Cat on a Leash...

[BrklynLiberal]

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/07/26/how_to_leash_train_cat?source=newsletter

Bubba wakes up every morning at 5:39. Meow. He pads around the bed while I snore, puts one paw to my face. Meoooow. He slinks over to the nightstand, starts shoving stuff off the side -- a magazine I've been reading, a rubber band woolly with hair, the doorstop of a novel that falls to the ground with a bah-thunk-thunk.

Lately, Bubba has been a real dick.

He wasn’t always this way. Ours has been a breezy courtship forged by a mutual love of long naps and inertia; there was no mewling misery in him that wet food or cardboard couldn’t fix. But a few months ago, I moved to a Manhattan studio perfect in every way except for one: its size. Everyone knows New York apartments are tiny, but you never quite realize how tiny until your closet looks like a game of Jenga and you start eyeing your stove for storage. Downsized to a yuppie shoebox, my good-natured 13-year-old tabby has turned insatiable at dawn. I stumble out of bed at 5:50 to scoop out his breakfast, but he will not be satisfied. He pouts by the front door, crying his despair to the heavens. He hops up on the windowsill and stares longingly out into the courtyard below. Meow, he despairs. Meoooooow.

"Maybe he's lonely," a friend said.

"Maybe he's sick," said another.

I had a better idea: Maybe he needed a cat leash.

I know, I know, a cat leash is a ridiculous idea. Cats are too prickly, too willful to endure such pampered indignity. I might as well suggest my cat learn to make a delicious veal parmigiana, or play Bob Dylan songs on the harmonica. In five years of living in New York -- a city that prides itself on its vast parade of human experience -- I've only seen one cat on a leash. (Putting the ratio of strangers' penises to leashed cats at 2:1.) The New York Times wrote about a real estate broker on the Upper West Side who leash trained his cat, which suggests just how remarkable the feat is. Even the phrase "cat on a leash" has a campy spark of the impossible, like something you'd see in a Farrelly brothers movie, or hear about in a novelty song: "Cat on a leash! He don't eat quiche!" But if you start digging a bit into the world of cats on leashes, what you will discover is just how many people have already tried it.

<snip>

[ceile]

1. LOL!

Great story....

[david13]

2. I have seen it being done. But there are many cats who would not

stand for it.
I have read leash laws. They say animals, dogs, etc.

But go down to the end ... it says ...

... except for cats.

Judges, lawyers, politicians, all know, you can't put a leash on a cat.

Unless the cat agrees.

dc

[yellerpup]

3. When Pandora passed away a few months shy of her 18th birthday

Sarge, her companion (even though she was always rude to him) missed her terribly and started yowling at the door to go out. At the time we lived on Main St. in an apartment with no outdoor space, and letting him ramble was out of the question. Sarge was always game to try new things, so I made him a custom harness out of old collars, twine, etc., clipped on a leash and offered to take him for a walk. I made the decision beforehand that I would not lead but merely allow him to explore while being on hand to make sure he didn't get into trouble. Long story short, we always ended up in the garbage room which was unpleasant for me and not completely satisfying for him, either. The solution came a few months later when we moved across the hall and adopted two scrawny shelter kittens. The kittens were feral and had no use for us, but bonded with Sarge at first sight. Sarge became either "Bachelor Father" or "Kitty Dearest," depending on his mood, and he never cried at the door again because he was so busy bringing up his boys. :hi:

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Wonderful story!! Even tho cats are supposed to be loners, I believe that like dogs, they need

a pack to be part of..so they feel more at peace.

without preplanning, I have always seemed to acquire new cats in pairs...sometimes a few weeks apart...but always in twos. Two sisters that were 6 months apart, a Mommy and her baby, two more sisters from the same litter, two male cats that needed to find new homes...
I believe they all need companionship of their own kind....no matter how much they love us.

I always ended up with two dogs also.....in similar unplanned ways.

[badgerpup]

5. I've always had at least two...

...they keep each other company while I'm gone (and I was gone a LOT while in school and working). They also keep each other from getting bored and destructive and neurotic.

I also got a kick out of watching them interact. Misha and Fuzz weren't always 'sweet' to each other, but he missed her terribly when she died at the respectable age of nearly 19 (she'd been with me for over half my life at that time).
He accepted Kaminari ('Spring Thunderstorm') within HALF AN HOUR of us bringing her home...and they were playing together the next day. He was also Riktor's Jedi master, sensei, guru, coach...as well as general all-around Boss of the place.

I still miss that big loud noisy cat...he's directing traffic and giving advice, opinions and keeping the kittens in order at the Bridge.

[spooky3]

6. my dear departed Ragdoll mix walked on a leash at the vet's office

Everyone used to laugh at him but he was much more comfortable with it than sitting in a carrier--except when dogs came into the waiting room. He liked to walk around exploring everything.

He was unique in so many ways. I miss him so badly.

[Lorien]

7. Puck has had daily "walkies" around my neighborhood for almost six years now

She'll even drag her leash to me around 6pm every evening. If she doesn't get her walkie she throws an almighty fit!







For the record, she much prefers the MetPet walking jacket in the first pic to the traditional H-harness.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Gawd..she is stunning....

There is a link in the article to a site that sells the MetPet walking jackets. I would feel a lot more secure walking a cat in one of those rather than a flimsy harness. I have seen too many occasions where cats have slipped out of harnesses.

[Lorien]

9. She slipped out of that H-harness a few times, but never the MetPet jacket

even when a fire truck blasted past us and she had a freak out, it still held her. She also like that it's not pulled over her ears, and I think that the snugness around her torso has that "calming effect" that Temple Grandon has spoken about. She really likes it; every time she sees me holding her walking jacket she starts to purr!