Harness for your cat

We are attempting again to "walk" our cats on a leash. I noticed that Pesto had one in his picture in another forum. We bought a harness the other night. All of the cats are taking their turns wearing it. Gina thinks that something is following her, Lucy thinks that something is attacking her (she flops around in the floor,) and Molly, she is just too little right now. We put the leash on and they just flop down and won't budge,

Has anyone tried this yet?

The reason why we are doing this is they look so pitiful looking out of the windows and watching the birds.

About harnessing your cat(s) -- we did this some years back with a cat that just HAD to be outside, and made our lives miserable until he got his way. We found that rather than trying to "walk" him, we simply put the harness on him, took him outside immediately, and attached the harness and short leash to a longer line clipped on our outdoor clothes line with swivels, so he had travelling room. He was so happy to be outside, he would forget all about the harness. If you don't have a clothesline, you can string a line from your door to a tree, the garage, etc. just to give them some travel (assuming you live in a house, not an apartment). We kept a close eye on him, and the other cat, who also wanted to be out if the first cat did... Both seemed to forget all about the harness once outside, even though the second cat was an absolute escape artist. The first cat would demand to go out, but would resist having the harness put on him at first, but then eventually would let us put it on him, since he knew that was the only way he would get outside. Sometimes he would even skip supper to go out, so I would put his food outside for him. He did walk on the leash eventually, but not like a dog. My husband would take him on a walk around the house every night, and the cat expected this tour every night, rain or shine, whatever the time. He wanted to go where he wanted to go, however, so I'm not sure who was walking whom. He did catch some chipmunks while leashed, got into a scrap with a neighbor cat, and once caught a young bird while I was leading him on the short leash! Also, one of the neighbor kids came into our yard and was going to hit him with a club...so it's dangerous out there (stray dogs and cats, wild animals, insects, kids, etc.)and you need to keep a close eye on them. The cats will also be very demanding if they like the outdoors, so consider carefully if you want to deal with this. Our cat would really make a fuss to go out, even when it was raining, 20 degrees below zero, snowing, etc. We had the long leash rigged so we could reach it from the back door, and we would put him out on the back porch for a few minutes until he wanted back in, so he would knock it off! But he would be back at it in an hour or two. I have seen people occasionally walking with a cat on a leash, but ours never liked to walk on the sidewalk - probably partly because we live on a busy street with noisy truck traffic. We do not put our current cats outside, but they have a nice big screened porch which they and we love. Life is much simpler for all of us this way.

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Originally posted by HowieDawn:
We are attempting again to "walk" our cats on a leash. I noticed that Pesto had one in his picture in another forum. We bought a harness the other night. All of the cats are taking their turns wearing it. Gina thinks that something is following her, Lucy thinks that something is attacking her (she flops around in the floor,) and Molly, she is just too little right now. We put the leash on and they just flop down and won't budge,

Has anyone tried this yet?

The reason why we are doing this is they look so pitiful looking out of the windows and watching the birds.

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Originally posted by LouiseC:
Also, one of the neighbor kids came into our yard and was going to hit him with a club...

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Oh my goodness. That's not good! Well, my sister's neighbor walks her cat everyday, this is where i got this idea. The clothesline would be a good idea...but i am sure that Lucy will get into something or get hurt. She is like a two year old. Puts everything in her mouth and will attack everything that isn't nailed down. LOL you stood at the door with a long leash...that's funny. I can imagine doing that with my cats too. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

Pesto wears a harness, but unfortunately I can't offer any advice on walking your cats because she doesn't go for walks. We want to take her for walks, but when we first tried to attach anything to the harness she freaked out and almost strangled herself. My fiancee got some pretty cut up hands trying to restrain her.
We may try again when it isn't so cold!

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Personal servant for Pesto

I put my biggest on a leash - I don't even remember why we first put it on him, but he didn't seem to mind it, and since he always pesters us to go outside, we started taking him for walks. He was already grown - about a year old - when we first did this. We live on a street that is nothing but duplexes and fourplexes, with a few buildings from an aparment complex at the end. Behind our row of buildings is a wide grassy area, about 200 feet wide, I'd guess, that runs the length of the street. This is between the buildings and a creek that also runs the length. We all use this area as a park, walking dogs, throwing frisbees, etc. This is where we walk Big, so it is nowhere near the street. He just runs up and down, like a dog! Sometimes he'll try to get in the creek or up a tree, but we stop him. Since he weighs about 20 lbs, he has outgrown all my pet taxis, and he's too heavy to try to carry by nothing but a thin plastic handle, so his last two vet visits I took him on his leash. You should see all the raised eyebrows when we waltz into that waiting room! Biggie gets alot of attention, anyway, because he's so big, but he's the center of attention at the vet when he's on his leash! If he were a nervous cat, this probably wouldn't work, but he's so easygoing and docile, even with a waiting room full of dogs, that it has worked out really well so far.

By the way, we had two Siamese girls when I was growing up. Since my dad was an Air Force pilot, we moved frequently and needed a good way to manage the cats while traveling. We tried harnesses - once. 'Nuff said!

Spencer, You saved me from saying it... http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

4 Feline House.....That's terrific! I wish my cats could do that but I would never attempt it. Have you been doing it since he was a kitten? Does Big sit on the floor in the waiting room or on your lap. I can only imagine if he was in your lap and got spooked by the dogs what your legs would look like! At least you are in a place where there would be gauze and bandages! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

Over the past 20 years I've managed to harness train most of my cats and many of the foster cats I've cared for. All totalled I'd say I've had about a 80% success rate. Some of the cats I've worked with were better behaved on leashes than most dogs I've seen.

