Cat won't wear harness!

[lrgrant]

Hi there,

We bought a harness for our indoor cat yesterday as we would really like to take her outside occassionally.

Well, it was a disaster as she absolutely hates it! We have tried to put it on her 3 times now, and each time she bites at it and writhes around on the floor going crazy. It was not pleasant to see her going so crazy, and we are not sure whether to try it again because we are concerned she will do herself some damage.

Does anyone have any advice please?

Many thanks

 

[jcat]

Have you tried having some treats and a really interesting toy ready to distract her right after you put the harness on? It's best to give her "small doses" of the harness, gradually increasing the length of time she has to wear it.

 

[tulosai]

Sometimes a cat needs to be introduced to a harness really, really slowly.  I don't usually let my cats out at all, but there have been a few fosters in the past I walked outside, and this is the method I used with really high success rates.  As a preliminary step, if your kitty isn't comfortable being held, you should work on that first thing.  If you need tips about that in addition, I can also give them, but I'll stick to just harness tips for now.

1. Just leave it out somewhere she likes.  By the food works well; by where she sleeps works well too.  Mine often thought it was a toy of some kind; this didn't impact anything negatively, but did let them start to associate warm fuzzy feelings with it.

2. After a few days of this, if they  were starting to treat it as part of the scenery, I'd start to sort of just lay it against his or her neck, usually as they were sleepy.  I'd offer a treat as I did so.

3.  A few days after this (about a week after the harness entered the living space) I'd start draping it over kitty's shoulders and down her stomach.  I hope that is making sense- I can visualize it but not sure I am explaining the best.  I would remove it after a few seconds, and again offer a treat, or else sometimes play with her.

4.  Basically keep repeating 3 until she will tolerate you actually snapping it on. Keep using treats to distract.  The first time I snapped it on I'd usually reward with a can of their favorite wet food.  It distracted them from the feel of it. This is a good time to adjust fit as well.  Fit is super important, just like with collars.  If the fit isn't right the cat will  not be happy. 

5. Take the harness off after a few minutes.  Keep repeating this process until she will tolerate it on for several minutes.  If she gets mildly agitated, I'd roll with it but if she ever gets really agitated distract with a pleasant thing (treat or fave toy) and then remove the harness.  You should not be attaching the leash through any of this. This might take one try (though in your case I'd be prepared for it to take longer) or it might take a few weeks.

6.  Only once she's totally comfortable in the harness, attach the leash.  Put her in a small, clutter free (or if you are like me, clutter light) room and let her get used to just dragging the leash around. Do this for at least a few days.

7. When she is used to that, practice walking her inside the house with the leash.  Be careful never to yank on it.  Praise her verbally and with treats.

8. Then and only then would I try to take her outside.

Let me know if you need more detail or other advice.

Good luck!

 

[lrgrant]

Have you tried having some treats and a really interesting toy ready to distract her right after you put the harness on? It's best to give her "small doses" of the harness, gradually increasing the length of time she has to wear it.

Hi jcat,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, we tried distracting her with her favourite canned food straight after putting the harness on.
We are now going to take things a lot slower as she's a very sensitive cat and it takes her a long time to get used to things.

 

[lrgrant]

Hi Tulosai,

Thanks very much indeed for your advice. We really didn't realise that it may have to be a very slow process to get her used to the harness.
We will try out the tips you have given, and hope that she doesn't freak out again at any point as I would hate to see that again.

She is fine with being held, but wasn't at first so I guess this is the same..we have to give her as much time as she needs to adjust.
She really is such a sensitive thing and gets easily scared. I think your ideas are great though so hopefully in time she will come round to the idea of wearing a harness. It would be great for her to get outdoors as I get the feeling she is bored being in the flat all day.




a cat needs to be introduced to a harness really, really slowly.  I don't usually let my cats out at all, but there have been a few fosters in the past I walked outside, and this is the method I used with really high success rates.  As a preliminary step, if your kitty isn't comfortable being held, you should work on that first thing.  If you need tips about that in addition, I can also give them, but I'll stick to just harness tips for now.

1. Just leave it out somewhere she likes.  By the food works well; by where she sleeps works well too.  Mine often thought it was a toy of some kind; this didn't impact anything negatively, but did let them start to associate warm fuzzy feelings with it.

2. After a few days of this, if they  were starting to treat it as part of the scenery, I'd start to sort of just lay it against his or her neck, usually as they were sleepy.  I'd offer a treat as I did so.

3.  A few days after this (about a week after the harness entered the living space) I'd start draping it over kitty's shoulders and down her stomach.  I hope that is making sense- I can visualize it but not sure I am explaining the best.  I would remove it after a few seconds, and again offer a treat, or else sometimes play with her.

4.  Basically keep repeating 3 until she will tolerate you actually snapping it on. Keep using treats to distract.  The first time I snapped it on I'd usually reward with a can of their favorite wet food.  It distracted them from the feel of it. This is a good time to adjust fit as well.  Fit is super important, just like with collars.  If the fit isn't right the cat will  not be happy. 

5. Take the harness off after a few minutes.  Keep repeating this process until she will tolerate it on for several minutes.  If she gets mildly agitated, I'd roll with it but if she ever gets really agitated distract with a pleasant thing (treat or fave toy) and then remove the harness.  You should not be attaching the leash through any of this. This might take one try (though in your case I'd be prepared for it to take longer) or it might take a few weeks.

6.  Only once she's totally comfortable in the harness, attach the leash.  Put her in a small, clutter free (or if you are like me, clutter light) room and let her get used to just dragging the leash around. Do this for at least a few days.

7. When she is used to that, practice walking her inside the house with the leash.  Be careful never to yank on it.  Praise her verbally and with treats.

8. Then and only then would I try to take her outside.

Let me know if you need more detail or other advice.

Good luck!
[/quote]

 

[lrgrant]

Hi,

I thought I'd give you an update on Anabelle's harness & leash training.
After several weeks, she is finally wearing the harness without making much of a fuss. However, she has a real problem when I attach the leash. I tried it for the first time on Saturday. She wouldn't get up and walk with it on and just acted like she was unable to move. When I tried to coax her with some of her favourite food she made an effort to pull herself across the floor but wouldn't fully stand up. I've just tried it again tonight and was not prepared at all for what happened. When I attached the leash she acted as if she was disabled again and then after I gave her her treat she basically went berserk. She flew around our flat at high speed as though trying to escape an enemy. We managed to get the harness and leash off her and now she is sitting under the sofa looking very scared! I feel so bad about it and feel as though she will lose trust in me now. She must have thought I was trying to do something bad to her. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!