Do you walk your indoor cats?

I was just wondering if anybody who has indoor only cats, takes them out for walks.

Also, do your cats wear collars at all times? I got a really cool neon pink collar for fiji, but she's a little too small for it, and I don't like the way it looks like it's messing up her fur, I would like her to wear an ID tag just in case.

I've also seen a cat harness that I want to get so that I can take her to petsmart to pick out some new toys and stuff.

Our rescue uses a harness on some of the cats. The ones that like it are really happy to be able to explore their surroundings.

As far as my cats....they don't wear collars...they wouldn't do well with harnesses. I intend to get them microchipped at their next check up.

Katie

My cats wear collars with tags (they are both indoor only and microchiped, but we still feel better about them having id tags just in case)
They will not tolerate a harness though! They went nuts when we tried to put one on them to see if they'd want to go for a walk.

When I brought Nakita home, the first thing I wanted to teach her was to wear a harness and be able to take her for walks. She is going to be 2 years old next week and she demands to go out for a walk each day!

I have tried three different harness types so far. Since she is such a small cat at 5 pounds, the regular harness did not fit her. This summer, Nakita will be wearing a most fashionable bunny harness! This is the only harness that perfectly fits her small frame, and she loves it so far.

Three things you have to make sure to do, when picking out a harness. First, I found the 'h' style harness to be a better fit than the figure 8 style. With the figure 8, many cats can actually 'back' themselves out of it!

Here's a pic of Nakita with her old Figure 8 - it loops around the neck and then loops under the front legs.


Second, make sure the harness does not rub the cat anywhere. I noted Nakita would always lick the side of her front leg after her walks and discovered the stitching on the harness was rubbing her skin in a bad way.
Third, make sure the harness is well constructed! If the cat gets scared, you want to make sure the harness will hold together. Many times they are poorly made and you want to make sure your cat can't get loose on a walk!

Nakita doesn't wear a collar, but she is microchipped. I'm not a big believer in cat's wearing collars on a daily basis because of all the problems that could happen. I'd rather just microchip.

Good luck with training your cat!

Have a few times, but not again until we buy SafKat. Sneaky kitties

Robin has a stretch collar on 24/7. Kitty...we need to get him a new stretch collar =\\ We should stop putting it off. He has a breakaway and he breaks it away at will so it's useless lol. They are both microchipped, though.

Kitty was difficult...to get him used to collar/harness, that is. Collar we put on at mealtimes until he got used to it. Harness I laid out next to him, let him sniff and play with it, etc then put the collar part around his neck, took it off, etc calmly, and didn't push things if he looked nervous or annoyed. Eventually I snapped it around his girth as well. Then it was just a matter of putting it on during mealtimes too.

I tried to do this with Isabelle and Audrey when they were younger and they weren't having any part of it... I think though most of the issue was my approach to it back then. I think I was trying to hard to get them to do it instead of letting them do it in their own time frame. I may try this again this summer though... especially with Isabelle who really does like being outside... So I'll be reading this thread closely!

When my ex lived with me we would occassionally let the little ones play in our little back yard which was really fun for them. That was the first time I had ever seen the fur stand up on the back of a cat. They were completely wild chasing each other around and it was awesome. I wish I had someone around now so I could do this again as it really does require 2 people to keep the cats in bounds. I have strict boundaries that they have to stay within while outside. I don't want to be crawling under cars to get them out...
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RussianBlue... Do you have a picture of an H Style vs a Figure 8 Style harness?
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is a harness a good idea or should i stick with the leash thingie that we have?

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JC is an indoor cat who wears a collar with tags (and is also tattooed and microchipped), has access to a secured balcony at all times, and gets taken out on a leash every day. I've tried various harnesses, and think the Safkat is the best available. Unfortunately, JC is rather oddly shaped (small head with a super-long body, short-haired with long belly hairs and "chaps", and even the "extra-large" Safkat harness doesn't fit him, as the leg holes aren't spaced widely enough to accomodate his length - he'd be a good candidate for the next refilming of "The Island of Doctor Moreau"). I use an adjustable dog harness for him, an extra-large litterbox (for multiple cats), and a carrier designed for two cats or a medium-sized dog. The important thing to watch out for with harnesses is that cats are very flexible and can twist their way out of most harnesses within seconds. Here's a picture of the harness I use:

The leash was for a 60 lb. dog, and far too heavy for him, but he broke anything smaller. Since then I've gotten a smaller nylon-braided leash with a titanium hook, which he hasn't managed to break.

