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In my Klepto Cat Mysteries, for the most part, the cats do not roam freely. The main cat character, Rags, is a housecat who’s allowed to go outside only on a leash. However, a mystery can become dull if everyone follows the rules, so he does manage to break barriers from time to time–but always behind his humans’ back.
I’ve used a leash on one cat in my lifetime—a Persian. She adjusted easily and quickly. When we tried to leash-train a kitten once, we discovered that kitten had the uncanny ability to turn himself inside out. Twice, we put the harness on baby Winfield and twice, he flipped and twisted and we were left holding the leash with an empty harness at the end of it. Never could figure out how he escaped those buckles and straps, but it was quite amazing to watch. Would have made a good YouTube video.
Recently, I read that some cities are requiring or trying to pass policies requiring cats be kept indoors or, if outdoors, must be on a leash. Kenai, Alaska, is one such city. In September of this year, the mayor reported that he wishes to include cats in the leash law because of so many complaints about free-roaming cats.
And they are not the first or only city to establish a leash law for all pets. They’ve done so in Henderson, NV; Englewood, CO; Dallas, TX and St. Louis, MO. Leaders in Gretna, LA evidently tried it, but ultimately freed cats from the leash law because they thought it a bit ridiculous to expect police officers to spend their time trying to round up stray cats.
If you’d like to leash train your cat, here’s a good site to study. http://www.wikihow.com/Leash-Train-a-Cat
