Everyone knows the image of the dog on a leash and is seen as normal. It is different when it comes to a cat on a leash. Many people find the cat on a leash strange or pathetic. It ‘shouldn’t’, it is sometimes said. However,
you can certainly train the indoor cat to also walk on a leash. If you do it right, there’s nothing pathetic about it. Most cats like to go outside. How do you teach your cat to walk on a leash without stressing your cat?
Can the cat be on a leash?
The answer to the question of whether the cat can walk on a leash is simply: “Yes”. However, it is not always easy to let a catwalk on a leash. Not like the dog. It goes without saying that it starts on a leash from an early age and is much easier to lead than the cat. However,
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if you walk the cat on a leash from a young age, there is a good chance that she will also do fine on the leash. As long as the cat feels that she can walk her own path, it’s fine.
How do you train the cat?
What is the easiest way to teach the cat to walk on a leash while still giving the cat the idea that she decides for herself?
Harness
It starts with getting the cat used to a harness in the house. Both leather and (nylon) fabric are fine and an adjustable harness is better than just a strap around the neck. You can correct more easily with a harness and the cat cannot wring out.
A harness can be very uncomfortable in the beginning, even without a strap. The cat will feel restricted in its freedom of movement. In the beginning, it is a kind of harness for the cat.
Make sure there is a finger width of space between the harness and the cat’s skin. Then the harness is good. Just let the catwalk around the house with this harness for a few days. Slowly she will get used to the harness.
If you also go outside with your cat during the dark hours, a harness with reflective stripes over the straps may still be a useful option. The fluorescent colors are available in yellow, orange, and green.
Learning to walk in a harness with a belt
When the cat is used to the harness around the body after a few days, you can take the next step and that is to leash the cat indoors. Then try not to take the cat in the direction you want, but just let the catwalk in the direction the cat wants and follow the cat.
After walking in the direction of the cat for a few pieces, take off the leash and reward the cat with a cat treat. The cat has now done well.
You do this exercise several times in a short period of time and each time you walk a little longer with the cat indoors. If the cat walks on a leash, you can distract the cat a bit by playing with the cat, for example. This way it slowly but surely starts to look more ‘normal.
Next, you’re going to lead the cat, still, indoors, a little more to stay with you. You do not do this by pulling on the leash, but by gently and almost unnoticed by pulling the leash towards you. Do this again a few times until it more or less comes naturally. All the steps together make a process that you have to let go of gradually.
Going outside on a leash
Once all the previous steps have been completed properly and the cat is handling it ‘normally’, you can carefully take the cat outside on a leash. Do not immediately go into the street, but do this first, for example, in the garden and build it up gradually.
If the cat is startled by the new noises outside, reassure the animal. In this way, you can slowly increase the area where you take the cat.
There are limits in terms of the area where you can take the cat on foot. The cat will not quickly, as you do with the dog, walk a good distance with you.
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Often the cat wants to stay within a certain area, even on a leash. In doing so, assume a maximum distance of a few hundred meters from the house. In addition, the cat likes to walk at its own pace. The more you give the cat its ‘own space’, the more the animal is inclined to look further (and therefore walk along).
The cat who doesn’t want to be on the street
Occasionally the cat really does not want to go out on the street and therefore not on a leash. Sounds can then be too much for the animal and fear wins over curiosity. Do not force the animal. This is rather counterproductive. At most, you can try carefully again, but if the situation doesn’t change, you’re out of luck.
Finally
Taking an indoor cat outside on a leash is fine. That is if you do it carefully and let it be a gradual process for the cat. If you take the time for it, in almost all cases it will eventually go well and you can take the cat for a walk.
