Best thing to do about going outside.

[em1209]

Hi,

I'm having a similar dilema at the moment. We let Fergus and Polly out a couple of weekends ago in the back garden. This was fine and fergus hopped over the fence into next doors garden and then came back 5 mins later. We were out in the garden on Saturday and neither of them made an effort to get over the fence and so on Monday after work I let them out (stupidly having already fed them!) Fergus made a bolt for the fence and was over and Polly for the first time managed to get up on to the fence and over. I could see them in the next garden from the upstairs windows. But then Polly found it hard to jump back over the fence again and I was sat one side talking to her and she was the other squeaking back at me! She came back in the end but Fergus was being a right pickle, not coming for his treats that I shook or his food. Again he came in the end, but I do worry about them coming back. I'm sure they will come back as they know it's where their food is etc. But I don't know how far they'll roam once they've discovered they can get out of the garden properly. I'll let them out again tonight and not feed them until they come in. I did try letting them out last yesterday evening in the rain and they weren't too impressed, just sat on the path for 2 mins shaking their paws and then ran back in leaving lovely muddy skiddy paw marks all over the kitchen!!

Anyway, good luck with it all and let us know how you get on.

Emma

[Bryony84]

I always wanted to let ours choose, I didn't want to imprison them against their will. Chilli doesn't seem to want to go out, which is great but Amber loves it and I would feel bad not letting her as there are no busy roads around, mostly just woods.

[Kirst]

Oscar was a little butter - would lie about the house all day and only decided he wanted to go out when it was time to come in!

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

My lot are allowed outside during the day - They dont go far and are often back indoors quiet quickly - and then want to go out again etc

I did try the "indoor only " but they hated it so now its a risk i feel i must take

[Kirst]

Beavius has not pone but two catflaps , which are open during the day and locked at dusk! However he is an indoor boy and if there is a hint of rain or wind there is no way he will go outside!

I am also lucky in that I have a huge garden , and nowt but field behind the house and a quiet-ish road at the end of the garden at the front.

[Bryony84]

I do the same as you Duchess, when it hasn't been raining, I've been leaving the door open evenings before dinner and wkends. Only Amber is interested in going out though, Chilli really isn't fussed.

[madkittyrescue]

we always recommend that if you are going out, bring them in for their own safety.  You never know what will happen these days.   We also recommend bringing them in at night.

So long as your wee ones are happy that's all that matters whether that be keeping them indoors or letting them out from time to time.

[The Duchess]

my two are mainly indoor during the day when we're at work with supervised outdoors access with the backdoor open at weekends if the weather's ok.  Now it's lighter in the evenings, we'll probably be able to let them out for a couple of hours each evening once we're home from work. 

They don't go far, come when they're called - usually - plus in the evenings we'll let them out before they're fed so they've got an incentive to come back promptly    It also means they tend to wake me up at 5 rather than 3 in the morning if they've had a bit of a run outside...

I couldn't leave them outside all day whilst we're at work, wouldn't be fair with all the bad weather plus they're really pampered and don't like the cold, the wet, the windy...

[Bryony84]

We can't have a cat flap so this seems the best option, they can go out for a good few hours each day and they will come when I call them in for dinner, they don't go far, chilli doesn't move more than a few metres from the door and amber is usually round the back. I know what you mean about being concerned about fire, but I couldn't shut them out every day in whatever weather just in case. I'm also worried if I shut the door that they will think they can't get back in!

[Millys Mum]

I hope the chances of the house burning down are less than what can happen to them outside! 3 being very twitchy couldnt be left out, when taz panics i doubt a catflap would be seen 
I think the more dead cats you pick off the road the more paranoid you become with your own, i live in a 12 house cul de sac in a quiet area but it doesnt stop me worrying 

[Catjane]

My lot go out when theres someone here to watch over them. 3 of them have to have the door open as a bolt hole or they panic!
I would worry too much if i had a flap and they could come and go while we were out 

It seems so strange hearing you say that!  It doesn't seem so long ago that it was usual to 'put the cat out for the night'!!  Not that I would ever condone that, but we've become so much more protective of our cats these days.  True, things have perhaps changed, although it's also true that in 'those days' we didn't even hear about the cats that ran into trouble hence people didn't worry so much!

You know, I think I worry more if they're shut in whilst I'm out because I keep thinking 'what if the house caught fire? They wouldn't be able to escape!'

I guess it's a case of doing what you and your cats feel most comfortable with.  But I'd definitely say to make sure that they come when they're called ... that is very important.

[Millys Mum]

My lot go out when theres someone here to watch over them. 3 of them have to have the door open as a bolt hole or they panic!
I would worry too much if i had a flap and they could come and go while we were out 

[Bryony84]

My girls have been with us a month now and have got more and more interested in the door that we regularly disappear out of and then reappear through hours later.

As it was lovely weather this saturday, we opened the front door and left it open while we sat outside and watched the cats. Amber was the more confident but both were very wary of the outside, any slight noise and they were off back up the stairs. Chilli is a total scaredy puss and may well be an indoor cat in the making. Amber gained confidence pretty quickly and made her way round the the garden pretty quickly where she discovered a peculiar things called grass which felt funny under her feet.

Ideally, I would like to just be able to leave the door open when we are home to keep an eye on them and let them go out if they want, we have stairs going straight up from the door so there isn't really any draft from doing it and it cooled the house nicely on sat. I don't want to keep them in if they want to be able to go outdoors and they seem quite happy to do as they please. We are very lucky in that we live in a very quiet area with lots of culdesacs and no through roads so there is hardly any traffic and what there is drives very slowly as there are always children playing football etc.