Feedback Friday: Do You Leash Your Cat?
February 27, 2009 by Heather R.
Filed under Pets
I know this seems like a weird Feedback question this week, but I was watching TV the other night when I caught a glimpse of a leashed cat during a commercial. I realized I’ve seen this more often lately and wondered how many people actually do it.
We tried Turbo on a leash when he was an adolescent kitten and he didn’t care for it much. He sniffed around the grass for a bit, tried to hide in a bush, and since then (about twelve years now) has shown no interest in going outside again. All three of our cats are strictly indoor cats, so we thought we’d given him a treat by going outside but he just didn’t care for it. We haven’t tried it with the other two, though we think Kricket lived outside before we adopted her from the Humane Society, since she tried to get out non-stop during the first month we had her.
As you can imagine, using a leash on a cat is quite a different experience than using one on a dog. With a cat you’re the one along for the ride (though I know that’s also the case with some dogs!), with lots of stops and starts or just general sitting around. When we had one on Turbo we just sat in the grass with him for a while, with no intention of taking a walk.
So have you tried a leash on your cat? How did it work out?
[image: flickr]
I tried a leash on my Simon, but he would just flatten himself like it weighed a hundred pounds and I could not move him til I took it off. Haven’t tried it on Gertrude because she is so skittish I can’t even pick her up.
Yes, I used to leash Choco when I had a yard. The main problem I had was the sudden leaps he’d taken when he got excited hunting. A retractable leash would work much better for that reason.
I once saw a perfectly leash-trained cat that was brought into the animal hospital where I used to work. It was right at home on a leash, like a dog.
We had a friend that would take her cats on a leash all the time. They started it so, the cat could go on camping trips with them and get tied up outside for a bit.
She walked the cats on a leash but, I was not going to try it. I am sure I have seen video clips of cats on leashes crawling up the peoples leg. I was not going to be one of the ‘cat on a leash’ fatalities.