Hi, everyone!  I have two cats, male and female, both fixed, both 3
years old, and both delightful parts of our lives.  Over the last year,
they have developed a very specific routine.  At 4:30 am, the male
wakes me up by pawing on things in our room, walking over our heads,
etc.  I get up, put him on the back porch, and go back to bed.  If I
can find the female, I will usually toss her out there, too, but she
usually hides.  Then, around 6:00 am, she wakes us up.

They don't want food or water, they don't appear to want to go outside,
and if I stay up, they just ignore me.

Anyway, it's to the point that I am considering keeping them on the
porch all night long.  I have tried closing the door to our bedroom and
locking them in the laundry room, but they start to meow and I'm afraid
it will wake my upstairs and downstairs neighbors.

However, I feel a little guilty about leaving them out there all night.
I'm trying to think of how to arrange it to make it comfortable for
them... some place they want to go at night so I don 't have to hunt
for them.  Here's what I've come up with so far:
- fresh food and water
- litter box
- heated beds/boxes (for winter months)
- fan (too keep the air moving in the summer)
- scratching post
- toys

Can you think of anything else they would need?  I feel so bad about
putting them out there all night, because they have had free reign of
the house for 3 years.  However, we both work 8-5:00, so it's important
that we get a good night of sleep.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Joseph