Mine will go on walks with me but won't wear the harness. She doesn't run off, just kind of trundles around like an old dog lol

Mine will go on walks with me but won't wear the harness. She doesn't run off, just kind of trundles around like an old dog lol

One of my parents’ two cats can occasionally be wrangled into a harness for outdoor exploration, but Mom and Dad have to be careful. She’s a criminal mastermind and exploits any opportunity to do crime, and she really wants to do outdoor crime.
I try to but once my cat gets the harness on they don't want to do anything
That's what he did at first. So I would put the harness on and plop him in the yard. Once he started associating the harness with getting to go outside, he was all for it. Now when he hears someone pick it up, he'll run to the door and wait for it to get put on.
My cats also did the same thing lol I just gave up on it and let them be indoor cats. None of them were interested in exploring the outdoors
You have to accommodate them to it. Mine also just flopped down on the ground when I first put him in it, but now he goes on full walks with us. Baby steps :)
I've tried it but my cat gets scared of the footsteps behind her and tries to run away
Mine is too gelatinous for a harness. She's able to squeeze herself out of anything.
Yes! Pippin LOVES going on walks. I like that he gets some exercise and mental stimulation. He loves to explore new places and cackle and squirrels and birds.
Conan is adorable!
Mine will wear the harness and proceed to walk where they want rather than where I want. 🫠
My old kitty was a harness kitty but I haven't tried with Marbles yet. She'll nees to be come summer but for now she just comes out in the garden with me and sticks around very well.
I'm going to have to take a moment to discourage outdoor cats, they're wrecking havoc on the ecosystem, I understand this is a controversial stance because we as a culture have grown to love doing this, but in areas where they're not native, they're causing great harm.
Well first off, they are indoor cats that I let out my own yard. Secondly, this article is entirely a personal view.
It's good that they are indoor cats, but whether or not the article is personal is irrelevant, the point is the amount of havoc they're causing. They're an invasive species, they kill 1.4-3.7 BILLION birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.
They are in fact, the most damaging invasive species in history, and we feed and house them to ensure they keep going, the fact of the matter is we're letting loose efficient little murder machines, and that isn't the cats fault, its ours. We shouldn't allow people to keep invasive species outdoors, the ecosystem is vital.
You raise a good point WRT the ecological impacts, and there are plenty of studies that can show those relationships. There's an opportunity here to presume that @KingPyrox@beehaw.org is monitoring their cats without losing the impact of your concerns and have a more productive conversation.
Cool story bro. Don't really care though, humans will more than likely kill the birds before cats do 😉 guess we should rid the world of that invasion species too
it's not like anyone can stop you from letting your cat outside unharnessed, but this is a weird way to respond to the objective fact that cats do a huge amount of harm to environments they're introduced to--and that at the very least we shouldn't encourage that behavior and people who do it should know the harm it's causing
The fact that a mod decided to respond to my comment and not the overall post with the same context is a weirder way to respond then what I've put forward.
That cat is harnessed.
Oh so a cat in the wild harnessed is okay but a cat without one in a backyard is not? Contained is contained. But sure make your opinion be known
As others have already said to you, please try to be respectful and engage in good faith. We’re trying to build something different than what we left. If you’re honest with yourself, you can see that you’re being flippant. Choose grace instead, friend.
No, no I don't think I will.
I wasn't trying to argue or engage. This whole thing could have been over after my second comment. The rest was an attack on me for disregarding the mod opinion that could've been handled in more tackful ways if they wanted it known
For what it's worth we don't have great tools to toggle posting as a mod or not. I understand that it likely looked like a show of force to you, and that's why I stepped in and addressed everybody involved in escalating it, and did it respectfully. We can all choose to act and speak tactfully, which in my experience includes not rising to something you no longer need to.
Let's remember to be(e) accountable for how we converse with each other. I think you posted a lovely picture, and hope that you regularly bring your indoor cats, well, indoors when you're not able to keep an eye on them in the yard like a responsible human.
Accountable for what? Saying that humans are an invasive species? We are
It's about participation in a group conversation, and one where we recognize that it's not generally okay to continue to shout at each other when there's other folks trying to have a nice time. I'm willing to presume that you keep your cats monitored, and nothing you've said here would suggest that's not the case. You could, given the circumstances, suggest people take an active role in monitoring a species many of us love that is also notably dangerous for other animals.
This does not seem like an argument made in good faith.
You must know there's a difference between people living places, and encouraging the spread of invasive species.
I wasn't trying to have an argument. Give the context of the post I was just trying to showcase my own pets for the sake of joining in the joy of animals. You are the one that decided to try to force your own views on to my comment. I truly do not care about what you've presented. Hense the antagonistic responses
I don't know if it'll help or not, but I think a lot of this boils down to a misunderstanding
They just didn't know that your cats are indoor cats, and wanted to advocate for something that they (and myself) are passionate about (keeping cats indoors to help prevent ecological damage).
It seems to have escalated from there, and I'd love it to get back to square one and get the conversation back to positivity! We can all be friends :)
It seems odd to me to antagonize something you don't care about. The point was not to upset you, or to say that you're doing a bad job, I simply believe it is important to raise awareness about the subject of keeping cats outdoors.
I'm not trying to attack or upset you. I'm sorry it came off that way.
Out of 6 cars I've had over the years only one has enjoyed a harness... of the others there was just a rebellion by slumping on the ground and refusing to move... and another of being a whirling ball of claws... the others wouldn't even go near of there was a harness about....
must be a pretty big harness to fit around a car… ;)
we are trying now to our cats acclimated to harness.
does your harness buckle on top or bottom of harness?
The one in the picture has velcro straps on the bottom and buckles on the side. I've since went to this one (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q7ZCZQ7) since it takes takes pressure off the neck and moves it to their chest (if you're having to hold them back or stop them). I nor the cats like the ones where you have to poke their head and/or legs through holes.
That looks lovely! Do you actually get to walk him like you'd walk a dog, or does he just explore where he wants?
When the weather is nice I take my cat out on his harness too. I just let him explore as he wants... Which just means sniffing around the parking lot near my house (which is the neighborhood Cat Central). I believe my neighbors now knows me as "that weirdo who walks their cat" 😅
I wish I could upload my adorable little guy here who loves to go on walks in his harness but both browser and jerboa aren't allowing me to upload pictures anymore :(
Here he is!!! This is Fred and he's a little explorer :) his one bad eye means he barely has depth perception so he always thinks he can grab birds flying over 😂

Awww!! He is ADORABLE, oh my goodness! What a pressure* little adventurer! I love him. Thank you so much for sharing his cuteness with us!! 💕
*Edit: Whoopsie! I meant PRECIOUS little adventurer, lol! I didn't notice my typo until hours later when I went to show my mom the adorable pictures of this cute little explorer! :)
You can upload to an image hosting site like https://catbox.moe/ or imgur and share the link here! I'd love to see you adorable little guy!! :)
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