Where can you get a SAfKat harness? I tried an H harness with both of my cats and they hated it! More than the harness, though, they were petrified of going outside. Jasmine wiggled herself loose within the first five minutes the first time I took her out and I barely caught her before she ran off into oblivion. Leo just braces himself on the grass like we are about to have the earthquake of the century and refuses to take a step!

I don't know what to do! I would love to let them play outside and experience the outdoors.

I tried walking Dori on a harness but she didn't like to be outside. I think it's probably better that she stay inside anyway, I live in an apartment and I don't have a nice quiet backyard that she could enjoy. There are people walking dogs, cars driving by etc.

Two of my babies are indoor only and one is absolutely unable to be box trained. We tried EVERYTHING. She just has to go outside. She's 9 years old, though, and NEVER goes toward the driveway. There is no street close to our apartment...it's like living in a big park And because of Everest-sized speed bumps, cars MUST go slow, thank God. She also will not tolerate a collar

The two indoor guys have access to a secured balcony all the time and I take them for a walk two times a day - once to the bus stop to take my daughter to school, and once to pic her up. Pookie wears a SafKat and was on it from the first day he came in this house, as this was how I trained him not to hide at every noise (he was a feral kitten). Frodo just goes free. He loves it and has never run off. He follows me like a dog and then runs to a tree, climbs up a couple of feet, and runs back down...then to the next tree and so on. Pookie is slowly being weaned off the harness as he is much more trusting of noises now.

Both boys have stretch collars with name tags. The breakaway collars just did NOT work for us. My boys are far too rambunctious for those things and they came off nearly every day. I figured if they got out and couldn't find their way home, what good was a collar if it was lying in the garden and not on the cat? the stretch one comes off about once a month through rough play, but that's it.

Originally Posted by leo_jasminesmom

Where can you get a SAfKat harness? I tried an H harness with both of my cats and they hated it! More than the harness, though, they were petrified of going outside.

Jasmine wiggled herself loose within the first five minutes the first time I took her out and I barely caught her before she ran off into oblivion. Leo just braces himself on the grass like we are about to have the earthquake of the century and refuses to take a step!

I don't know what to do! I would love to let them play outside and experience the outdoors.

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Try here: http://www.meowhoo.com/Cat_Collars__..._ID/more2.html
Or how about an outdoor enclosure? There are even some "portable" ones, like the "Kittywalk". I got JC used to a harness and leash inside before taking him out, and the first few times I carried him around the yard, stopping to let him sniff at bushes or trees, or sitting down on the grass with him.

Originally Posted by Monica's Six

RussianBlue... Do you have a picture of an H Style vs a Figure 8 Style harness?
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Click to expand...

Here's a picture of a H Style: H Style Harness

The difference is that a Figure 8 usually only has one buckle that is around the stomach area and a H Style has two buckles, one at the neck and one around the belly, which results in a better fit.

my cat has a Harness.

Gus has gone outside on a harness since he was about 2. At first he hated the thing so I put it on him inside and let him freak out as much as he wanted. Once he got used to it, he knew what it meant and would stretch up to let me put it on. He walks OK on it but definitely on his own schedule and pace. It's nothing like walking a dog that's for sure but he loves it.

We walk our girls out in the back yard with a harness once in a while and they love it.
The neighbors probably think we are nuts - but we don't care

Originally Posted by Gus's Mom

It's nothing like walking a dog that's for sure but he loves it.

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Yeah I'm sure! I'd just like to be able to let mine go outside, get some fresh air, run around in my back yard a little and not have to be so concerned about them going out of bounds. I don't really expect to walk them like a dog... if I wanted that, I'd get a dog!

RussianBlue... Thanks for posting the link to the H Harness... That one looks like it'd be easy to put on and take off which might make the whole walking experience less stressful than the ones I had before which buckled.
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With being indoors Rosie is very timid when it comes to going outside.

I put a harness on her when i let her have a roam around the back yard when it's sunny, but she'll only stay out for a few minutes at a time because although it's quiet where i live, if a car drives up she gets frightened and runs back indoors.

Sophie on the other hand has yet to experience this, but i will because i was told to let them sniff outside the house, and should they manage to get out they would remember the smell?!.