This is Conan. Gets into too much trouble on his own so he has to wear a leash out on walks.
Mine will go on walks with me but won’t wear the harness. She doesn’t run off, just kind of trundles around like an old dog lol
That’s kind of adorable. I might get a cat now.
Are you fearful of dogs chasing or barking at her? Or even more importantly, if she panics and runs onto the road where there are cars?
One of my parents’ two cats can occasionally be wrangled into a harness for outdoor exploration, but Mom and Dad have to be careful. She’s a criminal mastermind and exploits any opportunity to do crime, and she really wants to do outdoor crime.
That’s exactly why he’s in a harness now. I already had to bail him out of cat jail once.
I try to but once my cat gets the harness on they don’t want to do anything
That’s what he did at first. So I would put the harness on and plop him in the yard. Once he started associating the harness with getting to go outside, he was all for it. Now when he hears someone pick it up, he’ll run to the door and wait for it to get put on.
My cats also did the same thing lol I just gave up on it and let them be indoor cats. None of them were interested in exploring the outdoors
You have to accommodate them to it. Mine also just flopped down on the ground when I first put him in it, but now he goes on full walks with us. Baby steps :)
Mine is too gelatinous for a harness. She’s able to squeeze herself out of anything.
It’s definitely on the honor system. He knows he can turn liquid at anytime and get out of it. None of the escape proof harnesses are.
Mine will wear the harness and proceed to walk where they want rather than where I want. 🫠
Yes! Pippin LOVES going on walks. I like that he gets some exercise and mental stimulation. He loves to explore new places and cackle and squirrels and birds.
Conan is adorable!
I’ve tried it but my cat gets scared of the footsteps behind her and tries to run away
Out of 6 cars I’ve had over the years only one has enjoyed a harness… of the others there was just a rebellion by slumping on the ground and refusing to move… and another of being a whirling ball of claws… the others wouldn’t even go near of there was a harness about…
must be a pretty big harness to fit around a car… ;)
Argh! Autocorrect failure on phone and jerboa didn’t show my own comment when I posted it! Oops…
My old kitty was a harness kitty but I haven’t tried with Marbles yet. She’ll nees to be come summer but for now she just comes out in the garden with me and sticks around very well.
Marbles is a great cat name! Cat tax please
She’s very cuddly and loves being near us. She also has 4 moments of complete chaos a day in between her cuddly naps
That looks lovely! Do you actually get to walk him like you’d walk a dog, or does he just explore where he wants?
When the weather is nice I take my cat out on his harness too. I just let him explore as he wants… Which just means sniffing around the parking lot near my house (which is the neighborhood Cat Central). I believe my neighbors now knows me as “that weirdo who walks their cat” 😅
I believe my neighbors now knows me as “that weirdo who walks their cat”
Solidarity my brother/sister.
At first he just went mostly where he wanted to go. But I’ve been working with him several years and he’s got a few commands down. If I tug his leash and say “this way” or “come on” he’ll turn and follow me, “psh psh” means ‘hurry up’, and “be good” means ‘stop trying to get in trouble and sit down’. He knows the route we usually take around the neighborhood and is good about following it.
My other harness kitty has been wearing harnesses pretty much since she could walk. You can walk her like a dog. You really don’t even need the leash most of the time, she knows “harness = going for a walk, stay close.”
That’s awesome that you managed to teach him commands! I’d love to do the same, but mine is deaf (has been all his life) and also generally not very perceptive or smart… For example, when I notice 6 cats while we’re out on our walk, he might spot just 1 of them if we’re lucky 😂 So I really have no idea how to even approach teaching him commands. But at least he’s learned he can’t just walk into the street when there’s cars coming (those he doesn’t notice either)!
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I’m going to have to take a moment to discourage outdoor cats, they’re wrecking havoc on the ecosystem, I understand this is a controversial stance because we as a culture have grown to love doing this, but in areas where they’re not native, they’re causing great harm.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/
Well first off, they are indoor cats that I let out my own yard. Secondly, this article is entirely a personal view.
