Do you walk your cats?

[evolily]

I really want to start, but I'm afraid to!  One of my cats periodically escapes (and returns) and I think he'd do really well on it.  Another is afraid of the outside, but I'd like to take him outside on a leash to get him less afraid, in case he slips out I don't want him to end up getting lost because he gets spooked.  The other is a kitten and doesn't know what the outside is 

 but I think she's at the ideal age to be introduced to it.

Maybe I'll have to buy a couple harnesses as a birthday present to myself  

 

[playerdark]

You should be careful, cats can get out of a collar easily when it comes to a fight

 

[jtbo]

Oh no, they are not compatible with such.

Tiger is amusing one, when I put leash on him, he just looks at me with question mark on his face, he takes one step and fells on his side and keeps staring.

Mouku is cool when leash is attached and when he realizes there is leash on him he gets panic attack, runs around, runs backwards, rolls jumps, climbs wall and tries to escape the leash which is just moment of biting him or that is what he probably is thinking.

Others get various results, but most won't allow me to put anything on their neck.

Maybe that is feral nature in them, it works better that they walk free and when I call them they come, now I said it works better, I did not say it would work perfectly, cat comes when cat is ready to come, no sooner.

 

[eck1kaylie]

I have a harness and leash for my Ruby cat, and while she doesn't mind the harness while it's on, she's not a fan of being walked. XD I haven't tried taking her outside yet, I started out just walking her in the apartment building late at night (didn't want to overwhelm her). I'm thinking taking her outside might be the breakthrough. She'll do anything to get out. ^-^

 

[mazie]

I love that harness Dante is wearing. It looks to be very secure on him. I am looking like crazy over the internet for a harness for my new rescue cat, Katy. His looks very comfortable and secure. It looks like he cannot "wiggle" out of it. Please let me know if you are pleased with it and if yes, where did you purchase it? Thanks

 

[mollyblue]

Our cats are very different on walks.

Tati loves walks, and has to climb at least 3 trees before we can go in... an hour isn't long enough, and she will literally drag you down the apartment steps to get outdoors.  While walking, you can usually redirect her in the direction you want to go without having to pick her up, but cats are cats, they think they ought to lead.

Snowy is deaf - and a resuce cat that was lost or abandoned at the lake.  Outside is both tempting for her and scary all at the same time.  She loves it outdoors, but is easily spooked by the shadow of anything.. She doesn't like strangers to approach her, or pet her, which strangers tend to do when you have a cat on a leash.  She does love the sunshine, and all the smells of the outdoors, but it usually takes her 15 minutes of sniffing the entraceway to our apartment before she is ready to start walking - and she doesn't care for redirection at all.  If you have to redirect Snowy, she gets even more determined to go her own way.  If she is not ready to come in when you are ready to bring her in, you may have a fight on your hands.

 

[dbljj]

Good luck, Opie will NOT even keep a collar on. he used to pull it off and stick it under the door at night. Bill says he is like you, does NOT sleep in his jewelry. But Tigger always wore his unless they tussled and Opie pulled it off him. Liittle Ally has not removed hers since we got her. if I ever hooked Opie up he needs a body harness, but I never take my cats outdoors unless they are in my arms and that is very rare.. I do however open the slider doors and let them get fresh air and watch the birds feed..

 

[dbljj]

well how sweet, I knew dogs would do that!!  what ever works I always say...

 

[kittymomma1122]

I sent you a private message. Martha Stewart makes some nice ones at Pet Smart also, but they are pricier and I have 4 cats all with harnesses.

 

[ellendelvalle]

Feral cat walks with us. Everyday after feeding her outside she walks along with the little dogs

 

[sophie1]

Both my cats LOVE to go outside.  Really love it.  As in, stand by the back door meowing nonstop love it.  It's made a big difference in how confident and calm they are.  Initially they didn't want to go very far, but now they love to patrol their territory (aka walking around the house 2 or 3 times) and then they'll often go for a good long walk down the block.  It's really fun, but for those times when they are in grass-sniffing mode, it's a good idea to have your iphone with you.  And yes, both of them have hunted successfully on walks - one caught a mouse, the other got a bird.

