Should cats be kept indoor at night?

[weiwei_uk]

I watched a tv proggrame a couple of days ago that said cats kill wild animals mostly at night so they should be kept indoor at night. But what do you think?

[aly]

I think a bigger reason they should be kept indoor at night is for their own safety. I believe they should be indoor 100% of the time, but if they do go out, I'd recommend putting them inside at night.

[kimlovescats]

I agree with Aly!

[Soledad]

I think that there are some places where cats can live a relatively safe indoor/outdoor existence, but I think it's totally irresponsible to leave your cat out at night, regardless of where you are.

[PayItForward]

My cats stay in by choice at night (sleep in our room), but leave to go outside about 4am. Too early, but nice & light.

But I would lock them in, if they started going out at night.

[marysmerrycats]

I agree with indoor only. even in "safe" areas, there are still dangers, cars, cruel people, other animals etc. and in some areas like here, they can be prey to coyotes, etc. I have brought my cats outside a few times, but only with me, never alone.

[PaysForIt]

To address weiwei_uk's question, rats mice etc only come out at night so they tend to catch more that way. As far as I know cats don't hunt more any particular time of day.

As for safety, they're far safer at night when the roads are quiet and there's fewer people and predators around.

I'll add a rider to that, we live in a relatively quiet urban area with no real cat predators and little traffic at night. In other parts of UK, let alone the world it may well be a different situation.

[weiwei_uk]

Thanks for the replies. Personally I agree that cats are safer indoor, but my friend thinks it's not fair for the cats. He thinks the cats should be let out when they want to go out. Any comment on that one?

[Edwina's Secretary]

We have raccoons in our yard at night. They will kill a cat (or small dog!) Raccoons are very cute but can be VERY mean!

[PayItForward]

It depends on your friends cats and the current situation. (State of roads, garden access etc)

We have four cats all adopted from no kill shelters but all found as strays. i.e. They are used to be outside.

As we live in a quiet area, with relative low traffic levels, we choose to give our cats the choice of when they are in or out (appart from late at night).

You'll find the standard for USA kitties is inside always, the possible dangers sound scary (raccoons in the garden !!)

I personally would rather our cats have a full cat life and though I worry about the risks, they seems relatively low. But if I moved to a dangerous area, I would keep them inside to keep them safe.

Unless your friends cats are in danger, I would let things be.

[moosmom]

I believe it's the other way around. And yes, cats SHOULD be kept in at night, although I believe they should be kept indoors all the time. There are too many elements out there that can be deadly to cats, i.e., coyotes, rabid raccoons, dogs, etc.

[Fox-Gal]

My cats go out at night, we don't have a kitty litter box so they are trained to go out for nature calls and I'm not getting woken up in the middle of the night for them to go out. I do put a small cow bell on their collars though, it gives any animal they try to hunt a warning. So far it works great, not many kills out of them.

As for their safty at night, I have 7 dogs also, so most wild animals that could hurt my cats don't seem to want to come into my yard.


Florida is trying to pass a law though, that any cats that run free, if found will be destroyed. They are saying that cats kill wild life in Florida and are hurting the growth of certain animals. So If that passes, I'm not sure what I'll do. 7 cats in the house will be insane. I'll spend all day just cleaning kitty litter boxes!!!!


I just read my post, 7 cats 7 dogs, 7 must be my #. lol

[moosmom]

7 cats in the house will be insane. I'll spend all day just cleaning kitty litter boxes!!!!

I have 7 cats in my 3 bedroom apartment and it can get crazy at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

As far as scooping litterboxes, if it bothers you THAT much, you should've thought about that before you got your cats!

[IttyBittyKitty]

Originally posted by PaysForIt
To address weiwei_uk's question, rats mice etc only come out at night so they tend to catch more that way. As far as I know cats don't hunt more any particular time of day.

As for safety, they're far safer at night when the roads are quiet and there's fewer people and predators around.

I'll add a rider to that, we live in a relatively quiet urban area with no real cat predators and little traffic at night. In other parts of UK, let alone the world it may well be a different situation.

In Australia, many of our native animals are nocturnal therefore there is a strong onus on cat owners to keep their pets indoors at night. My Pixel is an indoors-only cat. I believe I would only let a cat outside if I rescued the cat when he was an adult who was accustomed to being outside and got too restless being indoors. I certainly wouldn't let him outside at night. Pixel is very content to stay indoors, so she won't be going outside. I believe it is much safter for her - there are many children around the neighbourhood, and some children and young adults can be quite cruel to cats.

[weiwei_uk]

fox-gal I think it's a really good idea to put a bell on your cat to warn the wild animals when your cat is near