Speaking of harnesses...

Has anyone had luck with cats and harnesses and leashes? I really think
Rosalie might enjoy walking with me and Zoe (the dog) sometimes but I
imagine she would totally freak out if I tried to put a harness on her
(point of reference: she still won't let me pick her up). Anyone had any
luck with harnesses on their cat?

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:49:48 +0000 (UTC), all of a sudden, ceb
exclaimed:

Has anyone had luck with cats and harnesses and leashes? I really think
Rosalie might enjoy walking with me and Zoe (the dog) sometimes but I
imagine she would totally freak out if I tried to put a harness on her
(point of reference: she still won't let me pick her up). Anyone had any
luck with harnesses on their cat?

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

Yup! I trained Meep to a harness and leash at a very young age.

You have to get her to trust you first, before you try to put a
harness on her, or you risk destroying whatever small trust she has in
you so far.

You need to do this right, or she'll never accept the harness.

Once she lets you pick her up, get a figure-8 cat harness and put it
on her. Cats can get out of H-shaped harnesses fairly easily. Let
her freak, then take it off once she calms down. Put it on her every
day until she consistently accepts/ignores it. Never take it off
until she's calm, unless she's in trouble.

Next, find a short length of 1/4" or so cotton rope - maybe two or
three feet, needs to be long enough to drag on the floor, short enough
not to catch on things. Tie it to the harness, and again, do this
each day until the rope dragging behind doesn't bother her.

Goes without saying that you are supervising her at all times during
these steps.

The next step is to attach a leash. At this point, you're still in
the house. Keep hold of it, but let her go where she pleases and try
not to put any pressure on it yet. Follow her around. Once she gets
used to that, gradually introduce some pressure, and try to gently
convince her to go the way you want to go. Once she accepts this -
passive resistance is OK, Meep still does that, what you want is for
her not to freak out and do the 'fish out of water' act - take her out
on the leash in the back yard.

When you both have that down pat, try a short walk in your local
neighborhood. I can't take this step, 'cause Meep's terrified of
strangers. She'll only work on a leash if there isn't a soul around
'cept my husband and myself.


jmc
usenet [at] jodi [dit] ws
Any day you learn something isn't a total waste.

No problem with first cat as a six month old kitten. I wouldn't try
with the other cat, who came as a semi-feral and with strong objections
to feeling restrained. It would be too stressful for her not to be able
to retreat when she feels nervous.Isn't Rosalie also a semi-feral who
objects to being picked up? I'd be cautious. It sounds like it might be
more upsetting than pleasurable for her.

jmc wrote in
:

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:49:48 +0000 (UTC), all of a sudden, ceb
exclaimed:

Has anyone had luck with cats and harnesses and leashes? I really
think Rosalie might enjoy walking with me and Zoe (the dog) sometimes
but I imagine she would totally freak out if I tried to put a harness
on her (point of reference: she still won't let me pick her up).
Anyone had any luck with harnesses on their cat?

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

Yup! I trained Meep to a harness and leash at a very young age.

You have to get her to trust you first, before you try to put a
harness on her, or you risk destroying whatever small trust she has in
you so far.

You need to do this right, or she'll never accept the harness.

Once she lets you pick her up, get a figure-8 cat harness and put it
on her. Cats can get out of H-shaped harnesses fairly easily. Let
her freak, then take it off once she calms down. Put it on her every
day until she consistently accepts/ignores it. Never take it off
until she's calm, unless she's in trouble.

Next, find a short length of 1/4" or so cotton rope - maybe two or
three feet, needs to be long enough to drag on the floor, short enough
not to catch on things. Tie it to the harness, and again, do this
each day until the rope dragging behind doesn't bother her.

Goes without saying that you are supervising her at all times during
these steps.

The next step is to attach a leash. At this point, you're still in
the house. Keep hold of it, but let her go where she pleases and try
not to put any pressure on it yet. Follow her around. Once she gets
used to that, gradually introduce some pressure, and try to gently
convince her to go the way you want to go. Once she accepts this -
passive resistance is OK, Meep still does that, what you want is for
her not to freak out and do the 'fish out of water' act - take her out
on the leash in the back yard.

When you both have that down pat, try a short walk in your local
neighborhood. I can't take this step, 'cause Meep's terrified of
strangers. She'll only work on a leash if there isn't a soul around
'cept my husband and myself.


jmc
usenet [at] jodi [dit] ws
Any day you learn something isn't a total waste.

Thank you so much for the helpful information!

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

"Tracy" wrote in news:1104993364.668878.52860
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

No problem with first cat as a six month old kitten. I wouldn't try
with the other cat, who came as a semi-feral and with strong objections
to feeling restrained. It would be too stressful for her not to be able
to retreat when she feels nervous.Isn't Rosalie also a semi-feral who
objects to being picked up? I'd be cautious. It sounds like it might be
more upsetting than pleasurable for her.


Yes, that's Rosalie. You are probably right, since she doesn't like to be
picked up she wouldn't like that feeling of restraint either. Looks like I
will need to wait a while at least. I just have this feeling that she would
like to come with us, but as jmc pointed out with her cat, she probably
wouldn't enjoy meeting up with other cats/dogs/people.

And I don't want to freak her out -- she has definitely been slow to trust
and I don't want to mess up our relationship.

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 14:29:48 +0000 (UTC), all of a sudden, ceb
exclaimed:

jmc wrote in
:

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 18:49:48 +0000 (UTC), all of a sudden, ceb
exclaimed:

Has anyone had luck with cats and harnesses and leashes? I really
think Rosalie might enjoy walking with me and Zoe (the dog) sometimes
but I imagine she would totally freak out if I tried to put a harness
on her (point of reference: she still won't let me pick her up).
Anyone had any luck with harnesses on their cat?

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

Yup! I trained Meep to a harness and leash at a very young age.
snip


jmc
usenet [at] jodi [dit] ws
Any day you learn something isn't a total waste.

Thank you so much for the helpful information!

--Catherine
& Rosalie the calicohead

No problem! I'm here to debunk the legend that cats cannot be
trained! Even just a harness sans leash is useful, for instance a
squirmy cat at the vet - gives you something to hold on to that won't
choke the poor thing.

I also hope that since she's now trained to not fight pressure (well,
sorta. She IS a cat, after all, not a horse!), if (God forbid) she
gets hung up and her quick-release collar doesn't, there's at least a
chance she'll just sit and wait for help.

jmc
jmc
usenet [at] jodi [dit] ws
Any day you learn something isn't a total waste.