# Cats going outside



## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I want my cats to go outside, fresh air is good for them, and the exercise and stimulation... and I also leave the back door open for air/for the dogs to go in and out most of the summer (weather permitting), and I don't want to be worrying about my kitties.

Does anyone have any tips for how to adjust cats to going outside safely and on recalling them back in?

I think I may have a big of a problem. I've been letting them go out for 10-15 minutes at a time for a sniff in the garden, with a harness/lead on. They have very little fear at all, if anything they are just inquisitive and now hankering to go out more and look that little bit further. Obviously as they are not old enough to be neutered for one more month there is no question about letting them explore or be unsupervised until then.

I am a bit worried about their personalities.. as they seem to trust anything and have little to no fear of the unknown. Having visions of them trying to make friends with the rottweiler down the road, or peering inquisitively into the lights of an oncoming car.

It's not that they are stupid, they are actually quite bright, but they are extremely humanised and don't really act like real "cats", is this going to inhibit their freedom and force me to keep them indoors or are they likely to develop some actual catlike skills with age?

I have had them 4 months now and they are 5 months old, my vet has advised me to wait until 6 months for neutering.


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

havign the same problem now!!! dont knwo what to do.
Zingi was born in May so is gettgin older.. but he is still just a kitten, 
he doesnt understand danger. He has been going out since he got his bits 
'chopped off' with a harness and lead. in the last few weeks he has been goign out with his harness on, but with me just watchign him.. if he gets near teh end of teh garden i pick him up and start from the beggingin again... 

(at teh end of our garden there is a very very busy road)

our problem is our front doors back doors windows are open all the time in spring summer, and well. he will get out...



worried.

Ginger goes out allll the time, he is a real outdoorsey cat


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

and yesterday in the sun!!


----------



## Jase Boa (Oct 22, 2007)

Think of the wild bird population before you force your murderous feline outside :whistling2:


----------



## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Everytime we have got a kitten, we had all the same worries......but I think at the end of the day, aslong as they have lived there for a little while so they know the smells and surroundings, which they have looking at your 1st post then it's gonna be a case of opening the door and letting them go...unless they are using the catflap.......at the end of the day they are cats, free roaming animals and will do what cats do......and when they.ve expolred ar are hungry will prob come back to where they know as home ie. your house............if your not happy with this then I guess prepare to have yourself a house cat, but they will be MUCH better exploring and hunting inside and out....thats just my opinion 

Good luck in whatever you decide


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Have you considered cat proofing your garden? We did ours about 16 years ago when we bought our first breeding cat and none have ever succeeded in getting out. In fact most of them have never even attempted it!

It solves the worry of them being killed on the road, picking up an incurable illness or being stolen by someone. 

We just come into the house, open the back door and it stays open all night and all day when I'm at home. They go in and out at will. Means they have the pleasure of sunbathing (which they love), but we have no worries about anything happening to them.


----------



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

would like to, but cant really... have nothign eaither side of our garden.. neighbours.. and conifers in the back.. no fence etc fallen down.. cost a bloomign fortune to re do... blooming mum... *rant rant rant*


feorag said:


> Have you considered cat proofing your garden? We did ours about 16 years ago when we bought our first breeding cat and none have ever succeeded in getting out. In fact most of them have never even attempted it!
> 
> It solves the worry of them being killed on the road, picking up an incurable illness or being stolen by someone.
> 
> We just come into the house, open the back door and it stays open all night and all day when I'm at home. They go in and out at will. Means they have the pleasure of sunbathing (which they love), but we have no worries about anything happening to them.


----------



## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

Well my garden is enclosed on all sides by stone wall... the back one is only about 5 foot though and there is wooden trellis on the top which a cat can get through. The side walls are about 8 foot but an inventive cat could easily get onto the back wall, then onto the side wall and over.. so I'd have to build the back wall up I think


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Ideally you should have a height of 6'. We have one area of our garden (which is split levelled) where the height is only 5' and where we put a gradual slope to cover the difference height, but it isn't 6' and it's still worked.

You would have to build up the back wall but you could put a row of wooden planks across it, as long as the cat couldn't land on top of the wall to negotiate the wooden bit, that would work.

Then all you need to do is to put up a mesh overhang about 18" wide along the top like this.

You can see the 5' section at the bottom end of the fence


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Lol Eileen I thought I was looking at my garden then. We have done ours the same way but my Mainecoon just hops over it even though the rest cant get out. We are putting a new fence up just waiting for a nice weekend to do it and are trying a different way..........spinning drainpipe I dont know if youve seen it. I hate cats going out and touch wood have never lost one through an RTA or other accident etc since we have enclosed the garden(20 years now). My cats have access through 2 large dog flaps or the landing window.


