Do you let your cat out at night (if she wants to go)?

Just an update on my previous responses. The threesome is no longer! I saw the tabby holding down the cat who was not accepting of him/her and to my amazement, my other cat who up until now had been apparently happy to let him/her in dived in to the rescue and saw off his former friend. Since then there have only been vague sightings of the intruder and the duo are back to their normal ways. The cat flap however still remains firmly shut at night.

Janice I don't think there are any more dangers at night. There are less cars about if they should happen to go near a road, and I don't believe there is any danger from wildlife. My cats share my garden and surrounding farmland with deer, foxes and badgers (see my photos). They all mingle at close quarters with no problems, it is entertaining to watch!

Since my original post a month ago, Daisy has been going in and out of her cat-flap at will. She still walks all over my pillow around 6am, but she seems very happy to wander around now. I think she hunts quite a bit - she would have had to do a lot of that when she'd had her kittens - goodness knows how many litters - before she was 'rescued' and neutered. I didn't feel at all happy about keeping her in - especially when she'd been used to the outdoor life!

I currently have 4 cats each one with a different nature. I let them come and go at will, through the cat flap. Now that the weather is improving they are starting to spend part of the night outside. I wish they didn't because I seem to spend the night listening for the flap. One of my Bengals, Saffron, used to spend days away, up to a week, but recently only 48hours at a time. She has currently been missing for 10 days, which is worrying. I just hope she will stroll in soon! I suspect she has a second home in the next village, reached via fields.I have attached a note to her I.D. collar asking where she goes but never had a call.
My life feels like that of a mother with wayward teenagers (mine weren't).I wish I could keep the cats in but think it would be cruel.

We have two rescue cats. Sophie - who we rescued last August - did not want to go out of the house for months, she has just started to go out, usually early evening. I was a little concerned the first time, but although we are surrounded by woodland (hence foxes etc) she must enjoy going out and doing a little hunting for herself.

I really would be realistic - are there really any more dangers around at night? What about cars and other cats etc in the daytime?

Our second rescue cat Sybil has not been out yet, she was spayed last week and has not had her second vaccination yet. I love her dearly - but if you love something/one set her free ............. she will return!

One of ours never goes out, the outdoor world is far too scary (she is, to be honest, rather strange, varies between being totally besotted with us, to being utterly convinced that we are cat murderers. She will sit on the end of the bed, purring and doing that "smile" thing that cats do, then I pick up my roll-on deodorant and she runs as if the hounds of hell are after her. Although she is adopted, I find it hard to believe that she was traumatised by a bottle of Mitchum in early life.)

Eldest cat, also adopted at quite an age, had never been outside until we had her. Is now a total sun worshipper. Good weather, outside, warming her old bones until she is so hot that she is hot to the touch. Anything less, indoors, preferably in the airing cupboard if she can nip in before the door is shut. Will only "go" in the litter tray, obviously thinks that is the right place.

Maurice, we have had from a kitten, goes in and out at will. Well, sort of. With Mr Phoenix being currently at home all day, Maurice regards him as a sort of concierge. The amount of times that he goes out, in, out, in, out, in..............

I think cats must have enormous bladders, goldengirl!

Reading the thread makes me think that my cats are true home lovers. In fact I'd say they were basically lazy - I know cats sleep a lot, but these much prefer my settee or the spare bed. Perhaps they'll perk up in warmer weather. They're usually still asleep when I come down around 7 am. Unfortunately as I say I'm not keen to welcome a menage a trois with the new 'friend' so cat flap is locked at night and tray is in place - though to date they've never used it.

green you have adopted a cat who uses your house like a hotel!! She certainly sounds like a character who knows what she wants and goes and gets it. I love the idea of cats who live with us but go their own sweet way. I remember watching a DVD of Eddie Izzard describing his friend's cat doing something behind the sofa, purring loudly - 'is your cat drilling down there?' He is, he's drilling for something.' And going on to describe a cat who lived with him, but didn't really like the food provided. The cat would sniff the bowl, look disdainfully at his host, then pat both sides as though checking pockets - 'keys, check, right - I'm eating out' as he sailed through the cat flap!

With cats - definitely! As for the others.....NEVER!

"Green* sometimes, with cats, it is better just to give in! (I do not advocate this with children, husbands or dogs)

I think I'm going to have to give in. Daisy woke me at 3am this morning, standing on my face, as is her usual practice - I didn't argue, just staggered through to the kitchen and let her out of the cat-flap. I couldn't get back to sleep, because of the snoring person next to me (he also has a cold and cough...), so wandered back to the spare bed. Fell asleep with Daisy on my feet (she wasn't out long), and was woken up shortly afterwards as she had decided there was a mouse in the corner under the floorboards.
I think the answer is to keep the cat-flap open....she can come and go as she pleases. She's a real hunter, so I think it's going to get worse as the mornings get lighter .

