Walking your cat on a leash is easier than you think
ATLANTA — Laura Moss was volunteering for a cat rescue group when one day she discovered a note and a tiny blue harness dangling beside the cage. The instructions at the local pet store where adoptions were taking place: Take the orange tabby on a walk. Take a cat for a walk? Much to her surprise, the skinny ginger seemed comfortable on a leash and knew right where he wanted to go, exploring aisles devoted to cat food, and later climbing atop a cat tree.
While the leashed cat left an impression on Moss, she didn’t leash-train any of her own cats for another decade — until one of her own cats, Fiver, seemingly content to see the world outside from his perch near a window, suddenly darted out the door a few years ago.
That’s when Moss, now 34, took steps, little by little, to leash-train her white cat with grey spots and started allowing Fiver to explore a wooded backyard with a creek. She also started taking her cat with a big personality on walks in the neighbourhood.
From there, she wondered about taking cats hiking, cats on camping trips, cats kayaking, even cat surfing (yes, really). Two years ago, Moss, a freelance writer, and her husband Cody Wellons, launched AdventureCats.org — an online resource for safely exploring the great outdoors with your feline friend. “Adventure cats” is a growing trend, challenging ideas about where a cat can go and what a cat can do.
The site boasts 150,000 monthly visitors and growing. Moss now has a new book, “Adventure Cats” ($14.95; Workman Publishing), that includes stepby-step how-tos for turning your cat into an outdoorsy adventure feline which (once a cat is trained) can be easy as strapping on your backpack and grabbing your go-to litter box.
The book also features a collection of sweet stories about adventure cats — like Nanakuli, the one-eyed cat who surfs in Hawaii; Jesper, the Norwegian kitty who loves trotting alongside his owner as she cross-country skis and Bela, the Brooklyn kitty who loves urban exploring.
The book is filled with photos of cats that shred the image that cats are lazy and aloof, content to be left alone inside. While the best time to introduce a cat to a harness is as a kitten because they will be more accepting of it, Moss said older cats are capable of learning to walk on a leash but patience and plenty of rewards are required.
In her book, Moss breaks leash training a cat down into a six-step process that begins with introducing the harness, and only by step 6 are you and the cat ready to go outside. The book is filled with many practical tips for travelling with cats — from what to do if you encounter wildlife on the trail to 14 essentials you need for every outing.