How to Train your Cat to walk on a Leash

 Anyone who knows me also knows I love cats.

The article below used to be posted on a website I liked, but they have since removed it. Fortunately Google had a cache copy of it and I decided to keep it and share it with others.

For anyone who loves cats, this article is for you!

Teaching your cat to walk on a harness and leash is a great way to let your cat enjoy the outdoors while ensuring his safety. Outdoor excursions can reduce obesity and boredom-related behavior problems that many under-exercised indoor cats develop. Leash training also comes in handy during trips to the vet and other necessary travel. Before you get started, be sure your cat is up to date on his vaccinations.

How to Train Your Cat to Wear a Harness and Walk on a Leash

Most cats can be trained to walk on a harness and leash. Kittens are naturally more accepting of this new experience, but older cats can be trained with patience. Proceed in small steps, rewarding each bit of progress. Start harness training indoors so that your cat’s comfortable with it before you venture outside.

• Purchase a harness designed for cats. The leash attachment should be located on the back of the harness, not at the neck. Try Premier’s Gentle Leader® Come with Me Kitty™ Harness & Bungee Leash, which is easy to use and adjust.
• Leave the harness and leash near your cat’s food or favorite sleeping spot for several days. He’ll get used to the sight of it and associate it with feelings of contentment.
• In addition (or instead of Step 2), hold the harness and let your cat sniff it. Offer him treats as he does this. Then lay the harness against your cat’s neck and offer him a treat. As he’s sniffing the treat, remove the harness and let him eat the treat.
• Meanwhile—if your cat doesn’t much like being held and restrained—get your cat used to the handling you’ll have to do to put on his harness. (Just skip this step if your cat already accepts or enjoys being held.) With his favorite snack or toy close by, hold him firmly but gently for a few seconds. Softly praise him while you hold him, then show him a treat and release him to eat it. Repeat this exercise often for several days, always following your handling with treats, and gradually holding him a few seconds longer each time. Practice gently handling your cat’s legs and feet, too, and rewarding him for accepting that.
• Next, drape the harness over your cat’s shoulders and down his chest between his front legs. Introduce the new feel of the straps while your cat is sniffing or eating his treat, and remove the harness immediately. Work until you can snap the harness on him over his neck and shoulder area and between his front legs, continuing to distract him with treats.
• Put the harness on your cat, but don’t attach the leash yet. Immediately distract him with tasty treats. Adjust the fit of the harness. You should be able to slip two fingers (but not three or four) between the harness and your cat’s body. Leave the harness on for just a couple minutes, removing it before your cat’s interest in his rewards starts to decrease. Repeat this training daily for several days. If your cat stays relaxed, gradually increase the time the harness is on. If he ever gets upset, distract him with treats and then remove the harness. Try again later with a better reward and take the harness off sooner, before your cat has a chance to get upset.
• Now it’s time to attach the leash. Place your cat in a room with few things that might snag a leash. Put the harness on your cat and attach the leash, letting it drag on the ground behind him. Distract him with treats or play. Repeat this step for several days. Always supervise so that the leash doesn’t get caught on something and scare him.
• When your cat seems relaxed and comfortable while dragging the leash, hold it gently (not pulling against him) while he walks around the house. Let him go wherever he wants to, and keep the leash loose as you follow him around. As he roams, praise him often and periodically reward him with tasty treats. Practice this step for a few days.
• You might be satisfied to conclude harness training here and proceed outdoors. But you can also practice directing where your cat walks on leash indoors a bit (rather than just following him) before you go outside, since you’ll need to direct him once you’re outside. Here’s how you can encourage your cat to walk along with you:
  • Using a sweet, soft voice, encourage your cat to follow you.
  • Drop him a treat, and while he eats it, walk away to the end of the leash. When he catches up to you, praise and reward him with another treat. Repeat this over and over.
  • Apply gentle, persistent pressure on the leash if your cat tries to go in another direction. Be sure not to jerk or pop the leash. Just wait patiently. When your cat finally takes a couple of steps toward you, he’ll be rewarded by relief from the tension on the leash, and you can again reward him with a treat.
• Now it’s time to take the show on the road. Most cats who haven’t been outdoors are nervous and easily startled outside. So start in a quiet, sheltered spot and just sit with your cat on the leash. He’ll start exploring as he adjusts. Just as you did indoors, start by following behind your cat as he checks things out, and travel further with your new walking buddy when he’s relaxed and ready to move on.

Additional Tips

• Your cat won’t constantly pester you to go out if you take him only at a certain time each day. Try setting a regular walking schedule.
• Always put the harness on away from the door and carry your cat outside. Never let him walk out on his own, or he might try to dash out between walks without his harness on.
• Never harness your cat when he’s crying or pestering you. Ignore him until he’s quiet. Then you can reward his good behavior with a walk.
• Do not tie your cat’s leash to something outside and leave him, even if you plan to be gone for only a minute or two. Your cat might get tangled in the leash and hurt himself, and he won’t be able to escape if a dog or other animal approaches. In fact, it’s best to avoid leaving your cat outdoors unattended altogether, whether he’s on a leash or not.

