Letting my cat out for the first time

[DisneySenior]

As the title says, the cat needs to go outside. She's about 10/11 months old, I have had her from 12 weeks and she has been spayed and microchipped. I didn't let her out over the winter and now that the snow has melted its time.

What do I do? Is it a case of just putting her in the garden and leaving her to it? How do they know to come home? I'm scared she will run away the kids will be upset if she disappears.

This is the first time I've owned a cat as an adult, had a few growing up but my parents dealt with them.

Will I keep the litter tray for a while until she gets used to going outside?

Any advice appreciated

It's nerve wracking, isn't it? Let her out when she's hungry. I've just let my two rescues out, we've had them since December. One came back in when I shook the biscuits, now she's crying to go out again. My other has wandered off and showed no sign of responding when I called her back. Waiting nervously for her to return

Hi OP
She will probably be excited but as nervous as you are.
Open the back door and step outside and wait for her to come out in her own time.
She will probably jump at every loud noise,possibly run indoors,then curiosity will bring her out again.
Stay outside with her for a while then bring her indoors,if she wants to go out again then let her go,with you there she will feel more confident.
As time goes on she will start to explore outside of your property,try putting an unwashed towel on the washing line so if she gets a bit lost,the scent will signal the way home.
People used to put butter on their paws before they went outside for the first time so that they had the taste and scent of home in their tongue,I don't know if it worked but was once very common.
Personally,I wouldn't put a collar on as even the safety ones can get caught up (my car got caught in a piece of equipment in a neighbours shed by his safety collar and nearly died,I have never used one since).as long as she is chipped,as she is,she's all set to go!
Have fun.🐈

Thank you so much for your replies, I'm just home from the shops and off to let her explore the garden. I'll try the butter and towel trick, seems like a good idea and I think it will work. We live in a quiet area, just one fairly busy road but it's well surrounded by woods, and gardens etc so I'm sure all will be OK

I remember the anxiety of this stage of cat development so definitely feel for you! When we first started letting our cat out (small garden but some tempting fences/shed) he didn't go very far and we used treats to get him to come back in which was very effective (still is, a couple of years later actually). We used safety collars at first but he after he came back without them the second time, just stopped the collar thing. For most of the first few months, he didn't go very far in the garden and mostly liked sniffing around in the grass. Then slowly and surely, he decided he wanted to climb fences and roofs. It gets a bit less anxiety-inducing when you know they can find their way back.. good luck!