Thread: Training Maine coons on a leash?

The Coastal cat harnesses that I posted a link to way back in this thread just fit 13-14 lbs cats when adjusted to their largest settings. This is what I am using with our 14.0 lbs female who goes outside with me. The site I linked to says the sizes for these are:
"Adjustable Girth size from 11.5 inches to 18 inches. Neck Size from 9.5 inches to 14.5 inches."

We have larger Lupine harnesses for our two males, though they are not going outside and I have not played with these harnesses in quite a while with them.

I plumped for these, in small / black, for now.

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001IDWL1Y/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&m=A1GK7GGTO21OGA&s=outdoors&psc= 1"]WAGGITAIL NON PULL HARNESS, SMALL, BLACK: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TbyEIUODL.@@AMEPARAM@@51TbyEIUODL[/ame]

I spoke to the guy at Craft Lighting and like for many small businesses while they sell lighting they ended up getting a few thousand (!) harnesses custom made when they saw the product in the US on a visit and liked the idea for thei own dogs. I am guessing they are based on the Puppia design, but since they are shipped from the UK and include a lead it seemed better value. Especially if the small size (neck diameter 12cm, he measured with a tape for me) is wrong then returns / swaps for the right size will be much easier than US shipped Puppia's.

Well, the harnesses arrived very quickly (Weds, but I had to go to the sorting office to pick them up yesterday and have been too busy since...)

They appear, on first inspection, to be good. The mesh nylon is breathable and the collar is stiff enough for wiggly necks not to back out. The body strap has plenty of expansion in it and it is quite well made given the general quality of stuff nowadays.

My only concerns are sizing - they may only last a few weeks before the fixed neck diameter is too small - and that some of the ways the straps are stitched onto the mesh may rub. Cats are different to dogs after all.

I will report back in a few weeks once I have tried the boys with them. Indoors at first, no leash, of course.

Slowly working on getting kittens acclimatized to walking jackets and leash.

Bought from
Walking Jacket for Cats and Cat Toys. Information and Articles on Cats and Dogs

2 male littermate MCs now 6 1/2 months old, don't know how much longer these walking jackets will fit. Kittens are growing insanely fast!

Here's an older picture of them on their 1st excursion outside. We have not been out since because it has been raining heavily, breaking records, and it's too muddy out there, cold also.

Candes, they sure do look like the same walking jacket. Even the same colors.

Right now they are still very good, but I can see that they will soon be too small. The kittens are racing around the house with them on right now. For house wear, getting used to them, I keep the straps a little looser.

Kittens have not tugged on the leash yet so no neck yanking. For Maine Coons I think these are good walking jackets for training, to get used to, but I too am looking for a better design for outdoors for full-grown Maine Coons.

Have read that leash attached to front chest is better for dogs so imagine that is also true for cats. Necks are fragile with the spinal cord oh so important so will be looking for different pressure point.

In the spring and summer we'll be putting up posts in the yard with cord so kittens can have a bit of freedom on their leashes while I'm outside with them gardening.

Eventually our goal is to have the kittens --> cats well trained and kayaking with us. The dog obedience is going well, now just have to apply it to the kittens.

Kittens & puppy here ongoing love fest

I am not sure people need to obsess so much about pressure from a harness. As I have written previously in this thread, we had a MC mix that we took in and then allowed to go out on a rope system, wearing a standard cat harness (which I posted a link to much earlier in this thread). He spent 12-16 hours per day outside every day for four years wearing the harness, attached to clothesline. He spent literally thousands of hours this way. The only problems were some matting around chest and under front legs where harness touched. This can be taken care of with a bit of brushing (if the cat is receptive).