# Do you walk cats in your country?



## Cecilio

I've got a memory of many years ago when I was in England in which I see someone walking a group of cats in the street, using a lead for each. I remember this imaqe quite well, but I must confess that after so many years I'm not sure if it really happened or if it was only a dream.

It doesn't seem that cats are very fond of the idea of being taken for a walk on a lead, and I've never seen something like this in Spain. Would it be possible in your country?


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## Hakro

In Finland it's possible in the cities but extremely rare. Usually the city cats never go out.


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## quitejaded

No, people don't walk their cats here. wtf?


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## maxiogee

No-one would 'walk' a cat on a lead in Ireland (with the possible exception of a rare and valuable breed, which might be kept on a lead to stop it getting lost). Cats are let out and return home of their own free will eventually.
Unless one keeps a cat indoors all day, there would be no need to walk one. They can escape from any garden and would exercise themselves and take care of their toilet needs themselves.


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## la reine victoria

In the capital town of the Isle of Wight (Newport - very old-fashioned and quiet) lives an elderly gentleman who walks his cat, in a body harness, every day.  The cat simply loves it!  When I first met the owner I stopped to ask him how he had trained the cat in this way.  He said he started early, while it was still a kitten.  

Then he added, with a twinkle in his eye, "I don't take the cat for a walk, he takes me for one!"

They are a delightful pair.  The sight is so unusual that the old gentleman has made many friends who always stop to speak to him.

I must add that this is the only time I have seen a cat being walked but I believe, in London, many Siamese cats are walked in this way. 

Many of our Island pet shops sell harnesses for cats, so perhaps it is quite common.  It's just that I haven't seen any others.  





LRV


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## LV4-26

I've only seen a couple of cases here. We had a neighbour in our old place who used to walk her cat (she probably still does). I never interviewed the cat so I don't know how it felt about it. All in all, it's fairly rare.


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## judkinsc

As easy as herding cats, is it?


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## Vanest

No, my owners do not take me for walks... I would probably scratch them to death if they tried to put a leash on me... let alone a harness!!!


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## spakh

I've seen none


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## cuchuflete

Is this what you dreamt of?


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## invictaspirit

I've managed to live in England for 42 years on and off and I have never seen anyone walking a cat.

I was once in a pub and a guy had a very placid cat sitting on his shoulder.  That's the only time I have ever seen anyone bring a cat off their property in that way.


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## Cecilio

cuchuflete said:


> Is this what you dreamt of?



Not exactly! You don't see these things in  English streets.


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## Cecilio

Incidentally, it seems that it's easier to walk a tiger on a lead than a cat...


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## Maja

It is the weirdest coincidence!!! 
Several days ago I saw, for the first time  in my life (in my country and any other I've visited), a cat on a leash!!!   
And, I actually considered starting a thread about it!!!


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## Cecilio

Maja said:


> It is the weirdest coincidence!!!
> Several days ago I saw, for the first time  in my life (in my country and any other I've visited), a cat on a leash!!!
> And, I actually considered starting a thread about it!!!



Welcome to the club, Maja!


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## ElaineG

I've seen a few cats on leashes.

But my favorite is the neighborhood pig who goes out a leash a few times a week.  He walks very slowly.  He is not a tiny little Vietnamese pot belly pig, but a largish pig pig.  I believe he is the only one in Brooklyn.  He has become quite famous: http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/08/18/domesticated_pig_still_walking_streets_of_fort_greene.php


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## europeo

I'm also from England and I've never seen a cat being walked on a lead. If it happened where I live, most people would probably find it hilarious, and some might even consider it slightly cruel.


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## moura

In Portugal we don't walk cats. But in the centre of Lisbon, near a place where I worked, I remeber a big, impressive cat, very nice, with the air that he would never run in his life. At lunch time, when the street was more busy, I saw his old owner with a leash and both walked in the footway.

Once I tried to put a leash on my female cat (to prevent her for being caught by lover cats). She almost stranguled herself and I was full of remorses for that. Never did repeat it again.


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## la reine victoria

Before I moved to the Isle of Wight I used to visit frequently for short holidays.

I was thrilled, one day, to see Zena (a white Royal Bengal tiger) being walked on the beach opposite the IOW Zoo and Tiger Sanctuary. She was a sizeable cub at the time. Now she's fully grown and a major attraction at the Zoo, which concentrates on the conservation of endagered species, and has a wonderful education programme for children.




LRV


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## Kajjo

German people do not walk their cats. German cats would never let someone walk them. Strange cats there appear to exist.

