

Undies1990 · 04/08/2020 14:37

What time does he usually get fed? If you try and adjust his feeding times, he would come in earlier if he's hungry.

With these warm, light evenings cats will usually stay out later than usual.

Thirtyrock39 · 04/08/2020 14:50

Our cat has just this summer started staying out at night - not something I am keen on but she won't come in at night and we have no cat flap and she cries to go out - I think it's hunting time so fhat might be part of it
I end up getting up at 5am to let her in! Will change when the nights draw in

Original poster

EsmeShelby · 04/08/2020 15:08

He gets wet food (his favourite!) about 6-7pm. Then he goes out again. Should we not feed him until he is in for the night?
DH would go berserk at the idea of him staying out all night.

OP posts:

Undies1990 · 04/08/2020 16:45

Ah, there is the problem OP! Don't feed him until later and he'll be very keen to come home! So if you want to settle down with the cat indoors at say at 10pm, feed him at 10pm and don't let him go out after that. Problem solved, hopefully

Fluffycloudland77 · 04/08/2020 16:59

My dh was the same with ours. Many a night he was out driving round at gone midnight looking for the cat who was probably in next doors garden.

We had a curfew, 9pm he was in but you could make it earlier if your willing to tire him out playing because cats are very active at dawn and dusk so he’s all fired up and ready to party.

You can put flat cat window nets on windows so you can still have the windows open.

Original poster

EsmeShelby · 04/08/2020 17:59

Thanks for the responses. It is pouring here so my happy wanderer is not too keen to go out. I will give him a little dry food at the usual tea time, but no wet food until curfew!

OP posts:

InOtterNews · 04/08/2020 18:07

When the weather is warm I only really see my three cats for about an hour a day - usually feeding time. One might spend the night in.

I try to get the other two in around 10pm but 10.15 they're meowing/patting my face to be let out again. So for my own sanity I let them go. If by some miracle they do stay - I expect the same behaviour around 2/3am

DobbyTheHouseElk · 04/08/2020 18:11

No food here after 4pm. That makes him more likely to come home at dusk.

TW2013 · 04/08/2020 18:14

It's cat clubbing season so they stay out later and later. Fortunately ours don't stray far from home so we tend to go out and scoop them up.

RavenT · 04/08/2020 18:16

Curfew here is 9pm.... I don't feed him anything after about 4pm, so he's hungry. He has stayed out later on a couple of occasions and I can never settle unless he's in.
I have always kept my cats in at night after loosing one years ago in a car accident that happened in the middle of the night.
The downside to this is I get woken at 5am every morning by him meowing to go out..

Grinchlywords · 04/08/2020 18:23

OP. It could be he has an OW. Check the smell of his fur for unfamiliar scent, or hand cream.

EachandEveryone · 04/08/2020 18:35

Its so hard when you want to go to bed yourself. The neighbours must think im nuts pleading with them to come in. Ive honestly decided to go to bed Myself at 11pm and hope that they are waiting to be let it when i inevitably get up for a wee at 3am.

TroysMammy · 04/08/2020 20:09

Haribo comes in around 7pm, this is the time we have our dinner and he wants titbits. His mate comes too, waits outside and looks at us expectantly because he's a drug addict and we are enabling his cat nip addiction.

Thirtyrock39 · 04/08/2020 21:46

I was staying up for hours waiting for the cat to come in and then would be up every hour shaking the dry food tin in the dark garden then I just thought - it's warm, there's over a few hours of proper dark and it's only a couple of months in the summer - plus the cat I'm sure is two gardens down in 'the jungle' (overgrown abandoned garden) so not near roads, I do worry about foxes and the bully cat on the street though . Probably good practise for when the teenagers start going out till the early hours !

Serialcatmum · 05/08/2020 01:01

I call mine in at 5pm and serve their wet food cat flap locks at this time and opens at 7 (usually
Give them dry food at 6:50). Can’t stand them being ojt at night!

Original poster

EsmeShelby · 05/08/2020 17:15

Tried the new regime successfully last night, but it was so wet that he was in most of the day anyway. Turned into a shocking nuisance at 11.30 pm because he hadn't had enough exercise. Trying again today though.

OP posts:

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