When to let five month old kitten outside?

[MsMarthaMay]

We have 2 cats, a five month old and her 1 year old mother. The older one loves to be outside and now the kitten is getting desperate to go out too.
I'm really nervous about letting her out though! Is she too young yet and if I do let her out how do I get her to come back in?

Has she been spayed yet? If not then she needs to stay inside until she has been. If she's been spayed then I would suggest letting her out just before you normally feed her so she's hungry and won't run far. We always used to go out into the garden with ours when they were little so they could run to us if they got scared.

Firstly not till after neutering and jabs. Tbh I don't really like them being out roaming till close to a year old, they have a bit more sense then. And because they are more cautious explore gradually and keep popping back to the door.
Does depend on cat and garden though. One of mine was a brilliant climber and leaper even at 6 months, so could have easily leaped to the top of our high fence before I could grab her. Whereas another kitten could have explored the garden under supervision safely.

Yes she was spayed three weeks ago. She's microchipped too.

That's a good idea to let her out when she's hungry. Thank you.

Sorry lurkedforever crossed posts. That's good advice too.

First forays near mealtimes, not too late in the day with it getting dark though. Avoid any time when there's likely to be bad weather or fireworks etc that could cause her to panic and bolt. Ideally go out with her into the garden the first few times too.

It's so scary isn't it! I'm dreading the start of fireworks!

I have to say mine don't go out at all but they're a pedigree breed who are quite happy being inside - one got outside for mistake once and just sat outside the front door yowling to be let back in.

My mum's cat is a ginger tom who was going outside as soon as he was neuteured - he'd have been bouncing off the walls if you kept him inside!

Don't think there's any one size fits all rule when it comes to cats - they're all so different personality wise.

We have 2 kittens that are 6 months old. We waited until they had been neutered and jabs done before we let them out. To begin with we took them out for a few minutes a couple of times a day and stayed with them whilst they explored - they didn't venture far in those first few outings. Then as they became more confident we left the back door open and let them stay outside on their own for a while whilst keeping an eye on them. We increased their time outside gradually over a few weeks and kept the cat flap locked so they could only go outside whilst we were around. Once we knew they were comfortable with their surroundings and knew how and when to come home we started to unlock the cat flap and teach them how to use it.

BogBastardKitten is six months old and started going outside a couple of weeks ago, after being neutered. We also went out with him first few times. Now opening cat flap when we are around but locking it if out and after dark.

We took ours on escorted walks too, and first time was on a weekend morning before breakfast, I think. I still worry about him when he goes out though (he's 2 years old now)