LETTING KITTEN OUT !!!

scatty

I have a five month old male kitten ,he has been vaccinated and microchipped and i now feel he is ready to explore the garden and perhaps beyond ,i know some people are able to keep a cat inside full time but i really feel he would enjoy the garden with all its trees to climb and lots of bushes to jump in and out ,am i wrong in letting him out ???he gazes longingly out the window and is always trying to escape through open windows and doors .
forgot to mention i will be getting him neutered when he is 6 months.

MsFifers

I used to keep my cats inside full time, but I have now moved to a safe, quiet area and now they go for a run around the garden (mine and the neighbours - which they have said is ok) for 1 hour in the morning and 1 in the evening. They come back of their own accord and I make sure they are inside before I leave the house or go to bed. They are definitely happier about being able to go outside - they were content inside but always wanted to get out.

If you are letting the little guy out, keep him under close supervision for the first few weeks.

If you can secure your garden that would be the best bet. Or else build a cat run that gives him a bit of outdoors but stops him wandering off.

Be v. careful though - one of my other neighbours got a kitten recently and it disappeared after about 1 week because they were letting it run all over the place.

anniehoo

Im a big advocate of letting cats outside! At this stage he'll know what side his breads buttered on and should know where home is. He'll explore in his own time so will probably hang around the garden for the first while then expand!
There'll always be the worries of "will someone take him" "will get knocked down or wander"...its just the chance you'll have to take if you allow him outside! He'll love it though!

Rancid

To start with, let him out when he's hungry, for about 10 mins before he's due to be fed.
He won't go too far and will definitely be back for food.
Increase the length of time out gradually when he's used to finding his way around.

And... why not wait until he's neutered and recovered from the op, and the weather might actually be better by then!

Gordon Gekko

scatty wrote: »

forgot to mention i will be getting him neutered when he is 6 months.

Why are you waiting until he is six months? He is more than ready to be neutered now, and is very capable of getting a local cat pregnant. If you let him out un-neutered he'll end up getting into loads of fights and could get badly injured. Talk to your vet about getting it done now - 5 months is plenty old.

lucky111

I would never dream of keping my 2 cats inside full time.
Cats need to be left to roam free outside.
It's just not healthy for them.
My 2 cats are out most of the day and stay in all night untill the morning.
Don't worry;) about him not coming back, he will:)

lucky111

Gordon Gekko wrote: »

Why are you waiting until he is six months? He is more than ready to be neutered now, and is very capable of getting a local cat pregnant. If you let him out un-neutered he'll end up getting into loads of fights and could get badly injured. Talk to your vet about getting it done now - 5 months is plenty old.

All kittens are to be neutered at 6 mths of age!!

Gordon Gekko

lucky111 wrote: »

All kittens are to be neutered at 6 mths of age!!

No, they're not. Veterinary opinion is now that cats can be neutered as young as 5 weeks - the operation poses less risks for them at this age, is less invasive, and they recover faster and better.

As for keeping cats indoors being unnatural, google 'indoor cats' and you'll see a wealth of veterinary and animal behavioural experts stating that keeping cats indoor does not harm them, in fact quite the opposite.

lucky111

Gordon Gekko wrote: »

No, they're not. Veterinary opinion is now that cats can be neutered as young as 5 weeks - the operation poses less risks for them at this age, is less invasive, and they recover faster and better.

As for keeping cats indoors being unnatural, google 'indoor cats' and you'll see a wealth of veterinary and animal behavioural experts stating that keeping cats indoor does not harm them, in fact quite the opposite.

I can't think of a single vet willing to neuter a kitten a 5 wks of age:rolleyes:
and as for 'not harming a cat by keeping it in fulltime'
WHY WOULD YOU KEEP A CAT IN AND IT NEVER BEING
LEFT OUT??
I know what cat would be happy.......hmmmmmmmm indoor or outdoor:P
Why not keep the animal out for a couple of hours a day and in at night....You know, what most people do:P

boomerang

Definitely in the US, kittens are being neutered younger and younger. So far there is no scientific research to suggest that early spay/neuter does any harm to the kitten's growth or development.

My vet will happily neuter/spay kittens from about three and a half to four months of age, and upwards, so long as they are a good healthy bodyweight and have no health complications like cat flu/conjunctivitis. There honestly is no need to wait until the kitten is six months old. Some female kittens will have had their first heat by six months. Plus, in behavioural terms, the earlier you neuter your male cat, the greater the benefits.

The Sweeper

Neutering - younger is better, they recover more quickly, and if your cat is female she can go into heat as early as four months. Once a cat goes into heat once, she will continue to go into heat every 2-3 weeks until impregnated. Plus every episode of heat she has increases her chance of ovarian cancer. (I won't trot out statistics, but read up on it.)

