Cats at night

[CurlyCatz]

If my words come over as clumsy or patronising that couldn't be further from the truth as my intention is quite the opposite.

Dont worry, they havent 

[carl (billy and baggys dad)]

After going through the trauma of carrying my 40 kg dead greyhound up a flight of stairs with blood pouring out everywhere and a totally ripped apart smashed up body then spending a whole night trying to clean pints of blood off him because of unfortunate series of events I know I'm just not strong enough to go through that again with any of my animals, cat or dog. 

  Hell Lynn, that'd break me. I've had to do it with a person, but to do it with one of my boys ... I can't think about it.

[Beanie]

Ela wrote

credit to you for admitting it, so many people would have insisted it was not their fault

That is so true. We live in a world where we all have human flaws and, as humans, we all make mistakes. The sad thing is that we live in a society that looks to blame others and basks in self denial. People in rescue see and hear it all the time. I work on the simple basis that if you can't be honest with yourself, you cannot be honest with anyone. It is only when you are honest with yourself and learn positives and negatives from your experiences that you can move on.

Lynn, whilst extremely sad at reading your story, I admire you greatly for coming on an open board and saying it as you saw it. If my words come over as clumsy or patronising that couldn't be further from the truth as my intention is quite the opposite.

It's strange I don't fear making mistakes in my everyday life in issues that affect my family, friends or work but I do fear making mistakes in looking after our animals.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

After going through the trauma of carrying my 40 kg dead greyhound up a flight of stairs with blood pouring out everywhere and a totally ripped apart smashed up body then spending a whole night trying to clean pints of blood off him because of unfortunate series of events I know I'm just not strong enough to go through that again with any of my animals, cat or dog.  Therefore even if i move to a more suitable area where it might be deemed reasonably safe to let my cats out I just couldnt bring myself to so they will always have a run for outdoor access and indoors. (i have such a fear i probably wouldnt be able personally to summon enough trust for catproofed garden)

I can't imagine how horrible that must have been

I'm pretty much the same as you Lynn - even if I lived somewhere safer for cats I don't think I would let them have free outdoor access.  Not now that I've got used to having indoor cats.  Selfish maybe, but I don't think I could live with the fear of them getting hurt and with not knowing where they were.  I'd go for the run/cat proof garden instead if possible.

(As a disclailmer - I'm not criticising anyone who does let their cats go outside!  Just saying what I do and why).

[Ela]

A credit to you for admitting it, so many people would have insisted it was not their fault. Although very sad it is a timely reminder  to people who insist they always take precautions so their cats/dogs life would not be in danger  if they do certain things e.g take a cat out on a lead or harness, that even people who are extremely careful and have the intelligence to know what is safe, can and do make mistakes, in this case to being unwell.

[CurlyCatz]

Said incident was entirely my fault Pete, I was off work ill with flu and needed to nip up to chemist for more supplys.  My dog never got off the lead until we were in an enclosed area but this day (10th february) i stupidly did not attach his lead between the car park and my flat entrance (private car park) Unfortunately a rabbit appeared and darted round the back of the building which was open grass lands ,  we were practically at the flat outer door but jake saw the creature and took off, within a minute he had ran full pelt & probably covered half a mile nearly, lept over 4-5 ft fences and got himself up onto the road after the rabbit, it couldnt escape because there was alot of snow and the burrows were blocked, A woman who should have still been doing 30mph as it was just inside that zone near the town exit was probably accelerating up to national speed limit when jake bounded onto the road...It had been quick and instant but it doesnt provide me with any peace,  Of all the horrific sights ive seen my own dogs body was the worst injured   
That is maybe not entirely to do with cats getting out and at that time I only had fraser who didnt get out as we were in a flat but whenever i imagine something like that happening to my cats i picture them with the same injurys jake had and its terrifying.

Incidentally as i drove home tonight from my lads tae kwon do lesson in the dark i spotted a flash of black run out not far in front of me (and closer to the on coming car in other direction) It luckily lept clear of the road up onto a verge but i did wonder at the time how many more road crossings in the dark it will survive 

[Beanie]

I'm so sorry to read that Lynn but you obviously know exactly what my concern is as we share the same love of animals. Having said that I would be lying if I said that I fully understood how that must have been for you as . thank God, I have not personally experienced it with any of mine.