Kajjo


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## la reine victoria

ElaineG said:


> I've seen a few cats on leashes.
> 
> But my favorite is the neighborhood pig who goes out a leash a few times a week. He walks very slowly. He is not a tiny little Vietnamese pot belly pig, but a largish pig pig. I believe he is the only one in Brooklyn. He has become quite famous: http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/08/18/domesticated_pig_still_walking_streets_of_fort_greene.php


 


What a gorgeous piggy, Elaine. He looks very well groomed. Are people able to stroke him?  




LRV


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## .   1

emma42 said:


> Kajjo! I love the image of someone trying to persuade a proud German cat to be walked!


I have never met a cat who was not too proud to wear a collar much less a leash.
I know of a few people who unsuccessfully tried to put collars on their cats but the cats slipped out.
I guess that if you start with young kittens then you may have some success but it appears that cats are not born to the yoke.
I have a cousin who used to walk to work wearing one of her cats draped around her shoulders.  This was enormously fun for both of them and I imagine very sensible on cold winter mornings.  That was considered so strange that my mother still speaks of it in hushed tones.  Aussies simply don't take their cats out.
I have never owned a cat but a few have deigned to allow me to feed them and I could not imagine a leash on any of those cats.
Having said that I think that a cat on a leash would be a fun thing to watch.  The first thing that a frightened cat will do is run up something  and the owner is the most likely target for a startled cat to wrap itself around the head of hissing and scratching at whatever scared it with the leash wrapped around a thoroughly interested owner who would look like a Christmas candle painted by Dali.

.,,


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## ElaineG

> Are people able to stroke him?


 
He loves to be petted.  And much to my surprise, he has no smell!


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## natasha2000

Well Cecilio, I saw people walking a cat here, in Barcelona. I also saw a ferret on the leash.

But I think this is not a common practice, it's just a case of excentric people.

When I saw that cat, I thought about the courage of those people, because they were sitting at the terrace of a bar, with their pet on the leash, and around them there were at least three or four dogs (mine among them). I think they were lucky because those dogs didn't mind having a feline in front of their noses, but I was also wondering what would happen if the dogs weren't so tolerant about it? 

When I saw that ferret on the leash, I had a great laugh with my dog trying to figure it out what the hell was that, that looked like something between a dog and a cat but not quite...


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## .   1

natasha2000 said:


> When I saw that ferrot on the leash, I had a great laugh with my dog trying to figure it out what the hell was that, that looked like something between a dog and a cat but not quite...


I saw probably six pet ferrets when I leved in Byron Bay.  It is more common to see ferrets out and about than cats.
My Dar (grandfather) used to keep ferrets to hunt rabbits when I was a kid and dogs are always totally respectful of ferrets.  Ferrets make lightening look slow and their teeth are like large needles and they fear nothing.

.,,


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## Hakro

natasha2000 said:


> Well Cecilio, I saw people walking a cat here, in Barcelona. I also saw a ferrot on the leash.
> 
> But I think this is not a common practice, it's just a case of excentric people.


Excuse me, Natasha, what do you mean by "excentric people"? Those with cats or those with ferrets? Or both?


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## natasha2000

Hakro said:


> Excuse me, Natasha, what do you mean by "excentric people"? Those with cats or those with ferrets? Or both?


 
Those walking cats and ferrets. But this is only my personal opinion. Maybe in some other place in this world this is quite normal thing to see.


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## la reine victoria

On one occasion I went to the hospital for a routine test.  

There is a large lawned area in front of the hospital, with benches for people to sit on.  On one of them was a very pleasant young man with his pet *rat* on a leash.   It was happily running around, playing in the  grass.

I stopped to chat to him.  He told me he took his rat everywhere with him.  It usually sat in his jacket pocket.  The reason it was on the leash was to prevent it running away.  

The English are well-known for their eccentricity but he was just a normal young man who loved his pet.  




LRV


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## Cecilio

buddywally said:


> I'd just like to see someone get a leash onto a cat!!



Well, I've been doing some research on the Internet and I have found more than one company selling harnesses and leashes for cats. There are also a couple of pages giving advice on how to train your cat to walk on a leash. Maybe this phenomenon is not so uncommon after all.


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## Lusitania

Never seen them on leash here but in small bags. However. I've seen it in Geneva once, like 10 years ago.


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## natasha2000

Cecilio said:


> Well, I've been doing some research on the Internet and I have found more than one company selling harnesses and leashes for cats. There are also a couple of pages giving advice on how to train your cat to walk on a leash. Maybe this phenomenon is not so uncommon after all.


 
Well, in Barcelona, almost all pet shops have leashes, harnesses and collars for cats.


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## Cecilio

We're going a bit off-topic lately. Let's get back to the initial question. There are two seemingly contradictory facts here:

1. It seems that it is extremely rare to see a cat being walked on a leash.

2. It also seems that many pet shops, and also many Internet shops, sell cat leashes and harnesses.

There must be something wrong.


