Rescue cat first trip outside advice please

[Jackjack]

Our lovely 4yr old rescue cat has been with us for almost 4 weeks. It’s time to let her out but I’m not sure how to do this. We are planning to put a cat flap on our shed as we can’t put one on the back of our house & front is too busy, (Cars road etc) Any advice greatly received Xx

Let her out hungry :)

Before letting mine out, I spent a while banging the pet bowls together before feeding them so they associated the sound with food - my hope is that this will bring them home! Shaking a pot of dry food is another noise I'm working on.

I also let mine out on a particularly foul morning so they weren't keen to stay out!

So what is your plan to let her into the home if there's no cat flap i.e. if you are out for the day? The shed isn't quite the same...

In general, do the first few outings before meal times, with you in the garden. Just open the back door and go out yourself and let her come if she wants to. Hopefully she will initially stick to own garden. Then after a while of exploring go back in and feed her. Repeat next day.

You can teach recall in advance by having a sound with a food reward - so clicking the food bowl with a spoon or shaking a bag of treats etc.

Thank you for your reply’s. She definitely responds to any sort of package rattling, which is a bonus!
We’re putting a cat flap in the shed so she has somewhere to go if there’s no one around to let her in. We have a conservatory across the back of our home so can’t put a flap in the glass. X

It is the aesthetics of putting the cat flap in the glass you are worried about - because cat flaps can go in glass

If it's double glazed it's not a simple case of cutting a hole and putting a cat flap in.

It would need a whole new glass panel to put a flap in. That's why our flap is in the front door. It is not a main road thankfully

Middle class if your are right - this family are awful. OP should have been upfront about the paternity’s of her son. However, if the rude lady in th pub is the girlfriend of the boys uncle (?) then surley it is none of her business and her boyofirends family should be focused on building a relationship with thher boy, not exchanging cheap insults in public places.

Oops wrong thread sorry

We can’t cut into the double glazed panels unfortunately. So we have a shed/summer house that we can put a flap in where she can be warm and comfy until someone is home to let her in. X

Hello, the let them out hungry thing is good. I did that with our rescue when his 'going out day' came. He disappeared off down our garden and didn't reappear for about an hour. It was harder to let the cat go out on his own for the first time than it was letting my daughter go off on her first solo trip out! They both came back unscathed and happy.

Thanks je4852 , that’s how we feel my boys are terrified she won’t come back!! X

I mentioned the cat flap issue because at the rescue where I volunteer we have heard so many stories of cats who tried to move in to the house down the road instead if they don't have easy and constant access to their own home. Hopefully the shed will work but you will need to make it attractive for her so she will prefer it to your neighbour's house...

Our cat (we adopted her when she was three) doesn’t actually go far, just a garden either side, and the one behind, but initially she seemed quite overwhelmed when we let her out. In the beginning it took her ages to click with going in and out the back door, and actually had to be carried. Once she “got it” there was no stopping her.

We don’t have a catflap for similar reasons, and she lets us know if she wants out, then comes to the window when she wants in. She’s inside during the day when we’re at work, and always overnight, although she is partial to a midnight wander before bed. (Tonight she is utterly furious because she is desperate to go out and there are still odd fireworks going off.) She comes to her name, and is generally just sitting around - she’s all white, so very easy to spot though.

My rescue cat accidentally got out when one of the dc opened the back door.
She disappeared for about 4 hours and then sauntered back in like nothing was wrong, I was frantic!
She’s always come home, we have a 10ft hedge at the bottom of the garden and she hides under there if we’re not home.

You can get cat flaps that go through double glazed panels, you need to get the hole cut specially. We did it in our back door, it wasn't cheap but our cats would be lost without it as we are out a lot during the day.
To answer your question about letting your cat out, I have to admit I went out with mine and hovered around with dreamies! Just wanted to make sure they knew it was a good place to come back to! Most cats soon learn where food and warmth is, definitely agree with letting them out hungry. Ultimately you do just have to let them go though. We had one go missing before getting our current two so I do understand how hard it is.