To play outside alone...

Hi,

I have a kitten who is 12 weeks old, and I'm wondering when it's secure to let him out on his own?

It seems like he gets very bored when he is inside all day. He ignores his toys and behave in a bad way, probably to get my attention.
I do play with him alot and I take him outside while I watch him, but as soon as we get back inside he is back to being a "bad boy". Even something as easy as cleaning the dishes gets difficult when he is "all over me" all the time...

So does any of you know if it's too soon to let him out alone? (And if so, how old should he be?) He really seem to love it

I must admit that I lost him out of sight once I took him outside... After 15 minutes of calling on him I gave up and went inside, and there he was, sleeping in his bed. (I had left the door open.) So I don't know whether or not me being outside with him makes a difference... :wink:

 

I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of responses to keep your kitty as in indoor cat and perhaps get him a buddy to keep him occupied.

I, however, have 4 outdoor cats. I moved in with my sister a year and a half ago. She has 2 cats that have lived here all their lives (15 and 12 yrs. old) and have always been outdoor cats. When I moved in I had a 3 year old cat who was an indoor cat and only occationally went out when supervised. To make a long story short she is now an indoor/outdoor kitty and either hangs out in my yard or my next door neighbor. All cats come inside at sundown.

Our new addition is now a year and a half old. I don't think I started letting her out unsupervised until she was at least 4 or 5 months old. I spent many a days and nights chasing her to come inside. I finally learned to leave the front door open, go into the kitchen, and clink her canned food on the metal dish.....bam...she'd be at my feet in seconds Now all the cats know when it's dark, it's time to come in, and I usually find them all waiting at the front door at sundown.

What is your neighborhood like? Traffic, other animals, etc...? I am lucky to live on a dead end road with little to no traffic. There are also a lot of kids and furbabies that live on my street so all the neighbors know to drive slowly.

 

well...i have always had indoor cats. it would never cross my mind to let my cats out. but in my neighborhood, there is traffic, coyotes, dogs sometimes. its not safe. :shock:

my sister lives just outside the city limits in illinois. two of their three cats go outside off and on throughout the day. it makes my mother crazy. she only believes in indoor cats. but they are healthy and happy cats. :m27:

the risk of something happening to them increases when you let them out. there are many variables...and they can get into anything. even if you kitty proof your own yard and garage....they can wander into someone elses.

we have had recent posts of kitties getting attacked by dogs in the neighborhood....and bitten multiple times. recently, someone posted their dad had to kill a dog that wouldnt let go of their cat. :m3: it was at least fortunate that they were there. other people havent been so lucky. another person posted that their kitten fell into a bucket of oil....

i would just say that because the risk factor is higher...make sure you have the finances to cover any emergency visits in case something happens...well....you should have that covered whether or not the cat goes outside.

does the kitty have his shots?? could you tell us more about your neighborhood?? :m10:

 

Of course! I forgot about shots.....make sure you kitty has his shots before going outside!

 

Thanks for answering so soon

Where I com from (Norway) it's not really common to have indoor cats, at least not where I live.
I think that cats are very independent and pride animals, they are ment to spend time in the nature and I wouldn't want to keep him inside. And now he allready knows how much fun it is to be outside :wink:

Infact, here it's common for the cats to go in and out of the house as they please in the day time, and to be outside in the night. After all, they are night animals.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that it's wrong to have indoor cats, I just don't think it's something for my cat and me. Besides, our apartment isn't so big, my guess is that he would be veery bored

But now I know that I should wait a little longer before he get to explore the neighborhood. We live in a small city, but we live in a location that is suitable for cats. Our neighbors also have chickens for my little kitty-cat to chase :lol:

By shots, do you mean vaccine? If so, he havent had any yet, but I will take him to the vet before i let him out on his own

 

my goodness...all the way in norway!!! we also have a newcomer from israel. i love it!!!!
=P~
welcome bente to the auspet kitty forum! :0018:

that sounds like a good idea to wait a bit. vene is a member on this forum...you will be able to relate to her. her kitty milo is not allowed to go outside anymore because he was eating too many animals and getting sick. he hates staying inside...and wants to go out all the time.

of course...its much more exciting out there... :shock:

it sounds like in your neighborhood...that is the acceptable and common thing to do. it is a good example of the differences in neighborhoods...a busy city block, vs small town. :wink:

what is your kitties name? do you have pics??

