Thread: Training Maine coons on a leash?

I have been thinking about that actually, but a little bit worried about it all. Obviously it would be better if I can train kitty in the garden but not sure how to do it, or how early, and whether he would be more keen on being outside than in (as he will be a house cat).

Dont want him to be pining to be let out. Our initial plan was to keep him indoors for at least 6 months before letting him venture in the garden (with supervision of course). Is this a good idea?

Oh Ive got so many worries, Im even having nightmares that our kitty didnt like our place :(, and started to destroy everything!!! I know its silly, but of course I just want to do everything right for him.

At least you have a garden!
We live in a 4th floor apartment which has a balcony so of course he won't have access to the balcony. There is a very large park opposite where I live, so it would be nice if I could take him there now an again for a bit of fresh air.
I know strictly speaking cats are never seen on leashes, but I don't really have much of an option for giving him a run, unless I get some sort of cat pen for the balcony.

But of course you can take walk with your cat!!!! They really can enjoy it for they are very curious. The point is to ease them into wearing the harness. That's going to be the tricky part. It's best to teach them when they are small. When they're bigger they might object to putting it on. Pamper them, make it worth their while. Put them outside in the grass and they will have forgotten about the harness. BUT, they're very handy in taking it of. I can't get pictures uploaded, I've been trying for an hour now, I give up. But I have nice pictures to show you how they take the harness of. Patience.....

Originally Posted by Patty

But of course you can take walk with your cat!!!! They really can enjoy it for they are very curious. The point is to ease them into wearing the harness. That's going to be the tricky part. It's best to teach them when they are small. When they're bigger they might object to putting it on. Pamper them, make it worth their while. Put them outside in the grass and they will have forgotten about the harness. BUT, they're very handy in taking it of. I can't get pictures uploaded, I've been trying for an hour now, I give up. But I have nice pictures to show you how they take the harness of. Patience.....

Thanks for the advice Patty, I will try that :D

This discussion is of interest to us too - we decided Lucius would be an indoor cat despite having a garden, as we live off a busy main road and one fence we share with a neighbour is more like a picket fence so he would clear it easily. We just can't bear to take the risk in this house. So I think we would like to get a leash to so we can take him out or walk him round the garden at least, so he gets some fresh air regularly.

I am also aware he does not wear a collar but is chipped, however I don't think a lot of non pet owners are aware of microchipping yet, and might take a non-collared cat as lost or stray, and a Maine Coon cat looks expensive, so an opportunist might keep him. I don't know if that is me being extra protective or dramatic but it is my gut feeling....

ps, how cute are the kitty smilies!

It isn't a problem at all to take your cat out on a leash. We used to do this when we still only had 3 cats to take outside. But since our cat population kept on getting bigger, it was too difficult to take them all outside on a leash. That is why we put a fence around our balcony (we live in a flat), so now they can go outside without there being any risk of them escaping from the balcony.

Originally Posted by misslinaoh

ps, how cute are the kitty smilies!

Glad you like them misslinaoh lol x

Originally Posted by misslinaoh

This discussion is of interest to us too - we decided Lucius would be an indoor cat despite having a garden, as we live off a busy main road and one fence we share with a neighbour is more like a picket fence so he would clear it easily. We just can't bear to take the risk in this house. So I think we would like to get a leash to so we can take him out or walk him round the garden at least, so he gets some fresh air regularly.

Is it not possible to put a net? Here is a link to a dutch company who delivers special catnets. Nettenlijn | Nets for cats and the next link will give you an idea for cat...coop??? I don't know the correct word. Welkom bij Kattenren - Kattenrennen.nl It doesn't have to be really big.

IrishKitty: as 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

I found this Denise How to Leash Train a Cat - wikiHow, looks quite good