# Letting Kitten Outside??



## MillyMolly

Hello
Can you advise when is the earliest I can my kitten into the garden,I know after her 2nd injection but I did,nt let my first Cat out till it was 16 weeks but this one is trying to get out all the time and due to the Nice weather it is
very difficult to keep her in,as we have the back door opened most of the time,for the other pets,but I am frightened she will get lost and she is too young. 
Thanks


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## Kat28

My kitten is around 13 weeks. She goes outside as she follows other cats tried keeping her in but short of locking her in another room i couldnt stop her. I also have 2 kids who dont know how to close a door . She doesnt go out of garden and kids keep an eye on her while they are outside.Its not ideal that she goes out at min but she is never left unsupervised out there and is brought in if we are going out or at night. Needless to say if its raining none of the cats leave the house


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## Siamese Kelly

Maybe take her out on a harness or catlead til she gets used to her surroundings MillyMolly


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## MillyMolly

Hello
Thanks for your advice,I have tried her with a cat lead but she does,nt like it and keeps jumping into the air.I have actually let her have a supervised wander today and she is only going so far and coming back in which is good.
Thanks


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## Siamese Kelly

Thats good,but for future outings maybe little and often with the leash/harness and she'll maybe get more accustomed to being on one-plus they are a lot saferHave you manged any pics yet MillyM


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## Guest

I personally will never let a cat outside for the first time on a harness. I had a very bad experience with BooBoo.

She was a pedigree so I wasn't going to het her out to roam. She would just be allowed in the back garden while we were out there to supervise her.

One day I decided to let her investigate and put her harness on. She was a little weary of both the outside and her harness (even though she had gotten used to it indoors). The door decided to slam shut a few minutes later due to a draft... well that of course scared the crap out of BooBoo and she flipped, she went absolutely mental and went wild. I of course thought I had better get her indoors quickly incase she jumped up the fence to escape. I brought her back in but couldn't pick her up she was all claws and did alot of damage to my legs face and neck. When she got indoors she just went on a frenzy around the house! ripping anyone that went near her to get the harness off.

You have to be careful with cats, they are unpredicable when frightened, they lash out. 

It should be ok for your young one, as she is still young. BooBoo was just under a year when we did that.

I also find that cats are ok with harnesses until you attatch the lead 

Sorry I couldn't offer you any advice on when to let your baby out. But just be careful with harnesses  if you decide to use one. Get them used to wearing it indoors, then get them USED to having the lead attatched.


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## Siamese Kelly

Yes your quite right Kay in your concerns over harness's and leads but think their is less of a risk than allowing a kitten outside as even though supervised if the kitten gets curious or frightened it's first instinct is to run and they are much faster than we expect,imo if your allowing your kitten to go out like this then the risks of he/she running off for any reason and hitting danger are far greater than those on a leash-it's not my ideal and doesn't work for every cat/kitten or slave but for some they are the safer option


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## cats4eva

As soon as I brought Zac home at 13weeks I put the harness on almost instantly and got him used to it from being young. He is so chilled out now (my other 2 arent think he is just an exception) and if I take him the vets etc I just stick him on his lead and hes fine with it. Every cat has their own personality though. xx


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## Carrie968

Rocky was 16wks yesterday and is crazing to go outside. He escaped last week after he pulled the tumble dryer hose out of the wall and then ventured out into the garden via the hole in the wall! Little bugger. He was out there about 30 minutes after i couldnt find him. He was sitting by the wheelie bins a foot from the hole so i dont know if he went any further. Since then he has been crying at the door. 

I have a harness and he is fine on it. I live on a busy road and have shared access gardens and will probably have to change the metal gate to a wooden one so he doesn't feel tempted to explore the alleyway to the road.


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## Guest

Hey sorry if I sounded as if harness are totally a bad thing!
I just had a bad experience and it freaked me out 

Harnesses from a young age probably work well! as we know that's the best time to get them used to things. I did it too late, so was my own fault I suppose 

I now wish I had harness trained my 2 current cats from an early age. I'll think I'll just leave it now. They are really mellow, so I'm sure they wouldn't go far if I were to let them in the back garden... supervised of course!


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## sskmick

My two kitten's are also 16 weeks. I take mine out on a lead, started using Dukes but it was too heavy I took the weight but I had to be very careful.

We had a bit of a panic, because our dog can open doors that open inwards, he hits the handle and pushes his weight forward. Hubby had closed the room door to contain the kittens while he let Duke out to toilet. Meanwhile the phone rang while he was pre-occupied on the phone Duke came charging in opened the room door and both kittens had access to the garden fortunately only one ventured out and froze so it was easy to bring him back in.

I am getting a large outdoor cat enclosure soon, so that will make life easier especially on days like today. 

Sue


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