How far do cats go

when my cats go out at night i often wonder how far they go and what they get up 2 i did think of getting a tracking collar but they were too expensive, if anyone has a answer please comment. do they stay together or split up ( I did have 2 ) i know they go out of earshot because when they can hear the dry food being shaken they come whatever they were doing

Here's a link for you: The Territory of Outdoor Cats

Bear in mind that in this article "m" stands for meters, not miles.

Are your cats spayed and neutered? Their territory will be much smaller if they are. And they should not be outside if they are not.

thanks very useful and interesting my tom cat has had em chopped to summarise just to make sure that i read it correctly i estimate that he doesnt travel more than about 500m in each direction from my house, obiously im not looking for exact figures as i didnt have a clue how far the young lad went

I think it really depends upon if you live in a rural or urban area. 500 meters is about 1/3 of a mile. I know out here (rural) ferals will definitely wander farther - but they say that's the case in rural areas. The kitties that got used to coming here for food didn't go much further than 1/2 mile that we know of. What "forces" them to go further is the search for food or mates.... and he's got those covered, so that would probably be a good number.

The outdoor access cats in my neighbourhood don't seem to go much further than a couple of houses away.

One place with about 15 cats, I always see them walking/playing in groups of 3-5.