Tips for letting cat outdoors

[Mamamia35]

We have a young male cat, neutered and chipped, 9 months old. He's been indoors most of the time but it's like a prison for him and we need to let him out. He sits and cries at the door.

It's our first pet and my child is anxious about something awful happening to him. We live near a busy road. We don't have space for a catio (I just read some other posts, who knew?!).

Any tips on how to go about doing this while keeping our anxiety levels low? He's a very friendly, sociable beast and loves us / follows us around etc, so I can't see why he'd stray far. We are also surrounded by neighbours dogs. We've let him out for short periods and entice him in with treats, but it's not very relaxing😬
Also can anybody recommend a decent collar?

I understand your concern. My last cat was killed by a car when he was 2 and I was devastated. We did eventually adopt another cat who was initially a house cat because her original owners hadn’t neutered her or let her out. We did get her done but she seemed perfectly happy as a house cat until DH left a window open one day. Once she had been outside she desperately wanted to go back out so I reluctantly introduced her to the great outdoors. I spent weeks sitting with her in the garden with a long lead initially so I could be sure she had become accustomed to the smell of where we lived. It does still panic me when she vanishes for hours and doesn’t appear as soon as I call her but she is happy roaming or chasing bugs on the grass or sitting in the sun on the patio.

I have these quick release reflective collars so, if she does get caught on a branch or something, she won’t get choked to death. They obviously work as I’ve just had to buy another couple as she has lost two in the last 8 months! She is black and they are really reflective in lights which is why I chose them, I feel happier knowing cars would have a better chance of seeing her in the dark if she is crossing the road.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008PST3DY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&ie=UTF8

To start with go outside and let him follow you. He'll likely be scared so won't go far. Take some treats and call him after a few minutes. Repeat this a few times and eventually he will leave the garden.

When he does make sure its just before a meal time and he will come running to a particular call. Let him go for ten minutes then call him back. Lots of treats/dinner.

Thanks all. Anxious just reading/thinking about it!

Please, if you're bear a busy road, don't let him out unless you have him on a secure harness and lead. It's not worth the heartache if he does get run over. I have picked up dozens of cats that have been killed on the road and I cry over every single one of them. We lost one of ours to the quiet road we live on and I've never forgotten that, I now hate ours going out.

If you don't want to use a harness, look at ways of enriching his indoor environment. Cat trees, tunnels, tents, toys, shelves etc -- all ways to encourage him to play indoors. Catios aren't cheap, but worth saving for as is cat proof fencing.