What age to let kitten outside?

[Feliz]

Ok, I don’t want to start a big indoor/outdoor cat debate here - we live on a quiet laneway and there are no cat eating predators in NZ (well aside from some dogs I suppose). Our big stripey boy is free range indoor/outdoor – indoor when we’re at home, outdoor at work, sleeps on the bed all night (in the bed actually). He has a catdoor to come and go through.

Mac the kitten is now nearly 5 months old (neutered & micro chipped) and loves going outside into our fully fenced backyard for supervised playtime. Unfortunately yesterday he figured out that he can climb the 6’ fence . . . (cue much panic and waving of favourite toys). So now he’s confined to the house, much to his disgust.

So at what age to you let them out, knowing that they can head over the fence and away? This is freaking me out a bit – though he’s a total pain in the neck sometimes (like 5am times) he’s totally adorable. I’m thinking he needs to be quite a bit bigger/older, but I’d like to have a figure in mind.

[kmwines01]

sorry to say it… keep him inside… save your local bird and small rodent populations…

If you’re determined for him to be partially outdoor, get one of the big dog kennel enclosures so he can hang out outside without worrying about him leaving or hunting unnecessarily.

[AlmostDun]

The last indoor/outdoor cat I raised was going outside by four months. At that age he was still somewhat timid and clingy. He therefore got into the habit of staying close, and we encouraged this habit by not letting him out unless we were outside too.

[clint]

I don’t usually let a kitten venture outside until spring of the following year, meaning they are almost a year old.

[BLBGP]

I thought there was a big push back against outdoor cats in NZ. At least, it made our news over here.

[wendy]

put up some cat-proof fencing. If you can’t keep your cat confined to your own property, you are being utterly irresponsible in letting him out regardless of age. Letting your animals wander around on other people’s property and killing wildlife is the height of irresponsibility.

[Trakehner]

Yep, keep em’ inside. Cats are the #1 predator of birds and small mammals. You cut their lives in half by letting the go outside. Fleas and worms (from eating the mammals intestines). Cats don’t need to be outside. I did think NZ was cracking down on cats due to their impact on the local fauna.

[tabula_rashah]

We have 5 indoor/outdoor cats, and all of ours have been gradually let outside after a few months. To the poster worried about them killing small rodents- um isn’t that part of the point of having a cat??? I can’t imagine try to cat proof fence our farm LOL! that is a completely ridiculous idea.

[VaqueroToro]

Any chance you could harness train him? He’ll get the best of both worlds – he can go supervised exploring but isn’t completely left up to his own devices to get into trouble.

The young ones take to the harness pretty quick and with some time, effort, and gushy food rewards, you might even get him to walk around with you.

[jherold]

If he can climb the fence, I’d say he was old enough! You want them big enough to have a chance of escaping should he be chased by a dog.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=tabula rashah;7071790]
To the poster worried about them killing small rodents- um isn’t that part of the point of having a cat??? I can’t imagine try to cat proof fence our farm LOL! that is a completely ridiculous idea.[/QUOTE]

Have to agree with this. Keeping the small rodent population down is why I have cats on my farm. To be honest, I don’t think they are really making a dent in the population. They do kill the occasional bird, but we deliberately do not feed the birds in areas where the cats have easy access (e.g. the deck). So, I think it is more responsible to feed your wild birds up high so the cats don’t go crazy on them.

I think there are dangers to your cat no matter what age you start letting them out. My cats were already “outside” cats when I acquired them as young adults, so I’m not sure the best way to start; if they are clingy it might seem good to start them young and try to make them want to stay near you.

[Trakehner]

[QUOTE=S1969;7072169]
They do kill the occasional bird, but we deliberately do not feed the birds in areas where the cats have easy access (e.g. the deck). So, I think it is more responsible to feed your wild birds up high so the cats don’t go crazy on them.[/QUOTE]

Watch the National Geographic show, “Tiger at the Hearth”…it shows just how decimating cats are to the bird population. It’s more than just a few. They’re hell on bunnies too! The Pennsylvania Game book requests any hunters who see a cat out in the woods to please shoot them. They are the #1 killer of young game birds (quail, pheasant etc. and small mammals). Like all non-indigenous species, they’ve done a lot of damage on the local fauna (e.g. English House Sparrows beating out the local birds for habitat, they’re very dominant and aggressive birds).

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;7072748]
Watch the National Geographic show, “Tiger at the Hearth”…it shows just how decimating cats are to the bird population. It’s more than just a few. They’re hell on bunnies too! The Pennsylvania Game book requests any hunters who see a cat out in the woods to please shoot them. They are the #1 killer of young game birds (quail, pheasant etc. and small mammals). Like all non-indigenous species, they’ve done a lot of damage on the local fauna (e.g. English House Sparrows beating out the local birds for habitat, they’re very dominant and aggressive birds).[/QUOTE]

Yes, I’ve seen them, and one of my kids did a project on invasive animals and the house cat was one of them. I think feral cats are especially problematic, and in some areas have become uncontrollable. My cats are both spayed house/barn cats, and tend not to wander terribly far away. They present us with nearly all of their kills, for some reason, so I can see that birds are not their favorite target. Mice and moles top the list; the occasional chipmunk and young rabbit. Maybe 5 birds a year make it to the trophy area behind my gas grill on my deck.

I am not saying everyone should have outdoor cats, but I think spaying/neutering is probably the biggest factor in protecting native animals. I’m fairly happy with the fact that my cats keep the mice/rodent population in check in my barnyard and house.

[wendy]

but the OP doesn’t have a barn to keep rodent-free. He has a yard that the cat will leave constantly to go out in the world and cause trouble and risk dying on the roads or in a dog’s mouth or other predator.
He does have a 6-foot fence- it should very easy to make the fence cat-proof. You attach an inward-sloping netting to the top- the cat can climb up, but can’t get past the inward-sloping netting.
Google cat-proof fencing for ideas.

For larger areas, like farms, they even have invisible fencing for cats- if you want your barn-cat to live longer and keep their rodent-killing confined to the barn, I’d seriously consider using one.

[BLBGP]

Seems like a good thread for the Oatmeal’s famous kitty killers infographic:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

Sorry, but never. For all the reasons stated above. Why not keep him inside where he can kill the little house mousies? My vet always brags on what nice teeth my cats have - he asked if I fed them a raw diet! No, not intentionally.

[kmwines01]

You may think they’re just killing the house mice in your barn but there are native small mammal/rodent populations that are important ecologically. I know of several species that are believed to be endangered in Florida due to the influence of house cats/feral cats. Outdoor cats are invasive and considered a non-native species. They hunt a lot more than you see and generally just kill without eating a lot of it.

http://www.kittycams.uga.edu/

[RiderInTheRain]

Was just about post the UGA kitty cams link - I’m glad someone beat me to it!

[Feliz]

Ok, theoatmeal really cracked me up

Incidentally the only native mammals in NZ are bats.

I’m thinking that cat proofing the backyard might be the way to go - but how would you do it to stop other cats getting in and then stuck? The neighbours cat still thinks it’s part of his territory.