How to teach a cat to walk on a leash?

From surviving cancer; to training therapy animals here I go!  I recently got a request that I write a blog post on how to teach a cat how to walk on a leash.  Yes, its a far cry from being a cancer patient but don't we have our needs for training our therapeutic animals? 

Yes, I have one of those strange Dog Cats that loves his outdoor walks, sometimes he  even fetches his favorite toys and will even play bad mitten with you (only if he feels like it).  He is always up for a walk outside but the trick is; he will only walk around around Town House Complex.   If I do try to walk him outside on the street he will do what others cats typically do and just lay down and give me dirty looks.  He is not a street walking cat but instead a Town House Cat.

When I first got Tonto he was exactly 180 degrees different from what he is now.  He was mean, scared of humans, and totally farrow.   I imagine he was abused because we couldn't get close to him at all; he even bit me several times and also bit my husband.  It totally pissed both of us off that we couldn't get this kitty gentle.  We were so ready to get rid of him because he seemed dangerous and totally anti social. 

We had Old Toonces and just wanted to get a kitty that he wouldn't be so jealous of.  He needed a buddy and for Toonces is was a buddy that he could boss around.   Toonce didn't have a tail and we figured if we got a kitty that had a tail he wouldn't get the idea of tearing up the tail.   Toonce was the total Alfa cat despite having had a sex change.  Well he got Crystalitis? not sure how to say or pronounce it but in essence they had to cut his penis off (it was completely blocked with urine crystals) and they even made him a pussy?  He could be pretty rough with a kitten which is why we chose an older kitten that may be able to hold his own.  Tonto was only 5 months old when we got him.  Toonce loved that Tonto didn't have a tail.  He had never seen another cat like himself.  It was cool!)

Check out my curly post chemo locks!)  This is a photo of Tonto after I had him close to tame. I can't believe how tiny he used to be!  What I did to gentle him was to keep him in his crate at first and locked him in the bathroom where I could spend some quality time with him.  After a few weeks he got more and more gentle.  We let him out before the 2 week span and OMG was he wild and crazy.  We no idea that we would have him become the cat that he is today.  He seemed set in his little ways that humans were all evil.  He finally did come around.  My mom had always told me that I have a way with animals and my honey believes that to be true as well.

It was such a slow process getting Tonto gentle and loving us.  He got to the point that he would follow me into the bathroom just to spend some time with me.   To this day he still does that?  It took him 2 weeks to fall in love with me and a total of 6 months before he trusted my honey.  What actually changed him was when a friend brought over her little 2 year old son.  The little boy had a feather in which he played with Tonto.   Tonto totally surprised me the even came out from under the bed upstairs.  He was sitting under a table in the living room when the toddler was playing with him.  We had only had him maybe a month when this happened but it was such a beautiful moment.  Tonto used to be this zip in the room.  He would run past us and you couldn't even make it out that this was a cat zipping by.  He was stealth fast and total blur when he zipped by.  It was like zip here and zip there and "what the hell was that?". 

Even as a baby; he loved sleeping on his back in so many different areas of the house!  You just never know!) I did everything I could to get this little manx gentle.  He finally  started to come out of his shell and he become this playful little kitten who loved to carry his favorite toys around with him.  He would fetch his favorite toys for what seemed like hours and it was pretty fun watching him grown up. 

I guess around 9 months or so when he was super duper gentle finally; 180 degrees totally different cat; I decided it would be time to teach him to walk on a leash.  I had done this with Toonce when he was young and he did walk on the leash pretty good for a couple of years until he got to be so fat and lazy.   Manx are one of the easiest breeds to train as they are very dog like.  They follow you around, they fetch, come when called,  loves to ride in the car and go shopping and of course  and then walking on a leash.

 

This little kitty had some giganto webbed feet and another characteristic about Manx are that they are drawn to water like a duck.   As a baby he was practically all legs and very clumsy looking.  He didn't mind getting baths at all in fact he would smack at the bubbles and purr as I shampooed him.  So he was very easy to bath and not like most cats.  He loved the water and still does!  Now he just talks to me as he is getting bathed.  Anyway here is a video of my next door neighbor's daughter bathing Blue Belle and Tonto at the same time!)