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## natasha2000

buddywally said:


> No what I'm saying is that cats are independent and don't relly need us like dogs do(well I know dogs are pack animals and learn their place in the "family")
> Therefore to a cat, we are only necessary when they are cold and hungry..I do actually like cats. I think you have to live with one for a while to see this.


 
Cats are also gregarious animals, but the thing is that cats usually think they are the bosses of the house, and a owner does not do anything to show them that it isn't like this, because basically it is not so necessary as it is with the dog. They need a human equally, because we make them so. If cat/dog were born alone and in nature, they wouldn't need a human at all. It's just that cats and dogs have two different ways of getting what they want.
But this is not the issue in this thread.


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## natasha2000

Cecilio said:


> We're going a bit off-topic lately. Let's get back to the initial question. There are two seemingly contradictory facts here:
> 
> 1. It seems that it is extremely rare to see a cat being walked on a leash.
> 
> 2. It also seems that many pet shops, and also many Internet shops, sell cat leashes and harnesses.
> 
> There must be something wrong.


It is also rare to see a dog in a jumper of raincoat, but there are many pet shops that sell them. It is also rare to see a pink or green dog, but still there are many pet shops or hairdressers who offer this service.
In the end, maybe it's just a question of bussines... New ways for getting the hands on the money of pet owners are being invented... One of them is cat leashes...


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## emma42

Just a small language point;  in BE we usually say "lead", rather than "leash", which is, I understand, the usual AE term.  I don't know about AU/E or NZ/E.


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## Hakro

natasha2000 said:


> It is also rare to see a dog in a jumper of raincoat, but there are many pet shops that sell them. It is also rare to see a pink or green dog, but still there are many pet shops or hairdressers who offer this service.
> In the end, maybe it's just a question of bussines... New ways for getting the hands on the money of pet owners are being invented... One of them is cat leashes...


Exactly, Natasha. Pet (dog, cat ferret, etc.) owners in the big cities are just target customers for an unbelievably big business. The fool is not the one who sells too expensive but the one who pays.


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## .   1

natasha2000 said:


> Those walking cats and ferrets. But this is only my personal opinion. Maybe in some other place in this world this is quite normal thing to see.


I agree with you,
Anybody walking a cat (or ferret) would be seen as being eccentric.



natasha2000 said:


> It is also rare to see a dog in a jumper of raincoat, but there are many pet shops that sell them. It is also rare to see a pink or green dog, but still there are many pet shops or hairdressers who offer this service.
> In the end, maybe it's just a question of bussines... New ways for getting the hands on the money of pet owners are being invented... One of them is cat leashes...


Great answer.  I had not thought of that.



emma42 said:


> Just a small language point; in BE we usually say "lead", rather than "leash", which is, I understand, the usual AE term. I don't know about AU/E or NZ/E.


In Australia I think that leash is more common but lead would be quite understandable.

.,,


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## moura

I know that this is off the topic but I could not resist. Once a ferret lived in my house. His name was Kwivi because the fur seemed very much like the kiwi fruit. He was caught still very small and he learned not to bite and was a kind pet, liking to receive caresses, but of course with a different behaviour of a dog or a cat. 
He had one of the loviest muzzles that I have ever seen and was very smart - specially when he had to discover a way to obtain food. I never tried to put him a leash - he only travelled in a basket full of holes and at the end of the voyage there were still more holes, because he refused to be jailed. 

As Natasha said when animals live with humans they develop different habits from living in a wild world.

Some time ago I say a report in the tv about a Portuguese Fernando Laidley that once caught a baby leon in Africa. He brought the leon "Boma" to his house in Lisbon and he lived there in the roof for some years. Once a man from the electricity company went there to repair something and the leon approached him. He almost died when saw the leon. After he phoned his chief telling he had saw the leon and the chief asked him what had he been drinking before work. Fernando Laildey says in the report that he had to take his leon to the Lisbon Zoo where he had a long and, he says, happy life.


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## Etcetera

City cats almost never go out. 
In villages, the owners often allow their cats to go for a walk on their own. 
I've seen people walking their cats, but it's quite an unusual sight here. Pets such as cats and ferrets are usually kept at homes.


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## Neever

I have never seen a cat being walked in Ireland, and if I did see one.....well "mad" would be a word that would spring to mind! As Maxi said, cats here are usually let out by themselves (as are many dogs).

