Is there realistically anything we can do?

[PettyJelly]

We have two young cats (18m and 12m). Eldest cat is, and has always been, a real roamer. He wears a GPS collar for this reason so we know he goes literal miles, and he is often gone for 24-48 hours at a time. He usually goes out for a day or two and then comes home and is super hungry, tired and affectionate (and often filthy) for a day or two. Then it repeats.

He’s neutered and he’s perfectly happy when he’s home. I’m fairly confident he’s not being fed as he’s hanging out around farm buildings - hunting I would imagine!

He was born on a farm, to two farm cats. Could this just be in his DNA? He’d be miserable indoors. We live in the country and he only ever crosses one road so I’m not too worried about him being run over. Do I just have to accept that he’s a part time cat now?

I'm not sure why you'd need to do anything - he sounds very normal (and very happy)!

He is very happy! My cat induced anxiety on the other hand is ridiculous 😂 I spend far too much time worrying about whether he will actually come home!

He’ll probably settle down as he gets older, it would be cruel to restrict him so Ithink you’ll just have to suck it up for now.
Get yourself a Ragdoll as compensation.

Haha, one of mine can be a bit of a wanderer - it is a bit unnerving but you do get used to it eventually. Will he come back if you shake treats or something?

Mine will come to the garden for food but won't necessarily come in, lol.

He literally goes two miles up the road so he’d have to have bloody good hearing 😂

Sounds just like my Finlay - he was also born on a farm - I think it’s in his genes and he’s only 17 months old

Sound like mine. Came to us as a kitten from a farm. He wanders a fair bit, no idea where, we’ve tried collars but he loses them within 24 hours. He has access to farmland on one side and can go quite far without encountering a road (although he looks both ways when crossing the one on the other side which is not busy) He’s now 3 and this month as it’s got colder he’s taken to spending more time inside which he never used to do. Hasn’t stopped him wanting out through the night though . 6 hours seems to be about the maximum he can do inside. I think it’s their genes.