people with outdoor/indoor cats...

If you live in a place with cold winter weather (New England) do you ever stop letting your cat out or stop letting him out at night? I was just wondering because it now drops below freezing at night here and there has been this white cat at our house everyday either late at night or early in the morning. I have not seen him myself, my dad keeps telling me, and my brother saw him too. I'm debating whether or not i want to try and gain his trust (sit out one night and hope he shows up) or to just leave him be. I never used to see him so I don't know if he's supposed to be out and if he's a stray/abandoned or lost kitty I would really like to take him in and find him a home. Then on the other hand I'm afraid he is allowed outside. So I was just curious if most people with indoor/outdoor cats let them out when it gets freezing at night.

I cannot stand a litterbox. Mitten and my past cat Cotton have both been house trained. I have a cat/dog door to the cabin and main house where she rotates stays .. I wouldn't own a cat if I couldn't house break them. They loves the outdoors.

Erp will stay out for days when its below freezing.

My cats have a cat door and come and go as they please all hours of the day or night. We don't have a litter box so they go out to potty and prowl no matter how cold.

I am very pro-indoor cats..but all of mine are Indoor/outdoor cause my mom owns our house. They have a cat door in the window of our kitchen, and one in the garage that connects onto the house and they go in and out as they please. When its really nice outside, not to warm and not too cold they love being outside, climbing the trees, sun bathing..when its really cold outside they come inside and hang out in front of the fire place, or in the garage (Its really warm out there because of the dryer)

My cats were never allowed outdoors at night, no matter the weather. Too many coyotes . . .
My elderly cat now, for whom "going outside" means "step out the door and sleep on the deck", began refusing to go out about 2 weeks ago, which is fine with us, it's all about whatever makes the cranky old lady happy!

Well as long as the cold won't kill her...I wish there was someway to tell if she was allowed outside or is lost. There are quite a few lost cat posters around but none are for her, those cats have probably been eaten by the coyotes and fishers that are all over the place, which is another thing I'm worried about.

I have 10 indoor cats, one indoor/outdoor cat, and one outdoor cat. The fully outdoor cat is out there by his choice. He is a 10+ year old Siamese that was dumped here two years ago. I've tried to bring him in but he just won't stay inside. He prefers being outside. He sleeps in the barn and gets fed twice a day.

The indoor/outdoor cat comes in when the temperature gets below 35 degrees, whether it's night or day.

My cats are strictly indoors . . but my mother's cats are 1 indoor/outdoor and several strictly outdoors. What she does is set up a place in the garage that is insulated, and up against the house wall . .. so they have somewhere warm and sheltered to retreat to. That's where they are fed in the winter . . . and there are blankets too. The indoor/outdoor is kept in at night, but I think that's because she's so old.

If you have coyotes in the area, be sure not to put any kind of collar that jingles (because of a bell or tags) on your cat. Those are like dinner bells to coyotes.

When its really cold, Siam comes in for the night. She was in last night with Petey in the basement cause it was like 20 degrees F or something. Brrr

Mine were indoor/outdoor cats ... never have used a litter box . cold never bothered them .

Our indoor cats stay indoors, the barn cats are out, obviously. We do set up baskets for them, lined with blankets, covered so there's only a small opening and off the floor. They like those a lot, although some prefer to snuggle in the hay loft.

Mine have a cat door and go in and out as they please. They spend most cold nights in the house though.

I would never let a cat out if there was coyotes around :yikes: