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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

5 month kittens desperate to be out

16 replies

Beesareourdfriends · 30/01/2026 08:26

i have two neutered chipped and vaccinated kittens who are desperate to enjoy the outside world. The vet however has said wait until they are six months especially as they are both black ( one is back and white).

the garden isn’t enclosed but we live on a quiet estate in a village. The nearest busy road is about half a mile away.

i just feel mean but shall I wait another three weeks. We have a microchip cat flap.

OP posts:

Tarahumara · 30/01/2026 08:28

I have two cats that look just like yours! They're 6yo but we definitely didn't wait until they were six months to let them out. I've never heard of that tbh.

WinterFelinePurring · 30/01/2026 08:31

We always let ours at as soon as they work out the cat flap. One tenacious feral kitten worked it out at 10weeks (he had to run to be heavy enough to move the flap) but usually around 4-5months. They won’t be harmed by waiting another 3 weeks either if you want to be cautious.

Gribouille · 30/01/2026 08:41

I think ours were five months? And we did the usual protocol - let them out just before foodie time so they would be hungry to come back, and accompanied them... the (daft ginger) boy went a bit 'jungly' and hid in the bushes and wouldn't come back at first, but they soon learned where they lived.

And one of the first things they did was push each other in the (shallow) pond, so make sure you've got a couple of hours on hand to supervise, or cover anything hazardous like that... 🙄

They are a pretty pair! 😍

Hoppinggreen · 30/01/2026 08:46

We let ours out as soon as they were fully recovered from being spayed, probably around 5 1/5 months

ghostyslovesheets · 30/01/2026 08:54

We have a new rescue kitty - he’s 8 months old- we let him out during the day but he’s still in at night - spring time I might let him be ‘darker on’!

Id let them out before dinner times and keep an eye on them

Favouritefruits · 30/01/2026 09:14

as long as you accompany them into the garden about twenty minutes before their feeding time I can’t see a problem. I put a harness and leads on mine the first month or so but it was pointless they wouldn’t have gone further than the garden anyway. 5 months is fine and as long as you’re not letting them out in the dark it really doesn’t matter they are black!

Biscuits4 · 30/01/2026 10:24

If you've got someone else who can come out with you the first few times they go out, that'd be a good idea so you an see where they go in they leave.

With my first two, we had a totally enclosed garden and although they went crazy running around, they didn't go too far until we started letting them out full-time and our boy soon found he could get over the gate. However, with my present two, one went straight over the fence every time I let him out, but somehow he'd worked it out he could walk along the side of our neighbours house, up the pavement and drive to our front door - I think that'd be very unusual though.

bumphousebump · 30/01/2026 10:37

Let them out when they are hungry….and be prepared for heart stoppage when they first disappear through the hedge. But they’ll be back. Also train them to the sound of a dreamies bag rattle.

cramptramp · 30/01/2026 10:40

Let them out. One month isn’t going to make a difference.

99pwithaflake · 30/01/2026 11:15

I’m going to go against a lot of these posts and say that at 5 months they are incredibly vulnerable and still prone to doing very daft things. I’ve never let mine out at such a young age, we wait until about 9-10 months.

Igmum · 30/01/2026 11:27

I waited 6 months to the day with our current pair (RSPCA advice, never left it so late with previous cats). Here they are about to have their first trip into the garden. They’re a bit bigger now

julesagain · 30/01/2026 11:28

Our two were probably about 7 months after neutering and speying. Both dark in colour too. We held off a little as we had acquired them after they had been found in a field with no sign of Mum, they were terrified and starving and probably only six weeks old. They now rule the house very efficiently.

Original poster

Beesareourdfriends · 30/01/2026 16:15

Thank you all. I am on half term soon and so will keep then in until then.

OP posts:

BillieWiper · 30/01/2026 16:22

I would let them out! They're not tiny babies. It feels unfair and if you leave it too long they might struggle to find a territory if there's lots of other cats in the area.

Kenji · 30/01/2026 16:56

As a long time kitten fosterer please keep them indoors for as long as possible, but most definitely until they are neutered. I don't recommend letting them out until they are much bigger, if they come across a territorial older cat they are too small to defend themselves, and also lack life experience. I would definitely try and hold off till the summer, and as others have said, let them out when they're hungry, so they hopefully won't go too far initially.

Oxo01 · 09/02/2026 14:42

Neuterer, chip, possibly cat tracker should ease your concerns.
Believe it or not one of my cats ended up on the roof of a 3 storey house nearly oppersite my garden
one evening i think she was only 6 months, I was watching TV with door open.

Could not work out how she had got up but saw they had a garage next to the house so that's where she started but still to this day I dont know how she climbed the rest of the house walls.

I was going to call the fire brigade but she came down herself i was in a state of panic.

I only saw her as she was all white Cats do stress you when they go outside. 😀

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