The most difficult part about the whole thing is getting the cat accustomed to having a harness and leash on with the leash attached to a human. I used a slow, gradual process to accustom my cats, breaking down the process into several small steps, and working through each step slowly and carefully.

There have been a few I couldn't get past the harness stage. These were usually ferals or cats that had been abused. Fuzzy and I have taken Rosie and Jackson out on leashes, but haven't gotten the nerve to work with Fluffy yet (he wears heavy racing leathers when he holds her so I can clip her nails or change her collar).

I've never had a problem with dogs thinking they could intimidate my cats. Very few of the cats I've had could be intimidated like that. I think most of them would have liked to rip any poorly mannered dog a new poop chute.

[This message has been edited by Vi Co Bi (edited March 04, 2001).]

Pam-

We never put a leash on Big Mac until he was about a year old, but he is a very easy going cat who is never fazed by anything. The first time I took him like that to the vet it was not very crowded, and if there were any dogs they were either crated or I just didn't see them. He's too big to get in my lap, so he just wandered around on the floor.

The second time it was very busy, and everyone had dogs! There were no skirmishes, but Biggie was very nervous, and the dogs wouldn't stop barking at him, so we went into the vet's private office to wait (he's been my vet for 26 years). I thought it was funny that when Big spotted his computer, he tried to climb onto the keyboard! He only knocked a few papers and files down in the process! He also got a drink from the toilet in the private bathroom, too! Ha ha! He thought he must really be something, having his own private waiting room and all! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

Your vet story reminds of once years ago when we had to take our cat to the vet. The waiting room was a bit crowded, but everyone's animals were quiet, and we were all sitting there waiting, when we heard this commotion out in the parking lot. We could see out the door, and there was a woman with her approx. 12 year old son, and this huge, gray short hair cat. The cat was on a leash, and he was towing the kid around the parking lot. Well, they finally got in the door, and sat down on the vacant side of the room. The cat was going up one side of the kid, and down the other, and everybody on the other side of the room was just sitting there looking at them. The cat was a magnificent animal - not fat, just very big and muscular. We were with another couple who had driven us to the vet (car problems and a cat emergency..) so they stayed in the waiting room when we went in to see the vet. After we were done and back in the car, they were laughing and telling us that when the time came for the "gray cat people" to go into the exam room, the boy tried to pick the cat up off the floor, and the cat dug his claws into the carpet and held on, so that the carpet came up in a big perfect cone from the floor when the kid picked him up. I guess the entire waiting room just cracked up... By the way, I believe the reason for that cat's behovior was that the vet said he didn't like cats, and kept up a running commentary on how much he didn't like cats while he was working on ours. Our cat, who was pretty mellow at the vet normally, took exception to this guy the minute he came into the room. We never went back to him again, and as I was leaving the room, I told him, "If you think our cat is bad, just wait until you get the one out in the waiting room!" If these people brought their cat to this guy on a regular basis, I'm sure the cat sensed this vet's hostility!

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Originally posted by 4 feline house:
Pam-

We never put a leash on Big Mac until he was about a year old, but he is a very easy going cat who is never fazed by anything. The first time I took him like that to the vet it was not very crowded, and if there were any dogs they were either crated or I just didn't see them. He's too big to get in my lap, so he just wandered around on the floor.

The second time it was very busy, and everyone had dogs! There were no skirmishes, but Biggie was very nervous, and the dogs wouldn't stop barking at him, so we went into the vet's private office to wait (he's been my vet for 26 years). I thought it was funny that when Big spotted his computer, he tried to climb onto the keyboard! He only knocked a few papers and files down in the process! He also got a drink from the toilet in the private bathroom, too! Ha ha! He thought he must really be something, having his own private waiting room and all! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

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LOL that's funny. I think that if the vet felt that way towards cats...he should have kept his mouth shut http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif and you are right, i think that cats can sence the way you feel about them. One of my cats does not like a certain family member...when they come to visit, she runs and hides before they walk in the door.

LouiseC-

that's a really funny story! But I agree with Howiedawn! I think it's horrible that a professional person would act in that manner! He should be a dogs only vet, then!

I've been going to the same vet clinic since 1974, when a vet, Dr. F, fresh out of OU College of Veterinary Medicine, set up shop. We had just moved here and had a cat emergency, so we took her there. After I left home I kept using him (althoug I am the only one in the family who does). He took on two associates within a couple of years, Dr. S and Dr. K, who were brothers-in-law. Although I admired all their skills, level of expertise, and compassion, Dr. S was the admitted cat lover. He once told me he would do only cats if he could. Well, about a year ago Dr. S left to open his own practice in the next town north. I have been so torn, my loyalty to Drs. F and K are so strong, and they are certainly competent and caring (and they like cats, too, and own cats, too, but they are still, overall, dog people.) But I would love to see Dr. S, too, because of our mutual love of cats. I haven't called or driven by to see if he's cats only, but I wonder. Ah, well, I stay in town. Even though it's a very short drive to Grapevine, my vet is only 3 minutes away.

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited March 16, 2001).]

HowieDawn & 4 feline house,

Yeah - we like our vets now. We moved out to a small town, and so the clinic is just a few blocks from us. I ride to work in a commuter van, and one day we were talking about how much better the care is that our pets get from the vets than we do from the people clinics. The vets will come down and open the clinic after hours when there is a problem, and really do not charge much for it. They must like cats because they have one living at the clinic.