Hi,
We love our 4 month old kitten dearly, but we are getting to the point where we feel she needs to be outside for short periods.

We live on a quiet cul-de-sac and have a relatively large garden. I have taken her out before just in the garden with toys and she's getting confident and will at some point just jump the fence! We have made the decision to let her out and not keep her as a house cat. I'm just terrified she's not going to come back!

I have no intention of letting her out before she is microchipped but is 4 nearly 5 month old really too young?

Thanks

Well, you are going to get conflicting opinions here. Mine is that your kitty should not be allowed to roam free without supervision (or on a harness and leash). The key is whether you are prepared to lose a pet that you paid a lot of money to get. People think just because they live on a quiet cul-de-sac, the kitten is fine. You do have a female and they do tend to stick closer to home, but what are the dangers out in the big world? It only takes one car to hit your cat. It only takes one other cat to attack your baby and cause not only pain but severe injuries and infection. It only takes one person to snatch your kitty right out of your yard. Many have never seen a bengal before. Dogs have been known to attack cats. A disgruntled neighbor who hates cats may trap your kitty and relocate her somewhere else -- or do something even worse.

Let me tell you about letting your kitty outdoors. The panic you feel when you can no longer see her, and you go walking and calling her and she does not respond. How your heart beats out of your chest worrying about where she could be. Did she get shut inside a garage? Crawl space? Shed? Did she hop a ride in a car or a business van that you noticed was working at your neighbors? Sweetie, I've been there and I still go through that as I care for an outdoor kitty (my bengal is allowed outside only on a harness and leash). When the black and white kitty is gone, I worry to death about him.

Another option is to create an outdoor enclosure that is safe for your kitty. They have portable ones that you set out and pick up at the end of the day, or you can have a more permanent set up. The key is to keep your baby safe. We have people post on here about losing their cat (someone ran over it in the driveway, or a horse kicked their cat, or our "Tabitha" even had one of her bengals hitch a ride 11 miles in a truck). Can your bengal live a long life being allowed outside whenever she wants -- maybe! But there are a lot of dangers out there and it only takes ONE to end a cat's life. It's really just a myth that they have nine of them.

Here are some photos of enclosures -- the first one is the one we built for our bengal. The others are images found online. They can be large, small, luxurious, simple, expensive and cheap. I think you'll sleep better at night knowing where your little darling is.

Thanks for the info and advice. I know exactly what you mean about worrying where she is etc and I am terrified of the dangers. However I have discussed with several people and I believe that a cat deserves the outside life... it isn't for me keeping her inside. I like the outdoor spaces... however again it isn't for me and I don't think my family would appreciate an enclosure in their garden. I do need to do everything I can tho to protect her.

I also agree a cul-de-sac means nothing... I had a cat who was hit by a car... my friend lives on a main road and her cat lived till she was 17. It doesn't mean much.

I do feel she's possibly too young at the moment... but not sure much is going to change in a month or so? Does anyone know anything about trackers you can have on cats?

Clare (Tabitha) has trackers on her boys. I'm sure she will give you her take on how well they work and what kind she uses.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

I don't want to add much to this, I'm against free ranging outdoor cats for lots of reasons but the simplest is that indoor cats love longer.

Knowing the skewed stats of 3-5 years for outdoor cats (which includes stray cats and is very misleading) outdoor cats are exposed to way more diseases and parasites that indoor cats are not. The average life expectancy is considered to be about 3 years shorter.

If you can afford it an enclosure is a great way for that experience and safety.

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The little monsters 3

Definitely take a look at pod trackers if you wish to let her out, they are really good and their customer service is excellent. They're accuracy depends on the method your pet is found. It uses Bluetooth, wifi and gps. you can create a safe zone and you can have that on all the time and it will regularly update you with their location. You can now determine how often it checks their whereabouts too which probably saves the battery. The pod will give you an update every three hours regardless of whether you have the safe zone on or not. But even if it's not on, if the pet goes out of the safe zone, when it does a locate for you, it will then tell you the address where they are. You can also record adventures so you can see where they go and like to hang out. It also records how active they are which I find helpful. It can let you know if their activity has dropped which can indicate stress or a health issue.

