A tent is a fabric box with a zipper, and a cat is an animal that has spent its entire life learning how fabric and zippers work. Assume the tent will be tested the moment you fall asleep.
Screens are the weak point
Standard no-see-um mesh stops insects. It does not stop claws. A determined cat opens mesh in seconds, and the failure is usually quiet — you wake up to a hole and an empty tent, not to a struggle. Two practical answers: run a second layer of heavier screen material over the main door panel from the inside, or simply keep the solid door zipped when the cat is unsupervised and accept less airflow. The second option is free and works.
Zippers are a puzzle, not a lock
Cats open zipper pulls by hooking and dragging. Clip the two pulls together with a small carabiner or a twist of wire at the bottom of the door. This takes ten seconds and defeats essentially every cat.
Set up the inside before the cat comes in
Carrier open at the back wall, blanket inside, litter box in the far corner away from the sleeping area and away from food. Cats want the toilet and the kitchen separated by as much distance as the space allows — in a four-person tent that's maybe five feet, and five feet is enough.
The introduction sequence
Bring the cat in inside the carrier, close the tent, then open the carrier and leave. Don't hover. Give twenty minutes of unobserved exploration before you come back in. A cat that gets to survey a space alone claims it faster than one being watched.
Overnight rules
Harness stays on, leash comes off. A leash inside a zipped tent is a strangulation risk with no benefit. If your cat is a known escape artist, tether inside the tent to a low anchor at a length that can't reach the door.
The thing nobody mentions
Condensation. A tent with a person and a cat in it produces noticeably more overnight moisture than one with a person alone, and a damp cat gets cold fast. Crack a vent at the top even when it's cold out — especially when it's cold out.
More on the honest trade-offs in our free camping-with-cats guide.
Less People. More Cats.