General Chat

do you think your cat should stay in or out at night.my cat is never allowed out at night,mainly cos i don't want her hurt-. lastnight i was woken up about 1am to an awful cat fight near my window it must have gone on for 40 min-i was thinking poor cats, what if one gets hurt. i know it prob depends where you live,there are loads of cats near us.

what do you think then in or out.

thanks

catherine
xx

Morning Catherine!

I think they should be allowed to do as they please! ;-)))))))

My last 2 moggies were females and liked to be in on a night, although they did stay out sometimes in Summer. My current puss is a neutered tom and likes to be out most nights, although he will stay in on cold Winter nights

Jeanette x

morning jeanette
do you not worry if it gets hurt- i wouldn't be able to sleep esp if i heard the calling outside i would think it was mine.

catherine
xx

Mine has a cat flap so comes and goes as he pleases. I used to keep it locked at night but don't bother now, he's so lazy most of the time he sleeps all night on the end of my bed anyway!

Sam x

Here in Oz cats cause a lot of environmental damage. It is recomended to keep them inside. Lots of people keep them in sort of comfortable cages on the sides of their houses accessed via a cat flap, so they can come an go as they please.

I don't worry about this one Catherine. He's a bit of a roughy-toughy and spends most of the night sat on our neighbours shed surveying his territory! lol

morning mick and sam

lol jeanette mines a right wuss. still terratorial, but it's all a show.

catherine
xx

Being northern of course, my cats are double hard!!

However, we do have a cat flap, so they can do as they want......

Mick.....this might be a daft question, but what sort of environmental damage does a cat cause....apart from poops! lol

yes i was wondering that jeanette

tony lol-mines a northern female and very delicate and gentle
takes after her owner i reckon

catherine
xx

Hi Jeannette - cats ravage the native birds and kill small marsupials like possums. Cats and foxes have virtually wiped out a lot of the smaller native animals in most of Australia.

Hi Catherine

Mine have the choice to come and go as they please - they have a magnetic catflap .........

My youngest two prefer to go out at night cos they are nervous of all the children running past and people walking dogs - that said, they are always all home when i wake up each day :O))

mines that fat she wouldn't get through a cat flap-she has her breakfast then goes out for like 15 min then she wants in and lies on the window all day whatever the weather-she is huge.

hates the binmen and the window cleaner with his ladders. never let her on the beds though, she quite happy in her cat basket or the window.

catherine
xx

Thanks for filling us in Mick.

I sometimes think my cat could wipe out the native bird and mouse population on his own! lol

Good morning everyone
Don't mind how they live as long as the 'outies' don't mess in my garden every day...nasty... Grrrr
Mau ;O( xx

The 2 I have now are only 15 months old so I do lock the catflap and keep them in at night, maybe when they are older I might leave it unlocked at night.

Mary

All the cats i have ever had were outdoor cat's.
My last one used the cat flap, he lived till 15 when I had to have hin put to sleep ;((

If I was awake when a car passed I worried it would hit him as the one before got killed right outside the door.
Many a night I would be outside in my dressing gown to see who was fighting..not always mine though.
Now I have a female house cat, but I do feel guilty not letting her out.
If I did, she would be in at night.

She is a very spoilt cat probably because my kids have left the nest lol


Marion

Hi Catherine:-)
I have 2 cats,both are indoor cats,but we take them out twice a day supervised, they are use to it and have never known anything different.
we do get some funny looks when we say "right,in now" and off the go,without any problems.
who said you cant train cats;-))lol

my sons cats were house cats because they lived on a main road but when he moved to a quiet cul-de-sac where there were several other cats one of them liked to sit in the street with neighbours cats so son fitted a cat flap.
unfortunately he disappeared as have 4 other cats in street and it has since transpired that some boys with terriers have set them on the cats and killed them.RSPCA not interested,police took more notice but need witnesses to stand up in court and the people who saw it are afraid to stand up for fear of repercussions. Anyway son has locked cat flap as his other cat,desdemona,an old lady of 18 is happy to stay in.So I would say try and keep them in at night.

I do my best to keep both of mine in, cos there are some bullies around here, 1 is old and the other is timid,and neither have the sense to move when a car is coming, luckily the drivers beep the horns (not that the cats notice), all I can say is thank you nice drivers, who manouver round my cats!!
they will only come in via the front windows and exit by the front door, which is a bit hard when the thick one doesnt meow!!