Dearest Furry Friendz of the Internetz...
Katiez Katz stay with different family members.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Dey Callz it Kitteh Luv

"In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen;
In small things, they show themselves as they are."
Nicholas Chamfort (1741 - 1794)

Dear furry peeplez on da internetz:

Furst uvs all... TANKS U FUR LUVIN US!! Whiles we missin our big bruvfur Spunky. Mawmee hopes to help us tank u all purrsonallee, but weze kinda shorts on inturnets time.... (purrs n head butts n lovin churpees)

Mawmee dont gots a jobbee rites now... n our compootur cants gets on da inturnetz. Soh Mawmee iz burrohin our frind Mike InTune's compootur. He's Mawmees furriend n co-purrdusur fur our comedy film bout da Daisy Deli, which iz still in post Purrductshun cuz uv green stuffoms n location shootin ta desidez on. Soh weze gonna be sendin mesajes to Mawmee to writes fur us bout onse or a week fur a whiles...

Now Daisy had dis adventure. She wents to da Pet store wif Mawmee! She waz furry goods n stayed in da cart all curled ups in Mawmee's Coat n stuff.
Daisy got fitted fur a pink harness n leash!! Mawmee n Daisy gonna talks bout dat next time!!

Mawmee say dat Ize too feral fur to go!! How I gonna convinse Mawmee to let me outa dis here howse n dats Ize be goods on a harness? I dont likes dem! But I wants ta goh outside!! Mawmee needs advise on helpin me get used to dis hear dum thingee and dat wearin ones is wurth getting ta go owt in a danjurous neyborhood! Any buddee gots helps on dat?

See ya purrtee soon!

Katie Ann Kitty Too.
=^..^=

7 comments:

Karen Jo said...

I must admit that I don't know too much about conditioning a cat to walking on a harness and leash, but I have read that putting just the harness on the cat for short periods of time in the house can help accustom the cat to the harness.

Everycat said...

This is how our Mum got Gerry and Old Teddy (who came before) used to the harness and leash. This will take a little while. Small steps are best. Keep at one stage until she is happy and unconcerned by the harness before moving on to the next.
You can start by taking the leash off the harness and just having the harness part in your hands when you pet her. Let her sniff it and play with it a little. Have treats to hand too and give one whenever she reacts well to the harness.
When she's used to that, put the harness under her and just hold the tummy strap around her tummy for a second or two, give a treat if she's happy with it. Keep at this stage for a few days and gradually introduce holding the neck or chest part around her the same way.
Then move on to doing up each strap loosely and separately. When she's happy with that, do the straps up together and gradually tighten them over a few sessions until the you can get a just one finger between her and the harness. It needs to be snug but not too tight or too loose. Keep giving treats and allowing a little play each time.
When she's happy with this, attach the leash part and allow her to play whilst the leash is loose, don't hold it, she will get used to it quicker if it doesn't impede her movement at first.
Next stage is holding the leash and each time she makes the leash go tight, give her a treat and some play. Follow her around holding the leash and giving treats each time, try light pulls to change her direction or stop her and give a treat straight away.
From there it's just more practice and treating. If she gets upset at all, go back a stage for a day or two.
Don't take her out on the leash until she is totally happy about wearing it and walking about the home with you holding the leash. When she is, you can try short visits outside, just before mealtimes is always a good time to try the outdoors. Always have treats to hand to reward her and lots of praise.
Don't ever leave her for even a moment with the harness on without close supervision from you. It can take a cat less than a second to get into a tangle.
Training sessions should start at about two minutes several times a day and work up to a maximum of ten minutes about twice a day.
Sorry this is a bit longwinded but it is what worked for Gerry and Teddy.

Best of luck and purrs to you all.

Whicky Wuudler

Jans Funny Farm said...

We are glad to see a post from you. We know you miss Spunky and always will. We wish things would go better for your mom's employment. It's hard when she's worried about finances.

We hope things start looking up for all of you!

PB 'n J said...

We're sorry you're still sad about Spunky, it does take a long time to get past it (you never really get over these things). But we are excited to hear about Daisy's adventures with her new harness!

The Meezers or Billy said...

we knows that it's furry hard when you miss someone speshul like Spunky. We also knows how hard it is when the mommy doesn't haf a jobbie. our mommy didn't haf one for 18 momfs. and now our daddy is out of werk again for the 3rd time in 2 years. it's furry furry hard. we is keeping you in our thoughts and purrayers

Unknown said...

We still gots our purrs goin on fer all of yoos!

The Lee County Clowder said...

We don't wear harnesses, so we can't suggest anything there. The Food Source tried a harness on Coco, who came before, and it didn't work too well. (though he thinks he got the wrong sort of harness -- Coco could slide out if it in about two seconds if it really impeeded her. He just had to stay close enough to grab her doing those two or three seconds)

But you might try to get your Maymee to get you a stroller. That way you will still be safe, but you can go outside and see a bit of the world, too. A lot of Cat Blogosphere kitties have strollers, and most seem to love them. (if there are many woofers around, a stroller might be safer for all of you, for that matter)