 

yay welcome!!

personally growing up when i was young, i never had a strickly indoor cat.. and they never had any shots or ever seen a vet.

my parents didnt see pets as anything super important... so i didnt know any better. All my cats lived long lives however, well, long to me, the eldest , Squeeks was 13 when he died- when i was 16 and living with my grandparents.

i never had another cat again (due to grandparents) until i was living on my own at 18. after that, i've always had indoor cats, and had them properly looked after.

it's a personal preference thing i guess. Some cats wont step foot outside and some do... u just gotta take proper percausions with whatever cat u have

lol again lynnhaz beats the picture monster to the punch! :lol:

 

hee hee hee...i see you are right on top of things as always eternal flame. :wink: maybe you could suggest to vene that she has...


DROPPED THE BALL, HERE!!!!!! :m3: :shock:

oops sorry...sometimes i get a little carried away....

 

Ahhh! Lynn beat me to it. Welcome, welcome, welcome! :0018: We love kitties and pics, the more the merrier! I have 4 kitties. Milo, Rene, Pumpkin, and Monty Boy. Milo used to go outdoors and was forced indoors after he got sick from munching on too many rabbits, mice and moles. Just as Lynn said. I feel bad for him, but he's adjusting quite well. I suppose you can let him out. But be aware that he can catch diseases from other cats, get into fights, drag home little critters which you have to clean up the remains. Not to mention he can also catch worms. Milo and his sister Vene(RIP- hit by a car) used to have tapeworm. The droppings look like curled rice or sesame seeds. It's gross and contageous if ingested by cats and humans. :shock: Like everyone said, make sure your kitty is up to date on vacs if he's going outdoors.

 

I have had outside cats until I lost a cat 2 years ago to wildlife and no more outside world for my furkids....anyway I never let any of my cat, that used to go outside, out until they were around 1 year old - up to date on all vaccines and spayed. A kitten as young as 6 months old can get pregnant and there is no way I'm letting any pet reproduce - and males can get into fights, etc. if not neutered. They also tend to wander further.

I'd wait until a year and once the cat is spayed or neutered. I don't think they are savvy enough for the outside world at the age yours is - he is probably more apt to be considered prey by wildlife since he's so small and imagine any dog getting ahold of him.

 

Oh my memory...has anyone seen it?!?

Now that Mary_NH mentioned spaying I now remember I didn't let her out unsupervised until she was spayed, so that would be around 6/7 months old. I also only let her out back at first where we have a 6 ft fenced in yard. It took her a while to figure out how to get over it.

 

Hi again,

Thanks for the warm welcome and all nice replys (is it spelled like that?) :qm1:

My kittens name is Kyrre, and he is REALLY cute :love_y_t_much: I have lots of pictures of him, but I'm not sure I can afford to pay almost 10 dollars to display one of them (if I got it right...) Is there no free way to do it?

 

yes of course hun, it's all free

just get them uploaded to a photo account like photobucket.com and post the url link here or past it inbetween this code

to have it show up directly No cost involved at all!! cant wait to see the piccies!

 

its only ten dollars if you have your kitty's picture by your forum name. you can sign up for free at photoisland and upload pics, or photobucket. someone can give you the link for photoisland...chessmind has that info...re: step by step in how you do it.

cant wait for the pics!!!

 

photoisland is
http://www.photoisland.com

 

From Chessmind's old post:

 

I don't know that I would let the cat out and yeah I'm sure you've heard this from a ton of people but I just say it from my own experience but your situation could be totally different. I have a neighbor who HATES cats and kept calling animal control on them because pretty recently they passed a law in my city that you must have cats on a leash if you let them outside and its hard to make a cat that has been an outdoor cat an indoor cat. Well then one of my cats gets hit by a car and I really tried to keep them inside well they got out occasionally and then about a week later one of my other cats got hit by a car, I truly believe that my neighbor made that happen but I don't have any proof. :cry: But regardless losing 2 cats in a matter of a week its very upsetting. Now all of my cats are strictly indoor and I haven't had any other problems.

 

Heather, I'm so sorry about your loss. I understand how you feel having lost my Vene to hit-and-run last July. :cry:

 

Hello. I just wanted to welcome you to Auspet.

 

Again: thanks for all answers!

Right now I'm going to bed, I've been at work for 12 looong hours, but I promise I will try to upload som photos tomorrow!

Good night