training a cat

Hi My name is terry. This is my first time posting here, but I come here every other day to learn about cats. I have a question about training a cat. Can I train a cat to walk with a harness? I have a tortoise kitty named skittles. She is about six to eight months old. I was wondering if it is possible to take her for a little walk outside. I know certain cats that can be trained like a bengal cat but my cousin told me that any cat can be trained as long as you start when that kitty is very small. My cat is an indoor cat, she has never been outside except when I had to take her somewhere. I just bought a condo which does not allow any dogs but does allow cats. I was thinking about getting a bengal cat but wanted your input about this subject first. I love to go for walks but want a companion. thanks in advance
terry
p.s. this site is great. Ive learned alot.

 

Welcome to the forum!

I take one of mine outside on a harness but he does'nt really walk on it...just a little bit. Mostly he likes to lay around in the grass.
There are a few other members here that have harness trained cats. Hopefully, they will have some advice for you.

 

Hi. The pic above are my two kittens, Romeo and Juliet at the park. It was so easy to harness train them. The thing with cats though is that you don't take them for walks. They take you for a walk. So, if you're planning on going on your daily walk and you're thinking that your cat will just walk next to you, think again. LOL. Romeo and Juliet take me for a walk! I never get to go where I want to go. Basically any kind of cat can be harness trained and at any age. This is how I trained Romeo and Juliet:

1) In the house, I would put the harness on them and leave it on for a few minutes. Juliet would put her stomach to the ground and walk so funny. While Romeo was walking sideways with the harness on. Then I would take the harness off. I did this a few times a day for about three days. By the third day, they were in their harnesses for around 20 minutes.

2) On day four I attached the leash part of it, but this time, I took them into the garden. Then each day, I would put their harness on and take them outside into the garden. They soon began to associate the harness with going outside. So they would sit quietly at the door and let me place there harnesses on without any fuss.

Every cat is different. So it may take more or less time with the indoor training part of it. Halaroo, also has her cat Moe harness trained. She trained her at two years of age. Dolly also has a harness trained cat, but I have not seen her here at Auspet lately.

 

Thank you both for replying. I love my kitty and want to take her with me to the pet store and in the garden. I was under the impression that it was only a certain kind of cat that can be harnessed to go outside. I was just about to buy a bengal cat for 300.00 just so that I can have a companion when i go in the garden. Im glad I came here first. Now I'll just have to train my skittles,which will be no problem for me, because Im a stay at home mom. Thanks again

 

hi tmountain....i have a bengal...just posted new pics...of his mommy and daddy on the topic of bengal cat pics. i LOVE bengals. and they are good with other cats!!!

http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4684

 

:m23: I have a Bengal too. Her name is Rene and she's a handful! I love Bengals. They are smart, social, get along with cats, dogs, and children. Harness training should be easy if you get a kitten of any species. Older cats may take a little work. There's some great advice and pics here. PM or private message Halaroo. She gives very detailed training tips on harness training!

 

Hi tmountain! Welcome to the forums. My Moe is harness trained. We got her at the age of 2 from the shelter. She was a stray, so very used to the outdoors. I didn't want to let her roam around my neighbourhood, so I decided to give harness training a try. It turned out to be much easier than I'd thought it would be.

What we did with Moe is started with the harness neck piece. We adjusted it so it fit loosely around her neck. Then we clipped it on (just the neck part) and talked gently to her and pet her (a favourite treat helps too). We would leave it on for about one minute and then remove it and give her a treat and praise. We would do this about twice a day for about a week. As the week went on we would leave the neck part on her for a little longer at a time. As soon as she started to look uncomfortable we would remove it.

When she seemed comfortable with the neck piece, we would start clipping the chest part on as well (loosened). Do the same thing (petting, praise and treats). After a couple of days we attached the leash to the harness and let her drag it around the house a bit. After about a week of this she was comfortable enough to go outside. The first few times outside only lasted a few minutes, but know we’re out there for hours at a time. She lounges on the deck while I do my gardening or reading.

Now every time I rattle her leash she comes running. She also stands on the porch and waits for me to put her harness on before running into the yard.

Here's a picture:

 

halaroo...i swear...she is sooo photogenic. so beautiful, there in the green grass....such a contrast. :y_the_best:

 

thanks . I should post another picture of her in her harness to show how brown and dead the grass is now. Not so great a contrast anymore!