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Walking your cat... on a leash!

post #1 of 19
7/15/11 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone have success with this? I bought a harness-type collar for Morty, along with a retractable leash, and tried walking him in the backyard, then the front yard, with mixed results.

He seemed to be doing pretty well, not showing any signs of discomfort or displeasure with it, until he somehow got "spooked", and darted away as fast as he could, dragging me behind him, haha! This had happened a couple times before, and each time he somehow managed to wriggle out of his harness.

At the end of this video (less than 2 minutes long) you can see me walking him, when suddenly he bolts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6l4Roj6WhE
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post #2 of 19
7/15/11 at 8:32pm
I walk mine on a leash all the time. If something startles them they usually step behind me and peak around. They are usually very good.

Here is Pandora riding in the car. http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...10517-1321.jpg

Pandora checking out the cat trees at PetSmart. http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1..._5207730_n.jpg

Lilly checking out the birds at PetSmart. http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1..._7459215_n.jpg
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post #3 of 19
7/15/11 at 9:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauren_miller View Post
I walk mine on a leash all the time. If something startles them they usually step behind me and peak around. They are usually very good.
Love it! Next I'd like to do is build a cat wheel for him, but there's no guarantee he'll use it...unless he was a Bengal!
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post #4 of 19
7/15/11 at 11:23pm
That harness looks really nice, i.e., hard to slip out of.

Jamie goes out on his leash every day, and twice or even three times a day on weekends.

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post #5 of 19
7/16/11 at 5:36am
Oh what a cutie
Thanks everyone for sharing pics of your kitties on leash and out walking. We've been talking about leash training our 2 for a while - maybe should start in ernest now
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post #6 of 19
7/16/11 at 5:58am
If you take it slowly, by getting them accustomed to the harness first indoors, it's not difficult. Taking reading material or music along on your walks is a must, because you might find yourself waiting to bushwhack birds, etc..
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post #7 of 19
7/16/11 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
If you take it slowly, by getting them accustomed to the harness first indoors, it's not difficult. Taking reading material or music along on your walks is a must, because you might find yourself waiting to bushwhack birds, etc..
Thanks for the great tips - will keep in mind
My biggest fear, to be honest, is that they will enjoy going outdoors and then will want to bolt every chance they get. On the positive side, they will know the neighborhood and will know their way back home.
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post #8 of 19
7/16/11 at 6:14am
That's what I figured - it's better they know the neighborhood. Jamie doesn't try to bolt any more than he did before we went for daily walks, but he does nag when it's time for his walk.
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post #9 of 19
7/16/11 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
That's what I figured - it's better they know the neighborhood. Jamie doesn't try to bolt any more than he did before we went for daily walks, but he does nag when it's time for his walk.
That's definitely encouraging. I can deal with nagging, but bolting, not so much.
I have a breezeway connecting the house to the garage and this is covered by screen and glass but not airtight or anyway temperature controlled. They love to stay there long periods of time, unless it gets very hot outside. We open to door to the breezeway during the day when we are home and leave a bowl of water there and that's their favorite bowl to drink out of. So I think they will enjoy going outdoors.
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post #10 of 19
7/16/11 at 8:36am
Mine are all harness trained, except Bonaparte, and I can't keep even a collar on him. I think apart from making it safer that they know their way home, it is much easier if you have to travel with them to have them in a harness and lead.
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post #11 of 19
7/16/11 at 12:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennyranson View Post
...it is much easier if you have to travel with them to have them in a harness and lead.
Having the cat used to a harness is a big help at the vet's, too.
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post #12 of 19
7/16/11 at 12:29pm
So do your kitties still travel in their carriers in the car? Or like dogs, do you just let them sit on the seat?
In 2 years we will be moving for sure - it can be locally or anywhere else in the US - so where will be some traveling involved. I guess if it becomes a long distance move, having Calvin and Hobbes trained on harness may be a good idea.
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post #13 of 19
7/16/11 at 12:31pm
I would be very reluctant to walk a cat on a leash. Yeah, we did it with our first cat, and it usually worked OK...but a single dog bark can turn your loving kitty into a snarling, spitting, panicked running chain saw, with bad results for both you and the cat.
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post #14 of 19
7/16/11 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvin&I View Post
So do your kitties still travel in their carriers in the car? Or like dogs, do you just let them sit on the seat?
In 2 years we will be moving for sure - it can be locally or anywhere else in the US - so where will be some traveling involved. I guess if it becomes a long distance move, having Calvin and Hobbes trained on harness may be a good idea.
I always use a carrier in the car, but put the harness on so that I have a "handle" at the vet's office.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
I would be very reluctant to walk a cat on a leash. Yeah, we did it with our first cat, and it usually worked OK...but a single dog bark can turn your loving kitty into a snarling, spitting, panicked running chain saw, with bad results for both you and the cat.
That's a good description of Jamie when he sees another cat; he's okay with barking dogs. I usually just walk him in our fenced backyard, with an occasional trip out front after checking things out first.

Miezi can be like that with other cats, too (she goes out on her own, but sticks close), and she also loves dogs.
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post #15 of 19
7/16/11 at 4:14pm
Misa only goes by the bushes. She absolutely hates it! think because her owners never took her out. I wanted to convert her to a indoor/outdoor cat, but it's not working. Can someone help..
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post #16 of 19
7/16/11 at 4:19pm
I tried introducing Maia to a harness as a kitten and at first she was OK with it. As she grew and by one year old, she would just go limp and fall over if the harness was on her, refuse to move. She's not a curious kitty in regards of exploring outside anyway......
There is a man who lives a few blocks away from me that literally walks his cat daily on a leash and harness! This is in NYC!
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post #17 of 19
7/16/11 at 7:16pm
Looks like they had a good time
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post #18 of 19
7/16/11 at 7:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvin&I View Post
So do your kitties still travel in their carriers in the car? Or like dogs, do you just let them sit on the seat?
In 2 years we will be moving for sure - it can be locally or anywhere else in the US - so where will be some traveling involved. I guess if it becomes a long distance move, having Calvin and Hobbes trained on harness may be a good idea.
Pandora acts like she's being killed when she's crated so we taught her to ride in the car without one. It took a couple of months of my husband driving around the neighborhood and me sitting with her, but she is VERY good in the car now. When we moved to OR from NV it was a 15 hour car ride. Lilly and Hurley were crated in the back seat and Pandora slept the whole way in the front seat on her blanket.
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post #19 of 19
7/17/11 at 2:24pm
I tried this when Pollýanna was a very young kitten. At that time we lived on the 4th floor for a little while, so that was the only way she knew the outside. She never let anyone let her do anything she didn't want, and this she did not want at all! NO WAY!!! So I gave up. I did want to have her use the harness even after we moved where she could get outside herself, as I was worried about her where there were cars, but it just didn't work.

My newest cat, Doppa, used harness the first months after we got her. I wanted to control where she went untill she had settled better in. She didn't mind, so I could have continued with her.
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