Leash/harness for Cats?

[CaroPhoenix]

I've seen at pet stores a harness system where a leash can be attached for cats. Has anyone ever trained their cat to walk on the harness/leash? Is it hard to do? Can a 6-year-old cat be trained to do this? (You know, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, can you teach an old cat new tricks? :lol:) Just wondering. Any and all advice is appreciated!

[blas]

My grandma takes her kitty for walks all the time with his leash and harness. Even ties him up outside like a dog so he can watch the birds and contemplate.

But he was a kitten when she started that, so I'm not sure.....it's possible you can teach an older cat how to get used to a leash.

[InsanityInc]

Some cats will walk on a leash, some won't. I've had 4 older cats that I sort of trained. It was more THEY were taking me for a walk though :rolleyes:. After the first few times they tend to get the idea. Just be sure to take it slow, and do it in a fairly quiet place, and where you can scoop them up if they freak. :D kitty treats help. :D

One problem I did encounter about it, was if you have a Houdini for a cat, they can get out of the figure eight harnesses fairly easily. The type designed for small dogs that have a circle around the body with another one around the neck, and a set of straps connecting the two did better. My one cat could slip anything but that in about 5 seconds flat.

[Kittish]

I've trained an older cat to wear a harness and (sort of) walk on a leash. One thing I've definitely noticed about cats, they like to explore and go under, through, and around things. Think 'cat's cradle', done with the leash instead of just string.

InsanityInc was spot on about the kind of harness to use, the figure 8 ones are useless for cats. They come right out of them.

[Der Cute]

Growing up, we had 2 cats. We used harness-leashes for them to go outside. Mouse would literally DANCE if she saw you at the drawer with her leash! She LOVED it.
Slip it on her, attach under her arms/belly, and open the door, she would pull me outside and just be a cat exploring things. She would forget she had a harness on her body.

Pooky, now, who was a totally different kitty in her own rights, she HATED it. Pooky would tolerate the harness-leash, but would slink around. If you put it on her and took her outside, she would not stand up and walk like normal, she would just slink, crouched low to the ground. It was hilarious. Because sometimes she'd forget she was on the leash, and walk like normal. Once she felt a tug or the strings...SLINKY CAT!!

Man, I miss those girls.

But yes, leashes can be on cats. Mouse took to it easy, Pooky didn't.

Cutenoob

[Shangri-laschild]

I would recommend having the cat wear the harness around the house so that it gets used to it. That's what we did with our cats ( one old and one young) and it worked for both of them.

[protege]

I tried a kitty leash when I first brought my grandmother's cat home. He was an outside farm cat then. However, once he saw the neighbor's large dog...he *refused* to go outside. Not even on the front porch! If I tried to take him out there, he'd start crying and trying to get into the house. Too bad, since he loved to sleep on Grandma's porch swing, as well as the chairs.

I didn't even attempt to take Snow outside at all. She was a deaf kitty, and with the traffic on my street, I wasn't about to put her life in danger. Closest she got to being outside...was sitting next to the front screen door.

Baxter and Sally don't like collars, so I don't plan on even trying. Baxter's already had a nasty problem with his collar...it was on too tight, and left some nasty gashes on his neck :eek:

[Dreamstalker]

We tried to train McGriff once. The little Houdini managed to slip his harness O_o (not the figure-8 style, this was the double loop body harness) and we spent the next hour playing hide-and-seek. An open can of tuna ensured that we won :D

[BookstoreEscapee]

My mom used to put Stripes on a leash, but he didn't really "walk" on it, per se. He was very interested in getting outside, and he just wanted to go wherever struck his fancy. We didn't have a harness, though, just an old dog collar, so she didn't do it very often, and stopped because we figured it was just a matter of time before he managed to slip his head out of it, and taking him out was just encouraging him to try to escape even more.

Ironically, when he did manage to escape last week, he just stood near my mom looking around like he didn't know what to do (she was taking the dog out and didn't even see the cat go out with them).

[Mr. Rager!]

My roommate got a leash and harness for his cat... he tried walking his cat. The cat rolled on to his back, whined... flipped around and didn't make much of a walking companion.

Now, I had a cat that I could walk on a leash and harness, she was amazing. I miss her.

I guess it just depends on the cat.

[Amethyst Hunter]

I've never taken any cat I've had for walks outdoors (nowhere to take them where it'd be safe, plus I didn't want to pick up any nasties like ticks or fleas), so I have no experience in this area. However, if you do it, my advice is to take your time and let the kitty get used to it on his/her own terms (i.e., don't keep forcing them to do something if it's pretty clear they don't want to and are freaking out about it). Cats CAN be trained, but it takes patience and time and someone who's willing to work with them. Never scold kitty for resisting; praise him/her if kitty looks like he's/she's taking well to it (or about as well as a cat can be expected to, anyway). DEFINITELY keep some ID on the kitty when you go out as a just-in-case; most pets that are lost don't get back to their homes because there's no ID on them (one reason why microchipping and collars with tags are highly recommended - neither is particularly expensive). :(

Also, be wary if kitty stops to check out any outdoor flora/fauna. Grass in general doesn't harm cats and the worst you could expect from that is to have it harked back up on your floor at 3 am where you're most liable to step half-asleep and barefooted in it. But some flowers and other plants are very poisonous to cats.

