Harness training...?

[pombina]

Hi all, Ive just been reading another thread on indoor vs outdoor. Now... it made me want to try something... so I went and got the harness I brought for Sleeves a few weeks ago and we tried it on him.
He freaked out, so I don't think theres much chance of us going walkies any time soon...
However everybody seems to be able to take their cats out without hassle (apart from funny looks from the public). Any tips on how to train Sleeves and convince him not to flip around the room and get himself all tangled up trying to get this strange thing off him?
He's only 6 months, and until now Ive thought he was too small for this but we've had a major growth spurt recently. This is part of the reason I want him to get some fresh air and proper exercise (he's indoor only).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[yosemite]

We put the harness on for about a half hour a couple times a day for them to get used to it. Some cats will definitely fight having it on at first until they get used to it. Now Bijou sits while we put on his harness as he knows it means he can go outside on his leash.

You have to be persistent.

 

[charlie'smommie]

I've found that if you put the harness on them (in the house) for a little bit each day it works. With one of my old cats we started out putting the harness on her for 15 min, twice a day. We gradually increased the time until she was comfotable. They generally freak out the first few times but they'll eventually calm down.

That being said not every cat will walk on a leash. Our old Siamese was just fine with the harness... but walk on the leash? I think not

!!. He would simply lie down on his side and refuse to move. After a while my sister and I finally got tired of dragging him through the grass on his leash and left him alone

.

 

[solaritybengals]

I was lucky. Meeka took to it without training. My other 2 refuse. You might look into clicker training though. I've just started clicker training with all 3 girls - not for that reason but now that I think about it eventually I might try to teach the other 2.

 

[hbrady]

My mom sometimes calls her Josephini (in honor of Houdini). She can be quite the little escape artist even when I have her harness on properly and snug.

At first she didn't fight me when she was little...The first time I took her outside, she tried to stalk a bird in the grass. She totally forgot that there was a human at the end of her leash. Needless to say, the bird flew away long before she even got close.

 

[jcat]

I started training Jamie to a harness when he was about 4 months old. I put it on him inside for about half an hour, and distracted him with games and treats. He accepted it after a few days, and then I attached his leash and started all over with the games. The first few days that I took him outside, I just sat on the ground with him on my lap or shoulders, and let him look around. He soon wanted to explore.
This photo is from last week:
He now wears a dog harness (we started out with one for ferrets), and the leash is a 5-meter retractable one.

 

[carolpetunia]

We tried a harness on Dylan, one of my parents' cats. Inside the house, he ran in such extreme panic that he slammed himself into things at full speed, and we were terrified he'd get hurt, so we took it off. (They say you should attach the leash and let it drag, but I was afraid it might catch on something and hurt him.)

You're supposed to let them wear the harness inside the house for a little while at a time for several days, so we tried again -- but Dylan responded with the same wild-eyed terror. Then I attached the leash and took Dylan out in the back yard to show him what the "reward" would be if he could learn to tolerate the harness -- but he yanked the leash out of my hand, raced away, and got so tangled up in a gigantic bush that I had to crawl in and cut the harness off to keep him from strangling himself!

After that, we decided NEVER AGAIN. Maybe Dylan would eventually learn to accept the harness, but at what cost to his trust in us, and to his sense of dignity and independence?

I know there are people whose cats don't seem to mind... but I just don't have the heart to put a harness on any of our babies.

 

[shiari]

The kitten, Burdock, has very few issues with the harness. Mostly a case of acting like his entire hind end is useless every now and then.
Mallorn on the other hand started growling at me the moment I went to do the chest strap. He was having nothing of it, and I'm going to respect that.... I like my fingers where they are, after all.

 

[nakoruru]

pouncer is very good with her harness. ^^ what i did before actually walking her in it was have her get used to the feeling of having a harness on- wearing it maybe half an hour every two days or so. at first she tried to bite it and wiggle out of it, but she got used to it soon enough. the earlier you train the babies, the better.

 

[pombina]

Thankyou for everybodies replies. I know where I went wrong now, I put the harness on and attached the lead, whereas I should have just let him run around with the harness on.
Im going to try this again in a few days. He just got neutered yesterday and I am so unhappy with the vets treatment of me, so god knows how they treated him. I don't want to cause anymore upset for him so soon.
But now that he is neutered I really want to get him out. It sounds like some cats take it and some dont... I suppose its just the luck of the draw but as mentioned I don't want his trust in me to be damaged so I'll try and gradually introduce this into his life and let him see the rewards!!

