Explain my cat to me?

[CurlewKate]

I have two 4 year old neutered outdoor cats. All their adult lives they have been in and out all day and generally in at night. We live in the countryside so outside is very interesting! Grey is a bit of a wanderer so every month or so she’ll be away for a couple of days then come back to home comforts. Orange has never stayed out overnight. He is always in for dinner and in bed til breakfast. Until a couple of weeks ago when he suddenly started staying out all night and coming home at breakfast. Can anyone think of an explanation apart from him being orange? He’s perfectly happy, no hungrier than usual, absolutely no changes to anything. Except he is suddenly nocturnal. I can only think he’s got a job as a night watchman somewhere…..

Nobody can really explain cat behaviour, they just do cat & we have to accept it!😆

There are multiple reasons why they can change, some of which we could have a guess at. He could have found a neighbouring cat mate or girlfriend. He may have found a human neighbour who gives him treats. He may have found a mouse nest and is going back every night for a snack - if that's the case, at least he isn't bringing them home! Grey may have persuaded him to try coming out on the town for a bit. He's decided to do a gap year.

Or of course the most likely reason of all - he's doing it to throw you.

Any chance he’s cheating on you with a second family in order to get an extra dinner? Oranges are notoriously greedy. Mine disappeared for 5 days after I tried to put him on a diet and came back even bigger than before so was obviously eating well during his adventure.

True! And he is orange after all so anything’s possible…

Nice weather. I notice that DGirlCat will wander further and be out longer at night on nice summer nights. When it’s cold and wet she wants all the comforts of home. DBoyCat is a scaredy cat (despite being the size of a cat rugby prop forward) and sticks to on/under my bed.