On Thursdays, I only have classes in the morning and then in the evening. Usually I stay behind in school and get some corrections done during my free afternoon, but today I decided to come home for lunch to surprise Jack.
As I walked in the door of our home, I couldn’t help but feel something was amiss. The atmosphere in the house was strange, tense even. I called his name but he didn’t respond. Then I heard him talking to someone. He sounded frustrated.
“No, it’s easy! You do this…How have you not got the hand of this yet?” I followed his terse tone to the kitchen….
…where I found him with our cat, Billie. He had attached the dog’s leash to her collar and she looked none too pleased; her eyes seemed to say “mam, help me.”
“Jack, what are you doing?” I asked him, keeping a safe distance.
“I’m teaching the cat how to walk on a leash.”
There was a silence.
“Um, shouldn’t you be working on your PhD?”
As I was talking to him, he was still negotiating with the cat. “Come on Billie, you can do it. There’s a sachet of whiskas in this for you.”
He looked at me. “Sometimes, I just need to take a break from my thesis, or I go kind of mad.”
Erm, ya don’t say Jack.
My very photogenic cat
CUPID OR CATS 
You should probably check the subject matter of his thesis and make sure he wasn’t doing research. Once you’ve worn the “mad hat” it’s hard to take it off.
I never actually thought to do that. He could be doing important research on how to make cats more submissive. Or else he’s just some crazy guy with a cat on a leash.
Strange thesis or – there is someone in desperate need of a new hobby. The cat whisperer apparently was a complete waste of effort. 😀
I might have to buy him a deck of cards. Although then he’d probably teach the cat how to play poker….that’s gives me an idea!!
Our oldest cat once pretended to play chess. At least it seemed like she was playing… Ideas are always great. Most of them end up in a story. 🙂
A chess playing cat would probably garner a million views on YouTube in a day haha! I do love ideas, we have an idea notice board at work with just random stuff written all over it but some great things have come from it!
That sounds awesome!
I have seen kitties who were trained to walk on a leash wearing a harness and they had been trained from the time they were very young kittens.
Your kitty is pretty.
So it is possible? Hmmm…
I don’t know if I’m saying this to make you feel better, or just because it was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen and made me question his sanity, but my boyfriend used to walk his ferret. Not a joke, I swear.
I guess…ferrets also..need walking? Nope, still sounds crazy. But weirdly adorable. Please tell me there was some kind of harness?
Be careful about putting a leash on a cat. We put a leash on our Sadie Mae, she got spooked and went up a tree; with my husband still holding on to her leash! (small tree) He had to hold on until she got tired and let go. Needless to say she hasn’t been out since.
Aw poor Sadie Mae 😦 Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be going it again!
You know I’m going to take Jack’s side here… I feel for you, man! Take whatever breaks you need, even if you do have to put a leash on the cat!
He appreciates your advice and is now determined that the cat will, nay must, be walked.
Good for him! Janey, make sure you take some photos and post them…. I love it when grad students go bonkers. My PhD made me the man I am today!
I’m just imagining you looking like Howard Hughes now!
Not quite… I actually recovered ok.
That’s good to know, so he should have the beard and hair cut pretty soon.
My cats go on walks sometimes. 🙂
They are ill-trained for leash walking since it isn’t regular, but they will go, sometimes they even like it.
The younger one freaks out about it part way, she will only walk a little ways at a time and you have to wait long minutes before she’ll move again.
Where as the older cat, my cat, rushes ahead and tries to pull me into bushes and thick grass. XP
There’s actually a really simple method to get cats used to the idea: You don’t hold the leash. Basically, start with just letting them wear it while walking around the house. They’ll have to since they’re gonna wanna walk or eat at some point.
If you have a harness you can start with them just wearing the harness (which is much better for walking than just a collar let me tell you!) when they adjust to that, let them adjust to a harness and a leash.
Having something attached to you is probably pretty weird, so I understand the need to adjust.
Once they can walk around the house (even if they walk funny like my little husbands cat, the young one, who slinks along like she’s carrying an invisible cake stand on her back. Oddly stiff backed, and low to the ground. XD) then they can probably go outside a little.
I take mine to parks, and often just take them to the middle of a field and wait for them to move. Or walk them up a short path and then walk them back towards their carriers.
That should read “husbands little cat” not “little husbands cat” XD
Apparently dyslexia can cause my husband to be reduced in size, who knew?
That is amazing! I can’t believe it. I could never imagine cats being submissive enough, although yours sound like they think they’re in charge haha.
That’s a good idea because I would love to get her out of the house, she’s a total indoor cat. I have this big fear she’ll run off, my cat when I was a child got killed on the road and it broke my heart. I would love her to enjoy the outside.
A harness might be a good idea so she doesn’t feel so constricted. Thanks for the advice!
It can be done…but not with my cats…lol one will not even keep a collar on much less a leash or harness…I would be bloody just attempting to put that on her. (Side note she did escape for hours last Wednesday and had me in full panic mode…it was cold and rainy and she was out with no collar… I looked and called for hours walking in the rain…long story short i was a sobbing mess when she finally popped back after 9 pm)
The other kitty is skittish to go more than 2 steps outside.
Glad she came back (haha, that totally autocorrected to Bach, which would have worked just as well). Mine won’t go outside, she’s such a baby. But it would be nice for her, I’m just scared to lose her.