Saturday, October 6, 2007

Remedy For a Bored Cat - Take Him For A Walk

Many cats living their lives constrained indoors get bored out of their minds. There is just not enough stimulation for them, not much new to watch, nothing warm and furry to catch, even the smells tend to be the same.

Behavioral studies regarding psychological problems in cats show that cats that are constrained inside the house show a significant signs of boredom and depression. These often go unnoticed since cats cannot verbally or even physically tell their owners that they are bored and depressed. Often, boredom will manifest itself in a destructive behavior such as scratching furniture, or litter box problems, spraying etc. An easy way to overcome boredom and resulting cat behavior problems is to let our cats outdoors, but only if they are fully under control.

There's nothing strange about taking a dog for a walk, but taking a cat, well that's a whole new ballgame. Though taking a cat for a walk is not as difficult as it may seem. With a little patience and a very secure cat harness, it is possible.


There are a few steps to take that will eventually allow you to take your cat outdoors, in a safe and secure manner.

Start by purchasing a cat harness and lead. These are available from your local veterinary surgery or pet supply store. If they don't have any in stock you can also use a very small dog harness, the size that is appropriate for a Chihuahua.

Introduce the harness to the cat slowly, leaving it near its bed and food bowls on a regular basis, over a period of days. Attempt to put the harness on the cat when it no longer appears interested in it. Continue putting the harness on for a two week period, until the cat accepts the harness as part of the daily routine.

The final step is to lead the cat outside, in small bursts only, for just a few seconds at a time. Each day, increase the amount of time spent outside. After a week or two of this, your cat should be very comfortable with the harness and with being outside.

If you have reached this step, congratulations. You can now start to slowly walk your cat for short distances. Soon enough your cat will be sitting at the front door waiting for you to take it for a walk.

Have a look at this hilarious video how a cat walk can look like:


Walking your cat is not only a great way to relieve their boredom; apart from stimulating their senses, walking will exercise their body and hopefully save some of your household furniture from scratches. It may also help to prevent and/or solve cat behavior problems commonly seen with boredom such as urine spraying, excessive meowing, overgrooming, aggression etc. Give it a go, your cat will thank you for it.

1 comment:

ShelfD said...

That's kind of interesting, along with the videos. I train cats, but not much. I learned something from your blog, thank you so much.

As I mentioned before, I also run a blog on the most common disease with cats, if you are interested:

Cat Dandruff

The folllowing cat training book may insterest you or your blog readers, at least it helped me (but I'll give your blog credit for making me think more about cats' needs):

Discover The Secrets Of Cats Who Behave Nicely ...

Good job, and keep up the great work!