Table of Contents
How many km can a cat travel?
Cats are travelers by nature. If you leave your cat outside, you will probably hear a neighbor or a friend say to you one day, “Hey, I saw your cat in such and such a place.” Don’t be surprised if your cat has been seen several hundred yards from your home.
A cat has no real idea of the time and distance it has traveled, so it can end up far from home. And when he finally comes back, he shows no concern when he sees you heave a big sigh of relief.
A cat can travel several kms a day around its house. However, most cats stay within 200 to 300 meters of their home. An outdoor cat accustomed to being outside alone will venture further from its home than an indoor cat that has escaped.
What is the range of a cat?
A cat does not stray as far from its home as one might imagine. An outdoor cat generally does not stray more than 300 meters from its home.
An indoor cat that escapes most of the time goes much less far than a cat used to being outside. However, this represents an enormous surface of action which can thus reach several thousands of square meters.
As a rule, a cat does not stray more than 50 meters from home with a range of 8000 square meters.
More generally, a male cat has a greater range than a female. It is not uncommon for a male to travel twice as far as a female. In addition, the territory of an evil is also larger, 500m² against 150m². A cat can easily expand this territory if a river or forest is a little further away.
The territory of a cat is not necessarily circular, it can avoid certain areas already occupied or others that it appreciates less, a parking lot for example.
Why does a cat disappear overnight?
Very often, a cat disappears overnight to mate. This is especially true for a male cat.
A female in heat does not move, she waits for the males to come to her. These then fight and it is not uncommon for the loser to then travel a longer distance to find another female.
Another reason a cat may disappear is searching for food. Some areas are teeming with wild animals that are perfect prey for the cat. Also a cat can wander off in search of food, especially if it lives in town.
How many km can a cat travel per day?
A healthy cat can easily walk a mile a day. However, some individuals in certain circumstances travel much more, up to 7 or 8 kilometers.
Some cats lost on a vacation spot can travel tens of kilometers and reappear a few weeks or less later at their master’s house.
If a cat feels the need to move away from its territory, it can walk about 5 to 10 kilometers a day, which explains why some cats are found far from their home. It may be trying to return to somewhere it was moved from or it may be completely disoriented or walking in search of food.
This is one of the reasons it is recommended to keep a cat indoors for at least 2 weeks after moving to a new home. Cats seem to have a homing instinct and there are cases of cats having made the reverse journey to their former home.
Finally, cats can memorize the way home and they have an excellent sense of smell, but if they have been frightened or driven out of their territory, they can quickly get lost.
Should you let your cat go outside?
You could say that it is cruel to keep your cat inside, it is not so. A cat can easily live indoors as long as it has everything it needs for exercise and entertainment.
In addition, outdoor cats are veritable procreation and killing machines. Their impact on wildlife is detrimental. They can quickly clear an area of birds or rodents, killing for food but also for pleasure.