 

Anyway how did I teach this cat to walk on a leash? Both of my cats always wore a collar for ID purposes.  I decided to click a small leash on his collar to get him used to the leash.  Since he did follow me around the house; it  seemed it would be easy to teach him.  At first he thought the leash was this fun string toy and he would loose himself playing vigorously with that leash!  I thought he might accidentally choke himself so I had to watch him carefully when he started his crazy play games.    Well I got some kitty treats and I grabbed the leash for the very first time.  I called his name and had a treat ready for him.  He obliged and walked up to me as I tugged the leash gently to the side.  I told him what a good boy he was and gave him the treat.   That meant so much to him as I told him what a good boy he was  and praising him. 

Now I realized that teaching him to walk on the leash would involve gentle tugs to the side and not full on pulling him forward and of course some sweet encouragement.  He loves to be talked to and sometimes he talks right back.   Cats don't work that way if you tug them forward; I think it freaks them out!  You never tug a cat forward (at least I have never heard of cat that did?)

He was finally getting the hang of walking around with me as I guided him around the house with the leash; most of the time I just followed him as he explored with his leash on.  He became quite used to it.  I finally decided it was time to take him outside with the leash. We walked outside as he became quite excited to see the great outdoors.  He had to stop and smell all the flowers.  He liked walking on the side walk and it seemed he caught on to what the leash was all about and he seemed OK with it.   I think we must have hit a few snags as we continued our walk around the complex and each time a little Greenie and some encouragement did the trick each time.  He followed for a little while and then decided he wanted to lead the way and from then on it was all about his great walks outdoors.   

His big brother Toonces is now waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge used to walk good on the leash but he lost interest once we moved into our dream home.   While Toonces was still alive; he kept Tonto quiet most of the time because Tonto is known around here as the loudest cat on Earth!  He usually has so much to say but Old Toonce would not put up with Tonto's constant chattering and would often get on his back and dominate him much like dogs do to one another.  It was the strangest thing to see but it worked for those couple of years that Toonces was around. 

  

When Blue Belle arrived, both cats displayed lots of curiosity of her.  Toonces actually fell in love with her because she was so sweet to him  and she did everything she could to not get a beat down from him but none of them would ever sleep together like I've seen other cats and dogs do.   Blue Belle just hasn't been too crazy about Tonto because she knows he can be very dishonest and a bad, bad, bad boy for jumping up on counters and finishing up dishes  and it pisses her off that she can't dare reach to take over.  She knows that we don't want him on counters and he knows this too.  Sometimes she will bark and he knows that after she barks that he better get is ass of the counter before we catch him.  Sneaky little boy he is!  He just plays the sneaky game all the way.  When Toonces was around he was a better boy and  much more behaved.  Toonce would body slam him if he dared to be a bad boy.  So after we lost Toonce there was a significant change of attitude being the only cat.

Another thing Tonto does with his big feet (if we don't lock the doggie door after a rain, he likes to play in the puddles and then he brings in on my beautiful floor, big wet kitty prints and lots  of soggy leaves.  It's a nightmare to clean but just one the little quirks this big boy has!)  He has the best sense of humor!)

Tonto grieved for Toonces for at least 6 months and Blue Belle didn't seem to miss him at all.  She took on the roll of Alfa girl almost immediately.   She doesn't put up with Tonto's crap at all.  She does get jealous of him often but the two of them put up with each other pretty good.   Tonto gives her hugs and to her those are very annoying and she is always trying to lick his ass which drives him absolutely insane.  He hates that with a passion!   He makes the hideous sounds when she does that as if she bit a piece of his off.   Yes the two of them are great therapy for me and they make such a big difference in my quality of life.  

Hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I did in writing it!  Peace and Love to all of you!)

Well here is another gorgeous horse who needs a home or some hay; what ever we can do for him.  I love Appaloosas so I have this special place in heart for them.  When I was little we got this Gray Appaloosa and I couldn't say "Grey Appaloosa" so Graple is what came out and what a great name!) Anyway this one has blanket of spots and he is quite young; only a year old.    He was born July 17th, 2009.  He is 1/2 Thoroughbred, with a mix of Percheron, Shire, Appaloosa, and Paint.  He was actually born on the Animali Farm.  He is very friendly and amazingly beautiful.  His adoption fee with help other foals who were not a fortunate as he.  He did go to Monty Roberts Academy and he is halterbroke, you can pick up his feet and he will go into a trailer with out any problems.  His Adoption fee is $1800 and he will be a big boy once is all grown up!)   Oh and his name is Big Mac!)  If you are interested you may contact Jennifer Johns or Cheryl Forbes at Animali@aol.com or (805) 938-0174