How old should kittens be before they can go outside safely?

Great question! Given that they are about six months old, you can start introducing them to the outside now. It's fine to do them together at the same time, and I would start by letting them outside on their own with you monitoring for 10-15 minutes, and then slowly increasing the time they are allowed outside over the next couple of weeks. I would recommend having them indoors at night and only letting them out during the day. Nighttime is when there can be lots of fights with cats and predators will come out at night, so it will be safer for them to be indoors then.

If he seems healthy now then the chance of survival is good. Although, there is always a chance he gets exposed to an infectious disease and/or trauma if he is outside, again. Make sure he is up to date on all vaccines, especially if he is going to be put outside again.

The main reason for letting your kitty out only during the day is that cats tend to be run over in the early hours of the morning when people rush to work, and coyotes tend to eat cats at night (other predators too. Feed your cat in the morning and at night, associate a call with the feed ("come Eat" or something similar) and that way she will come in when it is time.

Starting vaccines depends on the age the kittens left their mother. Kittens that were orphaned young and no longer have the antibodies from mom's milk may be vaccinated as early as six weeks, while kittens that were with mom may be vaccinated later at 8-10 weeks of age. There is then a series of vaccines that will be given 3-4 times over a period of every 4 weeks or so to finish the course. Rabies vaccines, which must be given by a vet, are usually given at around 5-6 months of age. Most kittens are spayed/neutered at around 5-6 months of age, before they reach sexual maturity, however some shelters and veterinary clinics do spay and neutered kittens once they've reached a certain size/weight, rather than age. Checking with your vet to see their policy is best.

How lovely of you to take in this kitten! Personally I believe in keeping cats indoors. They are safer indoors, they aren't at risk of being attacked by other cats and dogs, they can't get attacked by wild animals, and they won't be hit by cars. In addition, cats who live indoors typically live longer than cats who go outside. If you want Scruff to have time outside, I recommend building or buying an outdoor enclosure for her. That way she can enjoy the sunshine outside, but won't wander away and won't have any contact with wild animals and other pets. If you provide enrichment inside (plenty of toys, cat trees to climb, a window seat for her to look outside), then she won't feel cooped up. Good luck, I hope this help!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cats. I would start by taking the two 9 month old kittens to the vet. They can be started on vaccines, set up appointments for surgery to have them spayed/neutered and discussed deworming as well as flea and tick prevention. You can ask when to have the kittens seen. Deworming usually starts around two weeks of age. After they are weaned, the mama cat can be spayed. Then the kittens can be vaccinated starting at 6-8 weeks of age. I hope this information helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a hard dilemma. If her kitten is under 6 months I would keep it indoors and just let her out. All indoor/outdoor cats are at risk for predation, injury from other animals and cars and death. I wouldn't expect a mother cat to be able to protect a young kitten from a car or a larger animal. At some point Monti will need to be let out and fend for himself. Billu may be less interested to go out if she was spayed and you may want to consider neutering Monit so there is no mating between the 2. Billu will eventually stop looking for Simba. I wish you the best!