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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / February 2008What do cats do at night outside?
I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on out there? I live in an old surburban neighborhood in Philadelphia. There is a high wall at the bottom of my garden separating it from a school for the blind. The wall is about 10 feet high but he gets up there and walks around on it and I am afraid he might jump down on the other side and not be able to jump back up. That's one fear. At night he can be comatose with sleep in his basket in my bedroom. I turn out the light and while Im falling asleep , he silently wakes up and jumps up on the window sill because something outside had gotten his attention. I take a look and cant see a thing. I wonder if its safer to let him out all night or just for a couple of hours in the morning. He does his business outside and cries to go out when he means business. I know that during the day he stalks birds and once he chased a rabbit and it got stuck in a fence and made so much noise that he ran off and I had to go and rescue the screaming rabbit. But what goes on at night that facinates cats so? >I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. I don't know, why don't you wait until he freezes to death, gets hit by a car or killed by another animal, then you'll know for sure. You're the one with the large brain and opposable thumbs. Figure it out. honeybunch <doro_iams@yahoo.com> wrote in news:15cf61a6-2600-4689-8bd3- d26491226610@f10g2000hsf.googlegroups.com: > I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > that he ran off and I had to go and rescue the screaming rabbit. But > what goes on at night that facinates cats so? Well, one thing they do is come to my patio door and howl at my cat (who's inside all night) at 3 in the morning and wake everybody up. There are two cats in our neighbourhood who do that every night, and we're fed up with it. Bobble > Well, one thing they do is come to my patio door and howl at my cat (who's > inside all night) at 3 in the morning and wake everybody up. There are > two > cats in our neighbourhood who do that every night, and we're fed up with > it. And if you were a cat-hating cretin, you might just hurt that cat if you could catch it. Another good reason to keep cats, particularly old, arthritic ones that cannot run fast, inside where they are safe. > I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > that he ran off and I had to go and rescue the screaming rabbit. But > what goes on at night that facinates cats so? Without getting into the indoor-outdoor debate on what's best for pet felines... Outside at night, cats prowl and hunt. Indoor/outdoor pet cats usually have an outdoor territory of about one square mile. They spend much of their time patrolling it, guarding it from invaders. Along the way, if they spot a tasty critter, they'll go on the hunt. And if, like yours, they're used to using the wilderness as a toilet, that's another reason to go out at night. Cats by nature are nocturnal; they're built for nighttime romps. They don't have stupendous eyesight, but they compensate with extraordinary senses of smell and hearing. They also have the ability to dilate their pupils to allow them to see in dim conditions. Plus they have a phenomenal sense of direction, allowing them to find their way back to home base in a variety of conditions. And arthritic though your pet may be, cats naturally hide their afflictions from other animals, so as not to clue either prey or predators in to their weaknesses. Along with this, if your cat goes outdoors daily, he's probably built up a good seasonal coat of fur and some extra body fat to protect him from frigid temperatures. (You also might have noticed him eating more in recent months; going outdoors in the winter requires extra calories to stay warm.) : if your cat goes outdoors daily, he's probably built up a good : seasonal coat of fur and some extra body fat to protect him from frigid : temperatures. How long can they stay in different temperatures: 30, 20, 10, 0? Real temperatures or wind chill? My cat wants to get out like OP's. I haven't gotten around to installing a cat door, but I just leave the back door propped open a crack, She usually pushes her way back in about 1/2 - 1 hour. She is good enough to let me know she's back, so then I lock the door. Another weird thing my cat does: Sometimes she would run ou t even if it was 10 degrees. Other times she would recoil back from 40 degree temperatures (she would insist I open the door, she would take a step or two out, and then run back). > : if your cat goes outdoors daily, he's probably built up a good > : seasonal coat of fur and some extra body fat to protect him from frigid > : temperatures. > > How long can they stay in different temperatures: 30, 20, 10, 0? Real > temperatures or wind chill? Wind chill affects all animals, cats included. Cats are more prone to avoid the wet, so snow or rain would be more likely to keep them in. The coat and added girth, however, aren't enough to compensate entirely for winter conditions at their bitterest. If your cat knows its outdoor territory well enough, though, he's accrued plenty of places to go to stay dry, fairly warm, and out of the wind. My late cat Bijou insisted on going outdoors to relieve himself, regardless of conditions. He refused to utilize the litter box. Even at -10F with a foot of snow on the ground and a rip-roaring wind, he'd still make a mad dash outside to do his bidness, and come racing back to the door about a minute later. > My cat wants to get out like OP's. I haven't gotten around to > installing a cat door, but I just leave the back door propped open a [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > temperatures (she would insist I open the door, she would take a step > or two out, and then run back). Hard to say why. If she'd not been out for sometime, maybe she just hadda have a taste of Mother Nature, even if it meant spending time in an arctic wonderland. As for the other, all I can think is she'd been spoiled by a run of dandy weather, and 40F was beneath her standards at the time. > : if your cat goes outdoors daily, he's probably built up a good > : seasonal coat of fur and some extra body fat to protect him from frigid [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > temperatures (she would insist I open the door, she would take a step > or two out, and then run back). She has a little tiny cat brain. You on the other hand, should know better.  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > > : if your cat goes outdoors daily, he's probably built up a good > > : seasonal coat of fur and some extra body fat to protect him from frigid [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > -- > Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com I think the size of the cat brain is sufficient for the size of their body. Its just too bad they can't talk. But probably they'd sound like lunatics if they did and scare us to death. > I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on > out there? They Feed, Flee, f.ck and fight. What else...? What planet do you live on anyway...? IBen Getiner >>I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg >>loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on >>out there? > > They Feed, Flee, f.ck and fight. What else...? What planet do you live > on anyway...? The planet of desexed cats, where they feed, flee and fight, but don't f.ck. On Jan 26, 5:44 pm, Noon Cat Nick <chatdemidiSPAMBEG...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >>I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > >>loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > The planet of desexed cats, where they feed, flee and fight, but don't f.ck. When I was living at home our cat went out at night quite often, usually around 9:30 PM or so and my dad would say to it "you know if you go out now you are out all night" (not that the cat could understand him of course but this was a favorite saying of his). Around 6 AM he would be scratching at the door to get in and that was no problem as my parents were early risers to get ready for work. Sometimes the cat would climb up the apple tree and get on the roof and come to my window and start scrathing to come in (usually around 4 AM or so) when it did this it also wanted to be fed right away and would make noise if it did not get food pronto. > On Jan 26, 5:44�pm, Noon Cat Nick <chatdemidiSPAMBEG...@hotmail.com> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > wanted to be fed right away and would make noise if it did not get > food pronto. A truthful soul. God bless 'em...... IBen Getiner On Jan 26, 10:44 pm, Noon Cat Nick <chatdemidiSPAMBEG...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >>I wonder why a neutered cat with a bit of arthritis in his rear leg > >>loves to stay out all night long in freezing weather. What goes on [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > The planet of desexed cats, where they feed, flee and fight, but don't f.ck. LOL, V.Well worded Sheelagh>"o"< On Jan 28, 1:47�pm, "Sheelagh>\"o\"<" <silkn...@googlemail.com> wrote: > On Jan 26, 10:44�pm, Noon Cat Nick <chatdemidiSPAMBEG...@hotmail.com> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > LOL, �V.Well worded > Sheelagh>"o"< Yes, Indeed. Let us pray in the hope of f.cking a male animal. If it were granted, we would be forced to respond...... IBen Getiner |
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