Would this be cruel or interesting/fun to a cat?

[snuzy]

Originally Posted by churchi4cubs

Thanks for the advice (and everyone else)! I have time to get them used to a harness. This winter has been so mild that I'm not sure we'll even see snow again.

Yeah, I'm not sure you'll be able to test the snow theory this year either. (my back is happy though

)
If you do take your kitties on a leash, hold on tight. One day I had my 2 cats out on the leash, and a leaf blowing scared my fraidy cat who then pulled the leash out of my hand and climbed high up a tree. Since the firemen wouldn't help me (we've never seen a dead cat in a tree lady--duh, the cat would fall after it died), i had to get a ladder and shimmy up to rescue my poor little snuggles who by that time was hanging by her harness. I had to take her out of the harness to get her down, and the leash and harness were stuck in the tree til the branch broke years later.

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by churchi4cubs

LOL - Where are you located??

In Colorado. We've had 72 inches of snow since December 21!!!!

 

[rapunzel47]

I won't comment on logistics, since you've got bunches of advice already. I just wanted to add that my cats are all indoor/outdoor, so when there's snow, I do get their comments.

The current crew are seriously not amused by snow, and spend their time looking for the Door into Summer. While they will use the indoor facilities, they much prefer to do their business outdoors, and this stuff definitely interferes with that.

However, our old RB boy, Gryphon, absolutely loved snow. We don't get much, but I do recall one winter when we got an unusually large dump, and had two feet of snow in the back yard for several days. He was in heaven! He'd go out there, march around -- yes, the strange gait is quite amusing -- and after a while he'd lie down for a rest -- in the snow. Very amusing.

It's a very individual thing -- either they'll like it or they won't -- and, to my mind, the only way it would be cruel is if you forced it on a cat who was not interested, or introduced them in such a way that they might come to harm.

 

[bella713]

We have let Severino out in the snow and he loves it although he does have inches of hair on him.

 

[catcrazyperson]

hmmm, i should try this with peanuts! she's already used to the harness. i never thought of taking her outside in it. i will try this. thanks for the idea!

now, if we could only have some snow...

 

[MoochNNoodles]

We used to bring snowballs in the house for the kitties. My parent's cats have gone out in it too. Tiger loved it and Glory liked doing about a minute of exploring and that was enough. Tinsel snubed the snow!

 

[pat locani]

We don't get much snow but I have a safe area in my yard and I let the cats check it out. They don't stay long.