Indoor cat to outdoor cat?

[TheBoyWhoLostHisSocks]

Hi everyone, hoping for some advice!

We have a 3 year old cat who has been with us for a year. We are her 8th home but plan on her being with us for the rest of her life. In her 3 years she has always been an indoor cat and seems happy enough with it.

We're moving in a few weeks to a lovely house (previously in an upstairs flat so she had to be indoors) and would like to give her the chance to be an outdoor cat. She loves looking outside and we think she'd be shy at first but that she'd love being outside.

So does anyone have any advice or tips on how to make her a happy outdoor and indoor cat, who can also find her way home again? This will be a first for me (and her) and I want to make sure she is safe to get home again and happy (rather than stressed) to be outside.

Thank you for getting to the end! Cat photo for reference...

Would you consider getting a Catio? Don't know if your new place has neighbours or roads? Would be lovely to give puss a taste of the outdoors and keep her safe at the same time if she has no road sense.

I had a cat that was a indoors cat for years then we moved to a house with a garden, I just left her to it and she soon had it sussed.

I'd love to but she'd hate it. She hates anything "trapping". In her home before us she was shut in just a hallway and would cry and cry. I'm worried about her road sense too. It is a very quiet area but it still scares me.

Does your garden back/border onto other gardens?

Wait at least 4-6 weeks after you move so she's really settled into the new house, and then only ever let her out at the back of the house. Start when she is hungry and go with her into the garden.

She will need a way back into the home - ideally a microchip catflap. It is recommended to only let cats out during daylight hours as most accidents take place in the dark.

And obviously she needs to be neutered, fully vaccinated and microchipped before going out.

Mine are the same about being trapped. The best we can do is let them out the back and shut them in at night but they still go across the road. We have reflective collars on our which are good.

Keep her in for at least a month. Let her in the garden before feeding her and then after a short time call her in for food. Gradually increase the time. Make sure she is microchipped

Ours successfully went from indoor to outdoor a year ago almost to the day (we also moved from a flat to a house).

We didn’t wait the time recommended above (whoops!) but it did take us a few weeks to sort a cat flap. Initially I’d leave the back door open so he could explore the garden while I was around - this helped ease my nerves! He had to learn how to use the cat flap too as this was new to him, as was opening doors that have been left ajar - clearly his previous slaves taught him previous little... Overall ours is a bit of a wuss, so never goes too far, but I taught him that the shaking of the treat tin means he’ll get some - that is what I do now when I’m not sure where he is and want him home for a cuddle.

I’d suggest you start getting yours used to a collar with a bell now and get them microchipped if you’ve not done so already. I bought a Tile tracker which I attached to his collar. The range isn’t amazing (yay for a wuss cat!) but it was enough and meant I could see where he was, which was really good.

It has been so heartwarming seeing himself enjoying the garden and observing the wildlife (thankfully he’s not quite bright enough to catch anything). Watching him learn how to walk along a fence has also been rather amusing!

We let ours outside after about a month, and actually she rarely goes beyond our garden, next door, and very occasionally the garden ours backs onto. We have trees she likes to climb, she loves to lie or sit on the patio furniture, and she can spend whole afternoons lying in the flower beds if it’s sunny. I teach, so managing her going out was easy because it was summer holidays and I was around, but in the first few days she needed to be carried in and out because she didn’t make the connection between door/outside - it soon clicked though!

We don’t have a catflap (we have a small utility room between the kitchen and back door, so it would be a total pain) and she comes to the window when she wants in, and tells us when she wants out. Usually she goes out in the morning when I get up at 6.30, is in from when we leave for work until teatime, then in the evening potters in and out until bed. She won’t tolerate a collar, but is chipped.