Indoor cats going out?

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Hello cat experts of MN

There is a possibility that we may take on two cats from my MIL - they are around 5 or 6 and have always been kept indoors.

Would we be able to turn them into indoor/outdoor cats? If so how would we go about this?

Secondly we have two guinea pigs who live indoors currently in an open topped c&c type cage. The guins aren't bothered by cats and we can easily make a lid for their cage, but does anyone have any experience of introducing adult cats to small furries?

TIA

No experience with small furries but the cats might not even want to go out, not all of them like outdoors.

See how you go with them. If you find them nibbling on a piggy you know it's not gone according to plan.

thanks for that Fluffy I'm wanting advice on how to manage introducing them to the outdoors after rehoming them IYSWIM - ie do we keep them in for a certain number of weeks, do we need to try and fence the garden so they can't go out of it etc.

I'm no expert but we have two rescue cats who are indoor cats. They're both around 4-5 now and during a recent trip to the vet we asked about them going outside. He advised it wouldnt be a good idea at their age as they hadn't "learnt the rules of the world" and would be in danger outdoors.

Having said that I do know a friend of mine had an indoor car who is now an outdoor cat, although they live on a farm with no close roads.

We take our out on leads (seriously, we get some strange looks!) but they enjoy it and I can tell one is too brave and has no fear of the road which would worry me, the other is so scared he's always in a rush to get back in!

Have they always been completely indoor?

My worry would be about their lack of road sense.

Xpost with tiggy.

You usually keep them in for four weeks.

If your not near a country lane or a fast road you should be ok. They won't have any road sense if they haven't been out before.

I'd fence the garden if it makes them safer. They'll climb over it when they feel more confident.

We taught ours road sense by driving the car at him when he was on the drive.

We had our foot over the brake pedal.

It sounds really bad written down. We love him very much.

We rescued our cat when he was 4, from Battersea. He'd spent all his life indoors.

He was desperate to get out from day 1. We let him out a few weeks later. He was totally fine, and has been since. He loves being outside now but is still a lovely lap cat most evenings. Best of both worlds.

Some cats don't like going out, but if they look keen, I'd let them.

I personally don't really think cats should be kept indoors only if access to the outside is available.

You need to get them used to the garden first. Take them out on a lead maybe? Just for a few minutes a day. Then extend this time and eventually let them go.

When we first let our boy out he did go for a LONG time (almost 7 hours!) but he did come back.

However - only let them out if they are neutered and micro chipped!

Mine were rescued from the RSPCA on the understanding they would be indoor only cats. Perfectly happy (and spoilt!) moggies

Thank you - it's just not practical for us to have them as indoor cats - we keep the back door open a lot and use the patio as an additional room in the summer. Anyway, it may not happen so we'll wait and see