Letting kittens outside

[mimicracra]

Hello

We have 2 Dkittsens aged 8 months old. They have been with us since end of August, both neutered, vaccinated flead etc.

They have been very interested in the garden so I have started letting them out for half an hour before meals (they are having 3 meals a day). I just leave the patio doors open so they can come in and out.

Boycat has been fine staying in the garden. Girlcat is scaring me however, she is climbing fences, into trees, getting as high up as possible! She is very adventurous and curious but I do worry she'll get stuck somewhere.

What age is best to let cats out? Will they figure it out themselves and should I just worry less? Thank you

We always let kittens out (supervised at first) from 5-6 months old. Yes you'll panic the first time they disappear but cats are generally quite bright and able to find their way home.
Photos of your kittens might help the advice 😁

My "kittens" (now 5 years old) snuck out at a very early age (DC leaving a door open 🙄) and they both were scratching to get back in very quickly! They know where their bread is buttered. We got a cat door after they were neutered at 5-ish months.
As per the previous reply, it would be very helpful to see the kittens 😉

Sorry on App so unable to send photos! They are spotted tabby and tuxedo, the perfect pair 😁

Let mine out at seven months. He wouldn't go far at first. Then he got a bit adventurous and went missing for a week which was extremely upsetting. I spent the week looking for him scattered the contents of his litter tray around the garden. He came home at 3am one morning meowing so loudly he woke us all up. He's 8 years old now and never goes out too far.

We have let ours out from 6 - 10 months old (if I'd had my way, the youngest would have been a house cat!). We've had a mix of reactions from them, from "sod this, it's way too scary, I'll stay in" to "I'm off, see you next year"! The youngest being the second of those reactions (little git).

We've always gone outside with them the first few times and "supervised", and generally they've not gone far to start with and gradually get more adventurous. Except the youngest who got led astray by the older cats and now goes off for hours, chasing geese and scaring foxes (have I mentioned he's a little git?).

Personally I wouldn't let them out till at least 6 months old and definitely not till they're chipped and neutered but 8 months old sounds the ideal age.

Ours start to get let out around 9 months - not any younger as I feel they're too small and stupid

All mine have been fine - one is very adventurous but the others rarely leave our garden.

Our youngest is now too large and stupid to go out!

You could get collars with GPS trackers in them if you are worried. We got some (the brand is Tractive) which showed us where they were wandering.

Is your black and white a diva? Mine is and so is DN. she won’t eat her chicken liver treats if I over cook them. They have to pink in the middle.

Im a nervous wreck cooking those livers.

Our boy was 15 months when we adopted him in April, and I read somewhere that putting used litter out would help to create a boundary/territory. I put some in a plastic bag (weed on, not poos) and sprinkled it round the borders of our garden. Other than that I supervised him for the first week or so.

Previous cat was three when we adopted her, and it was July so we just let her in and out with us when we went out (obviously with both cats kept in for a settling period). She immediately started toileting outside and barely ever used a tray again. I hoped our boy would do the same but he comes in, uses the tray, then goes back out.

I don't think my nerves could cope with mine going out.

Thankfully they're happy and contented indoors. I didn't expect that as they were all three rescues who'd been used to being outside, but I think they're just so happy and grateful to be warm, safe and well-fed that none of them has ever looked to go out. In fact, the 7 year old runs like hell when we open the front door!