Cat Leash

Very often, as mentioned in “The Conditions and Regularity of Cat Physical Exercise“, cats do not usually walk outside, but as we have seen in “How to make a suitable cat door and door bell?“, some cats are really outgoing and they may walk outside the house from time to time. In that case they are not accompanied, but in some cases, they would be accompanied when we walk them.

In either case, it would be a good idea or even crucial if there is a mark on them to distinguish them from other cats. We usually use cat leash as that mark, and we attach the leash to a wearable cat harness on the cats. Some cat lovers may find collar or lead alternatives to leash or harness, but the former is not very good for cats. Also, there are leash for cats and for dogs. Of course we will choose the cat leash because they are supposed to be lighter than dog leash

One important reason is that collar and lead would jerk the cats’ muscles and bones in their neck, whereas harness is usually adjustable so that the cats could feel comfortable when they move around. In fact, the ideal way to fit the harness on the cats’ body is that we can put two fingers between the harness and the cats’ body.

Cats’ Harness

If possible, it would be best to start using the harness when the cats are still in their kitten stage, as it would become something natural for them to “grow up with” when they are using it from their youth. It is still possible to train an older cat to use leash and harness, though it would take more time and patience for us and the cats to adjust. It may be a similar analogy for humans, the younger we are, the easier we can pick up something new and be used to it.

We can train the cats to use the harness and leash by doing the following steps.

Start as Toy – It would be easier for cats to approach the harness and leash if we approach them with it as a toy to reduce their alertness and even repulsion against it. We can start by dangling the harness in front of the cats and clink it so the buckle makes noise. This stimulates the cats’ visual and hearing senses and attracts their attention to the harness.

Next, make a game of it and play it with the cats so that they will not be afraid of it, but rather find it funny. Once we find that the cats feel comfortable with it, put it over them to let them get used to its weight. Again, do this as a game. Try not to make the cats feel we are trying to put it on their bodies for some purpose.

Once we find that the cats feel happy to walk around with it over them, try to put the harness on them without buckle it up yet. Now, the straps are loosen, so watch over the cats and make sure they will not trip over the harness straps by rolling them up. At this stage, let the cats walk around the house “wearing” it for as long as they want, but take it off immediately if we sense they feel enough.

Once we find the cats can feel at ease wearing the harness, start to tie up the straps but keep them neither too tight nor too loose: not too tight so that there are two fingers apart as mentioned above, and not too loose so that the straps trip up the cats. When we feel the cats feel ready, start to buckle the straps properly and let the cats get used to walking with it.

If the cats seem to show some uneasy sign walking with the harness at any stage mentioned above, go back to a previous stage, and try again. Keep going with a given step until we sense that the cats are fully comfortable with that step, until we reach the final stage when the harness is comfortably buckled up around the cats’ bodies.

A key of completing each step forward to the end is that we keep our patience, never forcing any step but always go slowly and repeat often whenever necessary.

Cats’ Leash

Having the cats wearing the harness comfortably is a big step towards the final stage, so to speak, the attachment of the leash to the harness. Before the leash is attached, however, let the cats some period of time to get used to walking with the harness. Once the cats are fully at ease moving with the harness, attach the lead and let the cats drag it around for a while.

Do not attach the leash at this point. Instead, as with the harness at the very beginning, make a game of walking with them with we holding the leash. Let them feel the atmosphere when we hold the leash while they are walking with the harness on them. Once they are free from fear and feel comfortable with the leash in our hands, start to guide them to wherever we want to go. Remember, do it gently.

Once the cats are ready to have the leash attached to the harness they are wearing, walk them in a small area, in a garden for example. At this stage, avoid using too long a leash as it can be risky for the cats to be digress to walk else where for interesting smells and sights; however, neither should we use too short a leash that would limit the freedom that the cats can walk near us. We need to keep a fairly close distance in order to protect the cats whenever possible.