Saturday, November 17, 2012

Cat Harness

Yesterday I bought a cat harness. Why would I buy a cat harness? First off, I've heard they are useful for car trips with your cat. Secondly, my cat has seemed interested in going outside and he really doesn't get as much exercise in the small apartment as he did running around the house.

He was not thrilled with the harness being on at first, but he got used to it quickly. We went out for a brief test walk. He sniffed around some in a grassy area and walked along a rock ledge.

I was most surprised that he was willing to walk up the stairs of his own volition (especially since they are open stairs). He remembered where our apartment was and how to get back and bounded right up the stairs to our door.

So far, I'm pleased. Here is a link to the manufacturer website: http://www.premier.com/View.aspx?page=cats/products/training/cwmk/description. I picked mine up at Target for $7, but they only had medium size. I had to cut and re-sew the body harness because it was a bit too tight due to the material looped through the adjusters. It is nylon so I was able to seal the cut with a lighter to prevent fraying and I used heavy duty fishing rod thread which seemed to work well. PetCo also sells them, but they also only carry medium size in stores.

2 comments:

  1. Wow - I'm impressed. We tried a harness on Quazi for a while...he just did his whole scrunch down to the floor and belly crawl while keeping the tail ramrod straight to the sky. (he does the same thing when I drape a dishtowel over him..he doesn't get that his tail keeps the towel on for longer...)

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    1. Silly Quazi! I was pleasantly suprised. I thought it would take several sessions just to get him used to the harness. He bit at it the first time, but then I took it off to cut/sew. After that I put it on him fairly easily and he did move around weird for a few minutes and then hid under the chair staring woefully at me for putting him in some medieval cat torture device. I just let him be and he came out in about 10 minutes and I petted him and took him outside. Once outside he was so distracted about being *OUTSIDE!* he didn't take any notice of the harness or leash.

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