# Harness - Questions Questions Questions



## seraphinious (Jun 18, 2012)

Right I've two nutty Devon Rex's, 14wk old boys. They are currently indoor only as we're in a flat on the first floor and next to a main road.

They're pretty chilled out (er excepting a couple of mad kitty hours a day) and used to comings and goings of various people and dogs etc. Never have a problem taking them to the vets for example.

We do have a bit of grass out the front, but more importantly plenty of leafy interesting residential roads and a lovely green in walking distance.

Sooooo I'm thinking about harnesses.....but have a bunch of questions.


How do cats take to being walked, rather than just attached to a leash limiting their sphere of wandering?
Training tips? I did buy a harness to try but turns out it's a tad big  though Zeus had no problem with it being on.
They would likely be taken out infrequently, i.e. on weekends when the weathers' good. Are they likely to pine fort he outside world, as they don't have 24 hr access?
Any particular age to start, or the younger the better?
Dumb question time: can the owner be fined for the cat going to the loo if they're walking it?
Is taking them both out at once manageable?
How to manage crossing roads?
Good harness recommendations? Safe, comfortable and flexibly purdy/stylish would be awesome. 

Any help, tips, advice gratefully appreciated 

(Yes I was one of those people who thought those who walked cats were crazy people, guess I'm joining the club)

ETA Ooooh just found these
http://www.mynwoodcatjackets.moonfruit.com/#/ordering/4540143961
courtesy of lymorelynn on another thread. They have chocolate ones, in fabric or fleece! Looks to be the exact chocolate of my boys. There are camo ones, pattern ones, tartan ones...oh dear, this could be bad.

ETA2 They have bow tie accessories!  I will never be taken seriously again.


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## Durhamchance (Aug 2, 2012)

Read this site: Home - Mynwood Cat Jackets-Original, escape-proof Jacket I will be getting one for my madam when she's a little bigger.

I can't really answer your other questions though as I'm in the same boat!


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## seraphinious (Jun 18, 2012)

Thanks Durhamchance! I'm working my way through it now, though I do think that site may wind up being deadly to my purse.

Would be great to hear how you get on with your girl. How old is she and at what age are you thinking of trying this?


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## Durhamchance (Aug 2, 2012)

She's 13 weeks at the moment, not sure when I want to start, just when she's bigger!

Probably when she's been neutered- for obvious reasons!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Walking a cat on a leash can never parallel walking a dog on a leash. 
Personally I would never walk a cat on a leash on public roads or any public area. Cats can get spooked so easily by sudden loud noises and then panic. 

Also what would you do if a dog suddenly appeared, especially a dog off the leash? The dog might go for your cat, and you would be forced to pick up a terrified cat who might tear you to pieces. It might be very hard for you to hold onto a terrified cat and he might manage to get away and run off, leash, harness and all. It has happened to members of this forum when their cats got spooked. 

When I lived in a flat in the city I used to take my cats in the car to a friend's house and walk them on a leash & harness in her garden, which was fenced in and as safe as possible. Definitely only walk one cat at a time, in case there are unexpected problems and you need to pick the cat up. Also I always had the pet carrier to hand too in case I need to pop the cat back to safety at a moment's notice. 

You need to start training them at a young age, say 3 months. Not all cats are suitable candidates for it. One of mine hated the feeling of being restrained by the harness & leash, so he didn't get walked.


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## ace85 (Aug 16, 2011)

I second Chillminx's advice - you are taking the safety of your cats in your hands if you go walking them in public places. Remember that a cat does not have the canine urge to please and follow orders - they very much do what _they_ want on the lead, and are additionally prone to spooking very easily. We use the cord-type leads with our two, and I still have a rope burn on my ankle from an incident a couple of days ago where one of ours got startled by next door's dog and shot back inside the house, dragging the lead between my legs as he went 

We walk ours in the back garden for about 30 mins at a time. If you have exceptionally chilled cats, you could maybe handle two at once, but a ratio of one human to one cat is much safer. Can't really help with training tips as my two Maus took to it like ducks to water - within an hour of putting the jackets on they were used to them and exploring outside. And, yes, our two now consistently meow at the back door after feeding to be let out to explore, so it's best not to start at all if you don't want to keep it up 

Final word goes to the harness itself - I promise I'm not on commission (lol), but having seen the flimsy design of some cat harnesses on the market, there's no way I'd use anything other than a Mynwood jacket