To date my experience has been of other people's animals - some of whom I knew well. That was hard enough especially with loved cats scraped from the road and seeing children's weeping eyes.  The simple fact is that so much of this can be avoided. It is not attaching blame but asking people to think laterally rather than the I'll do what I like beacuse it is MY catattitude which is all about them and not the animal. Doubtless some of the cynics wil say that children soon get over it but that is simply not the point. What is it teaching them in a disposbale society? Lose an animal; get another and so on.  Just like plastic razors, etc.

I went to the FAB AGM in Basingstoke on 3rd November. On my way home under the aerial bombardment of fireworks, there was a black cat lying dead on the road. It is an extremely busy and fast road and was too dangerous to stop completely which upset me. I slowed down as best I could with cars speeding past It was claer that he had recently been knocked down. He didn't have a collar and was probably petrified in what sounded like an army mortar attack. Another animal allowed to roam or carelessness allowing him out at night? Who knows but another RTA statistic.

[CurlyCatz]

After going through the trauma of carrying my 40 kg dead greyhound up a flight of stairs with blood pouring out everywhere and a totally ripped apart smashed up body then spending a whole night trying to clean pints of blood off him because of unfortunate series of events I know I'm just not strong enough to go through that again with any of my animals, cat or dog.  Therefore even if i move to a more suitable area where it might be deemed reasonably safe to let my cats out I just couldnt bring myself to so they will always have a run for outdoor access and indoors. (i have such a fear i probably wouldnt be able personally to summon enough trust for catproofed garden)

Oh i know one of my boys would far rather have free range access but he isnt desperately unhappy providing he has his run to go to and for me having him alive and safe here living like that i can cope with but i personally cant handle the fear of the unknown or mental pictures i have in my head of how he may end up even though it may be said that having his free range access would give him his ultimate happiness.

I guess i've made a trade off - a tiny little bit of his ultimate happiness for his safety. 

[Beanie]

Thanks to those who voted.

A very interesting thread in more ways than one. Tells me a lot.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I've tried telling Mosi he's supposed to be crepuscular and that 4am is not dawn right now, but he's not having any of it    He says he'll be active when he wants to be.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

What ever it fits my cats  , well not the dusk bit cos they prefer night 

[Gillian Harvey]

Is that the same as Crepuscular?

Could be Ela LOL! 

[Ela]

crespuscular

Is that the same as Crepuscular?

[Millys Mum]

You said it better than i was going to Gillian, i have never heard of that word!

[Gillian Harvey]

are cats nocturnal?????

Nope! - cats are crespuscular - active at dawn and dusk

[Ralph's mum (angie)]

Dont think domestic felines would be classed as nocturnal in the true sense of the word but they "can" certainly be more active and instinctive at night time (or early morning/sunrise time)

instinctive I thought destructive was the word 

[CurlyCatz]

Dont think domestic felines would be classed as nocturnal in the true sense of the word but they "can" certainly be more active and instinctive at night time (or early morning/sunrise time)

[SpecialRed]

are cats nocturnal?????

[Ralph's mum (angie)]

  I have now since this thread started but not because of it, have managed to keep Max in at night, he's allowed out from 7.30am until 10.00pm, he is in and out in between times for eats and a wonder round the house, and a cat nap so can I change my vote  think the cold weather helped though 

[karenjet]

I'm still debating whether to let mine go outside. If I do they'll never be left out overnight though, my nerves wouldn't stand it.

[Kally]

sorry i meant to say i only let one of mine out at night i let all of them out during the day

[Catz]

Mine are out during the day but they come in for the night.

[Kally]

i only let one of my cats out occassionally because shes used to the outside and its only if she really reallywants to go out she stays in close distance shes not like my other cats that will wonder around

[Team Svartalfheims]

Bilbo sleeps outside at night but he's in a locked cat run so he's not roaming the streets or anything.

[Beanie]

Bump

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Can you start a new thread for her furbabies so we can talk about her?

[furbabies]

Thanks for your kind words.