Cat inside vs outside:

it's up to you. If they're inside or in restricted outdoor areas, they have a better chance to living to a maximum age without injury.

The Irish/English attitude to the domestic cat is very anti-indoors. However, the same proponents of the 'outdoors' lifestyle will make comments that appear to be at odds with best care for your pet, e.g. "they're well able to take the face off anything that comes at them", or "it's natural for cats to fight and find their way in the local pecking order" and so on - basically, apply most of the comments to the domestic dog, and see the equivalent outrage that sort of pet ownership brings.

Outdoor only cats live shorter lives than indoor or restricted-outdoor cats, and tend to meet more violent deaths. The statistics say outdoor cats live an average of five years, indoor only cats can last 20 years.

As for "Why would I keep my cat indoors" - I've been the cat owner that wanders the paddocks for the 10 acres all around my property, with a torch, in the small hours of the morning, looking for my cat. Turned out he was hit by a car on his way home at 7pm. Thankfully, he only had a broken jaw and a $700 vets bill later I got him back - I don't understand how people who own cats that disappear for weeks at a time, or taht never come back, can say 'oh yes, well, it was best for my pet to have unlimited outdoor access'.

Themadhouse

In my opinion cats are best kept indoors with a secure garden to explore. We have 8 cats and half the back garden enclosed and to be honest only 2 spend any length of time out. I know where they are all time and they are not using the neighbours garden as a toilet. Please keep your cat in til it's fixed to prevent things like fiv! In canada the humane society fix all cats at 12 weeks before they are placed in homes. We researched early fixing as we had a 4 month old ready to hop his mother. Once the vet realised we had thought it through there was no problem. It is a bit more of cn invasive proceedure but it can be done. Ask your vet . Until the cat is fixed you could bring it out on a harness and lead and let him explore! We did it with one of our guys and he loved it! Also cats sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day, i would prefer that it's on my couch that under a hedge somewhere.

Tabitharose

lucky111 wrote: »

I can't think of a single vet willing to neuter a kitten a 5 wks of age
WHY WOULD YOU KEEP A CAT IN AND IT NEVER BEING
LEFT OUT??

injury / death by vehicles
poisoned either intentionally or unintentionally
injury / death from fighting with other cats
the spread of diseases
problems with neighbours - cats littering their gardens
theft for baiting fighting dogs
injury / death by predators

seeing as you asked just a few reasons why someone may choose to keep a cat as an indoor only cat or provide a secure cat run for them & that's by no means an extensive list.

As for neutering, as others have said there is no reason why a cat cannot be neutered at a younger age. The approx 20 years of research in the US & Canada, found that early neutering & spaying (from 6 weeks) caused no problems, and also had the following benefits; to the cats themselves - less traumatic surgery, quicker recovery, and fewer complications. Early neutering & spaying is endorsed by the AVMA,The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, the state veterinary associations in California, and numerous humane societies.

Just because a large proportion of cat owners in this country feel it is "cruel" or "unnatural" to keep a cat indoors does not mean it is true - in other countries it is considered the norm to keep cats as indoor only / indoor with access to a secure run.

As far as the original question posted by Scatty, my advice would be to google - read a number of the debates you will find in relation to indoor / outdoor cats & then decide. Only you know the area you live in, and whether it is somewhere you would consider safe for your cat to be let out in. Whatever you decide, please do not allow your cat access to the outside world until after he has recovered from getting neutered.

To me, having met numerous indoor only cats, and indoor outdoor cats, I can honestly say that the indoor only cats are every bit as happy, content and active as those allowed access to the great outdoors.

Jack B. Badd

Hi OP, how long have you had the kitten in your home? Apparently it takes about a month for a cat to bond to a place/primary territory so when we got our cat we kept her in for a month and then started introducing her to the garden slowly - supervised time outside at weekends, then an hour outside in the morning and evening on her own to explore, now she gets that on weekdays and has free access during daylight hours at the weekend because we're mostly around the apartment. She's not allowed out yet while we're at work during the week but we'll see how it goes.
If you're happy that he considers your home as his home, why don't you start off with a bit of supervised time outside and see how he reacts. I don't think I'd let him out (unsupervised) until he's been neutered though. Do you have a way for him to gain easy access to the outdoors and vice versa like a cat flap or window?

GigaByte

scatty wrote: »

Am i wrong in letting him out ???

You're not wrong at all, its up to you. Its best not to let him out on his own until he's neutered.

animalcrazy

I defo don't think it's right to keep a cat inside all the time, but I wouldn't let them have unlimited time outside either. Just let him go out for an hour or two everyday, to strecth it's legs and climb trees. I think it's cruel never to let the cat out 24/7. Even if your supervising them or their in a run it's better then nothing.