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Train your cat to walk on a leash!
By Elizabeth Perkins of Elizabeth Cunningham Perkins
Folks around this east side Milwaukee neighborhood see me walking my Tortoise Cat on a leash and ask "How did you train your cat to walk on a leash?" or exclaim "I would love to be able to walk my cat on a leash!" My Tortoise Cat companion is the first feline friend I have ever enjoyed strolling down the block with out of a lifetime of kitty companionship. All my other cats were happy to stay indoor (as are most cats, I suspect) but not this Tortoise Cat. She would howl and body-slam the door for several episodes each day, then give up in discouraged disgust. I knew I had to find a way for her to go outside even though I would not be willing to let her out on her own - too dangerous around here, besides being illegal. So I visited a discount pet store and purchased a 'small pet' sized harness, the kind that buckles under the belly. The store had a large selection and I looked for the smallest sized harness on the long rack. It is important to use a harness instead of a collar for two reasons - cats can easily remove or wiggle out of a collar and cats that get loose wearing a collar might still get hung up on something (if they didn't get out of the collar). Still, I had to poke an extra hole in the harness to make it fit snugly enough because my cat is petite. It is difficult to poke through the thick, strong, tightly woven fibers of a pet harness and the hole tends to close back until it gets used regularly. I poked the extra hole with an awl and persisted in using it until it stayed open and the harness became easier and easier to buckle. It is very important that a cat's harness fit snugly yet with just enough room room for a finger to squeeze underneath. (There are other kinds of pet harnesses without buckles but I have not tried any yet.) If you can get the harness on your cat at all, it is a promising sign. With some cats, getting the harness on would take three people and two would have to go to an emergency room afterward! This cat of mine did struggle some but as a long-time cat fancier I could tell this was not a serious struggle. I didn't get bitten or scratched when I put her in the harness for the first time so I said to myself "Wow, this might work out!" and proceeded with the project. But of course, your cat usually won't walk on the leash, just flop over and look at you, with that you-must-be-kidding LOOK...as if to say..."WHAT? I'm a CAT!" So how do you train the cat to start walking on the leash? The trick is this: I didn't train my cat. My Tortoise Cat enjoyed being outside day by day but flopped over, giving me that catty incredulous look for the better part of a year. So we just spent some periods outside, and I stopped expecting her to walk on the leash. Until one day, I decided to hold her up from underneath her belly just to show her she could walk with the harness on if she wanted to. This seemed to have no effect whatsoever - for she flopped over again and gave me THE LOOK as usual - but later I did notice my Tortoise Cat watching the doggies go by our window more intently than she ever had before. Then suddenly, it was almost as if a little light bulb lit up over her cute Tortoise Shell head. It was as if she had been zapped by a paradigm shifting, revelatory AH HA moment where she exclaimed..."Oh! The doggy folk take their Big Ones out on those silly strings! That must be what my Big One wants! Well why not? I can take the Big One out on a string." The next day she just started walking - a few steps at first, then several more - and this Tortoise Cat has been strolling our neighborhood ever since, making friends with many folks and being a buddy to many doggy-folks, and making a radically cute spectacle of herself. Of course my cat-on-a-leash still meanders, tugs, pauses to read pee-mail, and stops suddenly for holes and tufts of nibbling grass and territory scanning! I don't suppose all cats can be persuaded to start taking their Big Ones out on a string. And the cats that can probably won't trot steadily along with their Big Ones like most doggies seem content to do. Cautions: Watch your cat closely for suddenly rushes up a tree so you can take action to prevent the leash from getting tangled or stuck. And watch for interactions with other animals, especially at night, especially big or aggressive doggies and wild life like possums, voles, raccoons, and skunks and make sure safe distances are kept and boundaries respected. Strolling with my Tortoise Cat is a negotiation process but we have great fun as weather conditions allow. I usually have to carry her anywhere she has no interest in going...such as back toward the residence on a sunny day. If your cat companion clearly longs to go outside and has a flexible, layed-back disposition, go ahead and try my 'method' and see what happens. Remember it took my Tortoise Cat the better part of a year to grok the possibilities and choose to participate. My Tortoise Cat was already full grown when I began taking her outside for those flopping over periods with the harness and leash on. A kitten might very well catch on quickly. Good luck!
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Contributor's Note
Now and then a someone we meet along the way exclaims "My cat walks on a leash too!" but mostly I get amazed and wistful reactions. My Tortoise Cat helps me meet more folks and open many interesting conversations.
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Short Tales of the Tortoise Cat
   
Cats will stop for holes, pee-mail reading, and natural scratching posts!
Cats will stop suddenly for nibbling grass tufts too!
Cats do like to take the higher ground!
Ok, we can go back inside now!
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She's a pretty cat! I have two adult males (neutered) and we walk with them outdoors frequently; no leash but we live in the country and walk through fields, they are great followers. I would love to try to train them to walk on a leash so we could walk with them elsewhere. (where there are cars, dogs, and other dangers)
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This intel was contributed by ECP
ECP
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May, 2012
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