Posted Jan 08, 2019 This does not mean that you will need to walk 18 miles to find your cat. How Far Do Cats Roam from Home? Cats love to wander — but just how far they go is pretty wild. ‘A cautious cat may only ever venture 10 metres from their cat flap, but we found the average roaming distance is just 40-200 metres from home. Hunting cats captured an average of 2 prey during seven days of roaming. Do Domestic Cats Have a Right To Roam? Many cat owners value their pets’ wildness and resist confining them indoors. Further, while domestic cats slept up to 80% of the day, wild cats did so only 62% of the day. However, most cat owners do not have an accurate understanding of where their cat travels when it is let outside the house. Free-ranging cats may be lost, stray, feral or farm cats. Some feral toms I care for were gone for up to six months at a time before I got them all neutered. Female ranges drop to between 0.2 acres (0.08 ha) and 0.5 acres (0.2ha) while the male home range remains about 10 times that size. I researched the scientific literature and compiled a summary of the mean home ranges of owned and free-ranging domestic cats in urban/suburban and rural areas. Even very friendly tom cats can't resist the "Call of The Wild". https://phys.org/news/2016-02-gps-trackers-domestic-cats-roam.html If has been seen that the range of domestic cats is even smaller, as they are fed at home and do not need to hunt, but domestic cats … Understanding where outdoor cats go is important for keeping them, and native wildlife, safe. Feral cats, on the other hand, are more elusive, avoiding human contact and living together in close-knit “colonies.” Feral cats will attack humans and pets. Really, the only way to stop him roaming is to get him fixed. The roaming territory of the average domestic cat can vary, with males tending to seek a larger territory than females. Younger cats caught more prey-per-hunt than older cats. Cats may well share parts of the same territory in urban areas, sometimes “time-sharing&rdguo; their patch to avoid conflict,’ says Dr Bradshaw. Sadly, in these circumstances, your cat will never return. More than one dozen cats were fitted with GPS trackers to show the distance they roam from their homes. 85% of wildlife captures were witnessed during the warm season (March–November in the Southern U.S.). The study found that while domestic cats roam an average of 4.9 acres each day, wild cats roam around 388 acres or more. Good luck. Don't give up on him yet, but be prepared to get him neutered as soon as he comes back home. Male wanderers tend to stay within a territory of about 150 acres, while females stay closer to home, roaming only about 40 acres. According to Australasian Science, cats can wander up to 30 KM (18 miles) a week. 'Cat Tracker' study reveals the secret wanderings of 900 house cats. When Cats Roam, How Far Do They Go? Some people—especially non-cat-lovers—may fear the thought of cat colonies roaming their …