Afraid to let kittens outside in case they never come back

[sheebs2018]

Hey everyone!
So I posted here before about adopting two make kittens, that fell through - long story short we weren't in our forever home in time and they were adopted by a lovely family. So when the time was right we adopted two kittens - male and female. They've been indoors all along as they are only being spayed/neutered this week and also microchipped. Happy out and love each other.

However, little girl is getting more and more curious about the big bad outdoors - Everytime I go to the door she tries to bolt out and has been successful. Have managed to get her back in rattling food but I don't know if that will work every time. I do intend to keep them as indoor cats but I would like them to be able to have supervised outdoor access - theyre animals after all and I feel it would be cruel to deny them.

So basically I am asking for tips to be able to let them out to play when I'm still there or watching them through the kitchen window but ensuring they don't roam and will come back.

For context, our garden is enclosed but has walls a growing cat would eventually climb no problem, could also jump on the oil tank. There are other dogs and cats in the estate including a large unneutered tomcat who likes to roam the back walls of all the houses and piss on them have tried a harness to take them out gradually but that was not happening they nearly lost their will to live when I put them on

Also to add they I will not be trying this until they have recovered from their spaying and neutering and have been microchipped.

And they are 4 and a half months.

Thanks to everyone in advance.

As per mumsnet rules.. I have attached a photo of said cuties

I don’t know whether anyone else has mentioned this as haven’t RTFT but apparently rubbing butter on their paws makes them come back home. I did it for the first week I let my cat out and he always came back.
Could be an old wives tale though!

I lost mine on the road and I bitterly regret not cat proofing. We live on the edge of an estate, non through road, speed bumps and a huge field for him to mooch around in & he still got hit.

I’ll never understand how a cat so scared of cars got knocked down & hold myself fully culpable for his death.

My cat is 10 months old and due to her vaccinations the vet said not to neuter just yet. So she is being neutered in a week and I'm really glad she has not been able to go out yet. I have always had cats and have kept them in as close to being n adult as I could get because the bigger they are the better they are able to cope outdoors. My cat does want to go out and has managed to run past us on occasion but she only goes a few feet and been easily bought back inside!

@Fluffycloudland77 I'm so sorry to hear you lost your little darling, that is my worst nightmare ever. We are in a similar situation by the sounds of it down the back of an estate which is relatively quiet speed bumps etc, the back of our house would be 2/3 fields from a main road but large wall there, you'll always have some bastards who just will not curb their speed for god nor man 😠

@Fanniesyeraunt wow I wonder what it is with the butter must look that up, stickiness traps the scent of home perhaps? I really don't know but an interesting one!

Have been looking up cat proofing all day it ain't cheap so not something we could do overnight but perhaps could find a homemade diy alternative 🤔

Our cats were indoor cats for 4 years. When I was pregnant with dd we bought a dog kennel (mesh run pet with a sheltered inside bit) as we wanted somewhere they could go in the summer if we had doors/windows open once the baby was born.

After a little while using the cat run we decided to just let them out as we were running the risk of them escaping anyway if we had to leave the door open to get the pram out etc. We let them out first thing in the morning before we gave them their breakfast, let them explore a bit and then got them back in with food, and the same at the end of the day.

One cat never goes off the garden (she has pins in her leg from when she broke it as a kitten so can’t scale the wall/fence) our boy does wander off and explore but has to wait to be let out and is generally waiting at the back door to be let in again before bed time. We don’t have a cat flap so they are reliant on us letting them out so we have more control if we want them to go out or not.

I think this what other people have used, you could spray them black.

www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-restraint-straps-1200-x-150mm-pack-of-10/74769

Then you need a black mesh but not too stiff, it needs to give slightly if puss makes a breakout attempt.

I’ve also seen sheets of clear plastic advised, most cats can jump a good 4-5 feet, then they scrabble up the rest of the fence. If it’s smooth they can’t grip.

This terrifies me too. We’re also the end of a culdesac, edge of an estate, beyond our garden is about 50m of grass then a 40mph road. They’re 6 months and won’t be neutered for another month but in the summer we usually have patio doors open all the time when we’re at home so it’s going to be very difficult to keep them in. Both completely black too. Planning to keep them in at night/after their dinner. Not good for my anxiety.