Poor little girl is still in a great amount of pain but she's had her pain medication for today, she's as happy as I can make her upstairs in our en suite, laying under the radiator, she has all she needs up there and has access to our bedroom an should she need more peace as I know hubby after a night shift can snore, i've propped a wardrobe door open and she can get in there wander along to the end and use some objects i've put in as steps to lay on a box in there.

Everything in me yesterday wanted to scream at the vet 'can you not do anymore for her' as if you could see her it'd prob break your heart. She used her tray this morning and it's obviously uncomfortable for her to go to the toilet and to add insult to injury - she can't lift her tail out of the way.

I'm hoping that she will want to stay in most of the time now, however I also understand how hard it can be to stop a cat from getting out of the house if they're determined to.
Our little girl was a rescue cat whose owners had allowed her to roam, never took her to the vets for anything and when she came home and they discovered she was pregnant like bad parents they dumped her with kittens at a rescue centre.
She has always been very placid and settled in here wonderfully, we've never had any problems with her and she adores my children, especially littlen. She never roams too far unless she follows us to the park at the bottom of the road, but she will jsut lay and watch the kids play and then follow us home.

My gut feeling about what happened goes like this:

She's never really hunted much until recently and we've had rats and mice brought back regularly in the last 2 weeks and this is in the daytime.
When she got out I think she must have gone hunting, there are a few idiots who drive round here in the evening and at night time like they're on a race track and the combination of her focused on catching something and the idiots probably meant she got caught out by one of the cars.
Why she didn't come home I don't know as it's only a few yards up the road and she could have sheltered in bushes til she saw us. But I think it happened on the Thursday night or she'd have been home Friday morning.

It's great if your cat doesn't want to go out if thats the case please don't force them as this sort of thing does happen, if you can get them in or try and change they're habits if they regularly go out at night particularly if you live on a busy estate or near a main road.
It's so upsetting to see her in this state as she's a real treasure.

I think cat lovers are few and far between nowadays. In this village lots of cats have been shot at out near the fields, and had dogs set on them. I really don't know whats wrong with people who would intentionally go out and hurt any animal.
It's bad enough when its an accident

Look after your furbabies as best you can

[Gail Bengal Slave]

Occasionally if She doen't want to come in.

I don't leave the boys out as boys will be boys, Thai is a good girl.

AND my back garden is cat proofed, so she is safe. I worry about the boys with them being Bengals.

[sixfurballs]

Since moving to this house 2 years ago we did let the cats have access to outside all the time. When we got Heidi and Huxley CP asked that we keep them in at night and explained why. I have fitted a Petporte now which is set to automatically lock the cats inside at dusk. So now they all stay in at night. I do let them out during the day. They have been inside now for over 4 weeks and seemed to be getting a bit frantic, spending lots of time sitting in windows looking out and rushing to doors every time they were opened. They are very happy since being let out and are very tired when they eventually come in for the night.

[Beanie]

Hi Furbabies,

I'm so sorry to read that. I went to a cattery yesterday where a new resident also has half a tail missing and is clearly in some pain. She was a stray and recently trapped. She is having a close medical examination early this week but is now in excellent hands.

Your story is precisely why I raised this subject in the first place. The replies, to date, are interesting in more ways than one.

[alisonandarchie]

Poor puss,it must have been a real shock for you Archie has had his tail amputated a few months ago and is absolutly fine. Hope apart from that everything is ok.

[blackcat]

poor wee thing. Thank goodness you found her when you did

[furbabies]

Thought I would add a sad story to this.

We've been trying to change my rescue furbabies habits, i'm sure I posted on here a while back that she was always insistent that she went out at night and had been doing this for months if she couldn't convince us by disturbing the the kids through the night she would dash out when someone was coming in or going out, we needed eyes in our backsides.

