Letting our two burmese 'house cats' outside

[FergusandMyrtle]

Hi

I wanted to ask about letting our cats out for the first time with a view to letting them out regularly in the future.

We have two burmese, brother and sister aged 5 that have lived indoors their whole lives. We recently moved from a terraced house in Bristol to the surrounding countryside to a very quiet road - nowhere near a main road in a very quiet bit of an estate. There aren't a great many other cats around and cat proofing our garden is not an option as its massive. Part of the reason we moved where we did was because it was as cat friendly as it could possibly be. If right-move had a cat friendly criteria option it would have been very useful!

I'd be really interested to hear if anyone else has been in the same boat and whether they could provide any advice? We plan on keeping them indoors for circa 2 months before we start to introduce them to the outdoors and they will be up to date with vaccines/microchips etc.

When they have escaped previously they've never gone very far and could have always been found having gone to ground somewhere nearby.

We definitely want to let them out as Fergus (the big boy) in particular is being a nuisance at the moment crying a lot and opening every door in the house and jumping in and out of every cupboard/opening he sees!

[meriad]

No reason why you shouldn't be able to let them out. But the one suggestion I would make is to wait until the spring before doing so. They're used to being indoor cats so a few more months won't matter, but.....

a) in the winter the ground is harder, freezes over, snows etc etc etc - all sorts of conditions that could potentially prevent a cat from leaving a successful scent trail so they know where home is (if that makes sense)

b) if they do decide to go missing for a bit longer you don't have to sit in the freezing weather with a door or window open waiting for them to come home

Then when the time comes, do it on a Saturday morning when you know you're home all weekend. Let them out before breakfast and give them a few minutes only outside. Then call them in, and give them a treat, then back out, call in again after a bit and then feed them. That again is just to enforce they know where home is.

Then use the time between now and the spring (if you can wait that long) to maybe cat flap train them? Also something I did with mine and I suggested to another friend who recently adopted two cats (and it's worked really well for her), buy something like this: https://www.fruugo.co.uk/painted-wooden ... oCT8jw_wcB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and start training the cats that when you shake the rattle it means food or treat time. That way once they are allowed outside it's a lot easier to call them in using that vs having to shout out their names.

Make sure you've updated your address / contact details with the microchip company and final question - I assume they are neutered?

[FergusandMyrtle]

Thanks thats just the sort of info I need.. I think we may have to start before spring though as fergus is driving us mad at the moment so maybe like you said but start before it gets really cold. We'll have been here for two months soon and in the meantime get up to date with all of the vets bits and bobs. Yes they are neutered as well.

Many thanks

[meriad]

best of luck

a few things to add - Fergus driving you mad or not... definitely wait until the fireworks season to finish and ideally come the evening, you get your cats inside and keep them there. Just for this season at least, but ideally forever

[Lilith]

Hi - agree totally, but - does your garden have a high solid fence?

One way of catproofing very cheaply is to buy rolls of chicken wire and line the fence, the bottom of the wire being a foot down from the top of the fence,top of wire roll standing proud, nail in place and then bend the wire inwards, forming a lip, which won't be an eyesore to your neighbours (unless they peer over or brood out of their upstairs windows, in which case good luck to them eh?) If a cat climbs, it will be baffled by the barrier and learn to stay inside; of course any 'steps' or jumping off points might need to be sorted, to say nothing of a temporary 'ladder' for intruders (which is what I've had to do in my garden) but these are teething problems.

I admit I only have a small yard so it was simpler for me,though I had to sacrifice a fragrant honeysuckle (which is growing back! )

And I do envy you, massive garden...sigh...if only!

Good luck with the introduction to the great outdoors

[FergusandMyrtle]

best of luck

a few things to add - Fergus driving you mad or not... definitely wait until the fireworks season to finish and ideally come the evening, you get your cats inside and keep them there. Just for this season at least, but ideally forever

Thanks - good point re fireworks although I'm hoping in this village it will be nowhere near as bad as it was not far from the centre of bristol with fireworks going off everywhere! Yes they will DEFINITELY be inside every night..

[FergusandMyrtle]

Hi - agree totally, but - does your garden have a high solid fence?

One way of catproofing very cheaply is to buy rolls of chicken wire and line the fence, the bottom of the wire being a foot down from the top of the fence,top of wire roll standing proud, nail in place and then bend the wire inwards, forming a lip, which won't be an eyesore to your neighbours (unless they peer over or brood out of their upstairs windows, in which case good luck to them eh?) If a cat climbs, it will be baffled by the barrier and learn to stay inside; of course any 'steps' or jumping off points might need to be sorted, to say nothing of a temporary 'ladder' for intruders (which is what I've had to do in my garden) but these are teething problems.

I admit I only have a small yard so it was simpler for me,though I had to sacrifice a fragrant honeysuckle (which is growing back! )

And I do envy you, massive garden...sigh...if only!

Good luck with the introduction to the great outdoors

Thanks

And yes its just too big, there is a solid fence but there's a myriad of bush's, trees, bamboo etc etc etc in the way. Its just not practical.

[Crewella]

I absolutely agree with Meriad's advice, especially about fireworks season. As Ria says, whenever you do let them out make sure they are hungry, perhaps go out with them briefly, and then call them in again for food. The most important thing is for them to learn the way back home, as soon they go out, and reinforce that by letting them out then calling them back in for food shortly after for the first few days, leaving it just a little longer each day.