Letting him out for the first time!

[MrsRussell]

So his name is Tankie, he's a middle-aged rescue cat who's had a hard time and he's been with us a week. We have another four cats - two elderly brothers who really don't care who he is as long as he doesn't eat their food, and two other rescues who have already introduced themselves. There is a general mutual.shrug amongst all of them....
Now the thing is, he really, badly wants to go explori ng outside. He has a litter tray and uses it beautifully, but he asks every morning to.go out when he wants a wee - it's obvious he'd feel "happier" using the veg patch like everybody else
We'd like to take him on a harness into the garden just to get him used to "his" new patch, but putting it on him really distresses him.so we stopped.
I feel.so bad for him that he really, really wants to go ourside but he's not allowed. How do we know when he's ready to try?

As a CP volunteer it is far too soon to allow your cat out even if he really wants to go out. He is not familiar with the surroundings and smells, we generally stipulate that a cat should be kept indoors for at least 2 months if not longer.

Taking him out in his harness is good it will help him to get used to smells etc. But give it a few months before you trust him to go out on his own. Maybe start with a collar first, then slowly try again with the harness, bit by bit, maybe just put the harness on him and let him wear it around the house.

On the cats protection website we have very helpful tips in getting a new cat used to their surroundings.

Thanks @Beaverhausen. I worry we might not get a choice in the matter, tbh. I've just had to wire the cat flap.shut because he has literally battered it open. It's not that he's stressed - he's sat on the sofa purring to himself currently - but he is a massive cat 😧

We generally let ours go out from six weeks. Read that as guidance from somewhere. Battersea say anywhere from 2-6 weeks. There's lots of advice online, but we usually make sure we've not fed them yet so they don't go far due to hunger and we go out with them on a nice day and just sit while they explore.

We kept ours in 4 weeks.

We recommend six weeks at the charity where I volunteer. It's just not worth the risk of him going missing and it does happen. I think you need to wait until he's been with you a month minimum.