Is it ok for my cat to be out at night in this weather?

stargaze_3

I would just like to make a comment to Ruby Moon, - Who ever said that animals dont feel pain as we do, - I'm sorry to dissagree on this one, but sadly I'm sure that they do feel pain the same as we do. - I wish they didn't !!! -- they may not feel the cold as much as us, I'm sure they dont, but pain is a different story. Stargaze

SailorSam

I think if the cat was cold it would come home.
The only thing you need to worry about in this weather are monkeys,
especially brass ones.

Apricot

It would be ideal for puss to be able to get inside if it were cold but, if you cannot put in a cat flap then the shed idea is brill. As long as somewhere is dry & protected from the wind/rain/snow Im sure the cat would be fine.

BitterAndTwisted

Ruby_Moon wrote: »

A cat is more likely to be run over during the day when there are more cars about. A cat is safest outside at night for several reasons.
1. Less cars.
2. Less bad cat hating people about.
3. Cats are more aware at night.
4. They are nocturnal.

Are you saying that you never let your cat out?

OP. As for being out in the cold, the cat will not mind one little bit. He will love it! We do have a tendency to put ourselves in our pets position. WE wouldn't like to be out all night, so a cat wouldn't. We are wrong to do that because they are so much different to us.
They don't feel the cold as we do.
They don't feel pain as we do either.

I wouldn't disagree with points 1 & 2 but I would take issue with 3 & 4. Cats are most active at dawn and dusk as that's prime hunting-time but they are NOT nocturnal. It's not kind or fair to put a cat out at night without some warm shelter available especially in the middle of winter: their natural habit is to hunt for a while and then kip for a while, hence the term "cat-nap" so forcing them outside at night for 8-10 hours at a stretch is not right at all imo, in fact I'd go so far as to say that I think it's cruel.

They might not feel the cold as much as we do because they wear luxurious fur coats but to say that they don't feel pain as we do is misguided at best, to put it mildly. I think you're talking out of your hat, actually

BeenieCat

I tried to keep my cat in the other night cos it was freezing, it lasted about 20 minutes after i'd gone to bed and she started meowing like she'd not been fed for a year lol.

So she went outside as always, and same every other night. A neighbour has a cosy looking outhouse i think she goes there anyway, but i'm not worried, and people who say it's cruel are way over-protective IMO. I agree with Ruby Moon.

zzzLazyDaisy

I am not convinced that they don't feel the cold - cats who live in centrally heated houses do get their winter coat, but they often also continuously moult through the winter, so they are not equipped for spending all night outside in sub zero temperatures. My 4yo cat definitely feels the cold - if there is a frost he is out to the loo and back again in a nano-second. I certainly wouldn't shut him out at night, it would be cruel.

Ruby_Moon

Talking out of my hat!? That is a funny one.
Cats do not feel pain as we do. I did not say "They do not feel pain" nor did I say "Cats like pain". I said they do not feel pain like we do.
When we get cut open during an operation, we are in considerable pain afterwards to the point where walking can be difficult, sitting up is a 10 minute effort and feeling anything like normal seems miles away.
A cat, however, will come back from the vet, will bend itseld this way and that to wash, will run for its food, will jump up high and down again and does not seem bothered one little bit about the several layers of stiches it has in or any trauma and bruising to the area.
Just a small example.
They are not like humans but the trouble is a lot of humans think they are and as a result they treat their pets like small children. Running to the vet everytime a cat has a sniffle or a sticky eye is not necessary. People forget to think about what it is like to be a cat and cats, in general, like to be out at night. They are designed at nighttime creatures and certainly do not feel the cold as we do either.
Cats are nocturnal creatures although some experts believe that todays humans have, somewhat, taken away their nocturnal instincts by keeping them in at night and they have adapted to that.
If you leave your cats to their own devices as an experiment and keep a door or window open all the time for a week, you will see that your cats will favour being out at night and will come in during the day and sleep more.
Also, to think that a cat is incapable of finding itself some warm shelter if it wanted some is to label your cat stupid. A cat will be as warm as toast curled up under a thick hedge but the problem is that some humans can't possibly think it can be warm enough and so over protect. Hence them not feeling the cold as we do.
It is not cruel to allow a cat freedom to be the animal it is.

foreign_correspondent

cats are diurnal not nocturnal, and it is widely accepted that animals such as cats and dogs feel pain as we do but are less inclined to diplay it. An acute sense of pain is an important survival mechanism.

You have to consider that we are also more self protecting after an operationn, not just due to pain, but because we understand what has happened, and are inclined to pre-empt and avoid any addition injury or stress to the area, whereas an animal does not have that knowledge or self awareness. (A cat will never think 'I must be careful to avoid getting in positions which strain my stitches, for example!) Nothing to do with how acute it's sense of pain is though.

geri1965_2

Ruby_Moon wrote: »

A cat is more likely to be run over during the day when there are more cars about. A cat is safest outside at night for several reasons.

Not true, according to CPL. They recommend that cats are kept in at night. I guess they know better than anyone.

BitterAndTwisted

Just because animals behave as if they don't feel pain in the same way humans do does not mean they do not experience it in the same way. All animals in the wild instinctively hide it when they're unwell or injured for very obvious reasons and it's just completely obtuse to assume that they don't feel the same pain or discomfort we do. Where is your proof, in any case? Wasn't it Pavlov who poured scalding water on dogs in an attempt to justify the terrible cruelty inflicted on them?

I don't dispute that cats LIKE to go out at night but do think that it's cruel to shut them out in sub-zero temperatures without ensuring they have decent shelter somewhere if they can't get back indoors. Cats are pure sybarites and I utterly dispute that any cat would be content to sleep in a hedge if it had the choice of that or a comfy spot, safe and warm at home.

It seems to me that you're looking for an argument just for the sake of it here but that often appears to be your modus operandi on threads in this forum, and elsewhere actually.