Nervous letting out kitten

[Mahoganybay]

Kitten is nearly 6 months old and has just had her 1st injection, another one due in 3 weeks. She has been with us 3 weeks now & settling into our routine / family quite nicely.

Confident little thing and i think she is going to be a proper hunter.

I am very worried about letting her out for the first time. I plan on keeping her in for a good while yet, possibly until she is about 10 months old, i have got a little harness for her so she can have some time out after her 2nd injection.

We live on a quiet road with a small holding at the bottom, field in front of my house but a road at the top (a good way off but easily reached by an inquisitive bold cat, our other doesn't venture near though.

Any tips?

 

[twiggy2]

just leave the door open when you are about and let her pootle about with you, get her neutered first though

 

[Mahoganybay]

just leave the door open when you are about and let her pootle about with you, get her neutered first though

First thing i did was have her neutered & microchipped. I had thought of making sure she had not been fed beforehand so she was hungry.

 

[Moomin1]

Aww I remember hitting this stage with my little hand rear kitten. He's like a baby to me as I had to take him to work every day to syringe feed him the first few weeks I had him and slept on the bed with me and the OH every night. So when it came to considering letting him out I was a wreck to say the least. It all went very well though.

I kept him in until he was about 8/9 months old, and then started letting him out into the enclosed back garden with me there with him, and started to entice him in with his favourite treats (ie ham!) and calling him at the same time. Then gradually, I started to disappear away from him, and would go in the house for a while, and bring him back in after an hour or so (he hadn't figured out how to jump out by this point). Then one day, I went to check, and he had gone - figured out how to jump out! I panicked like nothing on earth, but called him, and within seconds he came flying back over the fence to me. So it was a case of just teaching him that when he came back he had nice things to eat and a fuss, and that really seemed to work a treat (excuse the pun).

I would def give the harness a go if I were you to start taking her out with you if you don't have an enclosed area she can't jump out of yet. I tried with my little lad, but he has always been completely intolerant of collars/harnesses so it didn't work well for him unfortunately.

Don't forget that there will be scent trails all over from other cats, so she is unlikely to go too far to start with without panicking and coming home pronto! My little lad seems to only ever do the same routes whenever he goes out - and that seems to have become his little 'patch' in the neighbourhood.

Have you had her chipped?

 

[Mahoganybay]

Thanks Moomin, good idea about the ham treat, she is very food orientated so that may work well.

My front garden is not enclosed and opens out onto a large field so i have visions of her legging it across the field :-( so i think the harness to start with may be good, that's if i can get it on her lol.

Had her chipped when she was neutered.

 

[Moomin1]

Thanks Moomin, good idea about the ham treat, she is very food orientated so that may work well.

My front garden is not enclosed and opens out onto a large field so i have visions of her legging it across the field :-( so i think the harness to start with may be good, that's if i can get it on her lol.

Had her chipped when she was neutered.

What I also used to do (though this was when he was very small and far too scared to venture out of 'mum's' arms (!), was carry him out of the front door, and a little way away from the house (never out of sight of the front door, which I left open) and then back the other way, and back in the house with him (probably just me being really stupid doing that, but I'm an over protective 'mum' lol! My OH used to despair!)

She'll be absolutely fine, and you sound highly responsible too so I am sure you will do the right things to help her take her first steps out!

 

[Goldenstar]

I raised my kittern from three weeks old when she went out I was beside myself with worry but she was fine , she's fifteen now and an old lady.

 

[Mahoganybay]

I raised my kittern from three weeks old when she went out I was beside myself with worry but she was fine , she's fifteen now and an old lady.

That's lovely, hope i have the same luck as you.

 

[AmyMay]

10 months? Seems a bit extreme. Start letting him out once it's safe to do so fter 2nd vax. Simply open the door and spend time in garden with him. Do supervised 'out' for a few weeks, and he will be fine.

 

[HashRouge]

Honestly it will be fine! Our female used to play out on the patio from about 4-5 months (supervised obviously) and then as soon as she was spayed we just unlocked the cat flap and let her do her own thing. Think it was just during the day at first, but not sure. Our male cat started going out during the day at about 5 months, then as soon as he was neutered (six months) we just left him to get on with it. They both seemed to "get" it straight away. Although we had several weeks where our kitchen was full of leaves after the male started going out, because it was autumn and he seemed to think they were some sort of living thing

 

[abitodd]

