Hi all. I have a 5 month old kitten (female). She has recently been spayed and microchipped. At what age do people generally let their cats out for the first time? She still seems really small to be out there all alone but my family think she is ready!
Age to let cat out?
Mine were going out for the first time about then. The only word of caution is now it's dark so early just keep an eye on her until she works out how to get back home safely, as in go outside with her, and show her how she gets back inside. I left the door open as well as posting them in and out of the cat flap both ways a few times.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
Originally Posted by dollymarie:
“Mine were going out for the first time about then. The only word of caution is now it's dark so early just keep an eye on her until she works out how to get back home safely, as in go outside with her, and show her how she gets back inside. I left the door open as well as posting them in and out of the cat flap both ways a few times.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
”
“Mine were going out for the first time about then. The only word of caution is now it's dark so early just keep an eye on her until she works out how to get back home safely, as in go outside with her, and show her how she gets back inside. I left the door open as well as posting them in and out of the cat flap both ways a few times.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
”
Yes good advice
Thats what I did with mine.
When they start getting annoying indoors, they have the skills to go outside with supervision. They don't tend to go far until their confidence grows.
Originally Posted by dollymarie:
“Mine were going out for the first time about then. The only word of caution is now it's dark so early just keep an eye on her until she works out how to get back home safely, as in go outside with her, and show her how she gets back inside. I left the door open as well as posting them in and out of the cat flap both ways a few times.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
”
“Mine were going out for the first time about then. The only word of caution is now it's dark so early just keep an eye on her until she works out how to get back home safely, as in go outside with her, and show her how she gets back inside. I left the door open as well as posting them in and out of the cat flap both ways a few times.
Go out with her when she's hungry, she won't go far that way, and then when you/she come back in, reward her with food. I also held the cat flap open and put treats on the inside so they learned that coming home meant rewards and was a good thing.
I still don't know how they work it out, but they just do, just go careful as it's dark so often at the moment. Go out in the middle of the day with her when it's brightest.
”
I'd agree with this, good advice. We also 'posted' ours through the cat flap a few times (one person on each side) to show them how it worked. And at first we went out in the garden with them and then sat just inside the door (with the door open) and gave them a treat whenever they came back in.
One other thing we did from when they were kittens is to tap the side of their food bowl with our nails every time we fed them as we were putting the bowl down. So they very quickly learnt that the quick tapping sound meant dinner and would come running. That meant that if they'd gone out and it was getting late standing at the back door and tapping the bowl would result in them running in within a minute or two.
