With all the recent cat posts i was just sitting here thinking about my cat, well kitten(about 13 weeks), and i thought about how i’ve never seen anyone actually walking their cat… like on a leash. Sure i’ve seen people walk dogs, and while looking around the pet section of Wal-Mart i saw leashes for cats, so surely some people must walk their cats? i wanted to buy one for my kitty b/c i thought it might be fun to walk around with her, but again, i’ve never seen people do this. i think i would feel a little weird. Anyone here walk their cat, know someone who does or seen someone do it?
If you want to train your cat to go for walks with you, now is the time to start.
I think most cats will freak out pretty violently if restrained with a leash.
what kind of dork walks cats?
Quiet you!!
… you go up north and you think ur so smart!
Bwahahahahaha! 
you’d just better not let me see you walking that cat.
Lots of people, evidently. As the OP notes, cat leashes are easy to find in pet stores.
We walk our cat. We used to walk both our cats, on cat leashes. The first time we did it the cats kept their bellies close to the ground, as f they were tied there, but they got used to it. Eventually, when they go used to the idea of not leaving our roperty, we took them off the leashes and walked the without any restraints. We walked both cats at once, so this proves that, popular belief notwithstanding, you can herd cats.
After HMaggie died, we continued walking Midnight, but not our two new cats, who we waned to keep as indoor-only cats. Pepper Mill stopped walking Midnight after she bit her hard enough to send her to the Emergency Room, when Pepper tried to bring her in before she wanted to come in. She doesn’t do that to me – either I intimidat her too much, r she doesn’t want to lose her outdoor priveleges that much, or ele I know how to grab her so she won’t bite me.
They had to get used to it? Uh oh, doesn’t sound like that great of an idea to me. :o
I used to walk a cat we had years ago, a big longhair brown tabby male named Fuzzbutt (thank my mom for the name). I always heard it was better not to use a collar and leash for cats, but a harness, the kind that goes around their body, so I actually made a home-made harness for the kitty. The actual walking was more out of my desire to flirt with the guy down the street than any actual desire or exercise need on the part of the cat, though. But he got used to it. 
Yes i would think so too. If it makes any difference my kitten had no trouble with me putting a flea collar on her, she didnt move too much or anything (and shes usually a pretty wild cat). And she even knew to use the litter box all by herself! That really amazed me, but i figured maybe it was bacause i got her from the Pet Store, but i saw no litter box in the cage? Eh i don’t know. I’ll look into the harness thing though, thanks AntaresJB
My cats both do well on a harness and leash. I put the harness on them inside and let them run around in it for a while… apparently it’s like wearing a bra, feels weird to start with but you get used to it. I take 'em out and they check out the grass and the trees and the pigeons and such.
Course, my boy-cat adores car rides. He begs for 'em. So I may just have weird cats.
Corr
The cat leashes we got were actually harnesses that went around their bellies as well as their necks – I think any cat would try to pull out of a simple neck leash. And, yes, you can get your cat used to things – they don’t always fight back tooth and nail, as hard as they can.
The guy or the cat?
My cat is leash-trained (was, anyway; she’s mostly indoors now). I started when she was young, and she had no problem being outside on a leash - absolutely loved it, in fact. Cats need to be watched constantly when on leashes, however; they will get themselves tangled up in no time flat. Not might, will. And they’re easy prey if a dog or unleashed cat comes by. I found the harness too much trouble to take on and off, so I used a collar for Feather (but never leave a cat on a collar alone - they can hang themselves very quickly).
You need to decide now if your cat will be an outside or an indoor cat; IMO, a cat who is used to being outside will never be happy with being kept indoors later on, and could be very loud and whiny about this. Training your cat to be outside on a leash is the safest way to have an outdoor cat. You may want to try walking the cat, too, but I found that Feather was never interested in walking; she just loved being outside and sniffing everything and eating the grass.
Yes, it can be done. Your walks might not be as purposeful as with a dog. A lady in my apartment complex takes her calico out on a leash and harness to go sniffing around the grounds. I agree that if you want to do this, it will be easiest to start right away while your cat’s still young.