Unfortunately, they both get scared when people approach them outside. This is a problem since I'm soon going to be moving to a city apartment and they'll be encountering lots of people on outside walks.  Do cats get used to this??  It's been about 6 months since I started walking them regularly.

 

[DreamerRose]

I tried "walking" my cat last summer, but there was no walking. On the contrary, I was chasing him all the time. He'd climb the trees until he was out of reach and then refuse to come down. He wanted to explore the shrubbery and got his leash tangled up in the bushes. Every bird was a magnet, and he had to lunge for it. I gave up after a while. He loves the outdoors, though, and sneaks out when I go out to put out bird seed, so I will try again next summer. We have snow on the ground now.

 

[pompy]

I'd love to try, since he loves the outdoors and has managed to escape several times...I let him out on supervised romps in the backyard sometimes, but I would like to give him more freedom to go out while also giving myself some peace of mind. 

I tried putting a harness on him a few times in the house, but he just sort of flopped over in it. I'll have to properly train him when I have the time.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Found encouraging them wear the harness off and on inside for a week or more gets them conditioned to the whole idea, harness attach to leash inside.  With kittens

it's easy to start right way harness them up wave a wand toy infront of them they won't give a hoot they have a harness on, they will boot up good speed too!

One jogs with me on cement trails, another hiking trails and bushes,senior strolls with no leash.  Even if they escape they wait outside for me to meet them harness/leash go for walk, return home again. Walking now for 15 years chased only once by a pitbull

    

 

[crazy4strays]

This is surprising to me! I didn't know that it was this common to walk cats.

Both of my kitties are harness trained. My older kitty finally got the hang of it when we took him on a weekend trip. He realized that the only way he was going to be able to stretch his legs at rest areas, was if he walked on the leash.

Our old kitty has no desire to go outside, but we take him out on the leash, because he's very sedentary and needs the exercise, fresh air, and mental stimulation. Our young kitty is very active and would prefer to be outdoors part of the time, so leash walks help us, since we would rather keep him indoors for his safety.

 

[dennis47]

Midnight  was surprising cool about the whole walking thing. It's amazing how some cats will take to something, while others will treat it like an approaching sign of doom!

 

[skrakablam]

I recently got a tiny kitten and she was very interested when my older cat would go outside. I started taking the kitten out on the leash to teach her where the door for the house was if she ever ran out. She's pretty scared of the outside still, but one day she snuck out and I'm so glad I taught her where the door was because she sat outside it crying until someone noticed and let her in.  Soooo not really a walk yet but she's good being on it and it was a great learning tool!

 

[sophie1]

 
I tried "walking" my cat last summer, but there was no walking. On the contrary, I was chasing him all the time. He'd climb the trees until he was out of reach and then refuse to come down. He wanted to explore the shrubbery and got his leash tangled up in the bushes. Every bird was a magnet, and he had to lunge for it. I gave up after a while. He loves the outdoors, though, and sneaks out when I go out to put out bird seed, so I will try again next summer. We have snow on the ground now.

The key is to use the leash to direct them away from places you don't want them to go.  I won't allow my cats to get into places that I can't follow.  You don't have to tug on the leash, just stand behind them and keep a firm grip so the leash is taut.  My cats are pretty good at taking direction now - to a point, of course.  They're still cats!

 

[chom-chom]

I walk Chomsky everyday with a harness and leash. Most of the time he is happy just to go up and down the stairwell in the apartment block but sometimes we venture outside. So far we have not ventured off the property. He freaks out a bit with strangers and will run back inside the building.

For those people who take their cats off their property, how did you get to that stage? I feel like there are too many unknowns out there for Chomsky to freak out about.

 

[evolily]

I just bought a harness, I've only taken the two big kitties to sit on the back step so far (it's too cold to explore) but they're actually doing really well on it in the house.  I'm surprised.