Letting my daft boy out

[Mia_and_Nimrod]

Hi guys,

My name is Caroline and I've got 2 kittens. Mia is a gorgeous 7 months old tabby who is clever, agile and independent. I let her out for the first time yesterday and I'm confident she's got the hang of the cat flap and will be cautious while she's out. I've tested her with calling her in and she responds well with hearing the tapping of her food dish.

Nimrod is a 5 month old medium hair white and black boy and the complete opposite of Mia. We rescued him at 4 weeks old. He lacks the grace and finessse that Mia does and is daft as a brush. He's a cuddly boy though and we love him just the same. Letting him out makes me nervous as hell. Whilst Mia got used to her collar immediately, Nimrod just can't adjust and sits behind the fridge for HOURS until we take it off. He scoffs his food to the point he is sick (we're working on that), and he's clumsy and impulsive.

We live on a busy road with HGVs, buses and emergency vehicles passing all the time. Our garden to the rear is enclosed and leads to a quite lane and play area. I'm certain Mia will suss out her surroundings and work out that staying to the rear is the best option. She's going to be our little hunter who brings back "gifts" I'm sure of it.

While I've been letting her in and out of the cat flap and watching her from the windows, I'm stopping Nimrod from going out. I feel awful about it but I know he's more likely to go bounding off in an excited little trot and end up getting himself lost or run over. I couldn't bear to lose him to the road.

Has anybody else got a "daft" cat that they've managed to introduce safely to the outside world?! I'm not an anxious person but this is driving me mad! Haha!

Thanks for you input! Look forward to getting to know you and your kitties!

[Kay]

Have you considered cat-proofing your garden? As it's already enclosed, it could be quite cheap and simple to do.

Your cats have many more years ahead, hopefully, and I fear the chances of one or both of them coming to grief on that road must be high.

[Mia_and_Nimrod]

It's a rented property so we don't want to pay for something that we won't benefit from long-term.

The previous owner had a cat here for years with no problems and there are other cats in the area that don't stray on to the road.

I'm going to take Nimrod out on the harness around the garden to explore. Hopefully I can familiarise him with the garden, so much so that he'll be chilled about it when he does venture out alone and won't feel the need to excitedly scurry off anywhere he shouldn't. I honestly believe he'll be more of a house cat once the novelty wears off. I think I just need reassurance but thanks very much for your advice

[booktigger]

He's too young to be considering letting him out really, he might be more sensible come the spring.

[Ruth B]

My first thought is, at only 5 months old, is he neutered? If he isn't then he really should be kept in until he has been done, (I am assuming that Mia has already been done as she is a bit older, but if not she really needs spaying before being let out).

I'm not normally that in favour of cat proofing a garden, but if I lived by a busy road now I think i would get it done. I can understand you don't want to do too much as it is a rented property, but maybe you could sort out temporary cat proof fencing or an out door run for them that you could take with you when you move.

I have know a couple of cats who were best described as 'not the sharpest knife in the block, more of a spoon', but who both showed a surprising amount of canny in their own way. About the only other one I could suggest is to try and make him scared of the noise of cars. If he starts going towards the road chase him back to the rear of the house, or if possible either you or a friend sit and rev a car engine hard if you can catch him going around the front at the right time.

The other one to mention is, if he gets in a bit of an awkward situation, as long as he isn't in danger of getting hurt, don't go out and rescue him too quickly. Blue,the Ragdoll we used to have was one of those lovably dimwitted cats and not long after we had started letting him out we had seen him go over the fence to explore. One of the dominant Toms in the area then took up his place sunbathing on our shed roof. We were watching out of the window and it was obvious that Blue wanted to come back home but didn't want to pass this other cat. We could see him sat looking so dejected in the neighbours garden, and were so tempted to go out to get him in. After a couple of hours the other cat moved on and Blue happily returned. We noticed he was never as keen to venture far afterwards. It was hard for us, but taught him a valuable lesson.

[Kay]

if making the garden safe isn't an option, the other single biggest thing you can do to try to keep both safe from the road is never let them out between dusk and dawn - cats ' hunting instincts are sharper when it's dark, so the desire to wander is strongest, headlights confuse cats and they run the wrong way, motorists can't see them in the dark, and the cats are more likely to make a dash for it when the traffic isn't so heavy - all factors which make RTAs much more likely when it's dark

[Mia_and_Nimrod]

My first thought is, at only 5 months old, is he neutered?

Yes. He's closer to 6 months old and was done around 4 months.

I have know a couple of cats who were best described as 'not the sharpest knife in the block, more of a spoon', but who both showed a surprising amount of canny in their own way.

He went to follow Mia out so I watched carefully from another door that sits at a right angle to our back door. He wanted to come in immediately and couldn't work out the cat flap and looked a bit panicked. I went pulled at the cat flap a little to give him a head start. He came back in, then made one more attempt to go out, trapped his paw in the flap and made no further attempts all day

[Mia_and_Nimrod]

never let them out between dusk and dawn - cats ' hunting instincts are sharper when it's dark, so the desire to wander is strongest, headlights confuse cats and they run the wrong way, motorists can't see them in the dark, and the cats are more likely to make a dash for it when the traffic isn't so heavy - all factors which make RTAs much more likely when it's dark

I have made a point of opening the cat flap when I'm up and can be mindful of their whereabouts and intend to lock it after their evening feed.

I'm sure it will be ok. Our fence is 6ft with no gaps and Nimrod isn't a climber or a jumper. Our garden is interesting as far as cats are concerned (bushes, rockeries, decking, furniture, trellises etc) and I think Mia will remain occupied exploring and looking for mice and frogs

[meriad]

My boy Harry isn't the brightest lightbulb and because of him I cat proofed my garden - he's the only cat I've ever had that first time he was allowed out he ended up 8 houses down crying at some random door asking to be let in. 2nd time he ended up 6 houses down the other way doing the same thing so at that point I realised that he had to be confined for his own good.

I realise it's not something you really want to spend money on, but if your landlord doesn't mind you doing it, and you have some basic DIY skills and decent tools then it's really not that expensive and quite simple to do. And come the time that you do move you can always remove the netting and brackets and reuse them in a new property. But cat proofing is the only way give both your cats secure and safe access to outside and you don't have to worry about them.

As for the cat flap - daft Harry sussed it incredibly fast. Henry on the other hand who is quite a bit more intelligent took close on 2 years!

[Mia_and_Nimrod]

Poor Harry.

I'll look in to cat proofing the garden but I think for us it could be a big job. Our house is in the end of the row an the garden covers the front, side and rear aspects of the house. It's a lot of perimeter fencing

We're on day two now and Mia has been coming and going freely but she's never out for more than 30 mins at a time. When she comes back she seeks me out and gives me a nuzzle.

Nimrod has worked out the cat flap (both ways) and despite popping out twice, he seems very disinterested. He strikes me as the type to like being inside where it's cosy.

The kittens themselves may have eased my first-time-catmum nerves by being so easy to care for! For me so far it's been a case of letting them get on with it and it going rather well! Phew!

[Mayday21]

Hi Mia & Nimrod roads - busy or not - make me nervous. My 3 are inside cats other than when I'm home & outside with them watching like a hawk. This is also due to the fact we have some of the worlds venomous snakes & I live amongst a national forest. we used to have a few goannas around (and koalas, kangaroos & wallabies) which tend to keep snakes away but not so now the goannas that is. Generally cats, cars & cat fights not a good mix. They do sound treasures! Fusses & ear rubs. Vivian