To let him out or not?

[Bagpuss1200]

Rescued a gorgeous Bengal/Tabby Cross in December he is now roughly a year old and has been confined to the house since he arrived 3 months ago. He has more cat toys than Pets at Home or Smyths could possibly provide and a floor to ceiling high cat climbing tree so living a lovely playful life.
The issue is, he's not the smartest tool in the box, bless him, he's a playful, happy lovebug, but not smart. He also flatly refuses to wear a collar, so an airtag/tracker is out of the question. Should I allow him out or keep him as a house cat, I'm not sure he is savvy enough to be safe outside.

Two questions and two considerations.
Does he want to go outside? If he doesn't want to go out I wouldn't worry, however if he's trying to get out all the time it would probably be very stressful for him to keep him inside.
Is he really half Bengal or is he just thought to be? Be aware that Bengals can be very difficult when other cats live in the area.

Yes he's very much half Bengal and has all the markings (cat tax attached). He's a very busy boy and prone to massive zoomies but hasn't attempted to get out so far, just very chatty shouting at the birds from the upstairs window!

Do you have any safe, relatively enclosed areas around your home?

If so I’d gradually introduce him to it under supervision. Cats are so territorial he would probably establish his own area quickly.

Obviously much more difficult if it’s all fast roads and public pathways.

Ours absolutely live outside, particularly in good weather. They’d be confused and distressed to be kept inside.

(He is gorgeous!)

If he's content inside I'd not let him out until he makes it clear he wants too.

I personally don't agree with making cats live inside.

Bengals have a bit of wild cat bred into them and so they tend to have a wider territory and roam further than your typical domestic cat. I know of someone who lost their Bengal to RTA right outside their house after a few weeks letting them out for short spells at 7 months. It really depends on the local environment, whether there are busy roads etc. It's the quiet early hours that they can start to get confident and go further over roads that are typically busy during the day and empty at night. You can restrict their territory by restricting the hours they spend outside with a curfew on a cat flap. Let them out when they're hungry. It's not a sure-fire way of keeping them safe but it's a numbers game and shorter spells may help them gradually become street wise and also curb their roaming.

Mine aren’t bengals, but I have the same dilemma having adopted kittens this summer who are now near 12 months and we need to think about letting them outside. We live on a quiet suburban road and have a biggish garden, but I am so worried of losing them. It feels like letting toddlers outside to roam.
My precious cats have always been let outside and I do think it’s a better quality of life to let them outside if you live in a safe enough area.

Teach him to come to the sound of dreamies.
Our cat can hear a packet of dreamies being rattled from several gardens away.

Ours know the exact time of breakfast and supper - so either wait outside on the window ledge or close by, or come running at the sound of their names at the relevant times.

My girls are DSH and have always lived indoors. Dcat1 is almost 4 and came to us 2 years ago. She had only ever been indoors and had no desire to go outside. Dcat2 we got as a kitten. She’s now 15 months and likes to out into the garden with supervision but we don’t let her out on her own and she doesn’t actually ask to go out. My girls are very small cats, 2.4kg and 2.8kg and I worry that they would run into problems with all the big cats around here.

What about a catio? There are a wide range of designs from the cheap and cheerful to palatial.

I recently built a catio as I've moved from really rural to town, my cat had never seen a car never mind a road, she's quite happy to sit in the sun outside. I've built it over a window so I just leave it open and she comes and goes as she pleases, plus I know she won't get run over.

We've got two cats that came to us as kittens at age 7 and 9 months. The girl hasn't been spayed (she's booked in) and neither of them had been vaccinated so I can't let them out until their second jabs anyway, but I'd rather they stayed indoors to keep them safe. They keep trying to get out when the dog goes out so it's been tricky and I don't know how to keep that up for the next 15 years or so! I would imagine it would be near impossible to stop them, unfortunately.

Is he microchipped?

We've always done it by waiting until about half an hour after the time they usually get fed so they are starving hungry, then open the door and go into the garden with them. After a few minutes, go back inside leaving the door open, and start making loud dinnertime noises, rattling biscuits, banging dishes etc. Because they're hungry anyway, it is much easier to get them to come in. Do that every day for a couple of weeks, and they get the hang of the idea that indoors is where the food is.

I must admit I feel my cats will miss out on sun bathing outside and playing in the long grass if I kept them inside.

Don't allow him out.

Indoor cats lead long, healthy, happy lives.

Domestic cats aren't part of "nature" and kill many small birds and mammals needlessly, not to mention shitting in neighbours' gardens and getting run down by cars.

Hard disagree.

Can you have a catio or cat proof garden ? maybe walk him in a lead?
There is a gorgeous maine coon near to me who is walked regularly on a lead and harness, very like a dog; comes to say hello and loves a pat.

@biscuitsandbooks

Every statement in my post is objectively a fact. It's impossible to "disagree" with facts.

Bengals are vicious towards other cats so I would be inclined to keep him in, even though normally I would say cats need to go outside.

My elderly cat was terrorised by the Bengal in our street which would hunt for him and attack him.

For the sake of other cats you need to keep him inside.

No, your statements are opinions. And ones I very much agreed with before I started letting my cats outside and seeing how much happier it made them.

I spent years on this forum (under other names) arguing about how cats are fine indoors and how they don't need to go out. Until our vet recommended letting ours out and he changed into a new cat almost overnight. He's more confident, he's happier, he doesn't over-groom and he's never once urinated out of his litter tray again.

Buying a cat and keeping it shut away inside a house is like buying a bird only to keep it shut in a cage without the chance to fly. It's cruel.

Not all cats do that though so it's not fact that all of them will

I'm on my second cat that doesn't hunt or kill anything, and won't even wee outside and comes back in to use a litter tray
Cat 1 survived outside by himself for 4 years so I was perfectly happy with him going out in the day

Thanks everyone for your responses. I’ve been trying him with a harness and it’s a big fat no from him. Whilst not on a main road there is one near by, so it’s going to be a catio this summer!

The catio is a great idea. I’m usually in favour of letting cats wander freely but I’d make an exception for Bengals (and half-Bengals) as they can be so violently aggressive towards other cats. They also have a low average life expectancy as their reckless behaviour means many of them are killed in accidents, so a catio is the way forward.