Other people make some interesting comments about their cats when they take them for walks. Here are a few of the quotes and questions I have heard, and my response to them. If you have similar questions and comments about your cat, please use the contact button.
Going for a walk is exciting. Just as a child enjoys being scared at a funfair (and will probably want reassurance and cuddling at first) so does your cat want reassurance and cuddling at first when going on a walk. The more your child goes to scary funfair rides, the less reassurance it will want. So it is with your cat on a walk!
A good relationship between a cat and a dog works well for both of them. In my experience all cats enjoy going for walks, just as dogs do. But there are few cats that are insistent enough to come for walks, or clever enough to tell their owners to take them. Many cats drop hints - but we humans are not sensitive enough to catch them!
A cat running up a tree? Well I never! Of course a cat on a walk will want to run around and explore, just as does a dog. OK, so dogs don't climb trees. Cats do! It is not a sign of fear!
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Toy Dalek or Mouse Exterminator |
Most cats are somewhat agoraphobic: they almost all like to get into boxes and confined places. Their prey animals were mice and mice like to hide. So all of our cats have preferred walking on defined paths which are somewhat enclosed - most of the old railway walks are like this. In the Walks section you will notice a lot are hedged paths. Go into a field and your cat may not want to follow you. Consider, though, how the field looks at cat's eye-level. A field with tall grass is not, to a cat, open.
This liking for cover can be a nuisance with some cats - they often tend to get distracted by a noise in the bushes (usually a bramble bush, I find). It can get worrying. But the best thing to try first is walking quickly on so the cat gets worried and follows you. If you are always diving after your cat when it goes for cover - it will think you are exploring with it and go further into the bushes.
Use their liking for being enclosed to get them used to being carried in a bag or carrier when it's convenient to you.