Mary Allen
For many cats, being an outdoor house cat is a great thing to do. You can explore and hunt outside to your heart’s content while enjoying the benefits of human care indoors. However, outdoor access is not without risk. So how can you get your cat used to being outdoors so that they can move around safely outside?
Realistic Expectation
When you open the door for your cat, you no longer really have control over the course of the first excursion, unless you have your cat on a leash (we will come to that later). Your cautious cat may not want to go further than the doorstep for the first hour. But your adventure cat may also be in the neighbors’ garden in no time at all. So prepare yourself internally to keep calm one way or another and trust your cat to do something. With the following suggestions, you have a good chance of influencing the course of the first excursions in your own way.
What is it Like on the Doorstep?
How does the area in front of the house seem to your cat? You will need to move camouflaged, that is, along bushes and hedges, under and next to the garden furniture. If you only have a large lawn in front of the house and the next bushes are 20 meters away, your cat will probably jet to these bushes fairly quickly and is then quite a long way away. So try to set up camouflage offers for them, e.g. with garden chairs, flower pots, etc. Then your cat is more likely to linger nearby and inspect the area.
The Right Time
For the normally curious to the adventurous cat, you should choose the following conditions for the first time outdoors: Your cat is hungry and the weather is only moderately good. It may drizzle or rain lightly, or it may start in the next hour. Then there are already two good reasons for your cat to stop by again soon despite the excitement and the urge to explore. You should also have a few hours of daylight so you can see your cat. For your cat, however, this point is not so important.
If, on the other hand, your cat is very hesitant, it should like to be warm and the sunshine – if there is no wind, of course.
Team with Limits
Offer companionship to your cat. Go out with her and make her aware of the most beautiful – and safe – spots in the garden by going ahead. Show her the suitable ways around the house and into the next field (if available). Do this slowly and do not lead your cat further from the door than he or she would like to go.
Next Stages
You can repeat the trips with your cat over the next few days. It is best to accompany them more often at first – more or less inconspicuously and always unobtrusively. By the way, many cats find it really great to be outside with their humans, to take short walks together, or to help with gardening.
Little by little, you can always go into the house for a short time and leave her alone. So you both get used to it.
Cat on a Leash
If your cat is very trusting and likes to be touched by you everywhere, then you can gently accustom him to wearing a harness and leash before going out. Take a few weeks to do this so that she feels really comfortable with it and likes to go with you – for example on trips to the basement. If that works out well, you can go on your first excursions into the big wide world with her on a leash. The correct clearance will come later.
Warning: harness and leash are not a good idea for cats who are prone to panic and then headless. A leash prevents the cat from escaping, which in turn can increase panic. The cat could hurt itself and you as well.
Outlook
It will likely be just as exciting for you at the beginning as it will be for your cat when it hits the open air. And maybe you find it difficult to let go of her and give her this freedom. As a keeper of free walkers, you really need strong nerves again and again. But giving a cat-free space usually improves its quality of life immensely. Even for the cats who only really go out for a quarter of an hour a day or who spend half the day exclusively on the terrace. The reward for overcoming it will probably soon be a visibly happier and more busy cat.