“My cat almost died from stress,” says Yulia from Yekaterinburg, who decided to walk her Maine Coon on a leash.
But blogger and felinologist Elizaveta Vetrova proves in her YouTube show: “Cats can love walks if you train them from childhood.”
Cat Behaviour magazine cites statistics: 15% of cats adapt to a harness, but 85% suffer psychological trauma.
How to distinguish a "party animal" from a homebody
Test it: put the harness on the floor. If the cat sniffs it, there's a chance. If it hides, forget about walking.
A real example was the cat Barsik from Kazan - a social network star, after a trip to Altai.
But veterinarians warn: before going for a walk, a leukemia vaccination is required - street viruses are fatal for domestic cats.
But even "successful" walks carry risks. In 2023, Silver the cat contracted toxoplasmosis in the Moscow region after sniffing the tracks of stray cats.
“Domestic pets have no immunity to street infections,” says parasitologist Dmitry Sobolev.
The solution is to treat the harness with an antiseptic after each walk and avoid contact with other people's marks.
“Cats accustomed to confined spaces lose their orientation in open areas,” explains zoopsychologist Veronika Kudryavtseva.
An example is Instagram star cat Murka, who died after falling out of a window after a walk. It turned out that stress from the street provoked a panic attack.
In Europe, closed mesh enclosures on balconies are gaining popularity.
The first such project in Russia was launched in Sochi.
It was set up on a 10 m2 site with grass, tunnels and an observation post in a tree.
According to the owners, the pets demand to be taken for a walk in safety.
Author: Igor Zur