Should I keep my cat inside in this heatwave?

[Sparkles29]

Or do I let him wander around outside and sleep under the trees as he normally would?

I trust the cat to know her own limits.

She’s not a major outdoor cat anyway. She’s found a nice cool spot to sleep in in the house so I leave her to it

Two indoor cats here. They have flopped down on the slate floor for a nap after their breakfast and I'm quite tempted to join them! If they were outdoor cats I'd let them out, as I'm sure they'd find shade, I'd have to put sunblock on the ears of the white one though which is not fun based on my experience of owning white outdoor cats in the past

They are probably communing with their Egyptian desert ancestors and enjoying the heat.

My indoor cat, like all cats, finds a cool airy space when she needs it. Although she is currently basking on the sunniest window sill in the house. Plenty of water available for her, plenty of fans around the house.

Mine only just goes out in the garden, but he prefers to sleep under a bush. The ground must be cooler there.

Both of mine followed me out when I went out to peg out the washing, they've both found shady spots in the garden and as far as I know they're still out there, although they can come in the cat door anytime they want. I was slightly worried after reading something about pets and heatstroke on Facebook but cats aren't daft, they will come in if it gets too much for them and any time I've been to Spain I've seen loads of street cats hanging about and they seem to survive the heat ok.

I've barely seen my three in days, they're loving it. One of them appeared about an hour ago wringing wet; I think she'd been in the stream. She's gone again now. There's no way I could keep them in, partly because I have every door and window in the house open and partly because I'd be deafened by the complaining.

Mine are both in now, must have got too hot outside. One is stretched out under the coffee table and the other has been stalking a bluebottle around the house for around half an hour but has so far been unsuccessful in catching it. She's not the brightest spark 😂.

One of mine is under the bed, the other is outside under his favourite bush. I've put a waterbowl in the garden but won't try to drag him in as he has a victorian attitude to ankles and I still have the 6 inch long scab from when I tried that 10 days ago...

My cat is old and doesn't know her limits. She got heatstroke a couple of years ago so definitely keeping her in and keeping an eye on making sure she doesn't bake.

Mine are hanging out in the garden in the twilight (and one at least spent the night outdoors). Now it's daytime, they've migrated indoors to cooler spots - including an interior corridor which catches any cross-breeze that's going. My role is to put down extra water, both inside and out (although the outside is also for hedgehogs).

My two were dust bathing yesterday. I have NEVER seen either of them do that before. They must know what to do in the heat.
They can go out but are both sleeping in the bedroom where the curtains are drawn.

Mine have a choice and they’re all out.

I’ve seen one sleeping under my very thick rose bush. No idea where the others are. It’s currently 32 degrees in the shade where I am.

Just to add, my cats are proving to be much more sensible than the teenage son of a neighbour, who has been sitting inside his parents camper van for the last hour, chatting on the phone!

I'm out today and told the cat to come in. She rolled over on the grass and ignored me 🤷🏽‍♀️

Mine is dozing under a shady garden bench after a fun game of "kill the grass stem". There is a light breeze so the temperature feels quite tolerable in the shade.

Mine went out as normal at 4.30 this morning as dh went to work and unusually was crying at the door to get back in at 7.30 when I woke up. She’s sleeping on a dining chair by the open patio doors. Shady and breezy spot. I figure she knows what she needs and if she wants to go out, she will find a cool spot to sleep in.

My cat just goes and sleeps under the trees and bushes at the bottom of the garden, it's cooler down there than it is in the house so I feel comfortable with him doing that

I let mine out this morning but brought her in before midday. She was not impressed.

I wonder if I'm being over cautious but decided to err on the side of caution.

Thanks for all your interesting points of view-in the end I let him out & he's found a shady spot in the bamboo trough

Fab floof!

My two were hurtling about first thing. One then retired to a bed and the other went for a snooze in the cat kennel (a strange double walled plastic affair) in the shade. They will doubtless pop out again this evening.

What on earth so cat kennel owners do? I've only used a couple, but they all seem to be glorified ahed and a concrete run. They must be boiling!

Oh thank god other cats choose to sleep in the conservatory 🤯🤯

Mine likes to flop on the window sill (behind a blind I might add)

Am leaving a fan on for her during the day, but still worry

Bloody cats

2 of my cats disappeared all day and only reappeared this evening. I'm not sure if they were in or out.

But one of them has stubbornly stuck to his spot at the top of the stairs, in a dormer bungalow extension, with a velux window with no blind catching the sun all day long. I'm dreading sleeping up there tonight, but DD1 has stolen the downstairs spare room already, and she flails her limbs so I'm not joining her. But bloody Dcat3 is so very stupid and seemed quite happy.

Mind you he's ramped up the shedding-of-fur this last week so maybe it's evened out.

From watching my two today I'd say they are pretty good at finding the coolest sports outside. They have total freedom as to if they are in or out and both have firmly chosen outside, under bushes, on shady steps ect. Cats are pretty sensible and look after themselves perfectly well.

If I shut them in they'd be miserable.