Here are some instructions, paraphrased from Felinestein by Suzanne Delzio and Cindy Ribarich:
Let cat play with harness, sniff it, generally get used to it. Put harness on cat for a few minutes a day, increasing the time from a few minutes working up to a longer time. Always supervise the harness wearing. Attach a lightweight leash and let her drag it around, while you supervise. Pick up the leash, and follow her around, but let her know you’re holding the lead. Teach her to walk along with you by using treats. Hold the leash, call the cat to you, then walk forward a few feet. Reward with the treat.
Increase the distance she’ll walk with you until you can walk around between rooms together. Never tug her leash, just hold firmly if she pulls away. At this point, you can try little jaunts in the yard or down the block.
My paerents also use the harness and leash on their cat. They go RV’ing for 3 to 4 months a year and take the cat along. Since the RV is small it would be cruel to keep the cat inside all the time. They came up with a pretty good system. They harness the cat and then attach a really long, and somewhat heavy, leash to the cat. Then they let the cat out. The cat has learned how far she can go on the leash and will not stray too far. At the same time my parents can easily spot the cat because the leash is bright red and impossible to miss. If there are other animals around, which is common in RV parks, they shorten and attach the leash to the RV.
It works out very well. The cat gets to explore and my parents don’t have to worry about her taking off.
Slee
My cats go out on a leash with a harness. The first time the harness was put on the one cat, he did a “Stop, drop, and roll” thing for about ten minutes. But once he realized harness=outside, he became thrilled at the mere sight of the harness.
My cats are indoor cats with no street smarts. The leash keeps them safe. I don’t walk my cats as you would a dog, I let them explore where they feel like they wish to go – the leash allows me to keep them out of dangerous or really dirty places, and gives me quick control of the cat if there’s another threatening animal.
Ex/ A schnauzer charged up in full “kill kitty!” mode. One quick tug and the cat was up in my arms out of harm’s way.
This is why a favour a harness. If the cats is startled, tries to run or needs to be quickly lifted, a collar would choke him. The harness I use makes him liftable like a duffle bag. NOTE: I used a harness made for a small dog because I hate the design of “cat harnesses.”
The other handy thing about a harness is that with an additional strap, you can use it as a seat-belt if you need to take kitty on a drive. The extra strap is attached where the clasp of the leash would go, then you feed the car seatbelt through the strap. – Cat can move around a bit, look out the window, but can’t get underfoot and won’t get ejected from the car or thrown around in an accident.)
Note: I do know someone whose leashed cat trots beside her like a dog. I’m envious.
I have had luck making an outdoor/indoor cat indoor only. True - he wasn’t very happy about it at first, but now he is perfectly happy indoors. When he wants to explore, I open the door to the basement.
I have not had luck with cats on leashes- it seems to go against the very independent nature of cats. They are not like dogs - content to be where you are, although certain cats may be at least tolerant of being walked.
Why a leash when you can carry your tabby?
Another cat-walker checking in.
Loki the Siamese was introduced very early to a leash and harness and he has never really seemed to mind.
We walk the same path whenever we take him out and sometimes -rarely- we will take both him and the poodle out together. This never fails to elicit curious reactions from the passers-by.
As for the other cats, however, forget it. Minou never felt comfortable on the leash and she’s pretty much an indoor cat anyway so what’s the point
Watson was a feral cat when we adopted him and there is no way he would ever subject himself to the humiliation of being walked on a leash. He is the most “outdoor” of the three and we’ve no desire to change him.
Another dork here.
Termie came to live with me when he was 11 years old. My sister had let him roam their semi-rural property, but I live in the city. I let him play with the harness for about a week before I attempted to put it on him. The “saddling o’ the cat” worked well. It was getting him to walk down two flights of stairs dragging the leash that took weeks.
I found the clips on most leashes were far too heavy. That weight between the shoulder blades caused the cat to crouch while walking. There is a lightweight leash/harness with sliding clip that makes a great leash when the clip is removed.
Cats do learn that the leash means they can go outside. Termie will now sit at the damned door, just like a dog, when I put the harness on. He can be without a leash for the short walk to the fenced yard next door. Any further and the leash goes on.
If I try to take him in before he’s had his 30-45 minutes of outside time he will lay flat on the ground and refuse to budge. I then have to carry him in. He hasn’t tried to bite me, though. Yikes!