Anyone else walk their cats?

[gypsy cola]

So I got my cat leashed trained and I take her on daily walks. We don't venture far as I live in a interesting neighborhood. I have though of taking her to a park or a gentle short hiking trail. Is it a bad idea? I'm worried about her getting ambushed by a larger animal or not defecating/drinking.

 

[The Snark]

Let the cat be your guide. Keeping into account she isn't thinking round trip. So take the cat out as far as you two can comfortably go without her looking uneasy or complaining then divide that distance in half. Avoid any and all hazards. Once a cat gets freaked out, their day, and the walk, is ruined.

I'm thinking of a cat the liked to ride with me on the bike. I rigged a board covered in cloth for her to cling to. She enjoyed the first 15 to 20 minutes then it became arduous. Another trip where she got bored and she dialed the time down to about 10 minutes. Another trip where a dog freaked her out cut the time down to about 5 minutes.

 

[schmiggle]

This seems like a very good idea. I'm sure in the wild they're far more active than they usually are in captivity (and wild cats are physically quite similar to most domesticated ones).

In general, activity for mammals is only a good thing, within reason. One of my bosses has a very active, smart dog--part border collie and I can't remember the other half--and most of the time she's pretty hard to handle. She barks at everyone and won't sit still. But when she was doing work in the field all day, she was an absolute charmer. Surely part of that was exhaustion, but still worth noting.

 

[MetalMan2004]

I have a cat leash but none of my cats ever took to it. Even after a few sessions to get them used to it they would all just freeze up and either sit in the same spot or cling to my leg. Eventually I gave up.

More power to ya if you can get it to work.

 

[spotropaicsav]

We experimented at one time, but our cats are indoor, and we live in a very busy area. We stopped due to concerns over escape and cats getting run over in the street. We tried a cat stroller instead. Maybe the leash will work for you, depending on the cat and the area you live in, and your comfort.

 

[spotropaicsav]

So I got my cat leashed trained and I take her on daily walks. We don't venture far as I live in a interesting neighborhood. I have though of taking her to a park or a gentle short hiking trail. Is it a bad idea? I'm worried about her getting ambushed by a larger animal or not defecating/drinking.

Its possible, you could try it out, also FYI they can slip out of the harnesses occasionally, even if fitted well, when frightened. Let us know how it goes

 

[boina]

It can work, but not with every cat. I had a couple of cats I used to take out for walks, minus the leash - I live in the country, it wasn't needed. They had bonded with my dog and would accompany me on dog walks, too. I guess the large-ish dog made them feel safe. My neighbor sometimes takes their cat when they walk their dog, too. I have other cats that are just scared and won't leave their accustomed area.

 

[CWilson1351]

We have tried leash training our cat, but I think the noise of nearby traffic and being in a semi crowded suburb spooks him too much. He does well very late at night or even early on weekends. Not for more than 5-10min though. He tries to slip out of his harness and once that happens I scoop him up and bring him back inside. Even have the rip in one of my favorite band t-shirts to prove it

 

[The Snark]

I've been observing our three cats pretty closely in the past few weeks. It's very obvious this is going to depend entirely on the cat.
Our three with extremely different interests and personalities. I did a little test with a leash on them. Cat 1 is being tortured and is still offended 48 hours later. Cat 2 was like trying to drag a lump of bread dough around and Cat 3 didn't care and went along with the idea as long as I was giving it attention.
Seems like this needs to be taken into account.