Leash training our kitten at 6 months

[meeepcosy]

Good Day all! I have a quick question for those who have successfully leash trained their cats: Our kitten Rasberry is about 6 months old now, we have gradually introduced the harness and leash to her for about 2 months now (yes, we worked this slowly haha!), and have taken her out for her first trip outside the apartment last week. So far, we have taken her out 3 times, for about 20 minutes to a half an hour, depending on how much she wants to explore the area. She really seems to be enjoying it, but she gets very angry at us when we take her back inside. Does this mean she wants us to walk her outisde for longer? Is it some kind of behaviourial problem we should deal with? Or is she frustrated? I'm kinda stumped. We don't want to keep het out for too long, because we want to get her used to being outside gradually. What must we do when she gets like that again? She would start meowing and scratch and bite us.

 

[meeepcosy]

We took her out last night as well, for about 45 minutes, we thought the longer she's outside it might make her a bit easier to handle when taking her back in. She enjoyed it thoroughly, but today, she was vomiting? I have her on a bland diet now, but should I rather take her to the vet? She vomited 4 times already while we were at work. Aww, my poor baby. :'( Worried now.

 

[di and bob]

She may have ate a plant or something she shouldn't have, keep a close eye on her, make sure she is drinking enough water. Watch her close next time to see what she eats. The vomiting could be from nerves or excitement too.My cats were leash trained and loved the outdoors. They too got mad until they got more used to it. Just be very careful and don't go far. A charging dog will make ANY harness useless, a cat is a houdini then, I've ended up chasing them for a long ways!

 

[catbehaviors]

Di and Bob is right, the problem should go away as long as you consistently ignore the bad behavior. It sounds as though you're off to a good start with leash training! Enjoy yourselves!

 

[meeepcosy]

Hi there! Thank you so much for the replies! Sometimes I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if there's something genuinely wrong. Guess I'd rather be paranoid than the latter though.

Since I've started her on the bland diet (boiled chicken) she hasn't vomited again. I'm going to keep her on the chicken until tomorrow, see if she improves. If she doesn't I'm taking her to the vet. Other than the few times she's vomited, she seems fine, playful as always. She was a bit angry that we didn't take her out tonight, but we didn't want to take chances.

As for the behaviour, I'm sooo relieved to hear it's not just her. I really want to make her used to go outside every day, but would it be better to do that now? Or must I rather wait until she's better again? Needless to say, she's driving us crazy in the afternoons, she can't wait to start exploring. Haha! Should I ease her into it? Like in the beginning only take her out twice a week, then (three times etc? We just though because she's so adamant to go out it'd be fine to start taken her every afternoon.

This is something we're super excited about, even more so Rasberry, I just want to know that she's okay. And obviously if her behaviour is normal. Haha!

Thank you again for the replies. It is very much appreciated.

 

[meeepcosy]

She just vomited again. I don't know what to do.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

If in doubt; give your vet a call.  Noodles got violently ill on a Sunday last summer (vomiting and then drooling).  I was able to talk with the emergency vet clinic over the phone and monitor her myself. The next day I took her to the vet and they were able to give her medicine to calm her stomach.  They think she ate a bug or something along those lines that didn't agree with her.  But after the vet she got back to her normal self pretty quickly.  I think a good vet's office will give you advice on whether you should take them in sooner or can wait, etc.  

 

[meeepcosy]

Okay, so this is what happened last night: She vomited again AFTER being fed the boiled chicken, and about a half an hour after that I decided to give her some antibiotics. It's called flagyl suspension, it was prescribed by the vet for her a while back when she had an upset stomach. I figured if she ate something that didn't agree with her, and she keeps vomiting because of it, this stuff can maybe help her. Now I know you're not supposed to give your pet old medicine, especially if it's not prescribed for that specific occasion. I just really didn't know what else to do. I gave her a dose of that, and she hasn't vomited since. We've kept a very close eye on her through the night and I also checked that the antibiotics was still usable. This morning she was her crazy normal self, running and jumping all over the place. What I want to know is, do I continue the antibiotics now? And when can we take her outside again?

 

[meeepcosy]

Thanks for the advice MoochNNoodles! I phoned her vet now, told her the whole story. She said I should keep her on the chicken, as well as the Flagyl for the next 3 days. And also, no outdoor trips for Rasberry while she's recovering. She won't like that one bit haha! But the vet said she's still vomiting by tomorrow, we must take her in immediately. I think I'd rather take her in this afternoon, if she's not better though. I'll keep you posted! Thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate it very much.

 

[tammyp]

Hi Meeepcosy,  sounds like you have a plan sorted with the vet.  Hope it all goes well.  I hate it when Kato gets sick - he too can have bouts of vomiting, but it usually clears as and of itself.  I've never associated it with walking outside.  

One thing you may look at a bit later is diet; feed as good as you can, and grain free.  We also have catgrass available which provides good nutrients (Kato scarfs it!)...cats can also use it medicinally to help them vomit, so don't be worried about the odd grass only vomit.

I had to laugh when you said your little one gets angry at going in time!  This was the first time I have EVER heard a cat growl like a dog...Kato has amazing vocalisations!  He would love to be outside lots and lots too.  Mostly we have trained him to come along when we say 'home time'; occasionally he will go on strike and we need to pick him up to bring him in.  He grumbles all the way (and sometimes gently bites)!  He certainly understands 'Do you want a WALK?' and will bolt to his harness.  He also will let us know in unrelenting terms that it is time for his walk each morning - we walk for 1hr.  He has set that time over this summer.  Over the winter, it was more around 30-40mins (he only has one coat of fur, so I think the cold conquers him  - he visably shivers, but won't stay in the warm, such is his will to go on his walk!).  How does he set the time?  He is happy enough to come in, or he starts to head in that way by himself.  He then is also very happy and content for the rest of the day...apart from also needing his couple hours of playtime (we have an energetic boy!)

Walking is a joy, I'm so glad you have found it with your kitten!

PS - one thing I learned last week was NOT to brake the leash with fingers.  Always use the brake on the retractable leash (if that's what you use).  Gives a nasty rope burn if the cat takes off just when you put your finger on the line (have to retrain myself now!)  If you are interested, this is us walking, we are doing some off-leash training too: