Walking A Cat On A Leash

[beforewisdom]

Apparently it can be done. It just takes several months of work and using rewards for training instead of discipline. Great way to keep indoor cats healthy:

http://tinyurl.com/taking-cats-on-walks

[Fallen_Horse]

Good story, thanks!

[vegan hal]

very cool. yeah i have a friend whose mother trained her cats to walk on leashes years ago. was so funny to see the 1st time.

fortunately where I live, i don't need a leash. 2 of my 4 cats will go on walks with me or my wife.

this is a pic of Lucy following us on a walk a couple years ago.

[JS]

My current cat used to be an indoor cat as I lived on a main road. I have since moved and she has a huge garden to explore. The slightest noise and she comes hurtling into the house with a tail the size of a brush! I think it's going to take a while to get accustomed to the outdoors. I thought she'd love the opportunity to get out and about but alas so far no

My old cat used to come for walks with me and the dogs and I used to panic as I had to get him to stop at a busy road - pick him up and carry him across so we could continue down by the river. Luckily he always waited for me to pick him up In fact I used to take my brother to nursery and I would come out to the two dogs and the cat waiting patiently! Funny little creatures aren't they

I even hear you can train a cat to use the human loo!

[mabli]

When I was a kid we had a cat called Prudence who went on a lead, we'd take him to festivals and round the country with us, it meant he could have exercise when we parked up for a short space of time, his best friend Chang also came to the festivals and walked on a lead and lived in his owners bedford van or with us when they went abroard. Neither seemed phased by it

I also had goats Id take out for walks on leads but not to festivals

[skoptic]

I kinda assumed that no vegans would ever have indoor cats (but I appreciate I might need skooling )

Personally I don't think a main road is a valid reason for restricting a cat - I would have thought more humans die as pedestrians, but we don't limit their access. But I'd be happy to be shown to be wrong!

Usually I just see people with pedigree cats who are 'afraid' to lose their investment and keep them indoors with some paper-thin excuse about it helping the cats, covering a ego-centric benefit. Maybe health / mobility reasons could keep a cat indoors? Am I way off the mark here?

[mabli]

I kinda assumed that no vegans would ever have indoor cats (but I appreciate I might need skooling )

Personally I don't think a main road is a valid reason for restricting a cat - I would have thought more humans die as pedestrians, but we don't limit their access. But I'd be happy to be shown to be wrong!

Usually I just see people with pedigree cats who are 'afraid' to lose their investment and keep them indoors with some paper-thin excuse about it helping the cats, covering a ego-centric benefit. Maybe health / mobility reasons could keep a cat indoors? Am I way off the mark here?

totally agree, cant believe how many vegans have indoor cats I think its apalling to restrict a cat like that, unless its done for safety of wildlife. A friend tells me she's cat proofed her garden so her cats cant get out, no idea how shes done that though

[fredrikw]

I have two cats, both take from cat shelters. they're both indoor cats because that's our living situation (living in a flat with no direct access to outdoors, a densely populated area with lots of cars, a motorway nearby and also a train track, lots of outdoor cats with constant fights). The oldest cat was an outdoor cat for 8 years before moving in with me (he's now 17), and considering how much beating up he received when he was an outdoor cat I can fully understand why he's completely settled for being indoors, and the youngest have lived her whole life indoors.

The most optimal situation would of course be to not have domesticated animals in the first place, but for me, sharing my living space with these cats, I can't really say that they suffer from this. Of course if my living situation would be different they would be allowed outdoors, but that's not the case and since my cats don't suffer from it as far as I can see or understand, I really don't see the need for them to take the place from a cat from a shelter in finding them a new home.

I think the idea of restriction often is based on projection, that is projecting human feelings of being locked in, restricted etc. If we accept domesticated cats as a necessary evil that is right now, I think having them indoors while given the right care (climbing, chasing, activation etc) is a quite irrelevant addition to that evil.

Also, if it would be so bad to keep a cat indoors, why would it be ok if there were wildlife outside? A logical implication of this is that it would be ok to capture other natural predators just to keep their prey safe?

[blinki]

When I was a kid I got sent to walk a cat on a leash. I'm not entirly sure what the point of it was. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done and the cat still ended up up a tree. If that's an example of your average cat then it must take a hell of a lot of patience

[skoptic]

I have two cats, both take from cat shelters. they're both indoor cats because that's our living situation (living in a flat with no direct access to outdoors, a densely populated area with lots of cars, a motorway nearby and also a train track, lots of outdoor cats with constant fights). The oldest cat was an outdoor cat for 8 years before moving in with me (he's now 17), and considering how much beating up he received when he was an outdoor cat I can fully understand why he's completely settled for being indoors, and the youngest have lived her whole life indoors.

The most optimal situation would of course be to not have domesticated animals in the first place, but for me, sharing my living space with these cats, I can't really say that they suffer from this. Of course if my living situation would be different they would be allowed outdoors, but that's not the case and since my cats don't suffer from it as far as I can see or understand, I really don't see the need for them to take the place from a cat from a shelter in finding them a new home.

I think the idea of restriction often is based on projection, that is projecting human feelings of being locked in, restricted etc. If we accept domesticated cats as a necessary evil that is right now, I think having them indoors while given the right care (climbing, chasing, activation etc) is a quite irrelevant addition to that evil.

Yeah it's a tricky one, because I think you've done a brilliant thing by rescuing 2 from a shelter. But it's a shame that they don't have any access to the outside world - it would nice if they had access, but chose not to go outside (impractical in your flat I appreciate!). Where I used to live my 2 got into some scrapes which required trips to the vet - but still went out every day and night.

I suppose I don't see a lack of access as 'suffering' - obviously that's too strong a phrase for denying something that maybe they have never even experienced - it just leaves a sour taste in my brain. I don't need to project anything onto my cats - the frequency and regularity with which they go outside lets me know what they think!

All good to get another viewpoint