lhg0962 and SpencerTheLion, I am humbled, and I am back ! I have only recently found the site “pet of the day” and whilst I have noticed that about half the topics under discussion seem to be about litter tray behaviour , the rest of the discussions are pretty entertaining and I enjoy them !
Yes we in the UK let our cats come and go as they please. They usually have a cat flap (door) , but I guess you already know that!
I trained both my cats to do (or more accurately, not to do) everything neccessary to keep them under control, using a water pistol. (see current discussion on wallpaper) Apparently, I'm lucky in that it worked!