We didn't have pods when we first let our boys out. For the first year they were only allowed out when we were home. They are never allowed out over night. After a year I got a microchip cat flap fitted. This year though, Hendrix got in the back of a work van whilst I was at work and he was missing for nearly three weeks and we were very lucky to get him home. That was when we looked into trackers. They're not allowed out without them now!

I still worry about them but I have back up now with the pods. We'd have found Hendrix so much quicker if he'd been wearing one back in January. They are constantly improving and upgrading the product too. In fact because I use mine so much, I'm now a member of their beta testing programme which is great as I can have a say as to what I like and don't like!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I've spoken to the vet, pet professionals in shops... it's not alleviating my fears- I've admitted I'm terrified but in my opinion cats belong outside. Yes people have other opinions- I've made my decision to let her out but don't think suggesting I'm not doing things to make her safe is true. we don't want an enclosure in our garden... or a massive fence- that's why I'm looking into other methods like trackers.

i 100% agree there are so many dangers outside for them and the life expectancy is shorter. But I also believe it's the luck of life. As I said previously we had a cat and she was killed on the only slightly busy road near our house... my friends cat lived till a good age and she lived on a main road.

Thank you for the advice about the trackers- - I am definitely looking into them!

We have neither an outdoor enclosure nor a cat proof fence. Quasar walks regularly on a harness and leash. He goes with us (almost) wherever we go. We play with him, regularly and vigorously.

He does not seem to lack for free inaccessibility to the outdoors. Of course, he would like to escape outside, but the risks associated with free outdoor access are far outweighed by the safety of keeping his activities controlled indoors, or outdoors on a leash.

What are your reasons for letting your kitty range freely outdoors, despite the obvious risks?

How do those reasons override the benefits attained by keeping kitty controlled and/or indoors?

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~ Kyenta

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The little monsters 3

Lennon, Tabitha and Ringo just love their playroom/enclosure.

This has nothing to do with resistance or expense... it's what would work for me, my family and my kitten. im really appreciative of people telling me about enclosures, fences and trackers and it's given me things to think about to try and keep her as safe as I can. I value everyone's opinion on what works for their kitten and how they go about letting them out or not etc. I have made the decision that she will be going outside for short periods of time- just seeking advice on when to Let her out.

Unfortunately, you cannot control the length of time she is out. Yes, in the beginning, she will stick close to home and you can locate her. But as she gains confidence, she may seek out a farther radius and you will not be able to find her. If you plan to let her out for short periods of time, why not train her to walk on a harness and leash and take that hour twice a day and be out there with her. It's great for bonding and allows her to explore more. Millions of cats just do fine never seeing the outside world. Cats don't understand the dangers that are out there and it's up to the owners to protect them.

As for pod tracker, it works for Tabitha (Clare) and her two kitties. But your kitty has to wear a collar. The tracker is not small. I have the Pod Tracker and I can't keep a collar on my outdoor cat. The longest he has kept one on is 48 hours. He tugs at them until he gets them off, even an elastic one. They make smaller trackers that can only track when you come within 100 feet of the tracker. The Pod Tracker works on GPS and you can set a range for the cat and if they beyond that range, you get a message. It may help you locate the cat, but it will not protect the cat from danger.

And you might want to read the contract you had with your breeder. The one for my bengal stated the cat shall not be outdoors unsupervised. Of course, his original owner did not follow that and, as a result, Raiden has a torn ear, and a whole lot of scars on his body -- but at least he's still alive. Had I not taken him 3-1/2 years ago, I'm sure he would no longer be with us.

It's your decision, naturally. I won't be able to sympathize much if you post that she has vanished or you found her body. I wish you luck and I hope you and your baby have many years together.

I do like the idea of a harness but not sure how it would work in the long run in terms of taking her out several times a day. At the moment she goes out free in the garden but I sit out and watch her and she just charges round but hasn't made an attempt to jump the fence (yet!). Now she's been out she's desperate to go out all the time and as soon as the doors are open she darts. We have to be really carefully.

In terms of reasons why... one is that she's extremely playful, hyper and seems to be going crazy being indoors. She gets a balance of attention and being left alone, and when we are out she just sleeps. Really struggling on the entertainment front, we have every toy, climbing equipment, tunnels possible which we rotate round. She loves interactive toys but not entertaining enough for 15 hours a day. Even now when she's been out for half an hour with me she's calm and goes back to playing.