That said, my dad used to work night shifts, and would go for a walk on the beach when he came home. The beach was about 10 minutes by car. The cat they owned at the time would hop into the car with him, of its own volition, and go down to the beach too. He would let it out, and off it went into the night to explore his "other" territory. When dad wanted to leave he would call the cat who hopped into the car and was taken back home....they did this every night for years! No leads involved though


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## natasha2000

Neever said:


> I have never seen a cat being walked in Ireland, and if I did see one.....well "mad" would be a word that would spring to mind! As Maxi said, cats here are usually let out by themselves (as are many dogs).
> 
> That said, my dad used to work night shifts, and would go for a walk on the beach when he came home. The beach was about 10 minutes by car. The cat they owned at the time would hop into the car with him, of its own volition, and go down to the beach too. He would let it out, and off it went into the night to explore his "other" territory. When dad wanted to leave he would call the cat who hopped into the car and was taken back home....they did this every night for years! No leads involved though


 
Maybe your father's cat had personality crisis and thought he was actually, a dog.. 

Now seriously, it's a very cute story... As a matter of fact, cats are not so "impossible to domesticate" as they seem... My colleague was fed up with his cat jumping all over him when he was putting the food for her in the bowl, so he taught her to sit still unitil he says she can eat. Amazing, isn't it? Many dog owners don't achieve this...


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## Brioche

. said:


> I agree with you,
> Anybody walking a cat (or ferret) would be seen as being eccentric.
> 
> Great answer. I had not thought of that.
> 
> In Australia I think that leash is more common but lead would be quite understandable.
> 
> .,,


 
In our family, we say "lead".
I had a look at the websites of some of the local councils.
Both words are used:
_Dogs must be under effective control by means of a chain, cord or* leash* held by the owner and attached to the dog, in all Maribyrnong Council reserves and public places. There are twelve designated areas where dogs may be exercised *off-lead.*_

_Albert Park is mainly an *on-lead* park. Dogs must be on a *lead* at all times.

_


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## .   1

G'day Neever,
That is a classic description of cat behaviour and a wonderfully evocative scene of your dad being owned by a very smart and independant cat. I like your dad's cat and its owner.
It is possibly because it was not done to draw attention but I do not find that type of cat walking to be odd in any way. That is clever behaviour by both parties concerned.

.,,


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## Maja

Cecilio said:


> Welcome to the club, Maja!


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## purpledragon

*



 Do you walk cats in your country?

Click to expand...

No. Years ago when we have not moved into the so called apartment and still lived in the peaceful traditional Siheyuan, I saw cats walk themselves.They just jumped into the roof then disappear.When they feel hungry or tired they went back.But these days I guess people just lock them into the room because I haven't seen a cat for a long time.*


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## cracklintwizzler

In southern US, if a person was walking his/her cat down the road, people would hang their heads out the windows and take pictures and laugh. 

Here, we don't really walk animals on the street much, we take them to dog parks where they can run around in a fenced in area without leashes.  However, if you're more rural, and your dog is well-behaved, it's quite common to let them go without a leash. Cats, though, either stay in the house exclusively or are free to roam as they please.

Occasionally people carry birds on their shoulders, but that's usually around the beach.  Ferrets, mice, bunnies, hamsters, gerbils and hedgehogs all stay in theit little cages though. You never see people carrying them around with them or anything.  They'd be considered downright peculiar.  

And I've seen lizards (iguanas) kept on leashes sometimes, but people don't go walking with them.


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## charisma_classic

My sister and I both walk our cats. We get many strange looks, equally divided by those who are amazed by cats able to walk on leashes and those who are amazed by people who try to walk their cats on leashes. 

My sister even walked her cat when she was living in Costa Rica. The reaction was astounding.


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## Cecilio

charisma_classic said:


> My sister and I both walk our cats. We get many strange looks, equally divided by those who are amazed by cats able to walk on leashes and those who are amazed by people who try to walk their cats on leashes.
> 
> My sister even walked her cat when she was living in Costa Rica. The reaction was astounding.



At last there's a forera who walks her cat on a lead! I wonder how the cat reacts to people in the street. Does he/she ever get nervous or angry?


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## charisma_classic

Well, I actually walk more than one. The older cat regards them only from a safe distance and prefers an empty street or park (save for the birds, of course). The younger cat (as well as my sister's cat) will happily make friends with any person she/he meets. 

The real fun is passing someone who is walking a dog. With the older cat and for my sister it is time to pick up the cat and run a few steps ahead. My younger cat likes dogs, so she is usually as interested in sniffing them as they are her.


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## natasha2000

charisma_classic said:


> The real fun is passing someone who is walking a dog. With the older cat and for my sister it is time to pick up the cat and run a few steps ahead. My younger cat likes dogs, so she is usually as interested in sniffing them as they are her.


 
But do the dogs like your cat?
Personally, I really do not mind, and probably my dog would run away if she saw your cat (she did more than once, coward!) but the problem is that not all dogs are so friendly or respectful with cats... You are really a brave woman, Charisma.


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