What age to let kitten go outside

[DolphinsandDinosaurs]

My kitten is now spayed and chipped and desperate to get outside. She is about 6 months old, although we don't know her exact age. The only trouble is she is tiny. The vet reckons she is half the size she should be at her age. What age have you let your cat out, and did it avoid getting lost/into trouble?

There are a few things you can do to appease your worries. Get her a safety (snap off collar) and put a real time GPS on it, so you know where she is. My 2 boys have Loca8tor devices on their's - the only drawback is they only have a range up to 200m, but they don't roam much.

The more expensive real-time GPS collar attachments show you in real time where they are.

Putting a harness on her for a walkabout can help familiarise her with her surroundings.

When you let her out on her own, do it before feeding, so she has more of an incentive to return home, especially if you accompany her on her excursion.

I would leave it a few weeks though, just to make sure her "come hither" hormones have left her system.

My boy went out at 7 months.

My 6 and a half month old half Bengal Kitten was run over last week. I feel so guilty now and wish I had kept him in for longer. He had been going out for about 3 weeks and always came home when called. I would keep her in at least until about 8 months and at least then she won't go wandering off in the dark what with the longer days coming.

I didn't know you could get GPS trackers for cats, that is something to look into thanks.

mrs, I am so sorry to hear that, how unlucky! I think for now I will keep mine confined to the garden. Luckily we have high fences all round, so she won't be able to get out, until she learns to climb, which will hopefully be a while yet.

Mrs so sorry to hear about your boy.

Try a cat harness and lead to start with so she gets used to being out and knows her way home. We let our boy out at 6 months, the bengal doesn't go out as they don't have a lot of road sense.

We've been taking Ernie out on a harness for a while (he's 7 months) and the last week or so letting him time to wander on his own. He's not generally a climber (cant/wont get onto worktops) but shinned 10 ft up a tree at New Year and fell down , hurting his hip... so I think I'm a bit wary with him. This week he learnt to scale the stone wall...the neighbours have six foot wooden fencing their side of the stone wall (which is about 4ft) and I'm worried he could get over, or under as there is a huge gap, but not get back

He's not being let off the lead again till we sort the fencing... I know he will scale it eventually but he is very stupid..

My youngest - a Devon Rex, a breed who will trust anyone - sits on the 8'(?) wall and contemplates what adventures may be on the other side. If DH spotted this, he would rush out in a panic, rattling the Dreamies. I explained to lovely DH that we were out most days, cat flap open, so better he went over the wall while we were at home.

MCat, our elder cat likes to go and explore the gardens at the back. I don't let them out the front, busy road with lots of drunk people at night. Sometimes Little Monsieur makes a bid for freedom out the front door, but then decides he doesn't like it, and lets you "catch" him - ie, cowering until I pick him up. But it makes him feel brave, bless his little curly socks.

Maybe you could let her into the garden for a short time and supervise her? That's what we did with our kittens before we let them out independently. We still only let them out during daylight hours. (There is a bigger risk of road traffic accidents at night.)

Also, it's good that your garden is enclosed with tall fences, but she will soon learn to jump high and climb!

I like the harness and lead idea as well. She is still young enough to tolerate that!

We've been letting her out into the garden for the last few days. She doesn't seem to want to go out for long at a time, and the garden will keep her in for a while I think as it has high fences all round. Hopefully by the time she is big enough to get out, she will have the sense to look after herself! I am not convinced she would tolerate a harness and lead, she is a strong willed little thing.