Will admit I never succeeded in training my previous cats just gave up after they lay down on the job but rehomed these two older guys and their owner was a vet and they are perfectly harness trained. It is wonderful to see them strutting their stuff. Persist, highly recommended.
She'll get used to it. I once had an indoor Siamese cat ( a famously neurotic breed ) and he did that slinking, then once the lead was attached to go outside he laid down. The only way to move him was dragging. But he was ok eventually.
Oh, I love them too, neurotic makes life interesting. And they talk to you. But sadly I remain catless now, live in the bush, wildlife and snakes make cats unsuitable.
Yes, my aunt's farm in WA SW was catless, she had so many visiting birds, was wonderful. I'm in Qld now, snakes a part of life. They are on Central Coast too - i lived there for a while. My cat is indoor, but last one was very snake-savvy. He would alert us to shed skins. We're in suburbia, btw.
wow - i was reading about this last week - until then had no idea albinism was involved. But can see it on my current kitten. This is Spike - he's a Layanese X (so Siamese on both sides). Very pale blue eyes like a husky.
We're besotted. He owns us, body and soul :) He doesn't have the Siamese/Burmese yowl tho - does a weird high-pitched siren noise. Neighbours probably won't complain cos it doesn't sound like a cat.
Good luck. If you take it slow you should be ok. Let her wear the harness til she loves it before attaching the lead, then let her drag the lead around on her own.
Love to know how things go 😻
Am training our new kitten with one - he's not keen either, does the slinky thing but loves outside (he's been twice!). I'm doing lots of treats, he loves treats, gets them if he doesn't bite his harness. Good luck :)
Our cat never quite got the hang of it, but we bought this thing like a baby stroller with a cat carrier on top instead of a baby seat. She loves that. Why walk herself when we can be her legs.
That slink was my cat's reaction the first time we tried putting a harness on her. Though she was a full grown adult cat by then, but always indicating she wanted to explore outside (which we don't let her do)
Same reason with Yarndi, only outside on a leash, never free running. She doesn’t like the ground anyway, too dirty for her, little miss prim and proper. 😂😂🐈
Take it slowly & she will get the hang of it. I have two indoor cats. One knew what it was & ran straight to the door as soon as I put it on her. The other took a couple of months but she loves it now. Quick tip - tie a stocking to the end of the lead so it has some give in it if she pulls on it 😸
I regularly take my 2 cats Bambi & Bella out on harnesses. Started getting them used to it when they were under one year old. Now at 4 years old they both absolutely love it.
They almost all do that low-to-the-ground thing when they first have one on - I'm not sure of the rationale behind that. 😼 Well done for getting it on her & well done to Yarndi for tolerating it. Now you just need lots of patience & to take it slowly. I'm sure clever Yarndi will get the hang of it 😻
There's often little walking involved when my daughter takes her black cat out in his harness. Skulking between cars in the nearby shopping centre car park, sniffing tyres and grills, yes. Makes it look like daughter is trying to steal people's cars cos they can't see Bertie in the dark 🤣
Do you still have all your fingers? Any of my past cats would have 'resisted' this harnessing. A full-on military op with two people to give my last cat a pill (she won and there was blood 😅).
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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.03.132613v1
She will love walking about. ❤️🐾
Love to know how things go 😻
Took it off. Never again. We were all traumatised. 😭
So glad it worked out better for you!!!
That rabbit lived for over 13 years. 😅