Letting cats outside for the first time after moving house

[BarbaraHavers]

I have 2 cats. One is 15 and the other is 9. The younger one is much more of an outside cat and used to spend a lot of time outside at the old house. We moved house 2 weeks ago and the vet recommended that we keep them in for 3 weeks which is fine. In a week's time we'll let them out for the first time but am wondering how to manage it. We have a cat flap and both cats were used to going out in our old house but a part of me is worried that they'll go out and get lost. Any tips? I'd be grateful for any advice!

I’d try letting them out when you know they’re hungry, and then enticing them back with Dreamies!

… assuming that yours will respond to the sound of the bag being shaken

Get air tags for them both, and attach to their collars. Much cheaper (and lighter) than the gps ones and you can track them on your phone with the FindMe app.

Oh yes Dreamies!! They'll do anything for those.
Neither cat will wear a collar unfortunately. We have tried different types over the years but none of them lasted otherwise the air tag would have been a great idea.

I’m probably not the right person to be answering this thread, but… we moved house recently and kept our cat in. She was very very experienced at avoiding cars and lorries whilst out and about at our old house. Apparently cats form a mental map in their brains when they move somewhere new, even when they are kept in - no idea how, but this source said it takes 6 weeks.

We let her out after 4 weeks because she was really miffed to be kept in, and she was so happy at having her freedom again, but on her second day of being allowed out she was hit by a car and killed instantly on the very narrow, very quiet road outside our house.

It’s just one of those things. Conjunction of wrong place, wrong time, someone going faster than they should 🤷🏼‍♀️ She might have been ok for years and years, and it was just bad luck.

So I guess what I’m saying is your cat might be fine whenever you let them out, or they might not, and you just need to weigh up all the factors and make the best decision you can.

Wishing a long and lovely life, safety and happiness for your kitties. 💖

PS. Agree with PPs who have recommended AirTags

PPS. The leather Supakit collar is spendy but wonderful - the cats both tolerated them very well, and you can get an AirTag attachment for it.

I don’t let new cats go out for six weeks so that they are absolutely established. That said, our newest one escaped out of the window at 2.5 weeks and went missing for 12 hours, he came back though and was probably hiding not far away waiting for my hysterical calling to subside and people in their gardens to go in for dinner.

I have one cat in a Tractive, the other in an AirTag, the AirTags are useless unless he pings someone’s iPhone and since he goes all down long gardens and the school field he only ever pings in one garden about 20 houses away, probably as he walks past their garden office. It’s very useful if he’s hiding in our garden though.

Pity yours won’t wear a collar, the Tractive is fabulous, although the subscription charges are not cheap.

Let them out one at a time and stay out with them, let them have a little wander and then bring back in, do this a few times before letting them out alone (if they don't get wise and run off!) so that they get familiar with the area around the back door and garden. I would also call them in before it gets dark and keep the cat flap shut at night for a while, so they don't get too brave too soon.

Some really good advice thank you. Maybe I'll rethink the 3 weeks thing and keep them in for even longer than the vet suggested. So sorry to hear about your cat @OrdinaryGirl 💐

Could you fill a litter tray with some enrichments @BarbaraHavers ?
Some of your garden soil, leaves, rocks, a feather, etc etc leave them to play and have a good ol' sniff at it indoors.
3 days later, empty the tray in the garden, now a bit of the garden smells of them.
Re-fill the tray with new enrichments. Encourage play with it. If dcat has a wee in it, great! Empty outside. Now the garden smells a bit more like them.
When you let one out, have it hungry and watched, keep it a short time. Twice a day, then gradually more.
Best of luck xx

That's a fabulous idea @2catsandhappy Definitely going to try that. We also brought a little cat house from the old house and it's on the garden ready so they'll be familiar with that when they venture out.

Let them out when they are hungry. Be outside in the garden with them. Hang some washing out that day so they can smell you if they get a bit disoriented. When we moved we put our cat in a big dog crate and sat it out in the garden with us so he could get used to the sights and smells of the new garden.