What age should kittens go outside?

[Strawberrytraveller]

Our kittens are almost 6 months old now. They will hopefully be spayed and neutered by the end of the month.

Now when we got them from the rehoming centre at 10 weeks they said to make sure they stay inside whilst small. Which we confirmed they would until they were fully vaccinated and neutered etc, and once big enough they could start going out.

The lady said yes, but also once ok to go outside they shouldn't go out alone until much bigger ie next spring and summer. They were born in April, so ''next spring or summer'' would make them 1 year+ before allowed outside alone.

is this correct? or over cautious?

By the time they are neutered, plus a few weeks to fully recover etc indoors they will be more like 7+ months old. I was planning on then adding a cat flap and letting them come and go as they please during the day, and try to keep them in overnight. We also work from home so around a lot to let them in and out. By November time it will also be getting cold where we live so I doubt they will be rushing to stay outside long

How - but that chart states 6 months is around 10 years old. 7 months 12 years old. Wouldnt you let a 12 year old child out alone?

I kept mine in until they were around a year too, just watching how idiotic they were inside helped me to decide!

I suppose I would let a twelve year old out alone, but not if they were wandering along motorways or in red light districts.

Strawberry - it's just a guide I wouldn't trust a 6 month old cat to come home at X time and to look before crossing a road, no. Not a chance. I find people are also more likely to try and "take in" kittens of this age because they look young and people assume they're lost. Having worked with animal rescues, most of the cats we see involved in traffic accidents are under a year.

You have to remember you can verbally communicate with an average 12 year old human. Cat's may be physically 12 year old human ish but you can't verbally explain to them the danger of roads, nor would they give a shit if you could. They have little deductive reasoning and even if they did, they wouldn't care... Cat's are arses and do things generally their own way.

Our cat was a house cat for the first five years (She lived with another person then) and she is a homebody now. She is allowed outside but spends most of her time in the house or sat on the patio. I think the longer you can keep them in or supervise their garden time and practise their recall then the less likely they are to explore a long way.

Mine were kept in until they were one but we had quite a few cats go missing in my area. They only go out in the day.
I would love a cat flap that works with a microchip but my back door is all glass.
On the plus side jumping up and down all day to serve my fur masters is keeping me fit