Leashing a Cat

Shadow had been the cat in our house for over seven years
when we moved from the country into town. His usual lifestyle
including roaming our five acres whenever he wished. Moving to
town required him to be a “house” cat, and he managed for two
months. Then one Friday morning as I left for work, he streaked
out the door. I called him, but he was gone.

Oh, well, I thought, he’ll be back, probably waiting
for me when I get home.

When I arrived home, I asked my husband if he had seen Shadow,
and he hadn’t. I wasn’t really worried, though, until Saturday
came but Shadow didn’t. By Monday, I began to worried in
earnest. I couldn’t call the animal control office until they
opened at nine, and my planning period began at 8:55. Needless
to say I was calling when the clock showed nine o’clock.

“Hello, have you found a large black cat with yellow eyes?” I
asked.

“Ma’am, we have four black cats. Can you give any distinguishing
marks?”

“He’s a male, weighs nearly twenty pounds, but he isn’t fat at
all. His undercoat is a dark brown, but he looks solid black.”

“I think we may have him. Come by, pay the fine, get his shots,
and he’s yours.” The man sounded disgusted. “All he does is sit
in the corner of his cage and glare. He was one of the cats
brought in that had been trapped by one of the landlords in that
neighborhood. Doesn’t like cats.”

On the way home, I stopped by the animal shelter. Shadow still
hunkered in a corner of the cage, glaring. When I called his
name, he stood and sauntered to the front of the enclosure,
tilted his head and squinted his eyes. He allowed me to pick him
up, oomph, heavy cat. When we got into the car, he sat in the
passenger seat ignoring me until we were nearly to the house.
Then with one bound, he pressed up against the side of my leg,
his head on my arm. I held him the rest of the way home, driving
with one hand.

I knew we had to find a way that the cat could go outside but
wouldn’t leave the yard. Shadow was smart, almost human, but he
didn’t get the concept of staying in the yard. The job became
leashing a cat. A collar wouldn’t work because if he climbed and
became caught, he could strangle. I bought the largest cat
harness the store had and two long leashes that could be hooked
together. Bringing them home, I put the harness on the cat.
Let’s revise that last statement; I tried to put the harness on
the cat. It was too small. I kept the leashes and returned the
harness.

The next day, I gathered Shadow in my arms, and we drove to a
local pet store. I carried him into the shop, where we looked at
harnesses in the dog department. I took the cat and one harness
over to a counter. I sat Shadow on the top while I readied the
harness.

“You’re just going to leave the cat there without any
restraint?” one of the clerks asked.

“Sure. He won’t move until I tell him he can,” I answered as I
slipped the harness on the calm, miniature panther.

The cat sniffed the harness before yowling softly. He then lay
down to clean his paws as I paid for the harness, one for a
medium sized dog.

I gave Shadow a few days to become used to his harness before
attaching the leash, first just one as I held the other end. He
didn’t like coming to the end of the leash confused him at
first, but after a few “lessons,” he learned that the leash
limited his activity space. We would have a time on the leash
three times a day for thirty minutes.

After a week of times on the one leash in the house, I snapped
both leashes together and one end on Shadow’s harness. We went
to the front yard for fifteen minutes to start the next step in
preparing the cat for “leash life.” Each day we lengthened the
time outside until we stayed for an hour. The next day, I
connected one end of the connected leashes to a post and left
Shadow by himself. He did well for the two hours I left him on
his own. The next outing was in the back yard. On a Saturday
morning, when I could be home, I placed him on the leash in the
backyard, and I left him while I did housework. I checked him
periodically through the window, but everything appeared fine.
Then one time I looked out and couldn’t see Shadow. I hurried to
the back yard to find him hanging from the top of the fence. He
never tried to go over a fence while hooked to the leash again.
I was glad I hadn’t tried a collar around his neck.

Leashing a cat is possible, rewarding, and successful for both
cat and owner if certain steps are taken:

1. Use a harness that fits the cat snugly but not too tightly.
2. Allow the cat to become familiar and comfortable wearing the
harness. 3. Start lessons with a single leash hooked to the
harness and the other end in your hand while you and the cat are
in the house. Begin with fifteen minutes and lengthen time up to
thirty minutes. 4. When the cat appears comfortable with the
leash being used in the house, add the other leash to the end of
the first and move outside. Stay with the cat each trip to the
yard until he is comfortable. 5. Once the cat is left outside
alone on the leash, check periodically to be sure he hasn’t
gotten into trouble. 6. Never leave a cat on a leash outside if
no one will be home to check on him.

After Shadow was leash-broken, we could take him anywhere with
us, including trips, and not worry about him. Travel became much
easier for him and us.

Shadow also never spent any more time in a cage.