Getting my cat to stay outside at night?

Question

Hi i have a kitten who is 6 months old and has never stayed ouside at night and has just recently started going out side during the day for a short peroid of time. we have a field at the back of or garden witch is a fair way down from the top of our fence in our garden. If i keep my cat outside at night if he goes do you reakon he will come back or what is the best way of keeping him close to the house?

also sorry we are going away on holliday for 8 days and don't want to put him in a cattery because it's a bit expensive what else could we do

Answer 1

Why would you want to force your cat outside? If you can't afford him, give him away. Leaving them outside could lead to all kinds of horrible deaths - from being picked up and tortured, to being hit from a car (and worse, not dying right away), or from being poisoned.

You plan on just leaving him for 8 days? No food? No water? In the US, that would be grounds for a visit from the SPCA and possibly taking the animal away from you and you being brought up on criminal charges. If you love the cat, or even remotely care for its well being, you will find another option. Even if he made it on his own for 8 days, he'll probably think he's been abandoned. Why do that to him?

Look into keeping your cat at home and hiring a kid from the neighborhood to come in and take care of him every day or two. It will be much safer!

: )

Answer 2

Okay that's a LITTLE kitten you're going to leave on his own. When you have pets, it's like having children -- you do what you HAVE to do.
What you CAN do is find someone -- friend / neighbor / relative whom you trust to come by your house each day to feed, water and play with the BABY, and scoop out his litter box each day. THAT's what else you can do -- and the appropriate thing to do.
You cannot put a cat outside and expect to to STAY anywhere -- cats do as they wish. And if you have a field, etc., and he's pretty much an inside baby -- anything could happen to him. He could be attacked and hurt or killed by something, and since he's not a feral he's not used to having to "survive in the wild" and probably doesn't realize things want to hurt him. You said he goes out for short periods during the day -- no way is he ready to be dumped outside for a week or more!!

Answer 3

You can easily set up your cat for 8 days. I do it for my two all the time. Just leave lots of food and water, the more the better. And make sure that you have the litter box or 2 even, ready to use for the next 8 days. He's too young to leave outdoors for that amount of time. If you tried to leave food and water, most likely stray animals of all kinds, even birds will eat up the food within the first 24 hrs. As for letting him outside - each time you do that there is the chance he will not come back, especially if he has not been neutered. The older he gets, once he learns to roam, he will keep roaming.

Answer 4

Are you saying you want your cat to stay outside all night? if so, why?

How long have you had the kitten? The cat will come back if he feels that your house is part of his territory. But this can take time. I would be careful about the kitten being outside for the first 3 months.

Can you have a friend come feed your kitten and play with him everyday while you are gone?

Answer 5

Very hard to say how to keep him indoors, BUT, I would get him a collar with an identity tag, or you can do what my bf and I did to our cat. Get him a small dog collar that way you won't keep spending money on collars and you can put him on a tie out without the chance of him running away. I know some will say it's cruel because it's not a stretchy collar or a breakaway. If you can manage to keep your cat indoors, please do so, you don't want to have a phone call from a neighbor, telling you that your cat is on the side of the road (happened to us Easter Weekend).

Answer 6

Most cats do come back to their owners house. They know they can get food and lovin' there. I know from experience my cat will go out at night and usually be back at the house before we wake up in the morning to be let back in the house. One thing you may want to do is take him down to the end of the fence and walk with him back to the house and give him a treat when you get back to the house. Do this with him for about a week or so. By then he should definately know where he belongs.

Answer 7

I don't think it's a good idea at all the leave them outdoor at night.
Firstly, your cat might be attacked my wildlife, but secondly and more importantly, cats will hunt at night when all the birds are sleeping therefore killing wild birds like that. Not a good idea in my opinion.

as with the going on holiday problem, can you get someone to come feed the cat while you're gone? that's probably the best thing to do since you're going to be going away for awhile.

Answer 8

Has you cat been fixed? That tends to keep them home - no boyfriends/girlfriends! If it does run around, as long as you have given it lots of food and a warm place to sleep, your baby will come back. You say you have a field nearby - are there any other animals (dogs, coyotes, etc) to hurt your cat? Might want to check it out before letting it out at night!

Answer 9

About the holiday issue, when we leave for extended periods, we have a friend come by the house twice a day to feed and interact with our cats. The other option is to have someone house sit for you while you are gone. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

Why do you even want a pet? You don't want them in at night? yYour'e not going to be home for 8 days.You are the kind of person who doesn't deserve the love of a pet.By the way ,how do you sleep safe and warm in your bed at night while your kitten fends off larger predators?