Introducing To The Leash And The Harness

[Miledith]

Do you guys have any helpful tips and trick on getting your cat familiar to a leash and a harness and getting the cat to walk? I am asking due to the fact, that my cat is an outdoorsy type and that's fine, since we have a good garden and a safe neighborhood for him to roam around, but soon due to my parents divorce we will be moving out. I don't know yet if the cat will be staying with my mom or me, but chences that any of us will have a garden and a safe space for the kitty to walk around freely are extremely slim. I don't want the cat to completely loose a sense of going out since he loves it and doesn't like sitting at home so I thought it would be a good idea to start getting him to walk on a leash now so he would be ready for the eventual moving.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I don't have great tips on sizing, I had to buy/try a couple harnesses and I'm still not sure. I do know of someone who was able to take their cat into a pet store and got terrific help with sizing.
Anyway, with a treat or a few each time, let your cat sniff the items first, just lying on the floor. Then try draping the harness over it's back, very briefly.
Then, after a bit of this drape it and let it actually rest on his back. Then see if he'll let you have it in front of his face if it needs to slide over his head.
Then do that. Then after that and it's actually on, try tightening it around his body.
You will likely get a confused reaction of him having his body really low to the ground and an inability to walk right LOL.
Keep going slow in the house, eventually you'll be able to head out.
Be as careful as you can while you're out, I ended up with a cat that chased a bird, hit the end of the leash, panicked, swapped ends and tried to back out of the harness. We all survived and the Big Guy ended up being a veteran walker

 

[Etarre]

I haven't had much luck convincing Juniper to like a harness, but after a spectacular failure with the first harness I bought for her, she seems to at least tolerate the second one.

So I'd say that if the first harness you buy isn't one that works for your cat, try a different style/fit. We tried a h-shaped harness first, and it caused Juniper to flop over like her legs no longer worked. Apparently this is a common response to harnesses that are too constraining... A jacket-type harness works better for her, and although she's still not a fan of it, she can at least move around in it.

 

[basscat]

I can put a harness on my cat.
I can put a leash on the harness.
Takes him about 30 seconds to figure it out.
Then I really need to at least remove the leash so he doesn't drag it around, catch it on something, and hurt himself.
HOWEVER.......

 

[Furballsmom]

basscat , you're a hoot, you have a Gibsy on the brain LOL
(Gibsy being a bobcat, which in this case has wiggled himself right on into basscats brain )

 

[basscat]

basscat , you're a hoot, you have a Gibsy on the brain LOL
(Gibsy being a bobcat, which in this case has wiggled himself right on into basscats brain )

It's a scary thing taking a leash off of a bobcat that's figured out it's on him.
Kinda like dropping a spoon in the garbage disposal and trying to retrieve it without turning it off.

 

[Furballsmom]

oh lordy

 

[patent123]

Do you guys have any helpful tips and trick on getting your cat familiar to a leash and a harness and getting the cat to walk? I am asking due to the fact, that my cat is an outdoorsy type and that's fine, since we have a good garden and a safe neighborhood for him to roam around, but soon due to my parents divorce we will be moving out. I don't know yet if the cat will be staying with my mom or me, but chences that any of us will have a garden and a safe space for the kitty to walk around freely are extremely slim. I don't want the cat to completely loose a sense of going out since he loves it and doesn't like sitting at home so I thought it would be a good idea to start getting him to walk on a leash now so he would be ready for the eventual moving.

I know a few people who have full on leash trained their cats...and they act more like a dog then a cat in this sense. My old kitty enjoyed the out doors in his younger years. When I adopted him though he was already a senior with no claws and I had to have all of his teeth removed so allowing him to free roam was never an option. What I tried as recommended by friends with the "Dog Cats"
1-Have them wear the harness in doors with you around. They get use to it and how it feels...much like a collar. Remove the harness though when you leave just in case they get snagged on anything.
2. Attach the leash once the harness is being worn comfortably.
3- take them outside, use a toy to get them to play while you hold the leash, use treats, or just experiment with what your cat likes to show positive interaction.

 

[ileen]

Luciano is brand new to wearing a harness/leash so I am by no means an expert. It took months for me to be able to get to this point and I stumbled upon the trick by accident. Luciano loves leaving the apartment. I let him in the carpeted hallway almost daily, he patrols around & generally acts like he owns the whole building. I either have extremely nice neighbors, or ones who don't care because I haven't gotten complaints. There are no dogs on our floor or the floor above anymore, and that's usually where he goes.

His holy grail has been going out onto the roof. He sees me disappear through that door & wants out in a bad way. Recently I've discovered that while he is standing on the steps leading to the roof, rear legs a step or two down from the top step and head looking up, that's the perfect position to strap on the harness & slip the collar over his head. Also (and most importantly), since he wants out that door, he's not running away from me as I try to do it.

He does slip out of the collar part if I'm holding firm and he's pulling against the leash, so we're not out of the woods yet.

Here are a couple of pics of him in his sharp red harness.

 

[ileen]

Here are some more shots of Luciano on the roof wearing his harness/leash. He is getting better at walking around with me, as well as not fighting (much) when I don't allow him places he shouldn't go (like near the fresh tar spread on parts of the roof Wednesday to prevent leaking indoors during rainstorms).

He did manage to charm me into allowing him onto the 'forbidden' side of the roof briefly, where one neighbor LOVES him & the other is allergic, to check out their tomato plants.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Luciano is a Purrfect model Beautiful!

In case this hasn't been mentioned after having them adjust to harness inside the house this worked for us
waving their favorite wand toy in front of them got them going or try anything else your kitty really likes
Harness And Leash Training For Cats