It’s good that they are indoor cats, but whether or not the article is personal is irrelevant, the point is the amount of havoc they’re causing. They’re an invasive species, they kill 1.4-3.7 BILLION birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals in the US alone annually.
They are in fact, the most damaging invasive species in history, and we feed and house them to ensure they keep going, the fact of the matter is we’re letting loose efficient little murder machines, and that isn’t the cats fault, its ours. We shouldn’t allow people to keep invasive species outdoors, the ecosystem is vital.
You raise a good point WRT the ecological impacts, and there are plenty of studies that can show those relationships. There’s an opportunity here to presume that @KingPyrox@beehaw.org is monitoring their cats without losing the impact of your concerns and have a more productive conversation.
Yes, I agree, I should’ve done that.
Cool story bro. Don’t really care though, humans will more than likely kill the birds before cats do 😉 guess we should rid the world of that invasion species too
it’s not like anyone can stop you from letting your cat outside unharnessed, but this is a weird way to respond to the objective fact that cats do a huge amount of harm to environments they’re introduced to–and that at the very least we shouldn’t encourage that behavior and people who do it should know the harm it’s causing
The fact that a mod decided to respond to my comment and not the overall post with the same context is a weirder way to respond then what I’ve put forward.
That cat is harnessed.
As others have already said to you, please try to be respectful and engage in good faith. We’re trying to build something different than what we left. If you’re honest with yourself, you can see that you’re being flippant. Choose grace instead, friend.
No, no I don’t think I will.
I wasn’t trying to argue or engage. This whole thing could have been over after my second comment. The rest was an attack on me for disregarding the mod opinion that could’ve been handled in more tackful ways if they wanted it known
For what it’s worth we don’t have great tools to toggle posting as a mod or not. I understand that it likely looked like a show of force to you, and that’s why I stepped in and addressed everybody involved in escalating it, and did it respectfully. We can all choose to act and speak tactfully, which in my experience includes not rising to something you no longer need to.
Let’s remember to be(e) accountable for how we converse with each other. I think you posted a lovely picture, and hope that you regularly bring your indoor cats, well, indoors when you’re not able to keep an eye on them in the yard like a responsible human.
Accountable for what? Saying that humans are an invasive species? We are
It’s about participation in a group conversation, and one where we recognize that it’s not generally okay to continue to shout at each other when there’s other folks trying to have a nice time. I’m willing to presume that you keep your cats monitored, and nothing you’ve said here would suggest that’s not the case. You could, given the circumstances, suggest people take an active role in monitoring a species many of us love that is also notably dangerous for other animals.
This does not seem like an argument made in good faith.
You must know there’s a difference between people living places, and encouraging the spread of invasive species. Not to say you are doing that.
I wish I could upload my adorable little guy here who loves to go on walks in his harness but both browser and jerboa aren’t allowing me to upload pictures anymore :(
Here he is!!! This is Fred and he’s a little explorer :) his one bad eye means he barely has depth perception so he always thinks he can grab birds flying over 😂
Awww!! He is ADORABLE, oh my goodness! What a pressure* little adventurer! I love him. Thank you so much for sharing his cuteness with us!! 💕
*Edit: Whoopsie! I meant PRECIOUS little adventurer, lol! I didn’t notice my typo until hours later when I went to show my mom the adorable pictures of this cute little explorer! :)
You can upload to an image hosting site like https://catbox.moe/ or imgur and share the link here! I’d love to see you adorable little guy!! :)
Omg thank you!!!
You’re so very welcome! I’m glad I could help! :)
we are trying now to our cats acclimated to harness.
does your harness buckle on top or bottom of harness?
The one in the picture has velcro straps on the bottom and buckles on the side. I’ve started using this one (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q7ZCZQ7) since it takes takes pressure off the neck and moves it to their chest (if you’re having to hold them back or stop them). I nor the cats like the ones where you have to poke their head and/or legs through holes.
