Thread: Training Maine coons on a leash?

Have any of you seen/tried this jacket harness? The lady who makes these has Bengals but in the "Cat Walk" on her website, there is a photo of a cat named Flynn who looks very Maine Coonie.
We tried Gabby with a harness but she ably demonstrated the "reversing-out-of-harness" technique and with the road outside our house being a wide straight one (supposed to be a 30 limit but that hasn't registered with a lot of drivers ) we abandoned the idea. These jackets look the business (if the cat doesn't completely flip out wearing it, of course). What do you all think? (No affiliation with this lady, just intrigued - I think Hobbes would look cool in a camo one, )
Mynwood Cat Jackets

Cool - If I were going to try a harness on Simba that's the one I'd try

If your cat is able to immediately back out of its harness, you do not have it adjusted tightly enough. As I have posted before, we had a MC mix that was outside on a harness and rope during the day every day for over four years, so he spent many thousands of hours wearing a standard cat harness, unsupervised. He also went for a walk around the neighborhood most nights. We had virtually no problems with the standard cat harness--after we got it adjusted (sized) properly. So sorry, but people who claim a standard cat harness cannot be secure are simply wrong!

It is basically impossible to end up with a harness that a cat cannot possibly get out of if it is not put on tightly enough, and despite what the designer claims, this design is no different. It is the diameter of the openings that matters, not the width of the "straps." What makes cats different from dogs is: "Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones, which allows them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their heads." [Wikipedia] This is why the chest strap is not escape proof on a cat as it is on a dog.

I do have some potential concerns about this design: it might bother the cats more as there is a lot of material pressing on them, you size it anew each time as you put it on (how tightly should you wrap it?), the sound of velcro ripping apart when you take it off will freak out lots of cats, and should they start wriggling back through it, there is a lot of fabric they might get stuck in (e.g., could they suffocate themselves if they got it partway over their heads). (Standard harnesses can also present safety hazards of course.)

Perhaps if you are not careful, this design is easier to get a tight fit than with a standard harness. However, the advantage of a standard clipped harness is that you can keep adjusting it until the fit is just right, and then it remains like that forever. I would rather spend several sessions fussing with fit until it is optimal, than to essentially do it anew each time I put the harness on. But that is clearly a personal preference.

MJ is big enough and confident enough to attempt some walks around the city this summer I feel. She is good with the harness indoors and on the patio, can't wait to go for a stroll. Although they will be kept short and extremely close to home, due to the high number of dogs. Although MJ is now about 24" head to bum and is intimidated less everyday.

Originally Posted by IrishKitty

Has anybody experience of training their Maine Coons or other cats on a leash?
Would be interesting to hear some stories and tips if you have some

A lot of my Mainecoons and Abyssinians are trained to a leash and also when they are requested by new owners.

Get you cat used to a harness in the house wearing it for a couple of hours per day not lead attached and when they are with you sitting on your knee etc just pull a couple of times on the harness, keeping doing this for a week or so and then add the lead, again just tug a few times make it like a game use a feather toy on a stick with the harness and lead attached then, when you have done this for a short time, take bay outside and do the same make it a game no dragging and pulling the excitement of seeing new things is just amazing for them and usually they adapt.

Being a biking country both here in Germany and the Netherlands where a lot of my cats live, most of my cats go in baskets on the new owners bikes with a harness and leash attached..


Success with your training...


Debbie x