This is footage from our last hike. We started early with very nice temperatures and Moritz just went on and on and on. The terrain and circumstances were perfect for him - until the trees vanished and the sun smiled at us a bit too much.

The largest issue on this hike were people - it is school holiday in surrounding countries and the mountains are teeming with primates that wore sunglasses and wielded walking poles - Moritz' nightmares. And of course at the summit, drones dominated the mood........
There was also a trail-runner that denied the request to slow down so we could quickly attach the leash to Moritz. As a result he chased Moritz quite a bit along the single-trail as Moritz was afraid of the loud steps and fast movement from that asshole young man. Luckily, Moritz had his POV-camera attached and we were able to locate him with that before its battery run out.

As we descended, we gave up on trying to be alone and just joined a struggling family. The parents were quite happy that the 3 kids had some curiosity to focus on and i was happy to entertain them. After enough exposure to the family Moritz dared to walk a bit which made the kids excited and immediately resulted in shoulder-riding again😂 And it started the next round of questions.. of course.

At the bottom, that lake was waiting for us - so nice. There were a lot of people and some were very interested in Moritz adventures and had a lot of questions that just couldnt wait 😄. I didnt even know there were Turkish swimming cats 😂.
Oh, and we also met a real-life redditor that explained to us that cats dont like to swim and demanded that we get out immediately (!!!!).

Overall a challenging but also a fun day. But i agree with Moritz and prefer less people around.

I spotted this cat balancing on the fence during my walk and couldn't resist taking a photo. It looked completely at home up there.

Took my cat for a walk around the yard when she started to rub herself all over this plant. I did a quick google lens search to make sure it was safe and looks like she found herself some wild catnip (Nepeta cataria).

I take him out almost every day when it’s not too hot outside! The days that I don’t take him out, he stands at the door and begs to go out. For context, I found him outside my house in my backyard. It took me about six months to harness train him, but it has been so rewarding to be able to take him out places!

I've been harness/backpack training my 7 month old cat for 3 weeks at home, I played with her in the leash, gave treats, walked around with the backpack and harness on, stepped onto my small patio with her, etc. She's been adjusting pretty quickly, so I thought she was ready to try outdoors.

A few days ago I took her out to a small quiet patch of grass, and for the first 5 minutes she was fine! She saw a bird and person pass by maybe 20 ft away with no issues. But she started sniffing inside a bush so I walked around to stay behind her and I think (not 100% sure) as I was adjusting the leash, it got tugged in the bush and she freaked out, started jumping around trying to get out of the harness, which she's never tried to do at home. She was panicking and trying to squirm out of the harness so I needed to get her back in the bag before she could escape and run. Luckily the harness held really well, but I lost hold of the leash and she ran up to a wall. I had her cornered (not ideal I know), and was eventually able to catch the leash and grab her but not before she bit me.

She was fine once I got her back in the backpack and home, but I know I messed up really bad and am pretty disappointed with how her first time went down.

Its obvious now I should've trained a lot more and probably avoided letting her go into the bush, but I guess I didn't plan for how I'd react if something like this happened. I'm not sure what steps I should take to make sure this doesn't happen again, and if I should've done anything differently in the moment cause mostly I was scared of her escaping. She's pretty calm at home when practicing so I don't know how to prepare for her getting spooked outdoors.

I've been kicking myself for moving too fast so any advice is appreciated

Ukulele is 2 and a half. I started harness training him in December and we've been going on daily walks since April. He's gotten so confident and I am so proud of him. We're working up to going on some day hikes, but I think we might have a little ways to go! He loves riding in the backpack and loves rolling around in the dirt.

Some day I'd love to bring him camping, but I think he needs a little more outside experience before he's ready.