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

I can only echo Chilliminx and Ace regarding walking cats. You go where the cat wants to go and it is nothing like walking a dog  I have seen a cat on a lead in the middle of a very busy town centre but I wouldn't advocate it. One of my girls will happily sit out in the garden on her lead but won't go for walk except round to the front door. The other likes to explore along our lane (very quiet and 'supposedly' no through traffic except for access ) on her extending lead. Even if both of the girls were happy to go for a walk I wouldn't want to take them both at once - it's bad enough going into the garden when one wants to go one way and the other wants to go somewhere else 
Start as soon as you can with the harness and add the lead once you are sure they're happy with it.
I really doubt that a cat on a lead will go to the loo while out walking though I may be wrong.
Good luck ... and I'm not on commission for Mynwood either  but their 'jackets' are lovely :smilewinkgrin:


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## seraphinious (Jun 18, 2012)

Thanks for the advice guys.

I was thinking of "walking" (as in letting the cats explore), the quite roads here and driving them to the village green in a carrier.

I honestly can't see them freaking out with dogs as they were raised with four (corgi's to rottweilers), plus it's a slightly well to do area  I haven't met any agressive / off leash dogs. They never stress in their carrier outside either.

Think I'm going to experiment with other areas of training (i.e. clicker) first to see how they get on to responding to calls etc.

Eventually experiment with the awesome mynwoods indoors for a long time, before trying the lawn outside - looks like big D might have to get involved  (he's so going to kill me, might have to think of some suitable "incentives" :ihih: ). Think I'll make sure the coats have feliway on them too.

Mynwood has a lot of useful training tips too for actual "walking".

~sigh~ I want to go buy them some lovely chocolate coats now with dicky bows. Sooo cute.

I am becoming crazy cat lady :blushing:

Does anyone have any thoughts on frequency? Due to logistics they won't be able to go out everyday (more like weekends if the weather is good), I wouldn't want them pining.


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## Alaskacat (Aug 2, 2010)

It is very sensible to get them used to the harness young and definitly in the house and as others have said some cats just do not like it. We walk our stud boys in the garden and they love it, but it is very much us following them at the end of the lead and picking them up if we want to go somewhere they don't - and vice versa. Ours love it whenever they go out, sometimes every day, but sometimes just weekends but they don't stress if they aren't walked. I would not try more than one cat per human and be aware other cats like entire toms might be quite bold approaching your cats and could be aggressive. 

One of the boys hates cars driving past the house and it spooks him, i would be worried to take the cat out of our safe area as you really can't restrain them if they panic. However, a neighbour does walk his cat (Maine Coon I think) around the village, he spends a lot of the time stood still as the cat sniffs and explores though, so it is a very cat led activity - lovely to see though.

I wonder if the testosterone fuelled confidence might work in your favour if they are young unneutered boys? I would start using the harness in the house now if they are, so it is not odd to them when you take them out after they are neutered.

Have fun, and they look gorgeous boys, I love Rexes


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

I would be very careful about walking in public places. Trouble can come suddenly from nowhere and they are too precious to take that risk, I think. I take my boy Nunu for a walk in a dogfree, traffic free private walled communal garden early evening, every evening for about 20 minutes (he will never let me have a day off). Dead boring for me, but he LOVES it. He is quite happy to come back indoors after his walk to settle down in front of the TV and sleep. I also highly recommend the mynwood jackets (see my avatar) and I have even made some of my own jackets, including a "lone wolf" leather bikers jacket complete with studs. Lol!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

seraphinious said:


> > Eventually experiment with the awesome mynwoods indoors for a long time, *before trying the lawn outside*
> 
> 
> I didn't imagine you have a garden Why can you not just walk them on a leash in your garden? It would be so much safer!
> ...


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## seraphinious (Jun 18, 2012)

It's not a garden, there is a strip of grass at the side & front of the flats - it's not fenced in, just some bushes here and there.

I get the point chillminx, which is why it's "walking" rather than walking. I thank you for your advice.

There are risks in everything. I do believe the benefit of leash "walking" outweighs the potential risks, _depending _on how the cats enjoy / take to it and it's done responsibly. It's also important they continue to have a myriad of experiences whilst young so they don't become "scaredy cats" 

All cats are different, each will get to do/experience what each likes, at a very slow pace and we'll see how they get on 

koekemakranka - super cute!


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