In this article we are going to give you some tips that you can follow to try to achieve an achievement as a trainer, which would mean walking calmly with your cat down the street. This would be a whole step in the relationship you have with your feline and you could break the barrier of taking a walk with a cat on the street, full of stimuli (both positive and negative) for them.
What you have to keep in mind is that in order to achieve this milestone it would be advisable to start from a very young age with training, it is without doubt the period in which cats are more receptive to learning this type of behavior. You will also have to consider that it will take time, it will depend on the cat of course, but we all know how suspicious they are when it comes to contact with their body, so adapting to the use of the harness can be quite a challenge for him.
On our site we give you the keys to achieve it, but above all you have to keep in mind the following premises to be able to walk a cat on a leash: patience, praise and prizes. Keep reading and discover how to teach a cat to walk on a leash
To begin with, the harness selection will be an important step. Do not even think of taking your cat for a walk with a simple collar and a leash, you run the risk that it will get scared, get rid of its ties with how slippery they can be and run away with serious danger of not reaching it and that is lost, in addition, the collars can harm the feline's trachea, hindering its normal ability to swallow.
Thanks to the use of a harness, the force that the cat exerts to escape will be distributed between the shoulders, belly and chest, in this way no harm will be doneand you'll find it nearly impossible to wriggle out of your restraints.
To take the correct measurement you must measure the contour of your chest, write it down and take it into account when buying the harness, which in any case must indicate the range of measurements for which it is indicated. You will find it in innumerable colors and designs as well as in different manufacturing materials such as nylon or neoprene.
You will also have to make a wise decision with the leash. Avoid those that are common in use with dogs, the retractable ones, as they could harm your cat. You can consider the possibility of acquiring an elastic leash to give your pet some freedom but with the certainty that he will firmly withstand the pulls.
As we mentioned at the beginning, before you even contemplate walking your cat on a leash, you'll need to get him comfortable(or at least tolerate it) when wearing the harness. To achieve this, you must wear it for several minutes a day, gradually increasing the time you wear it. Consider praise him when he wears it and give him a reward in the form of food that he likes, of course if he doesn't tolerate wearing the harness that day don't make the mistake of punish him physically, you should never mistreat animals and the kitten will respond much better to you based on rewards than otherwise.
If you can make him forget that he is wearing it when he is inside the house, it will be a success
When you feel that he is comfortable with the harness on, it will be time to insert the strap. Same procedure as with the harness, hook her up and let her drag along the ground, moving freely wherever she pleases, giving her prizes and praise.
To finish the process you must take the leash and again let it move where it wants, it is very possible that if you try to direct it it will be reluctant, let it move as it pleases.
Preparing a cat to go outside is a process that can take a long time, again patience will be very important, because despite the fact that the cat looks out the window and seems very interested in the outside, when it comes to going out it can be a little more hesitant. Once dressed in his harness and leash you can ask him out, but if he doesn't feel safe and doesn't want to, it's better to abort the process and try another day, don't force it because it will be counterproductive for all the good work you've done.
By the time he manages to cross the threshold of the door again, everything should be prizes and good words for him. The first outings should be short, about 5-6 minutes so that he gets used to it and doesn't get saturated at first.
You should choose dry days for these first days of training outside, without rain, because this way the cat will be able to orient itself and allow itself to be invaded by all the odors that are usually present in the environment. Cats have an excellent sense of smell and it will be the sense they use the most outside (as long as there are no loud noises).
If everything goes as well, your cat will feel more comfortable walking on a leash outside, so you'll make the walks more comfortable longer and further from home, but always let it go its own way, accompanying the movement of the leash with your hand, almost like a mere spectator of the event.
Below we offer you some advice and obligations that you have to carry out so that the conditions are adequate to get a ride to a cat on the leash. If you do everything right, this training can become, together with teaching your cat to use the toilet, a great satisfaction as a trainer and as an owner.
