Thread: Advice about training/ keeping indoor cats in general.

I am always surprised to hear about these door and window issues from our UK members. Don't you guys have any flying insects?? In the US it is virtually unheard of to have windows (that open) without screens, and doors that are intended to be left open will have screening available. We leave our sliding doors and our windows open in spring and fall, and the cats just love sitting in front of them--but they are all screened. So my suggestion is to try to screen windows or doors you want to leave open.

As for the rope question...we had a MC mix we took in as a stray several years ago. He had HCM so needed medication multiple times per day, plus being outside wandering is simply too dangerous (cars, large dogs, cat fights, ticks, coyotes, etc.), so we kept him tethered outside. People always told us that you couldn't do this with cats, but we had few problems during the more than four years that he was with us (he eventually died from the HCM). He wore a harness, which was attached by nylon "clothes line" to a pulley system on another clothes line strung between pairs of trees. He had one of these setups in the front yard and one in back, and we would alternate him. We never left him outside when we were not home, and we did have to check periodically in case he got his rope wrapped about a tree, but it worked just as well as it would have with a dog. You certainly could have your guy on a line in your garden while you are nearby.

Introducing the harness sometimes takes a bit of effort. Best to just put it on him inside the house with nothing attached and let him get used to the feel of having it on. Next step is to attach a leash or rope and introduce the harness tugging on him. This can cause some cats to freak out (as I learned the hard way), so it is best to do this shut in a room where they cannot take off or get into trouble. I had one freak out and race around the house dragging a lead, and of course the sound of the lead dragging behind him freaked him out even more, so took a while to stop. We were lucky no injuries or house damage resulted (and of course this could have been very bad if it had happened outside). I think it best to have two people involved in first leash use.

The harnesses we have preferred are the "H style" like this one, which is the model that our MC mix used: Coastal Cat Figure "H" Harnesses - Blue - Whole Pets

While some people will claim that various other styles are more secure, they are just simply wrong about that. Our MC mix wore one of these outside, for 12-15 hours per day, virtually every day for four years--20 thousand hours--with almost no problems. There is no harness that you can put on a cat that they cannot potentially back out of because of the flexibility of their front shoulder joints (see Wikipedia). Our guy got out of his two or three times when he climbed a tree and was able to slide out backwards.

On its largest adjustment, the above harness will just fit a 14 lbs MC. We got larger Lupine H harnesses for our current males, who are >>14lbs, but have not used them yet. Our 14 lbs girl Bella does go outside with me most days, and she usually wears one of these harnesses, although I trust her behavior now so she often has no harness. I do recommend brushing them briefly post harness wearing, as you can get some matting from harnesses.