How quickly do you introduce going outside

[GeorgieTK]

So my 9 month old kittens are now at the stage of going outside. We went outside with them the first day and just did 10 minutes before lunch and called them back in. Worked very well. Same the next day. On the third day they were a bit more confident and disappeared into next doors garden after about 10 minutes. Once came back when called for lunch, the other decided he was having fun and spent another 5 minutes next door before coming back for lunch. So my question is when do you just fully leave them to it for as long as they want? Have I 'introduced' them enough and just let them go as they please now? Or did you go outside with them for longer and give them a few more small visits? We also have a cat flap so when they're going outside properly that's next on the list! Thanks

Once they start going over fences, you lose control of the game and to an extent you have to leave them to it. But for a while I would aim to control how long they were out, an hour to begin with then increase over a few weeks.
I would always aim to get young cats back in before dark if possible.

You need to start getting them used to the cat flap. To begin with while they were going in and out I pegged ours open while they got used to the idea. Presumably you've got a four way locking flap so once they are confident with it you can set it in on open/shut as needed?

They are cats, they will come back when they feel like it.

Thanks, yes it's a microchip cat flap so I can set it to 'in only' so once they're back they can't get back out again