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

Original poster

Do you let your cat out at night?

68 replies

Tabbysmummy · 02/03/2025 22:20

I have a new cat just about to be let out (he is 12 months). I have always let previous cats out at night, but recently I have researched how to introduce cats to the outdoors safely and seems the advise is to not let cats out at night. We live on a quiet suburban street and I actually thought it would be safer for cats to be out at night as no cars, no dogs, no people. Seems like cars paradise to me. There are foxes but I didn’t think they were interested in cats .Do you let your cats out at night?

OP posts:
pinneddownbytabbies · 03/03/2025 14:51

Our three are in at night, two wouldn't want to be out anyway, and one is plied with Dreamies as a bribe to get him to come in before we go to bed. During the summer, he occasionally buggers off and won't come back till breakfast in the morning, but that doesn't happen much.

TheDevilWearPrimarni · 03/03/2025 15:39

We keep our 2 cats in at night. In fact from dusk until 8am.

CheerfulYank · 03/03/2025 15:41

No, but ours are always inside. However, I’m in the US and it seems to be more the done thing here.

Fibrous · 03/03/2025 15:56

Mine are out each night. There are plenty of foxes and badgers around but I’m not worried. The cats are fairly long in the tooth now and are happy in their own routines. One of them spends a lot of time on the local estate where he has more chance of getting some roast chicken as we’re mostly vegetarian in this household. Although if I do cook a sausage he’s back through the cat flap in minutes.

Seriously79 · 03/03/2025 15:56

Yes, but if DH is away I lock them out. I can't deal with the half eaten mice, rats and birds I find on the kitchen floor.

caringcarer · 03/03/2025 16:34

No both of my cats go in and out through cat flap during the day but at about 9pm I feed them and shut them in for the night. They go out at 6.30-7am when DH opens the door for them but they are back 5 mins later for feeding.

Bichette · 03/03/2025 17:07

Our cat has free access via the cat flap. She was found as a stray before we adopted her so she' s very independent and used to fending for herself. She's also black but we are very rural with very little traffic.

BurntBroccoli · 03/03/2025 20:59

Yes mine is in and out all day and sometimes during the night in summer. He's never brought any prey back in the house though thankfully. He's not much of a hunter but has caught a poor bird or two which I hate.

He was an outdoor cat before I got him so I felt it was a bit cruel to keep him in.

DominoRules · 03/03/2025 21:00

Mine does whatever she feels like! When she was younger she’d be out most of the night but now she’s 12 she mostly likes to cuddle up in bed with us

CleanShirt · 03/03/2025 21:02

No, but used to when I lived with exh. Boy cat is a prolific hunter and I've never been able to deal with it, so now I'm on my own he's not allowed out.

The cat flap is in my bedroom and he does like to wake me at 5am to unlock it tho.

TroysMammy · 04/03/2025 00:05

No. He comes in before 6pm and happy to stay in for 12 + hours. None of my previous cats stayed out at night they were back in no later than 9pm. My current cat's curfew is dictated by his stomach.

LammasEve · 04/03/2025 21:03

Ours are never let out at night. Far more chance of getting run over, they are more likely to catch wildlife and it's generally more dangerous for them being out at night. They can come and go as they please from when we get up till dark ((or about 9pm in winter, earlier if they settle).

Of course, they do sometimes spend a night out because the little angels refuse to come to call or run off when I try to get them! But I never leave them out through choice.

MrsMontyD · 05/03/2025 07:13

He knows he's expecting home when it goes dark and he stays in until he'd let out in the morning.

He comes home during the day to use his litter tray and eat, he's a 70s kid and it's permanently the summer holidays.

Yirk · 05/03/2025 07:20

Cat flap is locked at night , cat safely kept in until morning, this has never been a problem.

MrsR87 · 05/03/2025 07:25

No. Ours stay in at night. They can come and go as they please all day but they are always back before we got to bed. They usually come back around 7pm anyway and snuggle with us in the sofa and then go to bed when we do.

LastNightMyPJsSavedMyLife · 05/03/2025 07:28

Mine come and go through the cat flap as they please. In my previous house they all were trained to come in for 10pm and then I locked the cat flap. They haven't realised it's not locked at night in this house. They all sleep on/next to me at night so I know they are not bothering to go out.

cloudjumper · 05/03/2025 08:48

No, I lock the cat flap when I go to bed. Ours is a bit of a hunter, and I'm too worried that she'll bring in some half-alive animal that I then have to sort out in the middle of the night (because DH sleeps like a log and wouldn't wake).

rrrrrreatt · 05/03/2025 09:16

Ours have a microchip cat flap and we adjust the time based on daylight hours. They get fed at the time it locks and if they’re not waiting at their bowl we just call their names and they come running in.

Our area is quiet but I worry about cars and fighting because there’s lots of cats round here. I also want to limit their kill count, especially as our neighbour loves bird watching.

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