Thread: Training Maine coons on a leash?

Have had some experience with cats on leashes...

We had a MC mix that we took in (was stray) and was found to have HCM, so he was not allowed to run loose again (needed medication several times a day). Since he loved the outdoors so much, we got him used to wearing a harness and he spent most of his days outside on a long clothesline rope with a pulley system (i.e., a dog run). He had a reach of like 150' in front and in back yards. People always said that you cannot put a cat on a rope, but it worked just fine. Anyway, I also got into the habit of walking him around the neighborhood each night for 30-60mins! Had a 25' retractable leash. Now I have to caution that he was great at heading away from the house, but not nearly as good about coming back. Eventually he got very used to me carrying him home. During the winter when he would get cold (I was usually freezing by that point) and was ready to head home, he would rub on my legs and mew, I would pick him up, he would snuggle against me, and home we would go. He was only 14lbs however. Our new male MC is probably too heavy for such a scenario. He is not currently that interested in going out luckily.

We also have a female that started wanting to go out because of the above cat, and she was trained to accept harness and leash/rope. Definitely takes some time and patience. She did not like the harness at first, and even when they get used to that, having a leash and being tugged can make them freak out. I would suggest starting with a very short bit of cord after they are used to harness alone. Female once came in front door with rope on, got freaked, and took off racing around the house--but since the rope was dragging and making noise she got more and more freaked. Not good. Luckily she stopped before anything bad happened, but this is an issue. Also had one bad experience with her outside early on when leash rubbed against something, she freaked and took off, jerking leash from my hand. She raced around the side of the house before me and vanished. We had half the neighborhood out looking for her. Turned out she had just ducked in some bushes next to house, but it took some time before she "talked" and we found her. At this point, the cat is fine with the whole process and I am very confident in her. She wears her harness outside with me (with a tag on it), but often is not on a leash or rope. If she is in the mood to just sit and watch birds, etc., or I want to get something done, we have various ropes around the yard that I can attach her to. I will note that brown tabbies are quite camouflaged outside, so you have to keep a close eye on them if they are not on leash/rope. Note also that all of our cats are microchipped just in case.

So anyway, certainly doable, but not necessarily a trivial process. Should take it little by little, and have a helper with you the first few times you go outside, in case cat freaks out and you need assistance. That was one of my big mistakes with the girl. Probably also have to be prepared to carry the cat a bit at times. The walks for the male were the highlight of his life, though. When I would go out at night and ask him if he wanted to go for a walk, he would race to end of the driveway and wait for me. The girl also loves going out. When I get home from work she is waiting in the front window, pawing madly at the glass, and she then comes racing to the front door as I try to get inside.

There are at least a couple of harnesses made for cats available in the US. The Lupine ones are probably the nicer ones and they come in a larger size. We found that the "figure 8" style harnesses work much better for cats than some of the small dog harnesses that have a link going between the front legs--those are pretty hard to get on a cat. You do have to play around with how tight to adjust them. Too tight and the cats hate them, but too loose and they can get out of them--by backing out. If they get frightened, this is what they can do. You may think they could not get out of it, but they can do things with their front legs that streamline their bodies in a way that no dog could. Wikipedia says: "Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones, which allows them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their heads." So you need to be aware of that.

Thanks for that. It was very interesting reading about your experiences. It's nice to know that they often do get to enjoy going out. Your male MC running to the end of the drive when you asked him he wanted to go for a walk is so sweet. It sounds like it just takes patience. Often the same with dogs unless you start early. I have a lupine harness I used on my dog when she was a puppy - can you use these on cats or can you buy lupines specifically made for cats?

Originally Posted by Karena

I have a lupine harness I used on my dog when she was a puppy - can you use these on cats or can you buy lupines specifically made for cats?

They make ones specifically for cats. See:
Lupine® - Cat Products

The cat harnesses are figure-8 or H-style. Some dog are but some are not.

The other harnesses we have are:
Buy Adjustable Figure H Cat Harness Blue Nylon - Cat Harnesses Online at Arcata Pet Supplies

Those say 11-18" girth, but the ones we have are 16" not 18". These have been fine for our 14lbs cats, but are too small for bigger male. The Lupine are 9-14 or 12-20". We got a couple of the larger for the bigger male, but he has not used yet (not big desire to go out).

I personally don't like very much this type of harness because I think it doesn't wrap the cat weel. I use for my cat 2 types of harnes:
-the first one has a little stuffed part that goes from the neck to the back. I use it to bring Mellow in the car, fasten to the seat belt. It's strong and comfortable for the cat. See the firt picture. It's made by Trixie.
-the second one his for dog but I use it to go out with my cat and I think if weel done. See from the 2nd to the 4th pictures. It's made by Ferplast.

Than I want to buy some type of harsess as follow, just to try them and see if they are safe and confortable for the cat. The 5th pictures is an harness made by trixie, cute, while the last picture is a type of harness called "cat walking jacket" that in my opinion (but I want to buy and try it) should be the best one!!!

Originally Posted by Marty.Mellow

I personally don't like very much this type of harness because I think it doesn't wrap the cat weel.