Anyway the last month or two she's been better at staying in at night, instead venturing out first thing and comign back at lunch time. Thursday morning last week I told her off when I got home from dropping the kids off as she was toying with a mouse right outside our front door, I know it's natural but my stomach was churning and I felt quite ill, she ended up running off with it no doubt to eat it  .
She came home a little later looking quite happy with herself and was pleased that I let her in the house minus the mousey (no way was I letting her in with it).
Anyway a few catnaps later I had just got littlen to bed and hubby arrived home, I didn't realise until the next day that she had darted through his legs as he came in and ignored his calls for her to come back.
Anyway Friday morning I said to him, did you let her out this morning? He said no she went out last night, I looked out the back and called out the front, she was nowhere to be seen.
hubby said she'd be about, probably found another mouse, seem to be lots about now.
So I dismissed it - I shouldn't have.
Come Saturday monring still no sign of her, was beginning to really panic but had alreayd arranged to take kids out for the day, my dad was round when I got home and he'd not seen her either, so I trundled off down the road with middle son in tow and we called and called her, looked down a footpath that she doesn't normally go down but I felt I should check it???
We heard meowing ......
Then there she was coming out of the bushes I didn't know whether to scold her for nearly giving me a heartache worrying or scoop her up and cuddle her.

I didn't notice it at the time as I was just so pleased to see her but thinking back she didn't come trotting out of the bushes as she would normally.
As I scooped her up under my arm she meowed, I thought she was just saying oi I wasn't ready to go home but as I adjusted my grip on her to support her bum
she cried out hissed and tried to put teeth marks in my hand
VERY ODD she's normally so placid and soppy you can cradle her like a baby and she'll just let you get on with it.
Less than 50 yards from the house I was havign to part scruff and part carry her home.

She'd been hit by a car apparently and may have to lose her tail

[Desley (booktigger)]

My current two are in at night (well, they dont go out much full stop), but Ginger often spent nights outside - he had lived on the streets for 3 years though, and closer to a busier road than I am, so I knew he was streetwise enough (although when I got the car and he liked to walk at the side of it when I was reversing I did wonder!!). He was never allowed to stay out without a good attempt at dragging him out from under a car though!!

[Catjane]

I'm 100% with Gill on this one!  It all depends on your cats and where you live.  Mine are in at night, but only because I heard that this year there are a lot of foxes.  But I have to accept that from time to time one may not come in when called ... Sabby!!!    I open the cat flap when I leave for work in the morning, and put it on in-only as soon as I get home.  Once they're all in (usually by 6.30pm) they have their tea, and that's it - they're in for the night.  They all stay downstairs with me during the evening, and all pile upstairs with me when I go to bed!! 

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

My two cats Siamese leo and Bella have access to 22 acres of woodland and park, but i ALWAYS do my darnest to get them in at night and there has only been a few occassions when Leo has stayed out all night with me worrying all night about him. He was found locked in a shed in the morning... Despite all this room cats do wander and they always go the wrong way!!. 

I would like to think i give them access all day to do waht they want but in the evening then its cat flap closed. They seem to be okay about it.. But if Leo has an opportunity to have a last minute chasing rabbits then he will.

Both cats respond to their names.. Trying to find a cat in woodland is a feat in itself. 

We also have Jesiri now and he will definately been indoors at night..

Roads are dangerous places at night for any wildlife and cats are particular at risk. its a sad fact that my niece being a emergency out of hours vet nurse usually sees more cases of RTA that end fatally then during the day. Mainly becasue not many members of hte public will go out their way to bring a cat in that they have hit at night. Sometimes travelling along way out of their way and may even be in the opposite direction, baring in mind that not all vets have an out of hours service on site...

During the day there is more chance of someone offering to help (or even realising) you have hit something..

Not nice!

[blackcat]

I think to a large extent it depends on where you live. In Oz, where the wildlife is particularly vulnerable to predators, mine have always been indoor cats, at least since I realised the potential for conflict, and here in the UK I am in an unfriendly urban environment, so yes, they should be indoors in my situation. If I lived out in the country in England they would probably be outdoors. But I still feel better if they are inside at night, if only so I don't wake up face to face with their latest victim ..

[jetcleo]

My cats are out all day, come in for their tea then usually go out again, i do try and get them in around 9 ish though only because Jet likes to fight so around 3 am i am woken up by him by howling and fighting!!  Ever since Jet was shot though i like to keep them in as i'm sure that was done in the evening time.  I just don;t want to risk it.  Cleo likes to be in bed by 11pm anyway, as soon as i turn the tv off she's up the stairs faster than i am and chooses which side of the bed she wants to sleep on!!

[Gillian Harvey]

CCs harry is a grey tabby

GREY, surely not? 

[Corporal Smokey]

...oh here we go....