Cats and Harness training

Nov 11, 2014 | kittens | 0 comments

Introducing older cats is harder than kittens and sometimes you run into trouble.  In our house it manifested in Brutus chasing Luna throughout the house while she screamed, hissed and left a pee trail. We tried keeping an eye on them but cats are sneaky devils and sometimes we thought everyone was sleeping until we heard the screaming.

We tried giving Brutus a time out or locking up Luna when we left but it was just delaying the issue and not really solving it.  We then decided to put Brutus on a harness and leash when he started to get out of control.  For the most part this would make him calm down and go to sleep and allow Luna to explore the house freely without threat of attack.  After a week or two of this they are getting along much better.  We still have to harness Brutus up sometimes, but its less and less for shorter periods.

I believe it is very important to harness train your cats – not only for situations as described above but also for transport or even just some outside time.  We have been working with all our cats since they were young (and are currently working with Luna)  to accept a harness so I have lots of thoughts on what types are most comfortable for the cats as well as most secure.

Cats will escape if they are really determined.  Make sure the harness fits snugly leaving room for about 2 fingers under the straps.  This is a dog but the same measurements apply to cats.  Usually in a harness you won’t need body length but keep in mind that cats are longer than dogs so if you are going to use dog clothes/harnesses make sure to take that into account.

The best harnesses I have found are the thick strapped velcro ones (my cat:  )  Mine were made by a friend but you can find similar styles on etsy or amazon.  These are great because they are fast and easy to put on and the wider straps make it harder for a cat to slip out of.  Additionally, because they are wider and usually lined with fleece they don’t tug at the fur or chaff the neck so a lot of cats who don’t tolerate harnesses, don’t mind these.

The second best IMHO is the Come with Me Kitty brand This harness has thin straps but has a v-neck which lays across the cats shoulders.  My cat has slipped out of this harness once or twice so it is easier to escape than the first type.  However due to the harnesses shape and construction I have seen a lot of cats be okay in this harness because they don’t think it is choking them.

Finally I would recommend a standard H shaped harness.  This is the easiest to escape from and even my dumb cats can do it but they are cheap and prolific so you can find them anywhere if you want to test out harness training. If you don’t tug on the leash they cat shouldn’t have a problem with it.  This video is one of the first few times Brutus wore his harness.  It also had a bell on it basically turning him into a toy. He liked it much better once the bell was removed.

The final option I will offer you is to get any harness (or adorable cat clothes) and put it on your cat when it starts bullying the other (or you just want them to look cute).  Usually just feeling something on them makes them focus on that instead of the other cat and mine usually end up going to sleep.  Make sure you set a timer so they don’t wear it too long (eventually any cat will get into trouble – even a costumed cat) and keep a general eye on them so they don’t get caught up on anything.  Here is my cat in his Dinosaur of Shame suit.