Question about harness training

[abbi]

Hi all, this is Abbi, K.C.s mommy. She is doing really well. She will be two near the end of this month. I have brought her inside a few months ago as she was following me to the bus too much one day, and she really seems to have calmed down.

I do have a question tho. By Gods grace lol I got a collar on her, its a breakaway too, but its too loose on her. The vet said thats fine, but my concern is how will I ever get a harness on her, its a miracle just getting her to accept the collar. Since her harness is similar to two collars, it might work, but would it be possible to walk her without a harness if I can't get it on her?

I know I would have to be super careful as shes so little, but I really want to take her outside, besides all the usual reasons for keeping her inside, her aggression has gone down so much, except at the vets sadly, even getting in her box to go there is fine, as i got her used to that. But I know she would just love to go outside, and I could take her more than just down the street if she were harness/leash trained.

Also, when she wasn't on the collar, I tried taking her out for just supervised walks, but she either got scared and hid, or didn't want to come in since it was so nice out lol!

 

[Anne]

We have a great article about this topic - 

Harness and Leash Training for Cats

The thing to remember is that not all cats are good candidates for being walked on a harness and leash. You'll have to be very patient with her and very very gradually get her used to the harness, then the leash and finally being walked on a leash. You'll find the relevant info in the article I linked to. Do let us know how it's going!

 

[bengalcatman]

I can't agree with the above poster (Anne) more and the article is excellent. We have one cat, Makena, who is fully leash trained and is easy to walk with. We have another, Lilia, who will never be a good candidate to walk with, but we have been slowly teaching her to tolerate a harness to make it easier to take her to the vet. By slowly I mean she could not tolerate even a collar with being terrified and we had to just lay the collar on her for a few weeks before even trying to put it on.

We would be able to walk Makena without a being on a leash, he listens to commands and he really does not want to get very far from us. BUT, if he gets distracted, he may take a long time to respond to a command or he may chase after something he is not supposed to chase. So he is always on a leash outside for his own safety. He is so used to the leash I don't think he even notices it.

Good luck with leash training your cat!

Eric

 

[matts mom]

Matt's harness-training was a matter of necessity. As a former stray, he wasn't fond of the idea of being indoor-only and became a door-dasher. We decided to counter this behavior by harness training him. I won't say that our way was best, but I'll tell you how we did it.

We bought an adjustable H-harness, the kind that has a band on the ribs connected to a collar. While He was standing at the back door, we loosely fitted the rib band around him, and left the collar part very collar loose as well. We clipped on the leash, and opened the door. 

Because he was so interested in the outside, Matt barely noticed the harness, except that he crouched(for a minute or two) Whe he did notice it, and tried to back out of it, we brought him back in. 

A couple of days later, when he was at the door, we put the harness on again, a little better fitted this time, and opened the door again. Once again, when he rebelled, we picked him up and brought him in. 

Each time we put the harness on, we tightened it up a little, until it was properly fitted to him, and each time he rebelled, we brought him inside. 

Now Matt purrs when we take out his harness and leash, and runs to the door to have it put on. Here is a photo of him with his harness on:

05112012014.JPG

• matts mom
• Jul 21, 2012

 

[abbi]

Thanks all! I'll check out the link stated as well. I got her collar off, now to get her used to the harness haha, I think I'll try it extra loose, as it was before and slowly tighten it. Lol my biggest fear is catching her fur taking it off and on.

 

[matts mom]

I always place my finger between the clasp and the cat. Maybe that will work for you? Best of luck with your training

 

[abbi]

Thats a good idea, I'll try that! She has some skin sensitivity, so I hope a harness doesn't bother her. Its not severe and shes calmed down since coming inside. I think it would save some on cat litter haha...

 

[abbi]

Kitty is suPURRRvising right now by laying in front of me so ignore typos lol....I got a collar on her, having a hard time with the harness tho. Might try more when I get some Feliway. 

 

[abbi]

This is an old post but I'm thinking of trying to get her used to two collars, one around the neck that she has on currently(a breakaway even tho she is an inside cat now), and one around the waist like on a harness, and eventually connect them together to make a harness. 

 

[catmomjulia]

It definitely depends on the cats personality if it will accept the harness or not, it is a pretty easy process if the cat does accept wearing the harness, you will want to practice wearing and walking with the harness inside, it can take a lot of time and patience but it is very doable! If you do choose to use a harness, I suggest the ASPCA harnesses, they are very secure and instead of being thin like two collars it is more like a vest that keeps them more secure. Here's a picture of my cat using his, he hasn't gone outside but he has used it multiple times both at the pet store and the vets office. He was trained by the time he was a year old and responded well to it. Also it only cost me about $6!

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• catmomjulia
• Jan 15, 2015

image.jpg

• catmomjulia
• Jan 15, 2015