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).]