Hello,

I have 2 cats which are just over 2 years old. They have always been house cats because we live in a flat, but will soon be moving into a house, and want to let them outside but am worried about certain things :

How far will they roam ? I worry because they are not ' streetwise ' having been inside for their lives so far.

One of the cats is a bit of a scaredty kitt anyway so is it likely he wouldnt want to roam too far from the back door anyway.

Was considering getting some cat proof fencing with those roller bars at the top....do they work ?

Thoughts and opinions much appreciated

If I was you, I would definitely try and cat-proof the garden if at all feasible. It is much more relaxing to know that the cat(s) can't get out, so you don't have to constantly worry that they are going to get lost.

There are quite a few useful threads on here about cat proofing gardens. Here is one of them:

Cat proofing the garden

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We live and work in Spain at Nerja Holiday Rentals and we have adopted one dog and three street cats

Hi, can I just ask why you want to let them out? & not keep them as indoor cats, they've spent two years happily indoors I'm not sure how house cats addapt to being let out into the big wild world, all those nasty Tom cats, nasty neighbours & car accidents! of course alot live very very happy outdoor lives, just thinking of some recent threads about stoping an outdoor cat being bullied, nasty neighbours and a cat that had been clipped buy a car!

I'd definately cat proof the garden, no experience of doing it but there have been a few threads on here if you have a search also a few threads about older kittens getting ready to be let out may be worth a read, some ideas on how to do it etc!

Best to make sure there fully uptodate with vaccinations, neutered, microchipped before going out and if you dont at the moment I think outdoor cats need more regular worming!

Good luck with your move

I know my two cats go outside but as yours have never had use of the outside world I would be tempted to keep them save, as indoor cats.
If you decide to let them out cat prooving them in your garden would be great. If you dont cat proof please keep them in for a min. of a month so they get use to their surroundings. Good luck

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

You will find my thread when you read Gingerhounds reply. Just click on cat proofing.
The way we did it worked out quite cheap and it works.
Where i got Chloe from (the kitty pictured at the bottom of the page) the lady had the rollers on the top of the fence. They did work but were quite expensive. Her garden was in two parts so only half was cat proofed for them.

I can understand why you want to let them out and by doing it this way is best. You can then leave your windows and doors open when it's sunny and also they can enjoy the garden.
Ours are in the garden most of the day. They love it
and the best thing is that they are safe and Happy

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You'll have to ask them if they want to go outside my cat came from a flat, never been outside...I've tried to show him outside on a harness but he got so distressed I've given up for now...having stairs for the first time was clearly VERY exciting to him though, they are one of his favourite playgrounds now, I bet our neighbours love that, haha!

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Please don't think I'm judging you in any way for wanting to let your cats out - this is just how I feel about my own cats.

I was in a similar situation to you, and my cats were 2 years old before it was possible for them to go out. Neither of them had ever shown any interest in the outdoors, other than to look out the front window and watch birds, and people walking by. I decided they were happy as they were, and it wasn't worth the risk to give them something that they'd never known, and didn't know that they were missing.

I bought harnesses for both of them, so they could go outside with me, but Sam was the only one who ever showed any interest. He goes out for a couple of hours most days now, and I just follow him around the garden. He has a long (about 10ft) lead, so he can get some distance from me if he wants to, but most of the time he just enjoys having my undivided attention, or lazing around on his beanbag in the shade, sniffing the air.

Regarding windows, we have fly screens on all our windows, which make them cat proof. It's very common to fly screen windows in Spain, but there are also UK companies that sell the screen material, and you just need some wood and very limited DIY skills to make a frame.

If I could totally cat proof the garden - and guarantee no cats could get out or in - I'd do it, but our garden is far too big for that. We are planning to get our big covered terrace fly screened, so our cats can come and go out there as they please.

I would get your garden cat proofed. Even if they're not that interested in going outside at first, at least you can relax about having the windows and doors open in warm weather.

Of course it depends on the size and logistics of your garden, but cat proofing needn't cost a fortune. We used a few metres of netting from Homebase and 6ft green metal garden poles, all attached with cable clips to the existing wall, and existing fir trees next to the wall. Using the tree branches, we attached 2ft wide pieces of netting horizontally at a height of 6-8ft to create a canopy. Now the cats can run up the trees until they hit the canopy. The whole job cost about £70 (admittedly not a very big garden).

We recently added a yale lock to the garden gate, so that callers can't wander into the garden and accidentally let the cats out (this has happened a few times, luckily no harm done but very embarrassed visitors!) There's a doorbell on the gatepost so that we can be summoned to let people into the garden, making sure the cats are out of the way. This is the only way into our house and garden, as the other door is never used and is kept bolted, so no chance of them nipping out the back.

Every house/garden is different, so it's a matter of working out a solution for your property, and budget. Good luck!

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Rescue cats for many years, currently one moggie and 3 young Maine Coons.

i think you would have to cat proof your garden because they wont be well adapted to the big outdoors. ive been having this problem with a tom cat, but as my cats are well adapted they are able to defend themselves and ward the stupid horrible tom off.

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