Surely you've ever wondered Can I walk my cat? And the answer is yes, but cats are very particular and not everyone is predisposed to it. Contrary to dogs, the fact of walking every day is not a necessity for kittens, so it is you who must decide if you want to take your cat for a walk or not.
So that you know what to choose, in this article on our site we are going to explain the inconveniences and advantages of taking your feline companion for a walk, as well as the main premises that you must take into account when time to walk your cat properly. As happens to all living beings, if in the end you decide that yes you can walk your cat we recommend that you get him used to it from a very young age and teach him to carry his harness and leash to make these items and walks part of your daily routine.
Disadvantages of walking my cat
Although it is our choice to decide whether we can take our cat for a walk or not, in order to do so we need to know the risks or inconveniences that influence when walking a cat on the street:
Cats are not like dogs
As much as we want to take our cat for a walk as if it were a dog, the truth is that we will never be able to do it. First, because they will never have enough security and confidence to walk by our side or even be able to let them off the leash one day without them escaping. And second because cats do not have the same needs as dogs, since the latter anxiously await the moment to go out for a walk every day to socialize with other dogs and do their physiological needs. On the other hand, cats do not need to go out for that, since they have their sandbox at home and do not need to socialize with other animals every day as dogs do. Although this does not mean that cats do not need to be socialized, so if you want to know how to socialize a cat you can visit this article.
It can be stressful
Being so solitary and territorial, the act of walking domestic cats down the street can be stressful because, in addition to meeting other unknown cats, they do not have their reassuring scent markings and may be easily startled and want to run away. As it happens with all living beings, when they take us out of our comfort zone we get stressed or nervous, and the same thing happens to cats because they do not see other cats as companions with whom to play and socialize (as cats do). dogs), but they see them as invaders and we can find hierarchical tensions between them.
Always watch out
Obviously, if we take a cat for a walk it is possible that it eats something off the ground that it shouldn't, that some parasite can stick to its skin, that it can hurt itself with a tree branch when it climbs by them or step on something on the ground that hurts you. But these are things that happen and that we must accept in advance if we decide to take him out for a walk because even so, this can also happen to us when we have the cat at home, although luckily less frequently. The best thing to prevent possible diseases or parasites is to give our cat all the relevant vaccines and keep it well dewormed.
Depends on the cat's personality
Each cat has its own personality and that is why we must take it into account when deciding if it is good to take it out for a walk. For example, if your cat is very skinny and secretive, is afraid of visitors who come to the house and hides every time he hears a strange noise, it is better that you do not take it out for a walk because naturally it is not a feline that is predisposed to it. On the other hand, if your cat is very curious and explorer, it will surely be a very enriching experience for him.
Advantages of walking my cat
Now that you know what the drawbacks are, you also need to know what the advantages of walking your cat are in order to make the right decision:
Positive experience
The fact of taking your cat for a walk can be a really positive and very enriching experience for your little one and for you, since in addition to strengthening your relationship through the connection with the leash and your hand, the feline will receive a lot of new stimuli that it is not used to, such as the smell of flowers or the feel of grass on its paws, and that is fun for the curious natureof cats.
Recommended for some cats
Some experts recommend that it's a good idea to walk cats with a tendency to run away from home so that they finally know what there is after those windows or glass windows through which they are always looking outside and get used to that experience. So if your cat is one of them, don't hesitate to take him for a walk on a leash in a quiet park where he can satisfy his escapist and exploratory tendencies.
How to exercise
Another advantage of walking your cat is that, while you are providing him with new stimuli, you also help him exercise in a different wayand much more active than you can do inside the house. In this way, especially if your cat is overweight or obese, taking him for a walk will help his he alth improve and he will lose weight more easily by exercising outside.
The most predisposed
As we mentioned before, not all cats are predisposed by nature to want to walk outside the house, so you must take into account their personality and the level of activity to which they are accustomed. Thus, the most active cats, those that show more interest in the outside world (going out onto balconies or looking through windows) and those that already if they go out to the garden or terrace of their house, they are the felines with the best predisposition and the best candidates when it comes to exploring new territories for them.
How to walk my cat
With all that said, you already have all the tools to make the decision and answer the question of whether you can walk your cat or not. In the event that your answer is yes, it is important that you follow these guidelines so that the walk with your cat is as safe as possible. In any case, these premises that we are going to explain to you below are very general, so if you want to have much more information, we recommend that you visit this article on how to teach your cat to walk on a leash:
- Before walking your cat you must have vaccinated correctly and must be dewormed and protected by the use of pipettes or antiparasitic collars to that you cannot catch any pathology of this type on the street.
- To walk your cat you should get him used to always wearing a comfortable harness and leash,which you cannot remove at any time during the walk nor will they serve to direct the cat where you want, but you should let it roam freely and simply follow its movements without forcing it to do anything. Remember that you can't use just any harness, it must be specifically a harness for cats.
- Choosing a quiet place without many other animals is essential to be able to take your cat out for a walk and that it is comfortable and sure. For this reason, places with a high influx of people, animals and loud noises are totally discouraged.
- Start by taking your cat for a few minutes for a walk and increase the length of the walks as you see your feline no problem.
- You must continually monitoryour cat to prevent him from hurting himself or eating something he shouldn't and so he doesn't suffer from any intestinal disorder no accidental injury
