When a cat goes out the door of his house the human always has the doubt of whether he will return or not. I myself can say that I know when he's leaving but I'm never sure what time he's coming back. If he is late, you immediately start to think that something might have happened to him, but reality often surpasses fiction. In fact, he most likely entertained himself with some friends, since he, like us, also has his social needs.
Even so, that feeling of discomfort always appears, that concern for our furry beloved, because of course, not being with him we have no idea where he is or with whom, so it is worth wondering if cats are well oriented.
To answer that question we have to talk about two things: pheromones and intelligence. The pheromones They are substances that are produced on your cheeks (on both sides of your mouth), on the pads, and in your urine. With these substances the animal can let the rest of the world know several things, like "this territory is mine", "I trust you", and also uses them when she is in heat, among other situations.
The sense of smell is much more developed than ours, to the point that they can feel the pheromones of other animals several meters away, when we, well, we do not perceive anything 🙂. In this way, he can easily communicate with other furry ones, and also orient himself since, as we know, he spends a lot of time scrubbing things. By doing so, you drop your pheromones. (You have more information on the subject in this article).
Moreover, the cat is an intelligent animal, although intelligence more than to help you orient yourself is more useful to decide whether to return or not. Let me explain: if he is not cared for properly in a home, if he is not paid attention or if he is mistreated, if he has access to the outside, he may not return one day. In this sense, they are more like humans than we think, so It is important - it should even be mandatory - that before acquiring or adopting an animal we know well if we can take care of it and if we are really interested in having that responsibility.
Only in this way can we make the right decision, because even if we let him out, if he knows that he is loved inside the house, we can be almost completely sure that he will return day after day.
Hello Monica, according to you, if you love them and take care of them, they return home…. I have the experience for two of my children who are total explorers. Bastet, the eldest, went to the house where we used to live about three or four times, having to cross the river and so on ... At first it took a week to get to our previous house ... as soon as they told us it was there we would to look, the last time we missed him at dawn and at noon my mother-in-law called me and told me that my black man was there and scolded him and told him that that was not his house that his parents were waiting for him in the another house and in the evening he was back with us… since then he has not left. The other black Bambú left the house on Sunday morning and did not appear again until Tuesday at noon ... I almost died because I had never done it ... but she arrived safely and I suppose she would be hunting or as you say entertained with his friends hahaha .... a hug for you
Cats are very intelligent. They know well where they are loved, and that is where they will want to go. A hug 🙂