Cat on a Leash Bushwah
an F1
male Chausie on a leash
photograph ©copyright Helmi Flick Is a cat on a leash realistic? Yes, only don't expect to go walkies in the way you would with a dog. Dogs are pack animals (and so are male humans) and they will follow etc. Dogs are of course more trainable than cats. But with patience and praise and some best quality chicken and ham 
she'll
be trained to wear a leash.It goes without saying that you won't be needing a conventional collar. They don't work for cats and are dangerous anyway. The kind of harness that you see in the picture above is as good as it gets. These harnesses are designed for cats. They are lightweight figure of 8 style halters. Don't fit it too tightly nor too loosely (she'll have it off). The purpose of using a leash on a cat is not primarily to go for a walk and get some exercise (although she will get some exercise), it is for your cat's safety and to stop her running off. You cat will, as usual, do pretty much as she pleases unless you have invested a lot of time in training. Talking about training, how do you train a cat to accept a leash? You'd be lucky of you could just put it on and she'd wait to trot out with you. More likely she'll try and get it off. Once
you
have put it on; wait a while, she'll probably roll over and
try and get it off. Now's the time for patience and to tease her into
accepting the harness by offering her favorite tasty food (best
quality chicken or in my case lightly cooked prawns - instant
distraction and reinforcement of good behavior).
Keep up the above over a three day peri  od or so until she
accepts the
harness (watch the diet though...)Attach the lease and gently train her to walk by walking forward and gently tugging on the leash and show the prawns. She'll follow and give her a reward. She's starting to become a cat on a leash. There will be more times when she will be non-co-operative of course. Remain patient and reinforce with rewards. Phase out the rewards gradually - time to go out...? Needless to say start somewhere safe and quiet. She'll go at her pace and she's the boss. Beware of her eating grass if in a park (possible pesticides). The place you go should obviously be known to be safe for her. Cats are very sensitive to surroundings so she'll be constantly distracted investigating etc. Picture of black and white cat © jacob earl reproduced under creative commons. From cat on a leash to cat facts
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