From Paws to Pavement: A Guide to Leash Training Your Cat!

Cats are notoriously difficult to leash train. Cats are known for their independent mindset and wanting to do what they want, when they want it. They rarely listen to their owners; they don’t even view their owners as their owners. They view themselves as the owners and us humans as their subordinates. Because of this, many cats are impossible to leash train, preferring to be indoors, rulers of their own little kingdom. But I am trying to the impossible.

Before trying to leash train Miso, I did a lot of research on how to properly leash train a cat. Although it may be difficult, if you actually can get your cat to walk on a leash, it’s really amazing and your cat can join you on so many adventures. Many of the resources and websites that I found on leash training a cat all basically said the same three things: start early, be consistent, and go slow. If you do these three things, you *hypothetically* can get your cat walking on a leash with no problems.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am trying to leash train my kitten, Miso. She just has so much energy that leash training her and taking her for walks seems like the best solution to getting her energy out without going crazy in my small apartment. My other cat, Stormi, is older so she doesn’t have as much energy and this isn’t really an issue with her. I attempted to leash train Stormi when I first got her, but I wasn’t consistent with it so I kinda just gave up. But I am determined to leash train Miso the proper way and follow those three steps mentioned above.

The first step: start early

Miso is about 6-7 months old now, so I think it is the perfect time to start training her. I got her this itty-bitty harness that I found at Publix for only $3. It was originally for ‘small dogs’ but it looked small enough for her. I put it on her and in order for her to get used to it, I kept it on her indefinitely. I already have a little leash that I got when I attempted to leash train Stormi but I am considering buying one of those leashes that stretches out longer. I have kept Miso in the harness for about two weeks now. At first she hated it. She would pretend she couldn’t walk or jump in it. Now she’s perfectly used to it and wears it like a pro!

The second step: be consistent

This is the step that I find to be the hardest. My goal is to take her out walking once a day but it generally tends to be around 3 times a week. But I think as long as I’m consistently taking her walking a few times a week, it should be fine. She has been doing really good walking on the leash since I started! The first walk I took her on, it was just in the hallway of my apartment complex and at first, she wouldn’t budge. She would just sit there or lay down and I ended up dragging her.

But once she figured out how walking worked, she took to it relatively fast! Her second walk, I took her out to the garden area inside my apartment complex. This area is completely walled in so I felt comfortable taking her here because she couldn’t escape if she somehow got out of the harness. She did really well in this area, much better than in the hallway. I realized she doesn’t really like the hallway very much, probably because it is really intimidating and echoey. For our third walk, I took her back to the garden area and she did so well, that I decided to take her to the park across the street from my apartment complex. It was very cold and snowy outside so I thought this was the perfect time to take her because there wasn’t many people, cars, or dogs. Because this was her first time outside of my apartment complex, I held her in my arms all the way to the park and then I let her explore on the leash. Because it was so cold, she found the warmest spot and wanted to stay there so this little trip wasn’t as successful as I was hoping but it was still a step in the right direction.

The third step: go slow

I think I have been going pretty slow when it comes to her training. She has been doing really well so it’s difficult for me not to progress her training faster. My ultimate goal for Miso is to take her to my school and walk her around there. My school is very beautiful and contains lots of lawns, shade, and sidewalks with no cars in the main campus area. On beautiful days, many people go and sit on the lawn and play sports, run, picnics, or just hang out with their friends. I really want Miso to be leash trained by this spring so I can take her to school and we can study or relax on the lawn. I also want to be able to take her to parks or go hiking with her. I think because of her personality, she would really enjoy this and really have fun meeting new people and if she gets too tired, she can always hitch a ride on my shoulder.

Let me know in the comments if there are any other methods I should try when it comes to leash training Miso!