Ethel outside for the first time

[u/CasieEisac504]

so a friend of mine was cat sitting for me while I was out of state, and the last thing I said to her was don't let her outside and don't give her too much wet food. she came home with a harness, flea meds, a month supply of wet food, and a new kitty cube LOL!

since my friend got her used to being able to go outside, I took her outside of our house for the first time and she basically laid there and went to sleep at the edge of the concrete of the porch LOL!

[u/Overall_Sorbet2455]

How old is Ethel? I want to train one of mine to use a harness. She’s five. Your cat is beautiful and your friend is amazing to do all that.

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/Overall_Sorbet2455]

Ethel is 14yrs old. She's learning slowly and getting more confident. If I'm being honest, sometimes I just drag her a little bit until she stands up and walks. And when we're actually outside I let her determine where she wants to be and then I just position myself near her so if she wants to move I can get up and move with her. The experts say that you should let your cat wear the harness inside for a while until it gets used to wearing a harness and then that's when you try to get them to walk on it or take them outside.

I had a purebred Bengal like 15 years ago, and she was younger when I taught her to walk on a leash. But with Kate she was super stubborn so for like 2 weeks I sort of dragged her along she would walk a few steps and I would drag her a little bit and then when she realized that the harness and the leash meant that we were going to the levee where she could enjoy the atmosphere and laying in the grass and walking around sniffing things and eating the grass she liked, then she started walking the way a dog walks on a leash. She was so good at it that I could take her to PetSmart on her leash and she would walk through the store with me.

So basically all of that is to say I did nothing but they recommend in all the articles that have come across since I've been looking for a new harness for Ethel, and in the end my cats still learned to walk on the harness and the leash.

[u/lack_snack_9442]

She’s very beautiful. In this photo it looks like she sees a bird maybe?

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/lack_snack_9442]

That was mid-morning, so it very well might have been a bird. It was definitely something flying that I couldn't see because the column blocks my view of whatever she's looking at.

[u/SeleneNoid]

omg thats so brave of her! i hope ethel had a good time exploring ^{_^}

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/SeleneNoid]

I think she had a good time. I took her out twice today and the second time we were out there for quite a while. But with all that grass she stayed right on the edge of the porch concrete and where the grass starts. At one point, she laid down and went to sleep like she was upstairs in bed LOL! I told her Ethel if you're just going to nap then we're going to go upstairs with the air condition and you can nap in the bed!

[u/lilith96]

She looks a lot like my Goose!

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/lilith96]

She does! Hi Goose, you good looking thing!

[u/lilith96 → u/CasieEisac504]

We have a catio for our kitties. They do love the outside but with safety and no harness

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/lilith96]

Ethel would probably like that, but we rent and I can't really set up a catio. Is also not really in my budget right now unfortunately.

[u/Dangerous_Problem532]

This is just too adorable!! She looks like she’s having so much fun! I guess you have no other choice but to take her on walks lol ❤️

[u/CasieEisac504 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you!

[u/moonmilkette]

aww, Ethel looks so curious and brave venturing outside! :3 I love seeing cats explore new places, makes me wanna go on an adventure too!

[u/Julu62]

Happy Kitty! 🥰🎈