Little Ru has been showing great interest on what goes on just beyond the glass lately.
He still runs in the opposite direction when I get near it (so thankfully no worry about him running out under my feet.) But when I'm out puttering in the yard, he's almost always keeping a watchful eye on me.
I do miss having company while I'm gardening, so the other day, I decided it was time to get out the harness and give it another try.
Not long after I brought him home, I tried to get it on him and he was having none of it. I couldn't even get one clip clipped before he freaked out and hid under furniture. This time, he was surprisingly patient. He definitely wasn't thrilled, but he certainly trusts me a lot more than he did.. I was able to get it clipped on and mostly adjusted with ease, and...
Yeah... he was NOT amused! (But aqua is his colour! Doesn't he look so handsome?) He cried pitifully at first. A big mournful "What have you done to me???"
When I didn't give in and take it off, he ran upstairs to Dave for sympathy. Getting none, he came back down and decided to take matters into his own paws.
He walked sideways, and tried to repeatedly chew it off.
When that didn't work... he flopped and tried to roll out of it
After about 20 minutes, he gave up and resorted to swishing his tail and giving me dirty looks.
I guess I better get used to those looks... because we're putting it on him every day until he gets comfortable with it. Then comes the leash...!
8 comments:
My sister's cat loved her halter and leash for outdoor time-I tried it on my cat but it never progressed beyond the 'alligator roll' to get rid of it. Sigh.
I hope Ru learns to love his!
I know I shouldn't laugh at his dramatic distress ... but I did ...
So curious to see how this works out. Colin & Mailing use harnesses and leashes for their cats occasionally. They seem to tolerate it, though one of their cats just lays down on the ground. We only tried it once when we moved into our house. Our cat was an indoor/outdoor cat, but we were afraid to let him out on his own in a new location. Fletch put the harness on him and attached the leash and they went outside. Boots (the cat) took a giant leap up in the air, flipped over, got out of the harness and ran off! He did come back very soon and after that we just let him come and go.
Yes. That's pretty much how it went here too.
I think Giroux pretty much thought I had betrayed him!
Good for you! he will be better and better about it when he gets out and chases his first moth with you in tow!!
I hope Ru does end up liking the halter. Our first cat Linus used one when we visited my parents. He would wait patiently while he was hooked into it and then dash outside. But only at my parents. He never wanted to go out at our home. I think he loved to lay in my parents flower gardens.
Robin
Whenever I tried a harness on my cats, they were able to extricate themselves. I also did not have much patience working with them. Good luck with your endeavors. I think cats are happier when they can spend some time outside, being cats.
We bought a big mesh cat tube for Daughter's cats when they lived here. They could get in it in the house and then we could roll them outside when we went.They loved it. Later she bought a big mesh tent for them to go out in.
Post a Comment