Do you keep your cats in at night?

[purpleme12]

What do you do with yours?

Can they just go in and out whenever they want?

Or do you keep them in at night?

Both mine are locked in at night, they can roam the whole house but just tend to jump in their radiator beds till we wake up! they are let out straight after breakfast at 7am

In summer I try and just leave the terrace door and a window open for them. In winter they sometimes get stuck either in or out if they don't ask to go out or come in when called when we all go to sleep. But luckily everyone wakes up a few times at night so they can often get in and out then.

When it's cold they'd never stay out all night by choice though.

Indoor only for mine - when I went to the rescue I stipulated I only wanted cats who would be content with that, or needed to be indoor.

First pair were ex feral and hadn't been trapped until a year old, so there was a big risk of them going feral again if they were let out. Boycat turned out to be so thick he probably wouldn't have lasted 5 mins in his own back garden.

When I lost Boycat to CKD, Tobias came home who had been a stray for 2 years after having been dumped at about 6 months. He was very content to be safe and indoors, with regular food, and Girlcat to follow around and worship. Turns out that during his stray years he's got FiV, so can't really go out anyway for his own safety as much as other cats he may meet. Sadly he's also got other health issues from those wilderness years, so I'm going to have to find another boy quite soon to keep Girlcat happy 😢

Come and go as they wish. Cats are crepuscular, not nocturnal. This means they like the period around dawn and dusk best. I'm asleep then so letting them go as they please seems best

I call mine in at night, but during the summer he refuses. He will sit under the car looking at me but if I try and entice him in he moves further back under the car.
To be fair we have a very hot house (like hotter inside at 6am than outside hot) and I gather he finds it more comfortable outside than inside.

I'd prefer him in though! He just won't come.

It’s a sureflap cat flap - they have several different ones and I’ve the microchip cat flap connect. You have to have their hub to connect with the internet and the app.

https://www.surepetcare.com/en-gb/pet-doors?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21030105489&gbraid=0AAAAADB_I1j-xldErRD3VcvYQf3W1x2AX&gclid=CjwKCAjw1bvTBhBbEiwAzbP8L8fyPd2TnZbC3BRNA15xSTyHsJ3IFKDPXaYWkYvr8fz-TP401CQ7VBoC4bIQAvD_BwE

It works really well, though occasionally it says the cat has come in or out when he hasn’t - but I think that’s because he’s changed his mind half way 🙄. Usually when he can see no food has miraculously appeared in his food bowl. I can adjust the time of the curfew remotely, and also if it’s locking him in or out.

I like being able to see what he’s up to if I’m not around, though I think that sometimes mean I worry when I don’t need to if he’s out longer than I expect. I didn’t have it for my old cat so I didn’t worry as I didn’t know!

their customer service is excellent - I had problems once with it connecting with the app (the cat flap was still working fine) and they spent ages with me on the phone and then followed up to check it was all ok. And with my old microchip flap they sent me a new part for free even though the cat flap was 5 years old.

it does get through batteries every few weeks - about a month.

Thanks everyone is about now an ok time to bring her in?

No. Mine have a cat flap and they come and go as they please.

The local foxes need to beware of my cat! I’ve seen my cat chasing foxes off on more than one occasion.

Yes. My 2 cats roam in and out during the daytime but at 9pm they get fed and locked in safe overnight. They are allowed out at 7am.

It’s extremely rare for a fox to attack a cat. Adult cats are dangerous to foxes. It was most likely chasing the cat away from its cubs.

No. In this weather she has only been in one night and that was when our neighbour left her in, whilst we were away. Her choice. When the temperature drops, she will be in.

y old cats went out at night most of the time - we did go through a period of having strays come round and entering at night / getting in forgets with the same so I would shut them in.

my new two are 16 months and they have only been going out about 4 months - any sign that I’m trying to call them in then run! I am not waiting inf up until 2am for them. I am assuming when the weather turns they will be in more.

Mine comes and goes as she pleases. She's generally inside when I wake up at 5ish but when we're away she doesn't stay in (we got back at 10pm from our holiday recently and she didn't appear until the time the cat sitter had been coming).

I don't understand the thinking behind keeping cats in. Mine have always liked being out.

Mine comes and goes all
day/night as we have a cat flap. In the summer he is out all night hunting I think. In the winter he basically hibernates and rarely goes outside during the day or night!

They can come and go as they please, apart from into our bedroom until a respectable time. They have a litter tray also. They are also very old now. One doesn't go out at all, the younger one does but not for long/far.

Mine stays in at night. He has the run of the house and a litter tray but he mostly sleeps on my bed with me. He’s very good and stays there till I move - no early morning breakfast demands from my boy.
His little brother broke his curfew and was hit by a car, which really reinforced why I keep them in at night.

However I’ve been kept awake all night by my neighbour’s cat miaowing his head off all night because he wants them to let him in through the front door. He has a cat flap at the back but apparently wants butler service rather than use the tradesman’s entrance. Tuxedo.

I tried hard to get mine to come in at nights but he got wise to it and wouldn’t come home when he thought he’d be locked in. Microchipped cat flap although it’s just set to ‘open’ as it’s quicker for him and haven’t had any strangers using it.
I don’t like the idea of indoor cats. I know this is a controversial opinion. Wouldn’t get a cat if I didn’t live somewhere I could have an outdoor cat.
Mine is out in the evenings and early mornings and sleeps indoors half the night and a lot of the day. We live in a quiet cul de sac on the edge of town and back on to a small river so he spends most of his time running around on the riverbank chasing things. Probably get 1-3 mice and voles and shrews gifted every month. Usually alive. Never birds. Although I know cats only bring home around 1/3 of their hint according to research.

No .. mine goes out about 9 usually and I only hear the cat flap about 5 when he comes in , it’s the only time I ever hear him drinking any water , he’ll have some food and then cuddle in with me till 6 when I have to get up and then stretches out for another few hours , usually off out again about 10-11 . Rural , no main roads

I let ours out at night. She was quite sleepy/sensible and didn’t usually go that far anyway. I wouldn’t have considered locking her in. It’s a risk but I’d rather give them freedom

I've just taken her in now. She's spent the whole day outside. But she does that anyway. (I'm starting to wonder if she'll actually come in even when we get a cat flap 🫪)

She doesn't protest at being inside. And is happy. But she doesn't come in by herself for the night even though she's been out all day! I have to pick her up and put her inside.

She eats hardly anything. So little it's a bit disconcerting. But she's healthy. She is a little cat (we and others assumed she was a kitten). I think she must be picking food up from other neighbours/other neighbour's cats. Cos she can't live off this little.