Male kitten (3.5mths) desperate to go outside- should I let him?

[summercompanion]

My male kitten is really keen to get outside now- he's sneaked out the back door twice now, and spends ages crying at the door once he's brought back in.

His second vaccination is due in September. I think he's just really bored in the house and wants to go out and explore.

Would I be totally doing the wrong thing to let him out?

I also have a female kitten the same age and she is showing no interest at all in going out which is a relief.

We have a nice walled back garden which should keep him happy- but I know he could easily find a way to escape that I'm not aware of.

Absolutely not. You must keep them in until 6 months, until after they are fully vaccinated and neutered.

No. He needs.to be neutered and fully vaccinated and insured.

Letting a cat out before they have the snip is asking for trouble. Just don't.

You're need to play with them. Get them really moving. We used one of those wand toy things and.got her.doing laps of the living room. Wait until they flop for a rest and do it again until rest period is close together. Give them interesting things to do.

I let mine out at around 2 months old, just wasnt happy stuck at home. Hest 5 now and still prefers staying out most of the time

Do you mind me asking why he has to wait so long for his second jabs? I thought they had them 9 weeks and 12 weeks?

At least if he'd had his jabs you could take him in the garden on a harness and lead until he's neutered and microchipped.

You shouldn't be letting kittens out if they're not fully vaccinated and not neutered. Massively irresponsible.

No! Needs vaccines, needs to be big enough to not get killed or hurt by other cats and needs sone Road sense, and someone passing a kitten will assume it's stray. There's a reason you don't see kittens on the streets - they should be at home!

Bullshit. You took an 8 week old kitten away from
it’s mother and let it straight outside? Sure you did.

If he'd had both his jabs I'd say go for it I don't understand why people have house cats

It's quite a long time to wait for his second jab? Can it not be done sooner

Cat proof your garden or get a catio , he’s much too young to be roaming the streets .

I didn't let bot cat out until he was neutered and jabbed - around 4/5 months.

Please don't let an un neutered tom out.

Whatever the age he should not be going out at all till he is neutered.

No way. I would even say 6 months is too soon. If they get attacked by another cat they are not big enough to defend themselves. It probably sounds extreme but I usually wait until 10 months to let them out!

No. He is not desperate to go outside, he is bored.

Give him something to do indoors.

He is too young to go outdoors and will be getting lost, getting into fights and worst getting run over.

Plus he is not neutered - he won't be having kittens but every one else will, and it makes the fighting, getting lost and risk of getting run over worse.

Have you seen how miniscule his brain is in that tiny head?

Toys and play indoors until 6 months AND neutered.

No. He's too small, not fully vaccinated and not neutered. Just play with him.
Cardboard box with a few holes he can squeeze through. A few ping pong balls. Catnip mouse. Feather wands he can leap about after. Scrunched up paper he can rip and tear at. Strings he can chase. Lots and lots of play to release his energy and keep him fit till he is big enough to go outside. Ours still play together with their cardboard box, and they're now a year old. We introduced them to outside (supervised) at 7 months, after they'd recovered from their ops. Please don't let a 10 week old kitten out.

Oops I can't count. 3.5 months is 14 weeks. Still too wee.

Do you have a staircase? Throw a ping pong ball up and down the stairs. Fastest way to exhaust them. And get a date in the diary to have him neutered as soon as vet says doable. Litter mates can breed with each other as soon as they are sexually mature, which is sooner than you think!

If you let an unnetured male cat out then you're incredibly irresponsible and huge part of the cat problem. They're also more likely to roam and not come home.

I agree with others that if he's bored you need to entertain him.

Agree re: litter mates breeding.

I stayed with a very innocent family who had boy and girl kittens. I politely told them that I thought the girl kitten was going to have babies soon.

They asked how I knew and was it that she was showing signs?

Didn't know how to tell them it was because I'd been woken up by their shagging on my bed.

Ok thanks for the unanimous opinion!

I'll up the toys and get some ping pong balls.

We've got a very busy house with 4 children so I'll task them to play with them more.

I work from home and the demands from the kittens are doing my head in!

Yes the vet has booked my female kitten to be neutered as soon as she can for that reason

Both cats need to be neutered.
Come on, please be a responsible owner.

My boy was neutered at 16 weeks old so get him booked in.

Why not the boy cat too?

No no no

Looking at some of your other kitten related threads:

• please insure them. This is a separate thing from yearly vaccinations and checks etc.
• both need to be neutered. Leaving your male whole will make his behaviour difficult, he's likely to start spraying everywhere, will be more likely to get into fights and runover.
• you need to feed them a balanced diet which includes wer did, and it needs to be kitten (not cat) food at this age
• keep both in till at least 6 months, possibly longer.
• they will require play, lots of play, at this age. 4 children plus wfh means life is quite hectic, but you knew this when your got them.

You've got a (hopefully) 20 year commitment to these cats, but it feels like you've done very little research into they impact that they week have or their needs.

We all start somewhere with pets, but i am quite worried by your idea to let a kitten out like this.