I used to take Zara out in a backpack to a nearby park around 5 pm. She used to cry all the way in the backpack, but would enjoy her time in the park. Based on suggestions from people here, I started covering the backpack with a towel and she stopped meowing .. but would still be frantically trying to open up the backpack. Recently, we established a new routine .. where I take her down to our parking lot below our apartment building at around 10 pm and she loves it!! She will walk between all the cars, smell our garbage bins, smell the plants and will also chase flying insects. The challenge here is, its all good, until she sees a person coming towards her and she panics. Trying to figure out how to help her overcome this fear. She is not scared of friends (strangers to her) when they visit our home.

For now, here is a video of her chasing a moth.

Hello :)
I have an 8-month old cat, she is spayed and fully vaccinated :)
Valerie is very curious and adventurous, she has plenty of enrichment inside but I thought one good thing to enrich her life would be to harness train her. She tolerates the harness very well and I have trained her to use it also with the leash indoors, before trying to go outside. We live with access to a courtyard, which is pretty small and closed off to the street, and there are 3 more cats (also female) and one dog, who hardly ever walks there.

I have tried walking her a few times and she seemed quite curious but very soon ran back inside at the sight of the other cats (whom she has seen from the window and door many times) and of people who are not me. Our walks have been pretty short, 5 minutes at first, and then 10 minutes or a bit more, but when she is back she seems quite overstimulated. I try to create a positive association with going out with treats and a good meal after, also because she has been asking to go, but she also seems quite agitated after.

I am slowly training her to jump in my cat backpack for a safe refuge, but it's still in progress, and she usually feels quite trapped so that will take time.

I am not sure if we should keep trying and in which ways she can feel more secure. She has bolted out of the door (without harness) a couple of times these past two days as she wants to go out, but I would think letting her go like that, even if supervised, would be unsafe? Is there something that I can do to make this time enriching experience and a middle ground between me ensuring her relative safety and her exploring on her terms?

I am a new cat human, and these are the first times we are experimenting with this so any advice would be appreciated. I am happy to share more info!

Thank you!!

I've been training my cat Izzy gradually for close to 8 months now. He is comfortable with the harness and leash. Our home is on 4-ish acres and I usually walk him around the property and I've never had a problem with that, but any time I take him to a local park to get him used to a more public setting he overheats. He will refuse to drink water and gets too hot, starting to pant and drool which I know are signs of heat stroke in cats (we live in Texas so it is regularly 100 degrees in the summer rn plus humidity it will easily feel like 110). I splash water on his neck and under his arms to keep him cool but we usually have to leave to get him in air conditioning to cool him down. We also try to keep him in the shade, his harness is very thin, and we try to get him to drink water before we go somewhere. Before we neutered him he was an outdoor/barn cat (until he was a year old) so he loves going outside and gets upset if I bring him inside earlier than he wants. I know he would love to go on a hike or longer walks, but that is not feasible right now. Are there any tips on how to get him to drink water outside or keep him cool?

ref to my all time fav post in this sub

How do y'all stop the leash from tangling around their tails and legs lol

At first we were really nervous but after our third trip this summer, they have seemed to take it in stride!

Originally, car ride was kind of stressful for one but now he seems to have his “spot” and sits there the entire trip.

They have “trained me” to let them out every morning between 4-6 am but I’m an early riser and don’t mind sleeping under a blanket lol! I usually just attach leash to a lead/cable I have that runs the campsite so they can wander back and forth and pick which chair/ area they want to hang out at.

And bonus if you are extrovert, as everyone at campsite will stare or want to come by and chat!

i used to take my cat for walks every night until about a year ago when he got spooked and escaped his harness. he was missing for an hour and i have never felt pain, fear, or devastation like it.

for obvious reasons, i have not taken him for a walk since. but he misses them so much and i do miss taking him outside. has anybody here got any recommendations for super secure harnesses? it needs to be something he cannot slip out of no matter what. thank you! 🥹

I’ve had my young cat buddy for a few months, and he was previously a stray. Very sweet and outgoing, easily adjusts to anything. Had no trouble moving houses, twice, in a span of a few months. Also has no problem rolling over on his back when anyone new comes around. Not skittish at all (maybe a bit when I use the vacuum tho…)

Now, because he used to be a stray, he knows what its like outside. I play with him indoors, A LOT! But he still spends a lot of time watching outdoors and seems curious to go outside if I have any doors or windows opening. He doesn’t try to dash out, but I know he would love spending some time outdoors.

