Lee, I have only successfully walked one of three cats I've had. Clio wouldn't tolerate the harness for a minute. (She ran around as if she were on fire when it was on.) And Oz was too fat for one, and repeatedly escaped from the bigger one. Pico never went far on the leash, but far enough that he could eat some grass and go back in.
My neighbor's cat hangs outside on a leash for hours, but he's a retired show cat and super mellow about everything.
I'm lucky that Clio and Oz are content not to wander too far. Neither goes farther than my next door neighbor's yard. If they try to cross the street, outdoor privileges are suspended. They are only allowed out when I am home, and unless I am outside with them, are only outside for short periods of time.
I've fantasized more than once about roofing over my backyard with chickenwire, or at least building a catatorium with an enclosed scamperway out to it.
Being me, I can actually see myself building a corridor and play area outside for the cats someday (or maybe a slide from the guest room window into a play area), but the harness and walking seems cheaper.
We had the bedroom open for the first time this spring last night. So of course Shadow decided my stomach was the best springboard in the world to get up to the shelf next to the window. I knew better than to go completely back to sleep before he came back down, and he courteously gave me time to protect my squishy bits before he jumped back down.
My cats are allowed outside, but I have a ladder ramp that leads from my dining room window to the hill outside and I took the old railroad ties left behind my apartment and crisscrossed them up and down the hillside so they wouldn't keep tripping in the honeysuckle vines. I'm trying to think how I can modify the uprooted tree next to the patio into a kitty cave.
You guys, I'm about to order food online. I now live in a place with a Chipotle, and I will send them some pixels and they will have food ready for me when I arrive! My brain can't even cope with this.
My roommate tried to take her cat outside. The first time he bolted back indoors. The second time she shut the door, so he belly flipped on the ground and refused to move. I think he is an indoor cat.
he belly flipped on the ground and refused to move
Also known as "grab the planet and refuse to let go."
The time I tired to take my cat for a walk was the time he tried to kill me (does anyone remember that?)
