I'm Scared To Let My Kitten Outside

[LinziMissy]

Hi all, I'm back for some more advice as I know there are lot's of cat and kitten experts on here. Missy is now 6 months old and doing very well. She's such a funny, lovely, kitty. She got spayed last week and is doing fine. My big concern now is whether or not I should let her outside? Our house is on a private driveway with only two other homes there. At the end of our front driveway there is a narrow country road with a shallow river on the other side and then woodland past that. Our entrance is hidden, and although it's not a busy road all the time, cars come flying down there! To the back of our home we have a small garden, a fence, a big goose field and then a very busy by-pass :( I don't want to be cruel to Missy and keep her holed up but I'm also so, so scared to let her out. If anything happened I would never forgive myself! I have considered cat proofing our small garden. Does anybody know if this works or do kitty's still try to get out? Advice would be much appreciated thank you.

[boxtops]

..and ladybirder :-)

[woofgang]

I haven't seen or heard anything ladybirder, but public opinion on what is acceptable does change. Roads are busier, people less tolerant and so on. When I was a child, indoor cats were unheard of, as were cat proofed gardens. Times change....that's all I am saying.

[lankeela]

My neighbour spent all one weekend fitting an inward facing wire mesh section above the panel fencing all round her garden so she could allow her cat out in the garden. Within ten minutes the cat was on the next fence panel alongside my garden, having jumped over the wire she had put up. Its not natural to keep a cat in. We had two that we 'inherited' that were pedigree house cats from Harrods never having been let out for the first year of their lives and we let them out the same day we got them and they never strayed far but did go into the neighbours gardens.

[andres]

When we took a stray cat in a few years ago he had a collar. He was bedraggled and dirty and had obviously been straying for a long time. The worst thing was that he must have been fitted with a collar when small. He was fully grown when he crawled in through our catflap and the collar had got so tight that it had eaten into his neck. We had to take him to the vets and have it cut off. What a mess he was in but he survived and lived for three more happy years alongside our two other cats. All three cats were able to come and go as they liked through the catflap.It's a chance you have to take with cats .

[CatGirl4]

Cat collars can cause nasty injuries if they get caught up on anything,and i know you said that you would never forgive yourself if anything happened to her.Maybe she should just be a house cat? Good luck in what you decide.x

[LinziMissy]

Thanks again for the advice. It's interesting to hear about the cat proofing system. I'd love to keep her as a house cat but I just don't think it's in her nature unfortunately. She plays fetch with foil and I've never seen a moggie jump and catch objects like she does! I think I will have to bite the bullet in a couple of months and let her go. I just hope she remembers where her food and loving home is and doesn't stray far.

[boxtops]

She will, linzi - let her out when she's hungry, she'll be back. Cats are real creatures of habit as you know - she knows already where her dinner and her bed are!