Leash Training Your Cat

It’s a rare sight to see someone walking down the street walking their cat on a leash. However, it certainly is something that can easily be done. As with training any pet, patience and practice is required and with cats being the creatures of habit that they are, once you’ve made it part of their regular routine, you’ll be able to walk her on a leash any time you desire.

Of course, the best time to train a cat to walk with a leash is when it’s a kitten. Since you’re probably already teaching your kitten other correct behaviors, this is a good time to introduce the leash. Shaping a kitten’s behaviors isn’t really any different than training a child. Older cats might be harder to train since they’re already set in their ways, but once again, by exercising patience, you’ll should be able to train any cat to walk with a leash.

So, the place to start is purchasing a leash, one that is suitable for both you and your cat. There are many different leashes available, some are retractable with a setting on the holder that allows just enough leash out for the cat to wander. You can also let your cat have as much length as they need for walking and playing. You’re still able to maintain control so they don’t run off or get into any trouble.

Standard leashes are usually about 5-6 feet long, which is a decent length. Make sure the weight of the leash is light, since you’re not walking a dog which would require a much heavier leash. If the leash is too heavy, it will put too much weight on your cat and make her uncomfortable.

Another item you’ll need is a harness or collar. A harness works best for a cat, however, if you decide on a collar, you should choose one that is very narrow and light that gives your cat’s neck plenty of room but isn’t too loose. Harnesses should be loose and comfortable as well. If either are too tight, your cat could develop sores that will require treatment.

Once you have the leash, collar, or harness, you can start getting your cat used to these items. Play with her and the items together allowing her to get use to them and put her scent on them. Once your cat does this, the next thing you can do is to put the harness on her, loosely at first to gauge her reaction. Leave it in place for a short time. If it’s obvious she doesn’t want anything to do with it, you might have to remove it and go back and playing with her for a while longer.

This step is very important. If you try to force her to wear the harness, she’s not going to be very happy with the harness or with you. So take your time and give her enough time to adjust to this new and strange contraption.

Once you have her wearing the harness loosely, it’s time to slowly tighten the harness until it’s at the right level of comfort for your cat. At this point, you’ll want to give her time to wear the harness for awhile once she gets used to having it on.

Now is the time to attach the leash. Remember first to have the cat play with the leash. Put the leash on and give her time to get used to having it on. You can start walking her inside until she’s comfortable with the routine. How long this will take will depend on a number of factors including the cat’s breed, age and previous training.

Once again, keep in mind that cats are creatures of habit and once you have this new routine engrained as part of their normal day, they’ll settle down and accept the situation. So, as soon as your cat is comfortable with the leash then it’s time to go for a walk outside.

When first walking with your cat outdoors, don’t give them a lot of leash to run in any direction they want. Remember, the neighbors pets will be out and your cat will be curious and might want to see them and there will be many other distractions. It’s important that you have your cat walk with you and not have your cat walking you.

————————————————————————————————————–

Glenn Cutforth is a writer, eBook publisher and graphic designer.

Get your free eBook, Pamper Your Cat, a collection of 100 gourmet cat

recipes your cat will love at The Complete Cat.com

————————————————————————————————————–