Zorro stays in at night.
All summer we have had a nightly battle (often involving a search of neighbour’s property!) to ensure he’s home before it gets dark.
All of a sudden, a few days ago, he started pitching up at 7pm. Eats his supper and then puts himself to bed. And every night it gets a few minutes earlier. It’s as if he’s suddenly tuned himself into the shortening days…
Are your feline friends doing the same?
Hahaha, Lynn!
That is so very ME as well! (Or I found them somewhere curled up at a hidden spot in the house after I whispered and called for them for hours in the neighbourhood)
My handicapped cat can’t open the catflap either, but we taped it up and it is now permanently open. It is also not ideal, since we get other visitors from time to time.
Last winter we had Loulou, a cat from nearby, regularily sleeping on our couch. The owners just closed up everything when they went to sleep and too bad for poor Loulou, if he wasn’t home by then 
It’s not much fun to be locked out all night by temperatures around - 10°C !!! We eventually spoke to them and since then he hasn’t visited us here anymore.
I thought it was just me!!
My hubbie and I spend hours sometimes looking for our ‘lot’, especially 2 mentally handicapped cats we have, they can’t use the catflap so if they are not in at a certain time, it’s panic stations;
Cat’s will get used to being in at night, even though this really upsets their natural instincts - they are crepuscular beings.
Ours will come in as they know that they’ll get their favourite treat, and they generally settle for the night. However, I have been know to be still up and looking at 3am only to find the culprit happily chasing moths in the garden!
I am in a certain way looking forward to the nights when it gets cooler and our cats stay at home at night. We have a cat flap and they can come and go as they please.
The first year or two I would get up regularily at night and look for them, often wandering around in my nightdress in the neighbourhood calling them. Of course they would never ever come and they caused me countless sleepless nights. Now I have learned to trust them and to let them go…but I am always relieved when they are all here for breakfast. I actually feel they are safer at night when all is quiet and no traffic in the streets.
In winter they are always curled up at night in their baskets near the heater, but still go out in the early morning hours and come back and stay indoors for the rest of the day, doing a bit of birdwatching from the kitchen window or their post.