Cat Misdirection

Funny Kitty

Anybody But Stephen Harper

I usually try to avoid talking about politics on here, but today is the federal election day in Canada. It is the day Canadians get to decide whether we want to re-elect Stephen Harper (who has already been in power for 10 years) or whether it is time to kick his ass to the curb for all the horrible things he has done.

#1. Do you remember the swine flu epidemic? Well the image below demonstrates Stephen Harper's "love" for his fellow Canadians.

#2. In the last ten years Stephen Harper has run 6 deficits and boosted the Canadian national debt by $140 billion. That is a 20% increase of the Canadian national debt. Canada's population is only $35.16 million... so do the math, that is $3981.80 per person. The average Canadian will have to pay that off over time in taxes. And what does Stephen Harper have to show for squandering $140 billion?

236,200 more people are now unemployed compared to when Harper took office.

Well for starters Stephen Harper is now considered to be the worst economic leader in 70 years. The numbers on multiple economic factors show that Stephen Harper is either the worst or 2nd worst in a variety of economic factors. So basically Stephen Harper has botched the economy.

Whoever replaces Harper is going to have to fix a lot of the problems Harper created.

#3. The Rich Got Richer while the Middle Class got Poorer. One of the economic factors described above is the issue of the middle class in Canada. Harper lowered taxes for the rich - aka Reagonomics, the concept that if you lower taxes on the rich it will "trickle down" to the lower classes. Reagonomics has since been proven to only make the rich richer and everyone else poorer. Stephen Harper proved it during the last 10 years as prime minister.

Poverty in Canada is also up, making Stephen Harper one of very few PMs in the last 70 years to preside over record poverty rates.

Here's a little tip I picked up recently from a real estate website that talked about politics in Canada:

If you are rich and buy property by paying for the full amount in cash, then you should vote Conservative. The Conservatives will lower taxes on you, while ignoring the poor and middle class.

If you are middle class and buy property using a mortgage, then you should vote Liberal. The Liberals will lower taxes on the middle class, raise taxes on the rich, and increase spending to decrease poverty / improve the economy.

If you are poor and either renting or living in your parent's basement, then you should vote NDP. The NDP will increase taxes on the rich and the middle class, and they will dramatically increase spending to decrease poverty in Canada.

Basically they pointed out that Canada's three main political parties are all about class warfare and bickering over who should pay more taxes, and how much money should be spent trying to reduce poverty/boost the economy.

#4. Stephen Harper is actively promoting racism against Muslims in Canada. All the talk about "old stock Canadians", "barbaric cultural practices", and niqabs has just fueled racism on Canada's right wing. He is basically trying to feed into the hate some Canadians feel and then use that to get more votes from people who normally vote for the National Socialist Party. And oddly enough, to try and get more Jewish votes. Wow. Nazis and Jews both voting for the same party. That is really weird.

Take niqabs for example. 20 years ago niqabs wasn't even an issue in Canada. Nobody cared. But suddenly Stephen Harper has turned niqabs into a symbol of Muslim immigrants coming to Canada, and used that symbol to fuel hatred which has resulted in Muslim women being attacked on the streets across Canada.

Examples

Pregnant Muslim woman attacked in Montreal.

Toronto Muslim woman attacked for wearing a niqab.

Ottawa police urge Muslim women to report attacks after several incidents.

I should also note that promoting racism and spreading hate literature is a crime in Canada. Stephen Harper should actually be arrested for openly doing what the National Socialist Party does behind closed doors.

#5. Last but not least, Stephen Harper also did the following:

Shut down women's shelters across Canada.
Built more prisons while fear-mongering about crime in a country with a ridiculously low crime rate.
Invaded the privacy of Canadians.
Took away the right to privacy in the name of finding terrorists (more Canadians die from shark attacks each year than from terrorist attacks).
Removed vast amounts of publicly owned land from environmental protections so oil companies can drill there.
Gave the oil industry in Alberta a free ride while ignoring the rest of Canada's economy.
Completely ignored the plight of missing / murdered indigenous women.
Completely ignored the issue of clean drinking water in Canada's poorest communities.
Gutted laws that protected Canada's fish stocks,  because apparently free food and clean water is less important than oil.
Gutted the CBC's funding in an effort to control what they were saying about him.
Scrapped funding for arts and the film industry in Canada, industries that actually bring more money into Canada.

Basically pick any topic, and Stephen Harper did something bad during the last 10 years.

Want to learn more about things Harper did? Visit the website Shit Harper Did.