Some nights my 2 year old she-cat cries constantly at the back door for hours to get out. I try to ignore her cries but sometimes it's incessant. She will get as close to the back door as she can and meow loudly every two seconds. It's enough to drive you mad.

I've tried leaving her out all day to wear her out so she wants to sleep at night but it makes no difference.

She likes hunting for rodents but I don't like leaving her out at night because she has come home with cuts from fighting and the weather is pretty cold or wet.

I can't put a cat flap in the back door as it's double-glazed.

Any ideas on breaking her desire for life under the stars?

She's had the operation so there should be no desire to mate. Or does that stay with them?

my Tom Cat is exactly the same, it's bloody annoying isn't it ?
It's a real problem area when you can't get a catflap fitted - I often give in and let him out, which pisses me off, not so much because I worry what he'll get up to, but rather that he's likely to return at some point and start the same whining act at the door but from the outside - a sure fire way of really pissing off your neighbours !

Can you not leave a window open?

If I did that it might be me crying when I came down to find my TV gone.

You can get cat flaps in double glazed units, but it is pretty pricey. Can't recall exactly how much when I asked a couple of years ago but I recall I was quite astounded. However, unless you are replacing the door or a glazing unit anyway, I'd guess that isn't an option.

Could you let her out earlier in the evening - perhaps even delay her evening meal till late so she is inclined to come in? Maybe get a kennel for her to sleep in if she misses 'lights out'? We do this with our out door girl. She is back in before she gets locked out almost every night. On the rare occasion she isn't home in time (only ever in the summer), she cries loud enough to wake me so I let her in.

I have left a plastic kennel out for her but she won't go near it. She prefers the natural shelter of bushes or trees.

Tbh it's the fighting I'm more concerned about. She's feisty and will stand up to a Tom if he's on her territory. She could end up coming off badly one night.

We took her in as a stray when she was about six months old and although we have a litter tray she's never used it - crying at the door if she wants to go to the toilet. So I don't want to feed her too late in case she wants to go in the night. I do let her out up to about 9pm and she comes back in if I call her but then sometimes she does this crying to get back out again later.

If I leave her out I would never hear her crying to get back in as I go into a semi-coma when I'm asleep.

I'd rather change the door than listen to the cat crying all night! Is that a possibility? If you get a double glazed door with just glass in the top half it's easy enough to put a cat flap in the plastic bottom half. My ex did it in our back door.

My cat is exactly the same and the house doesn't open it self up to a cat flap

He can be out all day and still want to go out at night, I just go with his flow really, you can guarantee if you are kind and let him stay in whilst it is cold and miserable he will wake me up at some uneartly hour and demand to be let out. It's a pain in the bum, but I love him to bits, he is very very special to me

What about fitting a cat flap to a window?

Depending on the type and size of the windows, it may be cheaper/easier then putting one in the door? (If you want one put in a double glazed exterior door it is expensive as you have to get a replacement panel specially made to accomodate the cat flap. Not so bad if you're putting a new door in anyway, but expensive to modify and keep and existing one)

Cats are nocturnal.

My one stays in all day, sleeping in his comfy beds, then goes out at about 11pm, comes home at about 7am.

Mine goes out all day and comes in and sleeps all night! And has a catflap if she really wants to go out at night.

If you have a suitable outside wall then it is fairly easy to put a cat flap through the wall. This is certainy cheaper than a new double glazed door panel. Chop out a large enough hole with an angle grinder and bolster or SDS dril. Line it with marine ply to form a tunnel through the inner and outer wall. Fit the catflap on the end of the tunnel.
In fact it can be better than a normal cat flap because I put a cat flap at each end and this cuts down the draughts.

It cost me seventy quid to get the double glazed frosted glass bottom section of the door replaced with a white uPVC panel - and the glazier fitted the cat flap for me at the same time. And I've still got the glass that was in the door - so if I sell up and the new owners want the door returning to being totally glass, they only need to pay to get it fitted, not for some more glass.

Is seventy quid expensive? I thought it quite reasonable.

£70 is pretty good going.

But you used a uPVC panel. It gets quite a bit more expensive if you want to replace it with a glass panel with the flap in it as the glass has to be specially cut to accomodate the flap.

It was the glass option I was referring to.

You're very lucky.

One of my cats used to stick his paws under the blanket and scratch my feet to wake me up. Then after a few kicks he stopped and started stealing my GFs stuff from her bedside table. Glasses, jewelry, phone etc. The bedroom door didn't lock properly before I changed it so he used to just jump against it until it opened. Now it locks he scratches it loudly and sometimes you can hear the handle being pulled.

He is very manipulative, just yesterday when I was laying blocks out the front he was desperate to go in but because I ignored him he jumped on my car and started chewing the aerial.

Most cats just like to be out at night, probably just to kill things. Maybe you could provide the cat with some sort of shelter to keep it warm and dry. Although most cats will generally find someone warm and dry no matter what the weather.