Letting Kittens out

[MrsDylanBlue]

I am letting my 6 month old kittens put tomorrow and am absolutely bricking it.

(They have been castrated and spayed).

Anyone any advice or tips please

They're so cute! Ours is 8 months old we've let him out a couple of times but get scared and bring him back. I couldn't cope with the heartache of our daughter if anything happened (and my own)

Yes I also lost very old cat this year and decided not to have any more

I have open litter trays which means a lot of time spent with a dustpan and brush. I'm hoping that the kittens will learn to poop outside! Our previous 2 cats did and I am really not keen on litter trays in the house.
Even if free reign catflapping means the occasional "dead thing" gift

What beautiful babies!!
What I do with mine is take them out on a lead and harness for gradually increasing periods of time over a couple of weeks, so that they have a chance to explore and give everything a good sniff, and become confident (and so do I!!) that they recognise ‘their’ garden, and what ‘their’ house looks and smells like from the new perspective. Then I go to letting them out while hungry on their own for a bit, until I rustle the Dreamiest or clang the dinner bowl

It is nerve-wracking though, isn’t it? I freak out every time, and of course go through it all over again every time we’ve moved... But as long as they’re spayed and chipped and so on, I’m sure they’ll be ok

Open litter trays, don’t. They are awful. I have two newish rescues who think they are on the beach and play with the litter. It is all over the carpets and I have even found a piece on my bed. The smell is vile even with powder shaken into it. They get away with murder with me because I love them to bits.

Beautiful kitties OP

Excellent advice on here already, especially about letting them out when hungry, but why has nobody mentioned a stiff drink for yourself?

It'll help you cope with that AWFUL moment when they disappear from sight for the first time

Hmm, I might need to see another kitten picture to form a proper opinion of your issue...

Mine got stuck inside the litter tray so I had the remove the flap!! Hopefully when she gets bigger she will figure it out!!

We need pictures of their first adventure.

I’ll fit them with a body cam

Ours are the same colour combo as yours and almost 8 months also. they have been out twice with us when we were in the garden, but its too cold to stay out there now (-5 here), so we have chickened out on letting them out alone alone yet! I am semi-paranoid they might freeze to death (its gets to -20 overnight in winter here).

We have bought a microchip cat flap, but haven't got around to installing yet. Its the job for Christmas holidays1 then I'm sure they will be off everywhere

They're my two, they're just six months old. The tortie uses cat litter, but the black and white boy, will only go on puppy pads. I've moved it all to the back door. The boy is ridiculously fluffy and I've had to cut some fur from around his bum, so he's clean.

Mine go out in the back, but not the front. I've just spent half an hour catching them when they got out, this morning.

If they are hungry they feel the cold more, so won't go far. I started by them just in the garden and lifted them down as soon as they tried to climb the fence. I've got an older cat and I'm hoping when they go further they'll follow his sent back.

Affectionately known as twit and twat.

Awww ❤️❤️

I wouldn't worry too much, years ago I had a cat and the third time I let him out he legged it out of the garden and stayed out overnight, he'd only had a wary wonder around the garden before that, I was up a height but he was back the next morning for breakfast, they're good at finding their way back.

We were doubly terrified before letting ours out, even though she came to us as a 3yr old, because in one of her previous homes she had been let out after only a few days and had refused to come back in. Ever. She had to be captured and returned to the rescue.

We waited a couple of months (and until we knew she could use a cat flap - a long story!) before letting her out - even though she was DESPERATE to get out before then. I put her in a harness and took her out a few times - mainly to show her where the cat flap was. I then made sure she would go in through the flap (which is a tunnel through a wall) before letting her go on her own. It was nerve wracking. Luckily she didn't repeat her previous trick, and came back just fine.

She loves the outside (and mice...) and now stays out for quite long spells at all times of the day and night, but there's nothing cuter than the rattle of the cat flap followed immediately by the little questionning squeaky meow asking where we are.

They loved it - and he has sat by the back foot all day meowing to go back out

It’s difficult to judge because it depends on the cat and if they are likely to be curious but tentative, or shit themselves and bolt! Mine both fell into the former category and have been fine. Just supervise at first and ensure the garden is secure. Some people argue that cats should be kept indoors but I personally disagree as it goes against all their natural instincts. Over the years I have had several cats, all outdoor and many lived to ripe old ages. Yes there is obviously more risk but I think it’s worth it for them to have a happier life!

Such cuties! My recommendation is not to let the cats outside, simply because outside cats run greater risks (e.g potential for being victims of predation by other animals, hit by cars, etc.).

Our cats are inside cats. Biggie we are now keeping in the garage due to his habit of not being able to share a litterbox. He does come in for several hours a day, which he enjoys. We have a space heater out there for him so he doesn't get too cold. He also has a nice box with a soft blanket that he likes. The only time he goes outside is when he gets to come in the house. He walks to the back door and waits for us to open it.

Gatsby would like to think he is an outdoor cat, but he's not allowed outside. He does get out on occasion but he's learning. Jayda has got out on occasion but very rarely.

We let ours outside as soon as the vet would let us after they had been neutered (about 5 months). We built up over about a week by going out with them in the evening before food and then luring them back in with dinner (this was in the summer so the evenings were light!) The first time they went out of our garden my heart nearly stopped but they are completely fine. They are 9 months old now and recently we have started letting them out whenever they want (before we shut them in at night because I was worried about the foxes/badgers/other cats) they can come and go as they please now. We got a catflap that reads their microchips and sends an alert when they go in and out, it sounds sad but I like knowing they're ok when I'm out I can see if they're in or out! If all else fails a shake off the dreamies bag and a call or of the kitchen window always gets them to come back in

Crazy lady I have that cat flap - getting it installed over Christmas. I am very excited! Is it as good as I am hoping? I watched the little video and though it was perfect for an uptight cat slave!

www.surepetcare.com/en-gb/pet-doors/microchip-cat-flap-connect

@DollyMixture22 yes that's the one! I love it, we had another cat coming in and it's stopped that, you get an alert when they come in and out and can lock/unlock from wherever you are. The little graphs it gives you are so interesting, I didn't realise mine spent all afternoon inside! Definitely worth it, took them a few goes to get used to going through it as they need to attend close enough for it to pick up their chips before it unlocks but they've got the hang of it now

I wish I'd read this thread before I first let out my cat, six and a half years ago now! She buggered off and I ended up walking around the block with a picture of her, shaking GoCat, and eventually climbing over my next-door-but-one neighbour's fence to reach my next door neighbour's garden, in which she was sitting making pathetic little "mraa" noises because she didn't know how to get back over the fence.

She is currently sitting behind me gazing lovingly at me - it's too cold for her today!

We used a harness and lead to show him the route around the block in both directions and let him sniff around to know where belonged to who. Then buttered his paws so he could smell his way back. Now 11 1/2. He has 2 cat flaps; a microchip one in the back door and an ordinary one which connects internally to our basement flat so our son can share him!

Our kittens are 6 months and have been going out since the last injections.
Start small, just a few minutes at a time before food so they are hungry. Gradually increase the amount of time.
It's considerably easier when the weather is warmer! I am in Bavaria and it's - 3 and snowy at the moment. The winters are hard here so I wanted to get them used to the outdoors before it became so hostile out there! Was lovely at the tail end of summer and the warm autumn we were all sat out in the garden while they were playing.
Here are my two