Love for all Cats and Pets in world
Love for all Cats and Pets in world
We have mentioned in previous articles that cats are lovers of regularity, privacy, certainty and safety. However, perhaps we have not mentioned in previous articles that, in general, cats are also showing their “signature” regal, independent nature. That is probably the reason why some people the impression that cats are cooler than the dogs and not so easily trainable than the dogs.
The “sad” truth is: it is quite true, but not the whole truth. Another side of the truth is: cats are still trainable, but the methods we use should be careful adjusted to their peculiar temperament, together with our approach to them.
If we always remind ourselves of two Ps, Patience and Practice, as we have been mentioning in various articles, especially in Section Four, then we should be able to train them to be brilliant cats, retaining their own nature, but within some reasonable boundaries we set for their domestic lives.
Walking cats may be one of the most challenging activities than others, because the distance is the closest, and balance of control is the strongest between cats and us, compared with all other activities we mentioned in the whole series. As mentioned in previous articles, the point is that cats enjoy the process, and we love cats, so there is no pointing forcing them to do something when they are reluctant to do so, while we “think” it is good for them. Walking is one crucial joint activity between cats and us, and it takes patience. This is a general situation for cats.
Another point we need to take into consideration, however, is cats’ age. We will understand if we think about human case: not all elderly people are eager to walk. In fact, only a certain proportion of them do. If we understand this, we will readily see if our cats would be suitable for walk, whether it is short of long distance. As listed in “6 Daily Nutritional Requirements for Cats“, cats are regarded as entering seniorhood when they reach the age of ten, which is roughly equivalent to 65 years of age in humans.
Suppose our old cats are healthy and positive enough (for example, no weight issue, or no serious one) to walk a very short distance on the street. The next thing we need to consider is whether they feel comfortable with leash, which we automatically think is a necessary equivalent for walking cats.
As mentioned in “Train your cat to walk on leash and harness“, we use cat leash as a precautionary measure to prevent cats from walking away far behind us, especially when they walk and even run fast for something that arouse their curiosity. This may apply to kittens and adult cats, but this may be less likely to happen to old cats, unless they have been trained to walk with leash (again, see Train your cat to walk on leash and harness).
Therefore, even for the very careful precautionary measure, we can have a harness and a leash at hand when we walk the cats without leash on them, but they most likely will walk slowly beside us.
In case we find the cats are reluctant to walk further after a distance, avoid forcing them forwards. Pause a while. If they are ready to go on, then keep going; otherwise, move back. If the whole process of going home is smooth without a harness and a leash, then leave it and start a short training session for the cats. For the old cats, just remember very carefully that time and patience are the first keys for successful leash training.
So, the third key is the use of the harness and the leash. Make sure the package is light for cats in general and fits well for our particular cats. This is already mentioned in “Train your cat to walk on leash and harness“. Also important is the way we use the leash. Keep the cats on a taut or slightly looped leash when we walk together with the cats.
Avoid having long portion of the leash to drag on the ground as this will leave a space for the cats’ chest and neck to be shocked and hurt when they suddenly move fast and chase a bird or run to escape something scary. A fairly tight holding distance would not only minimize the dashing force on the cats, but also notify us any abrupt incidence right away.
The fourth key is, as mentioned very often, our praise and rewards to the cats whenever they show positive response. Meanwhile, do avoid yelling, pulling the leash or other harsh feedback when the cats do not co-operate. This will only add aversion to the training process and hindrance to the relationship between cats and us. Remember the core thing is that they need time to adjust to something not belonging to their nature, and we are simply trying to add safety to the activity that is beneficial to them. It is not us to need to walk, and walk on the leash, but they do.
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