# Worried about letting adult cat out in new home...



## munkster (Jun 22, 2011)

Hello all - I've inherited 11 year old Vinny from my mum recently after she passed away and she's always been a fairly timid, slightly jumpy but delicate indoor cat that occasionally went outside but never for long and never far.

Now she's been with us for about a month (might be more, time has been a bit hazy these last few weeks) I am thinking about leaving doors open for her to venture outside. Our place/garden is much bigger (and greener) than where she is used to with a lot more scope to explore and I'm basically worried about her not coming back! She's been out twice for a matter of minutes, about an hour ago I took a deep breath and let her out but when she toddled off and into next door's garden out of sight my heart was racing until she re-appeared. After losing my mum I would be devastated if Vinny went missing (and she has before too, for about a week holed up in the neighbour's garage too scared to come out, my mum feared the worst!) so I'm now very reluctant to try again.

I know I'm being irrational about this but has anyone got any tips or strategies for letting her out that will put my mind at ease? How can I be more sure she'll come back? Is it more in my mind than hers?? Do I need to give her more credit???

Short of putting a GPS tracking device on her I think I will always be on edge when she is out of doors. Thanks in advance for any suggestions...


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## Sadie SU (May 15, 2011)

Sorry to hear of your recent loss.  It's true what they say, time is a great healer, but you'll have some difficult days and months to face first.

I think there is an element of pragmatism that has to go hand in hand with letting your cat outside. There _is_ a risk of them not coming back, or coming back injured, and it's a question of weighing that up against the benefts of fresh air and a chance to do cat things. And in your case, there's more involved than an ordinary cat/owner relationship, with the bittersweet knowledge that this was your mother's cat....... In your shoes, given that this is a middle aged cat who isn't used to the outdoor life, I think that I'd be setting out to keep her as a house cat. Maybe build her an outdoor run that she can go out in on nice days? That way she'll get to know the scents and sounds of your garden as well, so if she were to get out by accident she'd have a reasonable sense of where she was.


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## munkster (Jun 22, 2011)

Hmm, thanks for that, and for your kind words.

Thing is, while she *is* mainly an indoor cat (she's certainly not a cat that would ever take kindly to being lobbed out the door in the morning that's for sure!) she did used to go out for a bit of a nose around and liked just having that option I think. We would also like to be able to have doors open especially at this time of year and if she can "do cat things"  that would be great.

I'm just wobbling about how best to build her (and me!!) up to this - being no expert in cat psychology I think what I've done already has worked quite well, just letting her out for just long enough to have a bit of an explore, get spooked then she runs back in! I just worry that she'll get *too* brave and get herself lost and freeze like she did when she holed herself up in next door's garage about 5 years ago!!


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## gloworm*mushroom (Mar 4, 2011)

Could you cat proof your garden so she can enjoy the garden but not escape?


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## munkster (Jun 22, 2011)

You've not been to our garden have you... 

Thanks for the suggestion but cat-proofing the boundary would be quite a job of work I'm afraid!


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## gloworm*mushroom (Mar 4, 2011)

I've seen some pretty big gardens catproofed (and bunny proofed )


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## Sadie SU (May 15, 2011)

I know where you're coming from with the garden - we have an acre, and quite apart from the daunting logistics of trying to cat-proof it, in the process of doing so we'd also shut out a lot of the other wildlife that we enjoy watching. if the cat can't get out, then the deer can't get in. That's why I have plans to create a cat-safe area _within_ the garden, rather than trying to cat-proof the whole lot. The idea is to do it on a modular basis, so we can begin with a modest cat run that opens off the patio doors, then extend it down onto the lawn to integrate the glass-and-timber greenhouse (which will become the cats' winter sun room), then potentially a low level cat corridor right down to the woodland at the back, where we can build an adventure playground round the trees. But most of that's for the future. This year's project will be the straightforward cat run on the patio, big enough to fit a garden table and four chairs in, so we can all enjoy sitting outside and know the cats are safe.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Could you cat proof the side where she gets into next doors?
I think she probably just went in there for a sniff round.
If you have not got any main roads near you then she might be ok.
How ever i would try and keep her to your garden.
You could start to let her out when you are in the garden so you could keep an eye on her.
To get her to know your garden you could put a harness on her and walk her round the garden a few times a day so she can get to know the area and the smells. We have done this in tha past and it has worked.
Being has she is a female and is 11 years old she might now want to go far any way.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

Can you accustom her to a certain call or noise at treat and feeding time? Then, only let her outside with an empty stomach and use the call/noise to attract her back?
Many is the time I have wandered the streets looking for errant cats late at night rattling door keys and a box of dry cat food whilst whistling!


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