joyce@ihuxp.UUCP (joyce) (05/16/84)
All these articles on cats running loose has me wondering - can older
cats adjust to a leash (or harness)? I have two cats who have lived
all their lives indoors except for a balcony. (I live in a third-floor
apartment). They love sitting outside, one of them will even sit in the
rain or snow. In another year or so, I plan to move to a house, but they'll
be around 5 years old then and I have doubts about their abilities to
fend for themselves out loose. Has anyone tried to train an older cat
to a leash?
Marguerite
ihnp5!iwpba!maggie2lat@stcvax.UUCP (Larry Tepper) (05/17/84)
Are you talking about walking your cat on a leash, or tying up
the cat on a leash attached to a line so it will be confined to
your back yard? I live in an apartment building and have a
neighbor who walks her cat in the building's courtyard on a leash.
I would never recommend the latter method, though. A friend of
mine tried this once and returned from work one day to find that
her cat had strangled to death. I don't know the details and given
her state of mind that day wasn't going to ask. I could certainly
see the cat getting tangled trying to jump down after climbing a tree.
Perhaps a chest harness like those that seeing-eye dogs use could
prevent this. I don't think many cats would enjoy wearing such
a contraption.
--
{decvax, hao}!stcvax!lat Larry Tepper
{allegra, amd70, ucbvax}!nbires!stcvax!lat 303-673-5435