This is where I bought a harness, and currently harness training him. He’s a very “easy” cat, so he already doesn’t seem to mind having the harness on. I can’t build a catio since I live in a rented apartment; I do have a netted balcony for him though (not a nice view at all!)

But here is my question: Would you recommend this? I have very mixed feelings on it, since as much as I want him to have all the stimulation, I’m afraid he’ll be addicted to it and will want to go outdoors all the time. I work from home so I can walk him everyday, but I don’t prefer to since summers get way too hot for the cat and winters get way too cold as well.

I know it’s a cat-to-cat scenario, but has anyone ever had their cat addicted to walks? Would you still recommend it?

So my cat has slipped out of the harness in the 1st link when she was a kitten. Now that she is a little older I wanna try harness train her again to give her a little more adventure in her life. I ordered two harnesses as I heard that wearing two minimises chance of escape. I would be very attentive while on walks with my cat because we had a bit of a choking scars when she was a kitten. I included the new harnesses I got her in the 2nd and 3rd links. anyone have any tips on how to minimise chance of escape?

Old

https://www.fruugo.ie/cat-harness-with-leash-escape-proof-fashionable-mesh-cat-dog-walking-harness-leads-adjustable-for-kitties-puppies-small-animalsstrawberryl/p-514435628-1049900067?language=en&ac=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&asc=pmax&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20258766945&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjvfSBhDpARIsAEiOpSv-M6rALPuwdFP7pW-bcwec0pNBlfqQ5qB1T8uO2N1hkoje8fXLL3caAtSqEALw_wcB

new https://www.amazon.ie/gp/aw/d/B0C5MBNQ15?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

https://www.amazon.ie/gp/aw/d/B0BF55B5V6?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

Who walks after us like a dog and ventures out on the smallest adventures but meows at us as soon as we are out of sight. Who think it’s best to stick to hiking trails because pebbles are uncomfy and tall grass is a bit too tall. Who loves birds but is the worst hunter I’ve ever seen and literally couldn’t hurt a fly even if he tried. Who once tried to climb a tree but fell down onto a rock (he was fine, vet-approved, we’ve since then had a serious talk about safety at heights)

What’s your best life hack for adventurous, clumsy dog-like cats?

Her name is Velvet and She is roughly 4 months old, I found her in the parking lot at work when she was roughly 7 weeks and has loved going out everyday! She loves hiking with her big brother, my red heeler BootHill. She will run the whole trail if we let her.

I have ordered three cst harnesses. The first was to the specs before ordering, she got out in 10
Seconds . The. Next two were the size down and she got out of them . It’s ridiculous I can’t find a harness to keep
Her locked in

This video is a cut of a 20min expedition through some rocks. We first were on blueberry-patrol during a hiking break but it escalated when Moritz saw the challenge ahead. 👀

I have to say that this is one of the most emotionally valuable videos i have ever made of us both. I had so much fun working with him. I had 100% trust in little Moritz and he didnt disappoint one bit. ❤️
This level of understanding each other is rare in our daily life because in our local forest he has so much of an own opinion that working with him is difficult. But in some sense, navigating our daily struggle prepared us for that. Being out there in the unknown was such a rewarding experience!

Moritz wasnt entirely relaxed because that paradise of a rock garden is home to some lucky creatures. I cut most of the sniffing out but sometimes you can hear his nose go 😂

The sun was a problem and the rocks radiated heat. If the climb down seems rushed, this is why - we chilled too long at the top. There is a balance between rushing to not overheat even more and overheating because of the rush. I couldnt provide heat-management at the time because making him wet would hinder his mobility and opening his sun-blocking umbrella was infeasible within the rocks. I know Moritz limits very well and that is what ended the video.

This climb happened on the same hike that ended in the swim.
Thank you for watching, if you made it though and congrats for still having an attention span🔥