Oh numberplease sad for you, but perhaps quite a good end for Bonnie. Dying in action, so to speak.

Our eldest cat is (although very spry and active) is looking very thin these days, and her coat looks a bit, well, sort of clumpy and a tad motheaten.

A bit like an old cuddly toy that has been much loved?

Our last cat, Bonnie, deceased now for many a year, would do her nut if we didn`t let her out at night. She`d venture out in the daytime for short periods, then about 11pm, she`d be at the door, waiting to go out, then she`d be on the doorstep in the morning, waiting to come in for breakfast. Till one fateful morning, when she was almost 16, she wasn`t there. We searched all over, no sign, then my ex son-in-law, who worked at the factory next door, came to see if Bonnie was here, because he`d found a dead cat in the factory yard and thought it was her. Sadly, it was, she must have collapsed and died on her last hunting trip.

I'm pretty firm with my 3, Mon to Fri Mr Phoenix gets up around 7.15, makes my tea, his coffee, feeds the cats.

At the weekend, I do the beverage in bed run, and insist on a lie-in. I might get out of bed around 7.30 to have a pee, cats might yowl (Well, one in particular) but they get ignored. They will get fed when I get up to make the drinks, usually around 8.30.

She's got her servants well trained!

green It sounds like your Daisy has certainly made herself at home now and you will be at her beck and call,if you remember last August my DGS got Poppy for his birthday and she has taken to my DD in the same way,DD cannot move without her and she goes to bed with her,if DD moves during the night Poppy growls at her,we have not let her out as yet as Luke would be so upset if anything happened to her so she has become a real house cat with all the regal extras.

Would it help to change her feeding routine in any way? I always fed mine in the early evening so I could then lock the cat flap. We lived near a busy road and only ever lost cats when they'd been out in the evening. I then kept house cats so I wouldn't have to worry about them being out, but that was really hard work and, in retrospect it seems wrong to have not allowed them to have any freedom [Burmese have a habit of either lying down in front of cars or getting into an open car door and disappearing]. I do hate the thought of a cat being out at night, but, at the same time I'd hate to be woken up every morning because it wears you out. Not sure what I'd do, but that's probably why I no longer have cats! [although I do miss them...]

Dogs have masters, cats have servants.................

The fifth night has just passed where Daisy the White Tornado Cat has walked over my head and face around 2am. Decided that a nudge back on my part might discourage her, which it did, so she sat on my feet for the next hour or so. Husband snored loudly from then on. Trudged through to the spare room, clutching pillow and book, with Daisy following, and once more sitting on my feet. Read till about 5am, then woken by Daisy sitting on my head. Nudged her away then gave up at 6.30am and opened the cat-flap. She went out for 5 minutes.....

My cat - recently deceased, sadly - had a cat flap which she could go out and come in through. However, she had a peculiarity which was that she would go out but instead of coming back in, she would sit in front of the patio doors - adjacent to the door with her cat flap in it - and cry to come in there! Consequently, if she chose to go out at night, she would quite frequently remain outside as she hadn't the common sense to come back in! I don't think she actually liked being out at night though, summer or winter.

Our cat likes to spend the night outside in summer and we let her.

She doesn't have a catflap as we live in a rented flat so she comes and jumps on our heads. Also, she doesn't use a litter tray, so we feel obliged to do as she requests demands.

I used to let our 2 cats [who are brothers] come and go through the catflap day or night until one of them allowed a 'friend' to come and visit. S/he is a gorgeous fluffy tabby but s/he is not ours and it really upsets the other brother, especially as s/he eats their food. He yowls and his shackles go up and as the tabby retreats slowly through the catflap my 'left out' cat hurtles after him though to date no blood has been shed. However, the other day I came home and in the hall sitting quietly together were THREE cats. Tabby had been allowed to come in to the 'inner sanctum'. One look at me though made him/her edge his/her way slowly and carefully back into the kitchen and back through the catflap. So catflap at night is firmly shut. Talk about threesomes and the effect on the family .

We have a cat, a rather lazy cat come to think of it. DH didn't want a cat at first said he wasn't going to have anything to do with it !!!!
So can some one explain to me why DH can hear the tinest meow from our cat outside at 4 in the morning when he could never hear any of our babies crying in the cot next to our bed ?
When he comes home all that I can hear is "hello beautiful " and no he is not talking to me !
He even lets her sit in his seat !!!!!!!!!
But saying all that I would not be with out her and to get on to the subject of this topic , we usually only put her out when she wants to "go" most of the time she stays indoors, well I did say she is a lazy cat !!!

Apparently dh had been woken by cat "purring menacingly and glaring at him with evil devilish green eyes"