My indoor cats want to go outside. How do I start letting them out?

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.

There is no fail safe way to make sure he will be completely safe as accidents can always happen, but personally I believe cats should be able to go out as it allows them to exhibit natural behaviour. Because he is an older neutered cat he is unlikely to stray too far, but obviously he hasnt had the experience of outdoors since he was young. I would start by taking him out on a harness, let him get used to your garden and outdoor sounds such as engines etc. When you come to let him off for the first time don't feed him before so he has a good reason to come home if he does venture off. Make sure he is microchipped and has an id on his collar just in case. To an extent you will just have to leave him to it, but he should be fine. Investing in a cat flap is a good idea too and make sure he is vaccinated. Good luck!

Yes, this is correct. When you do start letting Garfield out, do it during the day where you can watch him. Start with 10-20 minutes at a time, and then gradually increase the amount of time until he is outside alone. Still bring him inside every night. Best of luck.

The main factors to think about are risk of injury (by cars and by other cats), risk of picking up disease (from other cats, intestinal parasites), and risk to wildlife (more of a concern if your cats like to catch songbirds) VS risk of increased stress due to being indoor only and risk of aggression between the two cats because they are stressed inside. From a behavioral perspective, being outside is much better. There is way more stimulation and it's a natural life for them. From a health perceptive, being inside is probably better, but we don't fully know the effects of the stress of being kept indoors. There are definitely ways to mitigate the risks of going outside, namely vaccination for Feline Leukemia and use of flea/tick preventatives, along with yearly fecal to check for intestinal worms. FIP, which is basically feline AIDS is not one that we vaccinate for and is transferred during cats fights, so they'd be open to that if outside. I hope that helps you think through your options! There's no perfect answer.

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.

Congrats on your new cat! I would wait another couple of days, then take Pus out in the garden supervised. Let him sniff around and check out the sights and smells of his new home, but don't leave him alone. After about 15 minutes outside, I would bring him back in. You can do that a couple of times a day for a week or two so he gets used to his new home, and has familiar scents that will help him find his way back home. After that, you can let him outside unsupervised :-)

Hi Varsha! What a great question! Moving can be stressful for cats, and if Chuny and Muny are allowed outside, I would keep them indoors for a few weeks after you first move to your new home. This allows them to get used to their new house. Then you can let them out in the garden supervised during the day so they can smell around their new area, but don't allow them to leave the garden or leave them unsupervised. You can do this for a few weeks, and after that, you can let them out unsupervised because they will be familiar with the sights and smells of their new home. I hope this helps!