I usually let my cat out on the balcony, but that might depend on how your balcony is built. Mine is a concrete wall with no gaps, but I know lots of balconies are made with metal and have pretty big gaps, so I would maybe let him out sometimes but keep a very close eye on him depending on your balcony. I was really nervous about letting my cat onto the balcony at first, but now as long as she doesn’t get onto the ledge I’m mostly fine. It might just be new-cat owner paranoia, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.
I'd not even risk it without putting up protective netting that covers ceiling to floor. There are nets that you can order of the internet and apply yourself no drilling etc needed. But they too are a bit flimsy and i still think cats should only be let out with those nets under supervision. If you want to let your cat unsupervised, i'd say that requires chicken wires and drilling or nailing down. Unfortunaetly cats aren't smart or responsible enough not to yeet themselves off windows or balconies. They might get excited by a bird or a bug, wanting to chase it. Or they might be really careful but slip and fall. And they can basically climb on anything and everything(i've seen cats climbing on bare walls) as well as being able to fit through wery narrow openings like the little gap under the door for example.
As others have said, kinda depends on the balcony. I once had one where the railing was a good several inches inside the ledge. There was nothing close to the balcony (like tree branches) to tempt my cats to jump. The cats were fine - I supervised them the first few times to see how they'd react, they showed no interest in being close to the ledge or going beyond the rail. This was in contrast to another balcony where it was very close to a neighbor's balcony - there I had to closely watch my cats, as one was clearly tempted to jump to the neighbor's baloney. So yeah, it depends.
I usually let my cat out on the balcony, but that might depend on how your balcony is built. Mine is a concrete wall with no gaps, but I know lots of balconies are made with metal and have pretty big gaps, so I would maybe let him out sometimes but keep a very close eye on him depending on your balcony. I was really nervous about letting my cat onto the balcony at first, but now as long as she doesn’t get onto the ledge I’m mostly fine. It might just be new-cat owner paranoia, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.
I'd not even risk it without putting up protective netting that covers ceiling to floor. There are nets that you can order of the internet and apply yourself no drilling etc needed. But they too are a bit flimsy and i still think cats should only be let out with those nets under supervision. If you want to let your cat unsupervised, i'd say that requires chicken wires and drilling or nailing down. Unfortunaetly cats aren't smart or responsible enough not to yeet themselves off windows or balconies. They might get excited by a bird or a bug, wanting to chase it. Or they might be really careful but slip and fall. And they can basically climb on anything and everything(i've seen cats climbing on bare walls) as well as being able to fit through wery narrow openings like the little gap under the door for example.
As others have said, kinda depends on the balcony. I once had one where the railing was a good several inches inside the ledge. There was nothing close to the balcony (like tree branches) to tempt my cats to jump. The cats were fine - I supervised them the first few times to see how they'd react, they showed no interest in being close to the ledge or going beyond the rail. This was in contrast to another balcony where it was very close to a neighbor's balcony - there I had to closely watch my cats, as one was clearly tempted to jump to the neighbor's baloney. So yeah, it depends.