| It may sound strange but my cat does climb trees with his leash on. https://imgur.com/a/QMrC6d9 He’ll start running, and I’ll run with him, and he’ll scale it to the smallest branch that will support him. Sometimes he gets a bit tangled on the way down and I’ll have to unthread a bit. One time I had to toss the handle end over a branch. But most of the time he comes down the exact way he came up. He’s yet to fall from a tree but the harnesses he’s grown through are either breakaway or loose enough for him to pull out. In the unusual event of him pulling out of the harness, he will sometimes sprint around but is patient to let me approach and put it back on. It is very strange but a great connection with the animal. In general, “walking” a cat you do have to be deft with the leash, as they’ll weave more than dogs and don’t go in a straight line at all. I often find myself getting closer than I’d like to people’s parked cars but it’s not a big deal. They still get to play in bushes and do cat stuff hanging out. Mine is literally chilling in the depths rain garden right now. https://imgur.com/gallery/ETZ1KLt My cat does have a hunting instinct, and there are specific play activities we do to provide an outlet for that. It isn’t the life of a free roaming cat, it’s a compromise and it takes more time and energy. But it is really fun and long after the novelty has worn off people never get over seeing a cat walking down the street on a leash. I can see that it would be not easy to turn a free-folk cat into an “adventure cat,” though I know a person in the neighborhood who had to do this with an older cat because the vet said another fight and he’d be a goner. That brings up the question of protection and in this case he has kept the cat inside. The cat has adjusted. I’m glad for what you have with that cat. The point of my post is that I believe there are broad misconceptions of what is possible with cats. People don’t realize a lot of great life is out there when they are leash trained, (like dogs experience), and that this can limit the life of cats and have other impacts. |