I have not had much luck using harnesses with a strap between the leg, but if your cat tolerates them then great. Just be aware that the way they get out of a harness is to *back* out of it, so having a chest strap will do nothing at all to prevent this. Our MC mix spent like 4yrs outside on a rope all day wearing one of the H-style harnesses plus going for walks every night. In all those many *thousands* of hours of wearing an H harness, he managed to get out of it only twice (and trees were involved both times).

I followed a Wikihow link 'How to Leash Train a Cat' posted by Riaboo. The page (link below) carries a list of nine 'Cat Harness' warnings. I post this one because I feel it to be worthy of consideration*Roy

Walking an indoor cat on a leash outdoors may make the cat less afraid of the outdoors and more likely to escape through an open door, then get lost, hit by a car, or attacked by a feral cat or other animals.

http://www.wikihow.com/Leash-Train-a-Cat

Originally Posted by Roy Snell

Walking an indoor cat on a leash outdoors may make the cat less afraid of the outdoors and more likely to escape through an open door, then get lost, hit by a car, or attacked by a feral cat or other animals.

From my experience, I believe this warning overlooks the positives of the cat being more familiar with your house and yard in case they do get out--and it is pretty likely that at some point they might make it out. It does seem true that taking your cats outside on a leash will probably get them into the habit of wanting go out with you, but many cats want to outside anyway. Once a cat has been outside under your control several times, they will be better able to cope if they do get out. Two of our male MC kittens have desperately wanted to get outside, and both have succeeded despite our efforts to prevent this (one for example, jumped onto my back and them launched himself out the cracked open door while I was bent over bringing in a dog, thinking I had the doorway blocked). The only one of our current four that goes outside normally is a female, and I feel that she is much better prepared should she get outside. She knows the yard and house well, and she isn't so desperate to get out because she does go out some. I often have her out in the yard with me, unleashed (though wearing harness w/tag). I am now quite confident in how she will behave. One of the male's that got out repeatedly was a nightmare the first few times (the entire family chasing him all over the yard). We eventually allowed him out on a leash and I believe it helped reduce his obsession with trying to get out (and he was much calmer when he was out).

"Walking an indoor cat on a leash outdoors may make the cat less afraid of the outdoors and more likely to escape through an open door, then get lost, hit by a car, or attacked by a feral cat or other animals"

The above warning was listed at the bottom of the WikiHow page (see link below) and I posted it for no reason other than I thought it to be of interest. Whilst it suggests that Fear is a coons best defense and leashing may, on an unescorted adventure into the unknown, give the cat a false sense of security, I do in essence agree with you NCarver in your suggestion that it "overlooks the positives" after all, we leash our children and our dogs so why not a Maine Coon. In an ideal world, we do not own our cats and dogs any more than we can own our children. At best we are custodians and share something of our lives together. In his youth, my Bearded Collie Hope and I, needed to learn how best to walk and cross roads. To this end we used a leash and eventually, we learned the way. Mostly from there on, we could enjoy a walk together without the leash. Be it true or otherwise, I read that Maine Coons are similar to dogs, in that they are intelligent and like to be with their carers most of the time. In our togetherness, I like to think of a leash not as a shackle, but as a learning aid, and when the lesson is learned our Coons stay with us in the house or garden, because they want to*Roy


WikiHowlinkedHow to Leash Train a Cat - wikiHow

Originally Posted by Roy Snell

"Walking an indoor cat on a leash outdoors may make the cat less afraid of the outdoors and more likely to escape through an open door, then get lost, hit by a car, or attacked by a feral cat or other animals"

The above warning was listed at the bottom of the WikiHow page (see link below) and I posted it for no reason other than I thought it to be of interest. Whilst it suggests that Fear is a coons best defense and leashing may, on an unescorted adventure into the unknown, give the cat a false sense of security, I do in essence agree with you NCarver in your suggestion that it "overlooks the positives" after all, we leash our children and our dogs so why not a Maine Coon. In an ideal world, we do not own our cats and dogs any more than we can own our children. At best we are custodians and share something of our lives together. In his youth, my Bearded Collie Hope and I, needed to learn how best to walk and cross roads. To this end we used a leash and eventually, we learned the way. Mostly from there on, we could enjoy a walk together without the leash. Be it true or otherwise, I read that Maine Coons are similar to dogs, in that they are intelligent and like to be with their carers most of the time. In our togetherness, I like to think of a leash not as a shackle, but as a learning aid, and when the lesson is learned our Coons stay with us in the house or garden, because they want to*Roy

WikiHowlinkedHow to Leash Train a Cat - wikiHow

My own feeling in regard to Ownership verses Custodianship are here challenged by the CFA http://www.cfa.org/ezine/legislation.html#article

Originally Posted by IrishKitty

Has anybody experience of training their Maine Coons or other cats on a leash?
Would be interesting to hear some stories and tips if you have some

"Of all God's creatures,
there is only one
that cannot be made
the slave of the lash.
That one is the cat.
If man could be
crossed with a cat
it would improve man,
but it would
deteriorate the cat."

-Mark Twain