Thanks for all your help everyone

 

[opiebopie]

I have 6 cats and only one of my cats has the relaxed personality to wear the harness. I really haven't tried it on the others because I know it will be a fiasco. Maybe you can let him wear the harness inside for a while, so he gets use to it. It is better then letting him roam free and get hurt or killed. Opie is my harness boy!

 

[girlieq]

I had a thread about harness training, but since this thread is already bumped, I may as well just ask a question here.

Rowan is fine wearing his harness, he's to the point where he doesn't even fight when we're putting it on. He wasn't so thrilled about our little outside trip today, though. I just took him up the steps and to the walkway, but after a few minutes, he was in a rush to get back inside. Will he always dislike being outdoors, or do you think that he'll learn to like it?

Could his dislike of the outdoors be due to his feral/abandoned kitten history? Do cats like that associate the outdoors with starving?

And if you have a harness trained kitty, do you drive with them in a carrier, and then take them out on the leash when you arrive wherever you're going, or do you just let them roam the car?

 

[mom2salemisis]

Originally Posted by GirlieQ

I had a thread about harness training, but since this thread is already bumped, I may as well just ask a question here.

Rowan is fine wearing his harness, he's to the point where he doesn't even fight when we're putting it on. He wasn't so thrilled about our little outside trip today, though. I just took him up the steps and to the walkway, but after a few minutes, he was in a rush to get back inside. Will he always dislike being outdoors, or do you think that he'll learn to like it?

Could his dislike of the outdoors be due to his feral/abandoned kitten history? Do cats like that associate the outdoors with starving?

And if you have a harness trained kitty, do you drive with them in a carrier, and then take them out on the leash when you arrive wherever you're going, or do you just let them roam the car?

none of my babies (cats or dogs) roam free when in the car. it is not only a danger to you because they could get under your feet or on the dashboard but if you were to get in an accident they could get seriously hurt. my brother had a dog once that he had harnessed and tied to the cab of the truck somehow she managed to break loose and jumped out of the truck bed at 70 mph!!!!! he did not even know what happened till he got to where he was going and saw her. it made me sick and i was so mad at him animals should ALWAYS be in a carrier or pet car seat when ever they are in a car. of course this is just IMO but I will and have never let them "roam" in the car

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by Mom2SalemIsis

none of my babies (cats or dogs) roam free when in the car. it is not only a danger to you because they could get under your feet or on the dashboard but if you were to get in an accident they could get seriously hurt. my brother had a dog once that he had harnessed and tied to the cab of the truck somehow she managed to break loose and jumped out of the truck bed at 70 mph!!!!! he did not even know what happened till he got to where he was going and saw her. it made me sick and i was so mad at him animals should ALWAYS be in a carrier or pet car seat when ever they are in a car. of course this is just IMO but I will and have never let them "roam" in the car

I think it depends on your animal. Bijou and Mika are not in a carrier in the car but they are very calm and are happy to lay on the seat or up in the back window. When I took Tia in the car to the airport, I kept her in the carrier as I wasn't sure how she would react. She cried for about 20 kms. and then she calmed as long as I had my finger in the carrier for her to rub against.

 

[pombina]

I let Sleeves out in the car. I know I shouldnt though. He gets himself so worked up in his carrier that he tries to force his face under the bottom of the door. He broke his claw once trying to get out aswell.
I prefer to let him out if we are both travelling in the car so theres one to hold him, so if I'm on my own I'll keep him in his carrier for as long as possible but then he just lies on the seat beside me and falls asleep.
I just drive a lot slower and just take it easy, if anyone gets annoyed at me going slow they can always overtake...

 

[mom2salemisis]

I guess i got it easy my cats know that when they get put in the carrier that they are going in the car and they don't give me any problems at all i put them on a leash when we get out of the car so they don't associate the carier with vets and stuff

 

[cristiana]

I just put Pruie in a harness for the first time last night and he was NOT having it. I figured out why immediately and found out it was because I had it on him completely wrong. He went tearing around the house and whenever I tried to help him, he'd growl.

Just about a half hour ago, I tried again. This time, I looked at a tutorial first on how to properly put it on him. He didn't like it at first, and backed away from me, but I pulled him in, kissed him on the head and scratched his ears, and he just sat still as I buckled it around his back. After walking backwards and then running like he just snorted cat nip, he went back and laid down with it on. 

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• cristiana
• Mar 4, 2014

I suggest, if this is still an issue, trying every day to put it on your kitty. Let him smell it first to see that it's nothing to be afraid of.  You also have to remember that harness training can take weeks. They have to get used to how it feels on their body first and that can take a bit of time. Good luck!