Last but not least, make sure Kitty is up to date on vaccinations - this is both for kitty's safety and yours: diseases can travel via air or things kitty comes into contact with, and some areas have laws wherein if a pet injures someone (lot less likely with a cat, but you never know how one will react in a strange situation), that county can seize the pet and have it put down against the owner's wishes. :( (Again, this is more for dogs than cats, but I'd hate to see it happen to any pet)

[XCashier]

At the Portland Pirate Festival, I saw a woman walking her cat on a harness. Not only was it wearing the harness and leash, it was wearing an Elizabethan ruff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruff_(clothing))!

[Evil Queen]

Little Fat PITA Cat was harness trained. We trained her at a fairly young age; I think she was a year old when she was finally big enough to fit in a small dog harness. The Cat harnesses just slid right off of her.

She liked it pretty well, though one side always frayed faster then the other because she liked to scratch this one spot on the side of her neck. She only really got out of it (she was like a little cockroach) when she didn't want to be caught and stuffed into the pet carrier (for trips to the vet and North Carolina; she hated car rides longer then 30 minutes).

As for Leash training.... better luck next time?

[lastofthesummerwine]

My dear friend, Sharon, has two lovely, healthy cats who will walk on leashes. It is a sight to behold; when she takes them out, every head turns and all fingers point. I believe it didn't take her a terribly long time to train them but I will ask her next time I see her. Insofar as age is concerned, both were about a year old by the time her work was done.

Evie walks without protest the entire time but DC (Damned Cat) will occasionally balk.

I never thought that those two would figure into any reply!

[RetailWorkhorse]

As for Little Fat PITA Cat, well, it helped that she thought she was a dog. :D

[Javakat]

I've got two cats right now. My 10 year old tabby really enjoys going our on her harness. She took a while to get used to it. We take her out on the leash to the park, and people seem to get a kick out of seeing kitty out for a walk.

Just be aware of your surroundings if you go out to public places, you don't want to have a dog freak the cat out. My tabby's brother climbed onto my hubby's head when we took them to the park years ago.

My 5 year old cow cat, however, just will not accept the harness. Try to put it on him, and he just goes into dead kitty mode. We only put something on him when we take him out, like the vet or when we moved.

My tabby, Dessy on her harness:
http://files.myopera.com/javakat/albums/61094/20060530%20124.jpg

[Mighty Girl]

It's really anybody's guess. I've seen it done successfully, and not so much. Kind of like baths- where if you start them as kittens, they kind of get used to it. Our cats have NO interest in going outside. They've been inside cats forever, and while they like to have the windows open (not right now- allergies are too awful- sorry kitties!!!) that's pretty much their limit. But my mom takes her cat out on a harness.

The main thing to remember is, a cat can get out of anything- even a harness. So you know your cat and your area best and you just have to base your decision on that. My mom's cat can last about 10 min. outside totally supervised before she tries to get loose, and my mom lives on a busy street, so she makes sure to limit the time accordingly.

Obviously as I'm sure you know, most cats won't hesitate to wiggle right out of a leash, so maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't even chance it.

[marty]

I've started leashing training my one and a half year old kitty. I'm not sure I can really compare it to training other cats though, she's partially brain damaged so she's really REALLY chill. She got used to a collar in about ten minutes and hasn't ever tried to wriggle out when I've taken her out. She hasn't got past the porch yet, but I think that's because she's not used to stairs.

I'll go with the "depends on the cat" thing, yeah.

[Shangri-laschild]

My roommate got a leash and harness for his cat... he tried walking his cat. The cat rolled on to his back, whined... flipped around and didn't make much of a walking companion.

Now, I had a cat that I could walk on a leash and harness, she was amazing. I miss her.

I guess it just depends on the cat.

My younger cat did this at first too when we got her used to the harness. She whined and complained and got dramatic about it. Once she realized it meant she could go outside more often, she loved it though.

[aniwahya]

I harness my tabby when I take him outside, since he is an alley cat at heart and would run amok with nary a worry about cars and other city dangers. He does pretty good now, but when i first put him in the harness he would lay there with such a sour puss look. Then he started doing death rolls. However, after figuring out that the harness means going outside he is now a lot better and walks on it. Of course every once and awhile he disagrees with me on which area to explore, and will throw himself down like a two year old having a tantrum. At which point the only way to move him is to drag his 22lbs ass across the ground. My mom kept going on about it being cruel (it doesn't hurt him) until he did it to her. :rolleyes: Now she agrees that it is one of the funniest thing he does, just the way he throws himself down and stares at you like "Drag me!", and that I need to get it on video. :p

So, yeah cats can learn to walk on harnesses and leashes as long as your stubborn enough to put up with the initial tantrums and the occasional tantrum later on. Hell, I happen to think the tantrums are funny. KInd of like watching an SC meltdown. :D

[CaroPhoenix]

Walking jackets for cats (http://www.hdw-inc.com/walkingjackets.htm)

I have come across these items: They're walking "jackets" for cats. They cover more of the cat's body than the figure 8 harnesses & makes it harder for the cat to escape. Has anyone used these before?

I haven't bought any harness/leash yet but I'm seriously thinking of it. I hate wrestling my cats into their carriers when I have to take them to the vets. :cry: