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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Letting cat out for the first time

17 replies

Thedarksideofthemoon30 · 27/09/2020 08:58

So my Demelza is determined to go and explore beyond the garden. She’s 13 months and hasn’t let it until a few days ago I caught her going over the fence to next door. She’s done it a few times and I panic and send my daughter to get her 🙈😭

I even tried blocking the fence off this morning but it’s not worked and she was meowing to get out.

How does this work then. Do I just wait for her
To come home? Iv been out shaking her treats and calling her but she never comes! It’s really windy outside too :(

Worried mummy!!

OP posts:
GolightlyMrsGolightly · 27/09/2020 09:00

Make sure she’s hungry. Get a microchip cat flap. You can programme them so eg if she comes back in a 8 she can’t get out out till the morning.

Original poster
Thedarksideofthemoon30 · 27/09/2020 09:00

Forgot picture 🙈

Letting cat out for the first time
OP posts:
Original poster
Thedarksideofthemoon30 · 27/09/2020 09:01

We have patio doors and nowhere to put a cat flap 😩 she hasn’t ate this morning. She only goes in her liter tray so will she come home to poo?

What if she can’t find her way home 🙈

OP posts:
Daydreamsinglorioustechnicolor · 27/09/2020 09:02

Ooh I'm interested in this too. Sorry I don't have advice. I've just got a rescue, around 2 year old, and the advice is to keep him indoors for 4 weeks.
I think he's used to exploring outside and i feel a bit cruel not letting him do so.
Advice I found on the battersea website says to get them trained to return when called first so I'm going to work on that.
Then to go out with them and let them roam a bit further each time until you are happy they know their way home.
He was definitely active last night and I think must be used to going on adventures.

Daydreamsinglorioustechnicolor · 27/09/2020 09:03

You can get cat flaps for glass doors.

Lindy2 · 27/09/2020 09:11

I was really worried when my cat started to go out. She'd done a few garden sessions with me and then whoosh off she went over the fence where I couldn't follow her.

I was worried sick but she came trotting back after about half an hour.

How long have you had your cat? I'm assuming it's more than 12 weeks so she is settled in at your home. I'm sure she'll return soon, after a bit of exploring, especially if she's hungry.

I'd keep her in for the rest of the day once she returns and then do the same again, with one trip outside a day, for around a week. That way she should learn the area and her way home well.

Lindy2 · 27/09/2020 09:15

The shaking the treats and calling is good. Even if she's ignoring you she'll get familiar with the sounds and associate them with home. Give her some treats when she gets back as a reward for returning.

GolightlyMrsGolightly · 27/09/2020 09:15

Cats go round in circles when they first go out, ever increasing circles , to plot the way home.

Original poster
Thedarksideofthemoon30 · 27/09/2020 09:23

We’ve had her since October last year.

Would it be worth getting a gps tracker collar lol.

I will keep going out shaking the treats.

I would rather keep her in over night so do I just keep her in after a certain time?

OP posts:
Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 27/09/2020 09:23

It is worrying to start with. However it rapidly becomes the norm, and you begin to see patterns in their 'in' and 'out' times.
Currently one of ours goes out via our upstairs bedroom window at 4.30 each morning. Fine if I've left it open but the little bugger wakes me up if I haven't.

Worth noting that they do sometimes stay out longer than normal just to wind you up.

violetbunny · 27/09/2020 09:56

I'm a bit confused about your doors, why can't you have a cat flap put in? We have double glazed glass bifold doors going out into the garden, it's no problem having a cat flap at all.

Oldraver · 27/09/2020 10:01

Ours has been allowed in the garden under supervision, sometimes with a harness on and one of the things I have done is to try and train him to come back with calling and giving Dreamies when he comes into the house. He is sort of getting it (dont want to speak too soon) as he knows where the Dreamies are and heads straight there. He can sometimes be distracted if Dexter is in the garden

Hopefully when he does go off on his own I can call him back. This wont be for a while

train in the loosest sense of the word when applied to cats

dementedpixie · 27/09/2020 10:04

She'll find her way home when she chooses to! Normally when they're hungry.

Original poster
Thedarksideofthemoon30 · 27/09/2020 10:05

She came home and has gone sleep 😂

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 27/09/2020 10:05

P.s. we put dreamies in a small tub and the cats know the sound of it when we rattle it.

dementedpixie · 27/09/2020 10:06

Glad to hear she is back. They normally stroll in as if nothing unusual has happened

JaJaDingDong · 27/09/2020 10:08

We rang a little bell every time we fed our DCat or gave her a treat. Now she comes running from wherever she is if she hears the bell usually.

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