Yep, I am officially a crazy cat lady. Today I bought Lily a harness and leash…and took her on a walk! Well, it was more like her exploring and me following, but it’s a start!
After researching online how to train a cat to walk on a leash, I was slightly discouraged. One website was very helpful and descriptive, but included about 9 steps – each of which was supposed to be practiced for DAYS before moving on to the next one.
Well, Lily is a fast learner. She got all the way to Step 8 – TODAY. (She skipped a few ;) ) Here are the steps in Lily’s advanced kitten leash training course:
Step 1 (for advanced kittens like Lily): sniff and explore the harness and leash a bit.
Step 2 (for advanced kittens like Lily): try on the harness and get used to walking around with it on (and give lots of praise and treats!).
Step 3 (for advanced kittens like Lily): attach the leash to the harness and let her explore with the leash dragging.
Step 4 (for advanced kittens like Lily): hold on to the leash while she explores to her heart’s content.
Step 5 is yet to come…that is teaching her to actually walk WITH me. But I am quite pleased with her progress today. :)