When Mimi the cat visited us at Pet Fiesta coming on a leash (like a dog!), I was totally intrigued. Then Oreo wrote to me to tell me that he too goes for walks on a leash (like a dog!).
Oreo suggested that I could try putting a harness on my cats to see if they would take to it. After all, Oreo started off, in his own words, “flipping like a fish” too. This was precisely what Cow did when we put the harness on him years ago and we gave up after that.
The only time that the harness worked was when Ginger had to be caged to safeguard him from Mr “Terrorist” Quack’s attacks. I would take Ginger out for walks on the harness.
So, today, I dug out Ginger’s harness and decided to try it on our most obliging cat – Tabs.
This was Tabs’ first reaction.
This was next.
I didn’t pull her anywhere. I just let her go wherever she liked within the house and outside in the house compound.
Of course she wasn’t comfortable with this strange thing on her.
Oreo had already forewarned me that there is a way to get out of the harness – just walk backwards. Well, Tabs tried this too (walking backwards), but I made sure the harness was always behind her, and pulled taut. Tabs didn’t manage to get out of it. Then Tabs tried lunging forwards a few times. That failed too.
So, she decided to just sit.
Tiger was very concerned and kept watch from the Stargate.
Next, it was Tiger’s turn!
Tiger was less disturbed by it. Oh well, Tiger is KNOWN for his calmness.
Next, it was Bunny’s play time.
So just for the fun of it, I put the harness on Bunny.
Ha! What do you know, it didn’t bother Bunny in the least!
He happily went about his way, doing everything he would do, as though the harness wasn’t even on him!
However, I have reservations about taking them out of the gate. What if they like outside so much or they wish to explore and the next time they escape, they might just make a bee-line for the gate (Tabs and Tiger come out quite often to play).
Bunny gets his playtime whenever Jia-Wen is back and Bunny has already made many bee-lines out and he’s gone up and down the road, to at least as far as four houses both ways. He has even crossed the road and gone up to the playground using the steps. Maybe he thinks he can conquer the road just as he did in the old neighbourhood. Cow and Bunny ruled the entire road back there in our old neighbourhood and no other cat dared to come in.
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7 responses to “Harness training!”
Actually, you should let the cats out occasionally to familiarize themselves with the surroundings so that in the event that they do escape, they will recognise the landmarks and know how to get back once they want to.
Bunny, Tiger, Tabs and Indy get trips out quite often, but certainly not Pole and Cleo because these two would make a few jumps and land up on someone’s roof a few houses away. As for Cow…oh well, he’s Cow. I’m banking on the fact that cats smell their way home… When we first moved in, Indy did escape to the playground and he finally came back at night. We saw two pairs of eyes glowing in the dark! It was Indy.
Walkies-ngiao! Did Tabs, Tiger and Bunny ask to go out on the harness again?
This is us last year, having our walk in the park-ngiao. 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/OreoBartholomeowBalestorm/photos/a.511163472296109.1073741830.437193033026487/859658890779897/?type=3&theater
Wow, Oreo! So did you enjoy the walk? It looks like Hazel was reluctant to walk?
Yes, Dr Chan-ngiao. I loved the walk. Little Nut didn’t want to walk at first… she wanted to climb back into the safety of our bag. But when Mama carried her to the middle of the field where there were trees-ngiao, she started walking around and sniffing and even considered climbing a tree. I just kept walking Papa to the edge of the field where the big drain is. I know Mama don’t like me going there-ngiao but I like making Papa pick me up and carrying me back to safe zone before I walk him back to the edge again. Hehehehe…
If you have the patience, learn from a professional animal trainer how to walk a cat with a leash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qSMk8tJB20. 😀
Oreo, being the clever and talented cat that he is, does not need further training. 😛
Hi Chen, thank you very much for the link. I have the patience, but I’m still deciding if I want to walk them at the playground. My fear is that once they are familiar with the playground, they might run there on their own. Tabs, Tiger, Indy and Bunny get trips out of the room quite often and so far, Tiger and Tabs stay within the confines of the house compound and I’m not too worried.
It’s a great video, but too bad the cat is wearing a collar. I was told by a vet that a cat should never be on a collar-and-leash because it might break their neck bone if they lunge forward. Cats should only wear harnesses, not collars if a leash is used. The neck bone does not have the same flexibility as that of dogs.
Anyway, collar aside, the tips are great!