On the plus side girls tend not to wander as far as boys,but if you have a road less than 1/2 a mile away you are right to be cautious. We used to live 1/2 a mile from a quiet but fast country road. My 9 month old Maine coo....n was the 1st to get himself killed. Then my beloved oriental. I decided we had to move. In the interim of finding a safer home I tried to keep my others(including a 6 month old MC kitten) safe. I took them for daily walks(stalking/hunting mode) in the opposite direction of the road and made the dangerous direction unpleasant by soaking string in creosote and laying it across the drive.(If I had to do this again I would use Frontline instead-equally appalling to cats but not life threatening to cats.) The cats loved their walks, did not need harnesses and tended to sleep until the next amble(Oh,to be a cat!) They are now on a safer farm. Both female cats stay around the garden and yard(although they do go across the lane,so not entirely safe) and the boy goes further in search of rabbits. I know there is still the chance of disaster and heartbreak,but I also know they are happy,well adjusted cats living their lives to the full. They all still enjoy a stroll around the farm with me- or better still with my OH and his rifle.

 

[Mrs B]

I'd rather let a (neutered) kitten out under supervision while they're still wary enough to run back to safety if a pigeon coos too loudly.

When they're older, they may think they can take on the World with no back-up plan and therein might lie more trouble. I guess it's like kids: let them cope with small risks first, so when real danger approaches, they have a better idea of what to do.

 

[Mahoganybay]

Ok, so judging by some replies i am better to try her out sooner rather than later then! Have just managed to get the harness on her, my word how can such a small animal make such a noise ;-)

 

[Moomin1]

I do really think it depends on the individual kitten tbh. My little boy was quite 'behind' in his maturity as I hand reared him from barely 3 weeks old, so he didn't really have enough time with his mum to be taught certain behaviours and very much relied on myself as his 'comfort blanket!'. I just played it by ear with him and started letting him into the garden when I felt he was mature enough in himself, physically (he still looked like a fluffy baby when he was 9 months/10 months old) and mentally.

I would definately stick with the harness if she will accept it (as I said earlier I tried numerous times with my boy but he never accepted it), then that is ideal to start getting her used to the surroundings safely.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

make sure neutered first

Make certain that your cat(s) have a way back into a safe place - either via a catflap or open window. If you cannot manage that, make sure that there is somewhere sheltered for them to go - outhouse maybe - shed?

Introduce them to the garden just before meal time, because will be hungry won't want to go far.

Make sure you have a box of favourite treats - reward the cat when it comes to your call. Then reward it every other time then one in 3.

Get them used to food times. I feed twice daily at 7 am and at 17.30 ish. I rattle a spoon against the metal dish when grub is up so they know to associate that sound with food.

I rattle the treat box when I want my cat in and he usually comes runing - in that situation I always reward him.

I would strongly advise keeping cats in at night. Get them in BEFORE it gets dusk, if you can. You will need to have a litter tray or two for night use.

 

[Mahoganybay]

make sure neutered first

Make certain that your cat(s) have a way back into a safe place - either via a catflap or open window. If you cannot manage that, make sure that there is somewhere sheltered for them to go - outhouse maybe - shed?

Introduce them to the garden just before meal time, because will be hungry won't want to go far.

Make sure you have a box of favourite treats - reward the cat when it comes to your call. Then reward it every other time then one in 3.

Get them used to food times. I feed twice daily at 7 am and at 17.30 ish. I rattle a spoon against the metal dish when grub is up so they know to associate that sound with food.

I rattle the treat box when I want my cat in and he usually comes runing - in that situation I always reward him.

I would strongly advise keeping cats in at night. Get them in BEFORE it gets dusk, if you can. You will need to have a litter tray or two for night use.

Thank you, lots of good advise there.

 

[Mahoganybay]

Happy to report little cat is now going out! Cat harness was discarded pretty sharpish as she hated it so choose a nice day when i was in all afternoon and sat on the doorstep with her on my knee and a box of them little cat treats and let her go!

She did not leg it across the field like i had imagined, instead she stayed with me for a bit then had a little wander around the garden. The first day i only let her out for about 10 mins or so & have gradually built it up to leaving the door open so she can come & go as she pleases.

The first time she was out & did not immediately come back with the shake of the cat treats my heart sank, but 5 mins later she was back.

She does not seem to go far & is quite keen to come back in, even didn't want to go out in the rain yesterday lol.

She is a lovely little thing & is currently sat purring on my knee whilst i type this.

Thanks for all the advise.

 

[AmyMay]

Beautiful! !

 

[Honey08]

Gorgeous! Glad it went well.

Not sure about the creosote theory - I did my stable block with real creosote last week, and my cats have been clambering all over it as normal! And my female goes way further than my male cat (he is a lazy lump that prefers his home comforts, she is a murdering machine).