Hiking with cats

I lost my backpacking kitty yesterday to cancer. He was only 7 years old, but he had a good adventurous life. I get asked often how I got him to start hiking with me. Instead of writing it over and over I decided I would just write it here.

First I adopted Oscar when he was 4. He was rambunctious, curious, and down right naughty! He needed more stimulation. I decided to start harness training him.  With most cats you need to put the harness on for a few minutes at a time and reward them, then work your way up. You do this all inside and when they get used to it you take them outside for a few minutes every day and gradually slowly work your way up. I have done this technique with many cats and eventually got them to like to sit outside with me when I garden. I never felt like they were confident enough to actually take in the wilderness. Oscar was entirely different. The first time I put a harness on him he wasn’t phased at all. That same day I took him in the yard and he loved it. I wasn’t exactly happy with the way the harness fit so I took him to the pet supply store to try on different harnesses. The employees loved seeing a cat and helped me find the right harness for Oscar. A harness needs to be put on tightly, the instructions usually say a finger length between them and the harness, but most cats can escape that. If you make it just a little tighter they usually stay in okay. There are many different harnesses for cats and small dogs that you can try. I don’t have great advice with that, except while they are indoors figure out what works best for your cat. As for the leash I found an elastic one works best because the cat doesn’t feel trapped if they want to pull - there’s some stretch and they tend to do better.

Once a cat is used to your backyard start getting them used to the car and associating car rides with other places than going to the vet. I took Oscar to various pet supply stores and also just drives where we didn’t end up anywhere, just went back home. Once Oscar was comfortable with that we started hiking.

A cat is not a dog and won’t walk on a leash the same as a dog will. Oscar never wanted to actually hike but he loved to explore. For actual hiking when I wanted to do a lot of miles. I bought a backpack for him. There are several brands that make cat backpacks or small dog packs. I tried a few but ultimately ended up leaving the top open in a regular 40 liter hiking backpack. This worked best for Oscar and me. I had enough room for my hammock, first aid kit, and food for both me and Oscar and Oscar was more comfortable. The backpack was Oscar’s safe place where he could duck down and hide if he needed to.

It takes a lot of work to harness train a cat and many of them most likely won’t get farther than the back yard. Even that is a big accomplishment for a cat. Oscar was one in a million. Although I will have other cats I don’t know if I will ever have another adventure cat. Oscar brought my joy for the outdoors back after loosing my dad. I will forever be grateful that he came into my life. If you still want more info on training a cat to hike I recommend https://www.adventurecats.org/ and https://catexplorer.co/ for more great resources.