Took Olive Outside On A Harness - For The First And Last Time

We adopted Olive as an abandoned and very tame stray about 20 months ago. Her transition to indoor-only kitty (busy streets) went pretty remarkably. For the most part she was entirely happy indoors. When the windows were open, she would try and get out and actually succeeded 3 or 4 times. This was usually followed by days of her howling at all the windows and doors and running around, but over time she would forget again and be happy.

Since we moved to Colorado, we added coyotes to the list of dangers. We decided to harness and leash train her so she could have supervised visits to the backyard. We are renting, so a catio isn’t an option yet. The excursion was on Saturday and it went rather splendidly. She seemed to really enjoy herself exploring and smelling the new things. There was one scary moment when she jumped the fence, but I got her down before she left the yard. We let Gohan out as well - he never took to the harness but he’s slower to explore so we could let him have more freedom. All in all it was a fun time.

But oh the yowling now. She’s gotten slightly better over the days but when I brought her back in she was so distressed she couldn’t go back out she was running around and howling for over three hours. Not only is this super annoying for humans, but I can’t think she is satisfied or happy. Is a small walk outside worth days of angst?

In the end, we decided for the good of her and us that further walks probably won’t happen. It was super fun for everyone, but the lengthy impacts were too much. Hopefully when we get a place of our own she can have unfettered access to a catio, but I think the leash and harness was the wrong thing for her.

Just wanted to share in case others find this useful.

It's too bad you couldn't find a means to play with her outside, or inside and really wear her out...

In any case I hope the catio is coming soon

She’s hard to wear out .... I can get her running around and panting and then 10 minutes later she’s gone after Gohan for some wrestling ... playing with her when she starts to whine and yowl has worked in the past about half the time, but generally she seems more settled with no outdoor access.

The catio will likely be in a year or two when we buy our own house. Or a cat proof fence or something ...

Good for you, I'm sorry that didn't work out but some cats are like that lol

Thank you. Yeah, agreed. We went in knowing she might be addicted to it, lol. We did both have fun at least.

Thanks for the information. My wife have three female cats we care for that haven't been outside since the day we brought them home three years ago. I have really been wondering how things would play out if we tried exactly what you did...I now expect we would have about the same results.

I believe based on your experiment, I will just leave well enough alone.
Thanks again!

No problem, although our other cat Gohan has not been a pita or stressed about going outside a few times - and many on this site seem to have great success. Olive only recently became indoor so I think the wanderlust is a little stronger in her. And in time she calms down. I’m glad I tried it once, but I likely won’t be doing it again.

If you take her for a walk daily it may actually help her get over it faster because she will start to realize she gets to go out every day.

I tried Max on a harness and leash many years ago when we lived in Utah—also coyote country...and rattlesnakes...and tarantulas.... I finally decided that he was better off being an indoor-only cat. He muttered a bit, but after awhile, he stopped wanting to go outside and didn’t even rush the door any more. He was content to watch the wildlife pass by the windows.

And when we lived in Colorado, we had these:


So I was doubly glad no one wanted to go outside. I took this photo from our deck. Handsome guy but probably looking for a tasty kitty morsel. My neighbor told me the foxes and coyotes would actually lie in wait and rush people walking their little dogs on leashes, grab the dogs, and take off with them.

Ah, KarenKat , now that you've decided to keep her in you will never experience the joy of being dragged through a 6 foot holly bush. That's sort of a life changer. It ended our walkies.

Kflowers said:

Ah, KarenKat , now that you've decided to keep her in you will never experience the joy of being dragged through a 6 foot holly bush. That's sort of a life changer. It ended our walkies.

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Oh man, that is quite an adventure! I felt the fence Juno was close enough for me ... I don’t know if she had made it over if I would ace dropped the leash or we would have both been stuck there for all eternity ...

Neat thread,

we have an indoor cat who we were interested in walking outdoors, however, he escaped the cat-leash everytime. This leash was a configuration of various straps going all around his chest, armpits, and neck, etc.
He did run up four flights of outdoor stairs,

and waited for us back to the door of our apartment, which i found surprising that he could even tell which building was HIS? or which door was HIS?
since the buidlings all look the same,
and the doors of each buildings all look the same,

and Moki had Never seen his front door before.

Still, he found it! amazing to me, anyway.

This was not followed by angst at the windows, as your cat did. but, then again, we live 4 stories up high. Only tree tops out the windows up here....


Which leash do you use?
Anyone know of a safe outdoor leash? I once saw "Cat Daddy" recommended a specific brand of outdoor cat leash, as being very hard for a cat to get out of,
but, i can not find that info on google.....

Yeah, I think the angst is just her personality. I’ve heard people having trouble with aggression outside, not wanting to come back in etc but she was super docile and loving, even when I carried her back in. A couple times I even tugged the harness gently to dissuade her exploring areas that weren’t good and she listensd.

Just super whiny now, lol. She’s still a bit complaining even now, but it’s decreased drastically.

I have found videos of birds, chipmunks and squirrels, with audio, helps my boys deal with not going outside on a rainy day. I have fenced a portion of the yard and sit with them when they go out.

Purr-fect said:

I have found videos of birds, chipmunks and squirrels, with audio, helps my boys deal with not going outside on a rainy day. I have fenced a portion of the yard and sit with them when they go out.

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What a great shot of Greg and Arnold—the head tilt on the right and the leaning forward on the left!

Greg and Arnold are magnificent in every picture you post!

We have so many windows ... it’s actually quite awesome. Olive and Gohan like to rotate around to different windows during the day. They watch the birds and bunnies and occasional child.