My cat and I have had to struggle with the issue of him going out. First I thought I wouldn’t let him go outside at all, and then I thought I’d only let him go out when I was outside too, and then I thought I’d only let him out in the daytime.

Ha! Fat chance. Now he mostly goes out at night by himself.

It starts with him pacing restlessly from window to window, jumping up on the window sill and breaking the venetian blinds a little more so he can see out, until I get the point and open the door.

I like how he bounds out on the porch with his tail swishing from side to side, all brave and defiant. “What cats are out there?” he wants to know, and then “Well I’m here now!”

He stays out about an hour, and then he meows to be let in. Usually by then he’s sitting in the milk crate on the back of my bike next to the door. He jumps down with a thud and comes in.

Once inside, my cat heads directly to his food dish to see if anything is new. (Not usually.) Then he might consent to a brief snuggle and a few pats and maybe catch a quick nap, and then he starts up the pacing again.

Here’s my cat catching some zees.

The usual duration of a house stay is about 15 minutes. Then he’s out again for another hour. This happens several times in the course of an evening.

It has happened that my cat was still out when I was ready to go to bed. I called him, but he didn’t come. Too bad! In that case he has to stay out all night. He was a bit upset the first time, and I was too, but no harm done.

My cat doesn’t get it about the weather. He doesn’t think it should be raining. Wait’ll it gets really cold and he sees snow!

We’re going to have to figure out how we can survive in the winter time. I’m not going to like having him pacing from window to window all night long, going out about 50 times, staying out for 5 minutes each time, and coming in covered with snow, only to check his dish, get a little pat and a wet, snowy snuggle, and then head out again.

And what about staying out all night? He can’t stay out all night in the winter!

Maybe he’ll outgrow it. Maybe he’ll take up a sedentary hobby, such as collecting stamps or catching mice, and give up his wild outdoor ways.

But I doubt it.