Yay, an expert! Do you think the getting them used to the harnesses by osmosis will work? I haven’t been up for any hi-jinx today. Gotta another little project going on.
I may get a hazmat suit on and just force the things on them, tomorrow.
Well, first thing is you need to get rid of the elastic non adjustable harnesses with all the bling, those are for advanced cats already trained to harness and leash.
It does require another person wearing heavy gloves, I recommend those long welder gloves and jeans If you can’t her Hubby Dearest to help, can you sweettalk bribe conscript blackmail extort threaten or otherwise convince or coerce LilWrekker to help?
You can get them used to the presence of the harness and leash, as an object in their world, but at some point you just gotta “throw a leg over that buckin bronc an ride it”
And don’t listen to the cats, they don’t have the power to invoke armeggedon or ragnarok or force the world snake to release its tail or anything like that. They’ll sulk and give ya the stink eye and ostracision treatment for a few days or weeks, but as long as YOU are the one actually putting the food on their dishes, they’ll come back around.
Lil’wrekkers coming in tomorrow. I think I will get her involved. I gotta find some new harnesses before we walk-about outdoors. I’m like you the elastic ones were a bad mistake. Plus, I have ‘diamonds’ all-over the house. We’ve not actually had the dang things on yet. Aarrrgghhh!
Have her hold the cats, that way they will be more mad at her than you, you put the harnesses on adjust them, remember, very snug, not just snug.
Um, when you go get new harnesses, get a nice treat for your helper too. And thick leather gloves, those are important, otherwise, I won’t lie, there will be blood.
I searched around the barn and found Mr.Wrekkers welding gloves. I’m going to the pet store tomorrow morning. The lil’wrekker gets plenty treats. She’s actually coming home for money (as usual).
She owes me a solid or two anyway. She’s not fond of the cats. They never have warmed up to her. Or anyone, really. They tolerate me because I control food and treats. They’re staring at me, right now. I swear they can read my mind. (Don’t think about harnessses, beck, clear your mind. Such beautiful babies, so pretty.) Ooh, I got blinkie eyes. They do love me.
Heh, cats are dramatic creatures, meaning they’re drama queens. Just remember the gloves are for Lil’Wrekker not you. Training sometimes, Harnessing a Cat almost always, Demands and Requires a blood sacrifice. The Royal Preciousnesses would have you believe it requires all of it, but it doesn’t.
Leash training though is a different story. That requires a cat with at least a tiny iota of compliance and some degree of intelligence.
Your pretty isolated aren’t you? Not a lot of loud traffic, or kids playing boisterously nearby? No random dogs barking their fool heads off through s solid fence at something they can’t see? Adapting a strictly indoor cat to being outdoors is where the true sacrifice and pain comes in depending on your surroundings.
Oh, God. The dog kennel outside will probably send them to the Moon. It’s got 17 beagles hollering their heads off at every movement on the place. This is a big stumbling block.
How do you feel about feline terror pee, all down the front of you, after the cat climbed up your leg and is now hiding in your arms and clinging to your torso for dear life with all the claws and no sign of letting go anytime soon?
That was my experience getting two cats that were exclusively indoor toms used to outside the first few times I took them off the patio
Keep in mind, I consider outdoor acclimation and leash training to be separate a d distinct as one can be done indoors
A further thought,
If the kennel is yours and the cat is familiar with the dogs, you could start by staying away from it and gradually working closer to it over time. Outdoor training is where you have to take it slow and pay attention to the signals the cat is giving, so that you will be recognized as a protective and safe place for the cat
I’ve got indoor-outdoor cats. (I live in a very low-traffic spot.) But I’ve got to wonder why you needed to make those cats go outdoors in the first place. I understand why many people feel the need to keep a cat indoors when the cat wants to go out; but why make a cat go outside when the cat wants to stay in?
(AIUI Beckdawrek’s cats have been asking to go out, though they probably want to explore bit by bit and slowly; the problem I gather is that they’re not safe outside there unless on leash, and they don’t want to wear the harnesses.)
I had to have them used to being outside because I was preparing to move from Georgia to Kansas. Imagine two tom cats, 19 and 22 pounds respectively, who made their displeasure at being in a carrier of any size known by peeing and pooping all over the inside of it as soon as they were put in it. I wasn’t ready to deal with that sort of thing driving halfway across the country.
I gotta tell ya, there’s nothing cooler looking than a guy walking a huge cat on a leash.
Ah. That makes sense.
And yes, those are very large cats!
Siamese cats can be very loud when they decide to want something.
Siamese can be loud on any day ending in a “y.”
~VOW
Except for when they’re sleeping. It’s been my limited experience with siamese that they do shut up to sleep.
Their purr is seriously loud too. VOW, I’m surprised you don’t have one. With your addiction and all;)
I had a flame point Siamese for years. He was MEAN, but he was MY cat. He eventually warmed up to me, but only me. I named him Zircon, but my kids called him Shithead.
Zircon wasn’t much of a talker, but he could purr strong enough to make our bed like a “Magic Fingers.” He loved to kill plastic shopping bags.
He developed Diabetes, and eventually accepted the insulin from Mr VOW.
Zircon died in 2013, and I still miss him
~VOW