Does anyone have their cats outside overnight?

[ScaredButUnavoidable]

I don’t know if this will be controversial or not but I’m just trying to gather some thoughts….

We have two cats in our house, we’ve had them for a few months that we got from a rescue and we adore them.

The problem is their overnight behaviour.

They are constantly waking us up.

My husband works very long shifts and is finding it very difficult being frequently woken up overnight and he’s exhausted.

My older child has epilepsy and I’m worried the constant disturbed sleep is starting to going to risk the stability of his seizures.

We have a cat-flap so they can come and go as they please abd although they use it in the day they will not use it at night and instead they just sit and cry at the back door constantly when they want to go out (until either I or DH get up and let them out).

We also have litter trays in the house so they have the option to use them too, but they won’t.

They also have water and dry food accessible to them overnight.

We went through a period of confining them to one room overnight (with food, water and litter trays) so they wouldn’t wake us/disturb us, and although it did solve that problem, it led to other problems so we had to stop doing that.

I’m now at the point of considering putting them outside at night and providing them with outdoor shelter. We’ve seen some really nice options (elevated and insulated units) and although they are expensive we are obviously happy to pay it (they can obviously come and go from the unit as they wish to).

Has anyone else been in a similar situation or have a cat they put outside overnight?

Thank you

I often wonder about cats who move in with new people. If the cat is locked out at night and it’s cold I can see why cats cry at neighbour doors.

this happened much more regularly when I was a child )I suppose because more people left their cats out all night) - cats on my street had two or three homes - and the ones put out a night would often go across the back gardens into another warm home. One older man in particular had two cats who came to him every night for supper and to sleep on his bed🥰.

my friend adopted her neighbours cat for Thai very reason - didn’t steal him but went and spoke to the owner who said she could’ve have him in the house at night and if they could they would sign him over! One happy spoiled cat now

Will you leave the front door flap open so they can come in that way if they want/need to?

Also, unless you have a pond, they'll need a water bowl outside.

Our first cat we both worked full time. Cat found the neighbours behind us who were retired much better company. They cooked chicken and salmon for him. We barely saw him after that. When we were moving asked the neighbours if they'd like to keep him. They were thrilled.

Where I live, if I put my cat outside at night, it very likely would be dead by morning. The coyotes or bobcats would get it. There is also the occasional mountain lion. During the day they are at risk from the hawks and eagles, but a cat stands a better chance there.

Putting the cat outside simply isn’t an option. So we find solutions to behaviors that don’t risk the cat’s safety.

If you stop letting your cats out, they will eventually stop meowing to go out.

running the stairs is a bigger issue. Instead of confining to one room, could you confine them to one floor? Would a tall baby gate work?

My current cat and her sister were locked out overnight. Then they got a barky dog which they didn’t like. Both cats moved on. They’re not stupid. I checked with its owner before taking her on and they happily handed over the vet card!

Yeah most we get in UK where OP is are foxes. And other cats. I’ve seen people who have outdoor shelters eg in USA have separate exits and entrances so cats can avoid predators entering the shelter.

This is what I came here to say. My boy goes out in the morning and he’s ready for bed when he comes back later in the day and basically sleeps. On the off occasion he doesn’t come back but that’s very rare and sure as eggs are eggs he turns up the next night. Keep him active in and outside in the day and he sleeps at night.

Very intrigued as to where you live 🤣

There is an arthritic 18 year old cat who lives opposite us but he’s about the biggest threat 🤣

We have bedrooms on every floor but my oldest child was happy for us to try and confine the cats on his floor to see if that would rectify the problem but at about 2am the cats just started crying repeatedly at their barrier to the point where we couldn’t just ignore them.

I have spoken to the vets and the Rescue Centre who have said that cats can find being confined very stressful and distressed meowing/crying is very typical behaviour when they realise they can’t get to where they want to go (which in my cat’s case, is outside).

I’ve had cats all my life and I’ve never experienced this before. All my previous cats have wanted nothing more than to spend their nights curled up on blankets on the sofa or at the end of my bed!

You and your family matter too, and while you have a responsibility to the cats that is proportionate to yours and your families well-being. If they cats are having a disproportionately negative impact on your sleep and the inevitable consequences of that I think it’s fair to make a decision to keep them out overnight, with suitable alternative shelter like you suggest, and you shouldn’t feel guilty for that.

Thank you for this.

I feel so guilty but the current situation isn’t fair on my husband and I worry so much about the potential effect it may have on my son’s health (his seizures can be triggered by lack of sleep).

Ours goes out at night and comes back in the morning. We tried keeping her in at first but had the same problems with being woken up and scratching at the door. She has access to the shed and has a nice resting place in there if necessary. Where we live, there are much fewer cars on the road at night compared to during the day so it is far safer at night.

Thank you.

Ours are never interested in going outside the front of the house and only really want to spend time in the back garden, which is why they don’t use the cat flap overnight as it on the front door which obviously leads out onto the street.

They just really love spending time in the garden and so I’m hoping they’ll transition ok to being out there overnight with their alternative shelters.

This sounds like a cats paradise 😻

We have a cat flap that works off his chip. He is free to come and go as he pleases. We tried keeping him in overnight but he had different ideas!

We live fairly rural so it’s safe.

The outdoor cat houses didn’t arrive until late last night so there wasn’t time to erect them ready for the cats to spend last night outside.

As a result we resorted back to confining them to the living room last night which has resulted in heightened aggression between them today.

I’ve now made up their outdoor houses and they’re out in the garden. The cats have been sniffing them and poking their heads in them so I guess we’ll just see what tonight brings.

it [keeping them in one room overnight] led to other problems

What were the other problems?

Ah, they fight.

Try Feliway.

We’ve had Feliway diffusers throughout the house for over 6 weeks and I’m using Feliway crystease capsules on their food. It makes no difference ☹️