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

We did ours in 1990 when we bought our first breeding queen and no-one has escaped. However, it doesn't stop other cats coming in and we had the odd one trapped there during the first couple of years, but none since. However, because cats can get in we don't want ours out when we aren't at home, so no cat flap or open windows just in case!

In the April before she arrived, when we were thinking about having it done (cos in those days you couldn't vaccinate against FeLV) Pasht, our Aby went missing for 10 days and that was the absolute decider. I never wanted to go through 10 days like that again!

When we first let them out after it was finished, Pasht never bothered to try and get out and neither did Briagha, my Havana , but Merlin, our Somali, patrolled for a few weeks trying desperately to work out how to get out (he so loved to go off on his jaunts), but after a while he stopped trying and none of the other have even tried.

No I haven't seen the spinning drainpipe! You'll have to post pictures when you get it done.


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

*Catproof fencing*

Here is the website to the original Catproof fencing
Katzecure – cat fencing for cat breeders and cat owners alike We are copying this but going to use black drainepipe as it is lighter(I have seen this used before)


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

That looks quite impressive, I have to say. And you also then avoid the "Colditz" look!!

So are you going to buy the brackets and necessary stuff from them and just use drainpipes? Or have you worked out how to make the rotating brackets etc yourself, so you can do it all with your own improvisations?


----------



## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Not sure yet. Oh has just bought new fence panels to replace the others.He says he knows what hes doing sooo......................... I will keep you updated(me just being a mere female know nothing lol)


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

My friend in Gloucester has her garden proofed like ours, but is going to go around their new garden shed with this idea. She says her husband is working out how to do it without going to the expense of buying the brackets from this company.

I was suggesting to my husband that we could do this with our party fence which has been totally cream crackered by the idiot EBT who lives next door! So he was working out how to do it. I'll be intrigued to know how you work it out and how successful it is.


----------



## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Tbh, if I had cats, I woudld NEVER let them go outside alone. There are too many dangers. 

There's a lady on my street who has built a pen in her garden for her cats to climb safely, and she takes them out for long walks on a lead. I think that is how to properly own a cat! :no1:


----------



## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

CAT RUN !

I had a cat, we let him out all the time - one day he never came back 

he was 4 - 5 years old and had him since a kitten. Never found out what happen'd to tiger.

Just think before you just let them go off is all i'm saying : victory:


----------



## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Esfa said:


> Tbh, if I had cats, I woudld NEVER let them go outside alone. There are too many dangers.
> 
> There's a lady on my street who has built a pen in her garden for her cats to climb safely, and she takes them out for long walks on a lead. I think that is how to properly own a cat! :no1:


Sorry, but cat proofing is a much better way, then your cats are not confined in a pen, but have the run of the whole garden!

Taking cats for long walks on leads can still lead to disaster if a vicious dog comes along ! I for one wouldn't risk that with my cat!


----------



## ashy (Mar 27, 2008)

Hi
Gobsmacked really,let your cats out don`t panic.They know where they live and will not go too far to start with.The only reason i feel you would need to turn your garden in to a fortress is if you live on a very busy road and then I probably wouldn`t of got our cats in the first place.Cats are inquisitive and born hunters so they really need to go out!
Get a laser cat flap fitted in your door,this will keep unwanted guests out and give your kitty freedom.Part of there learning process and fun will be to suss out unfriendly things outside.We kept cats and dogs together all our life and they were best buds but as soon as another dog came along the cat legged it out of the way


----------



## biohazard156 (Nov 11, 2007)

I think cat proofing or a pen is a good way to be safe with letting your cats out. I on the other hand have learned the hard way and its why I will never let another one of my cats outside especially living in the city. I also know how sick some people are out there and as a result, my lovely happy cat maya, went outside as he normally did....and came back a very different cat. 
Someone decided they hated him so much that when they were drunk, they kicked him with such force, that his front leg was so badly damaged that he had to have it amputated. We found him 3 days after he went out, lying freezing and wet in some bushes. He, needless to say, does not trust people much anymore.

If I ever let my cats out again when I lived in the country, I would still pen them. People are horrid and can/will steal cats or hurt them, and so can cars, foxes...etc. I hope you manage to find a way to keep your puss safe.


Sorry if these pics upset people, but I just thought it might hammer home some things that *can* happen when our little fuzzy friends get out and meet the real world 

Before 









After


----------

