Hello everyone! I've had my two rescue cats (one-year-old siblings, a girl and a boy) for 3.5 months now. They were at the rescue centre for about five or six months previously due to their extremely timid natures (apparently nervous cats are the hardest to rehome).
Fast-forward 3.5 months and they're now fully at home in our house and pretty relaxed around myself and DH. They won't sit on our laps (not for longer than 30 seconds or so, anyway) but one of them (the boy cat) will jump up on the bed in the mornings for strokes. I can also stroke the girl cat too now without her running away. However, they are still very wary of visitors and will run upstairs if anyone comes round or even so much as rings the doorbell.
Anyway, now they've been here for several months and appear to be relaxed in the house, I am wondering whether the time has come to let them out into the garden? I have had a cat flap installed in the conservatory but am not sure how to tell if they're ready to go outside.
With this lovely weather we've been having, DH and I have been spending quite a lot of time outdoors. The cats have seen us from the conservatory and have tried to follow us outside on a few occasions. Does this mean they are ready to go out?
I think I'm just a bit worried that they could just run away and not come back! They were living stray/feral in a back garden from the age of 0-6 months before they were rescued by the shelter.
Any advice would be much appreciated.