I have been wondering whether it would be possible to take my MC kitten (approaching 9 months) for a walk on a lead. We live in a quiet area of London and would like to give this a try - especially after reading the breed is quite dog-like. We thought it might be fun to have him with us when we go for walk, especially in the early evening when I get home from work, but wonder how realistic this would be...
Thanks for reading
Victoria x
You need to get him used to a harness first, as if something spooks him, he could easily back out and bolt. However if you put the harness on him around the house (supervised, incase he gets caught) and feed a few treats, he should get used to the harness and soon learn to love it. Outside, make sure the harness is tight, and gradually build the distance up, but be careful for things that may spook.
Lots of cats love walking on a harness :)
Mine went into the garden on harnesses when they were young but not recently.
While some people walk *with* their cats I think in many cases the harness or lead should be there to keep you attached to the cat and let him/her wander and follow their curiosity. Remember that the outdoor world will be a continuous stream of new things for your giant kitten and this will either be fun or stressful or both. Start short, and if you go out regularly then you may get walking a regular territory :)
I can't wait until my garden is FINALLY cat proofed. Mea cupla - not time when the weather is good. No good weather when I have time.
Mufasa goes out in the garden on a harness and tether. He is so used to it that he sits at the door and gets excited when we get the harness out. I too would love to get the garden cat proofed but it's so expensive. We have tried walking him on a lead, but as Peter says you really have to walk with him. He has been going out for about 8 months now and we do take him for very short walks. He still likes to be 'in sight' of the house so that he can run back (pull us back) if he feels threatened. I think if we got him further up the road it would take hours to go anywhere as he likes to sniff, sit and roll on his back when on the lead!
We have six cats and only one of them likes to walk on a leash. Others hate it. Much depends on the nature of the cat. Besides walking around the garden with a cat is not the same as walking on the street. Our cats are afraid of the noise (especially cars and buses). And you can always find a dog and it does not need to be safe. Taking control of scared cat is not easy.
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We have the one lead walker,he used to love going for a walk in the woods at Barton Mills on the way down to my brothers,that used to confuse all
including dogs...
These pictures were taken towards the end of his illness earlier this year, can't remember what he found to hiss at in the first one.
Personally I wouldnt take a cat for a walk in a large city or town, I would be waiting for some brainless moron to let their dog have a go.
In a nice quiet area ie garden or quiet lane then that might be different.
There was a really good thread on this forum a while ago about some cat harnesses that looked really good.
If you do give it a go then report back how its going.
Thanks so much for your replies. Interesting to know it isn't an unfamiliar concept. We are in a quiet area, and no dogs in the immediate vicinity - something I know for sure because I am very phobic when it comes to dogs and will choose to walk a mile out of my way if it means avoiding bumping in to one. Think I will give this a try and have free time on Saturday so will go harness shopping, see how he gets on with the harness in the back garden before taking him out the front. I'd not though of using a harness to tether a cat outside: at the moment my cat doesn't jump fences and can't escape - but know this is only a matter of time. So getting him used to wearing a harness would be helpful if eventually the only way we might let him out would be under a certain level of supervision. I will let you all know how I get on. Thanks for being brilliantly knowledgeable about Maine Coons, and indeed by cats more generally xx
Thanks very much for sharing your photos - sorry he is no longer with you, but looks like from these photos he enjoyed his walks x
I've never actually had a cat who would walk on leash like a dog, but all my cats (except my grumpy senior cat) are comfortable being on leash, and I sometimes bring them out on a harness. As I said they won't walk with you on lead like a dog, but they will wander around and explore. I also have taken them on walks with the pet stroller and I used to take my cat Church out with my bike (I had a pet bike basket) and bike to the park, then let him walk a little in the park on harness. I would still but my bike was stolen last year and the basket won't fit on the bike I have now.
Church exploring in the park on his harness:
http://www.chicagocanine.com/photos/treelie.jpg
