When we retired, we moved from 100 acres in the country, where our house was set back a long way from the road, to a small house in a small town. Our four remaining cats had been used to the freedom of the great outdoors in the country.
Once in town, we decided they had to stay indoors. Two of them were old as well as timid, and didn’t really care. The other two were confused. Tiberius especially begged to go out. We bought harnesses and leads and started training them to be tethered outside.
When I came back to Canada from my travels in 2017, one fine spring day I decided to try taking Tiberius for a walk into the park across the street from where we live. John joined me with Tiberius’s sister, Augusta.
I created a monster. Tiberius is now worse than a dog for expecting walks to happen whenever anyone heads towards the door. Worse, when he decides it’s walk time, he bangs at the door and if we ignore that, sets up a yowling, jumps onto the computer keyboard and generally make our lives a misery until we comply with his wishes.
If you too would like to create a walking cat nightmare, here’s how to do it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
First, be prepared for failure.
Not every cat will thank you for tying them up in a harness and taking them into the Wide World. Of our four cats, two are terrified when they identify any human who even seems to be approaching them with intent, even if it’s John or me, who they’ve lived with all their lives.
We did insist that Maddy, another of our cats, try the harness. Even after multiple attempts, she still tries to get back into the house the moment her feet touch the ground outside. Augusta mostly prefers to stay on our property and just walk around the house. Occasionally we can get her to go to the park cross the street, but that’s about it.
Tiberius is the only one who will go for blocks and blocks. But then he was always was interested in whatever was on offer, even babies.
But even Tiberius can be erratic. Sometimes he stops to say hello to every person and every dog we meet.
Other times he decides to be spooked by a kid on a bike or a barking dog, takes off in the direction of the house as fast as I will let him go, and spends the next day getting up his courage to even go across the street again. After that of course, we’re right back to the door banging and demands to get going.
You need the right cat; a self-confident cat with an adventurous spirit. It helps if they already have had some enjoyable experience with being outdoors. They will be motivated.
Second, this will work best if you live in a very quiet area, preferably, near a park.
You may be able to succeed in getting your cat comfortable in a harness and walking on lead. But your walk may be confined to the back yard. If you live on a street where buses or trucks are constantly roaring past it’s unlikely your cat will be happy walking there. Likewise, if you have to drive to a park somewhere, chances are your cat will be freaked out by the car ride before you even get him out into the park.
There’s a reason why you don’t see many cats being walked in the city.
1. Acquire a harness and a length of tie out cord. Measure your cat around the abdomen before you head out to the pet store. Harnesses come in different sizes, although they are adjustable. Once you have the harness, fit it on the cat. You must be sure that it is tight enough to prevent the cat wiggling out of it if they get scared and try to run.
I much prefer a harness with a clip fastening….
….to one with buckles. It’s much harder to fasten a buckle on a harness on a wriggling cat than it is to snap a clip together.
If you think your cat will be afraid of the harness, leave it on the floor and ignore her. She will probably come to investigate it at some point. Once she has accepted it as just another incomprehensible thing you’ve brought into the house, try putting her into it.
Let her wear it around the house for however long it takes her to grow accustomed to it.
2. Start her introduction to the outdoors by just carrying her outside the door while she is wearing the harness. Stroke and soothe her. If she is terrified, take her back inside. Put her down, but leave the harness on. Keep her outside for longer and longer intervals if she starts to get interested. If she remains terrified, this may be your cue to abandon the exercise.
After all, the point is to add interest to her life, not stress.
3. Once your cat is calm when taken outdoors in your arms, fix one end of the tie out cord you bought to a convenient place near the door.
In our case, we should probably increase our home personal liability insurance to compensate for all the lawsuits sure to be brought by people who break their necks after they get entangled in our ‘cat tie out cords death trap’.
Clip the cord to the harness and sit down with the cat, patting him and generally reassuring him. Again, it might take a while before your cat relaxes, and starts to enjoy being outside.
If your cat keeps throwing himself against the door and crying piteously, you’ll have to decide whether to persevere.
Once your cat has relaxed outside on a tethered lead, go inside, but watch out a window to see if he stays relaxed. Give him a few days to get used to being outside on the tethered cord.
4. Unfasten the end of the tether which is not clipped to the cat’s harness, and try leading him a few feet away.
Entice him by calling him, or offering a treat. Walk in the direction of something interesting – perhaps a bush or a plant he has not been able to reach while tethered. If he balks, which he likely will, tug gently on the lead. Be very careful not to pull so hard the harness goes over his head.
If he still won’t come, try picking him up and taking him over to the point of interest. Put him down and let him investigate. Then try walking away again and see if he follows. If he moves, but not in the direction you are going, then follow him.
At some point he will realise he can move further than he could while tethered. He will also begin to understand that a tug on his harness means that going in the direction of the tug will gain him more ground. Eventually, hopefully, he will get that there is a relationship among you, him and the lead.
You’ll soon discover the level of your cat’s tolerance for the hurly burly of the great outdoors. Tiberius will walk in front of our library and look in at all the doors and windows.
He is generally fine with the appearance of an adult, or even a child. But kids on bikes or worse, skateboards, freak him out, especially if they are in packs, and/or screaming.
Which brings us to the last critically important point.
Your cat may suddenly startle and take off without any warning. Hold onto that lead like grim death and be ready to make a flying tackle if necessary.
Be vigilant.
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