Anyone else who tried to harness train their cat?

I'm curious, is there anyone else here who tried to introduce a harness to their cat? I did, and I have to say I found it much much easier than I thought. It probably depends largely on your cat's personality, but it might be easier than you think.

I decided to buy a (very) cheap harness because my cat is young and very active, he likes to play a lot and he constantly looks outside the window yowling. The area around my house is full of cars and dogs, though, and the garden is unfenced, so I couldn't let him out without a harness.

I made a horrible mistake as soon as I bought the harness: I tried immediately to put it on him. I hadn't even figured out exactly how to use it, but I was very eager to finally take him for a walk. After 2 minutes and uncountable scratches I went on the Internet for help.

I did exactly as the guides I found online said: start slowly, let the cat recognize that the harness is part of his environment and is harmless, use treats and so on. And it worked!

Mind you, he does not like being harnessed. He tolerates it. And another thing: it's not like walking a dog, your cat won't follow you, and if you stop him from going somewhere he will not change direction. He'll keep pulling. This might be only my cat, but it seems in line with their nature.

I suggest those with young cats to give it a try. It takes some time and patience, but it's wonderful to see him chewing on grass and chasing butterflies! I don't know how an older, indoors-only cat would react to being brought outside though. What do you think?

I tried to harness train my two cats a year ago. They would tolerate being harnessed, but other than that, they are too stubborn. They would walk, but they would try their best to run away. Also, magically, they managed to escape the harness just by rolling around. It's safe to say that I never tried to put them on harness again. I realized that if the cats didn't enjoy collars, why would they enjoy the harness and being walked. I just let them be most of the time. We are all happy that way.

I moved from my home in Maine, where my cats were allowed to go outdoors, to Fayetteville, North Carolina for a couple of years, where they were not.

I had three cats. Two of them, sisters from the same litter, would have nothing whatsoever to do with a harness. One of them got out of her harness while we were outside once, panicked and ran. Fortunately, her interest was getting back inside the apartment. Since all of the apartment doors looked alike, she selected the wrong apartment but I found her scratching at someone else's door, and she let me pick her up. In the end, it wasn't worth fighting with them over it.

The third one, who was eleven years younger, took to a harness with no problem whatsoever. Well, she did fight it a little, I guess, but she soon realized that her only option for getting outside was on a leash.

When she wanted out, she would wait patiently for me to put the harness on and, twice, when I was busy with something else and tried to ignore her, she picked up the harness in her mouth and brought it to me like a dog might do.

I did try to harness both of my cats because they are indoor cats and I really wanted them to be able to get a sense of being outside for walks and things like that. They are declawed so they cannot go out on their own. I wouldn't do that anyway.

They both would have no part of it... they would not allow it no matter what I did!! It was not a good situation to say the least and they were mad at me for 2 days I swear!!!

All cats are different though.

Danyel

When i was growing up, I had a cat named Suzie Q, and she went with me everywhere around the yard just like a dog would do. I got her one of the little harnesses that are made for cats, tht are a strip of leather or nylon, and one end has a loop for the neck, and the other has a loop for the mid-section.
First, I just put the harness on her and let her wear it around, and only when I was right there with her , so that she didn't get caught somewhere with it. After she was used to wearing it, I attached the leash, and let her drag that around, and then I held on to the leash, but didn't try to make her lead. Once she was okay with wearing the harness, and being on a leash with me, I started to teach her to lead, and gradually, she became used to that also, and I was able to take her around with her harness and leash just like you would walk a dog.