New kitten....questions & advice (merged)

Burp_2

'ello

Our kittens are now 7 months old ...the girl is fairly big and very sensible and worldly wise ... and the boy ... well he's still teeny tiny and not the brightest spark really ... relies on his sis a lot!

We know it's time to let them out but we're petrified - but its not fair to keep them as indoor cats! They're chipped and have collars and are spayed and neutered

Just wondering what others did when they let their kitties out for the first time - did u go with them into the garden to begin with? take them out for 15 minutes and then bring them back in doing this regularly throughout the day? starve them before hand?

Our backgarden is not accessible unless u walk down our drive (sounds strange I know!) so it makes sense for us to take them out to front garden really ... we live in a fairly quiet close (cul-de-sac) which is a few mins away from a fairly busy road ... but they'd have a vbit of a trek to get to it!

Any advice or experiences appreciated!

sugar x

lowis

yes definitely supervise the first few outings
keep them hungry too

info here:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Letting-Your-Kitten-Out-For-The-Very-First-Time&id=700370

trudij

we taught ours to come to the rattle of biscuits in a pot....

They picked it up within a couple of hours,and never once failed to come in when we rattled the tin and called them.

Its very nerve-wracking letting them out in the big wide world, but they have a great time!!

Good luck

x

Kimberley

You can try them on a harness at first, here is my kitten getting to know the garden, although he will always be an indoor cat, having the garden to have a run in supervised.

1973born

they should be ok they have been with u a while my kitten was 3months old let it out after two week and came back in the evening :rotfl:

Our kittens are now 7 months old ...the girl is fairly big and very sensible and worldly wise ... and the boy ... well he's still teeny tiny and not the brightest spark really ... relies on his sis a lot!

We know it's time to let them out but we're petrified - but its not fair to keep them as indoor cats! They're chipped and have collars and are spayed and neutered

Just wondering what others did when they let their kitties out for the first time - did u go with them into the garden to begin with? take them out for 15 minutes and then bring them back in doing this regularly throughout the day? starve them before hand?

Our backgarden is not accessible unless u walk down our drive (sounds strange I know!) so it makes sense for us to take them out to front garden really ... we live in a fairly quiet close (cul-de-sac) which is a few mins away from a fairly busy road ... but they'd have a vbit of a trek to get to it!

Any advice or experiences appreciated!

sugar x[/quote]

Milford_Cubicle

You literally just need to let them out, perhaps open the front door to start with and let them go outside but sit in the doorway and read a paper or something so they know that they can return if they need to. Then call them to see if they either react to you or come back. Leave them out for perhaps half an hour and then offer some treats or catnip to get them back inside.

Rinse, lather and repeat the next day until they're going out for longer periods. Experiment with closing the door and then observing through the window to check they're not nervous or wanting to come back when you're not obviously there. 9/10 you could almost just boot cats out for the day and they're fine

Dustykitten

Get them used to the sound of biscuits (go cat sort) box being shook and the reward of the biscuits.

Once they come to this sound in the house (probably only a day or two) let them in the back garden, leave the door open and after a few minutes shake the box so that the come back in, reward them.

Repeat a few times, extending the time they are out and the distance they go before returning.

It is scarey for you the first time they go out of sight but they will come home (probably with a mouse as a pressie for you).

Dani85

Why would it be unfair to keep them as indoor cats? Especially if your really worried about one of them.

I live near a main road so that dictates my two being indoor cats but even if I didnt, one of my girls would go to anyone and the other runs in the other direction as soon as someone looks at her so goodness knows if she ran out in front of a car or something.

Hope all goes well tho xx

Drea

My cat is an indoor cat because I live in a flat so he couldn't get in and out by himself and I wouldn't know when he wanted to come inside. I know he'd love to be able to go outside and explore though, do you think I could get him one of those harnesses to take him out? I didn't know they existed.

Dani85

Drea, ebay sell them and also if you have a local pets at home, theyre about 4.99

Glittermonkey

My Kitty's are about 12 weeks old and have been going out in the back garden for a while.

It is enclosed, they could get out by jumping the fence but haven't bothered yet.

The first few times I took them out and held them. It was funny as they didn't like grass! But after that they started to come and go a couple of times per day.

They love it out there, especially on a day like today. They've been sunbathing!