Letting rescue cat out

[yorkypuds]

I'm new to cats!
We've had a female 8 year old rescue for about 5 weeks and it's time to let her out.
What if she doesn't come back? Gets lost? How long should I leave her before I worry about her not being back?
She doesn't respond to her name being called or rattling treats, nor does she fuss for food!
She was previously owned (never a stray or feral) so she must have some experience!
I didn't realise cats would be so stressful!

I opened the door to the garden and the cat tentatively went out, not very far and then came back in. It took a few days before cat would go far. When we had a kitten we carried round outside a lot before we let it out alone. I’ve had quite a few cats and only had one that dashed off, and he only went under a bush.
Best done earlier in the day when the weathers nice as you will have to leave the door open as a cat flap is too much to learn at the same time.

They have a homing instinct.

Does she know her name? Can you tap the food dish before feeding her so she knows dish equals food?

Let her out hungry so she wants to come home to eat. Maybe go in the garden with her and let her have a good sniff about first.

Do people still do butter on the cats paws before letting them out?

No, col crisis means it’s margarine now.

It’s very nerve wracking and doesn’t really stop. I panicked when Dcat first went out and went behind a bush🤣 I still panic if she’s gone longer than an hour because she usually is in and out constantly.

Definitely let them out before a meal and just accept you will worry. Dcat doesn’t go far, 3 garden’s including ours and she will come when called now most of the time. That took a while though but I used to shake the dried food and call her.

She is a grazer so there isn't really a meal time. She vomits a lot too, so we try not to put too much food down in one go!
She is wearing a tracker but she really didn't go far out of the garden. She came in to find me every 5 minutes or so.
Feeling the tracker was probably an unnecessary waste of money now!

I went out in the garden with my rescue the first couple of times, and then left her to it. She kept getting in scraps though with neighbouring cats so I ended up supervising her garden visits most of the time, as she seemed a bit out of her depth (had been a house cat before me).

18 months on she stays just in the garden by choice and prefers me with her or at least for me to be in the dining room or kitchen. If she knows I've gone upstairs she comes running back in.