Hello all
I am planning to start preparing my 2 year old spayed Bengal "Binkiboo" to take a harness. I obviously wish to cause as little stress to her as possible, actually I want her to find it a pleasant experience, does anyone have any advice as to how they went about it.
Thanks Dave

It's wonderful you want your little girl to go out into the fresh air. Just know that one walk means daily walks, sometimes twice and three times a day -- for the rest of your life!!!

The first thing is to get the right harness. Many people here recommend the walking jacket. You can order them sized to your kitty. They have fabric and secure with velcro. Some cats do not like wearing a "cape" around them. The H harness is a great harness that attaches around the neck and behind the front legs. The leash attaches to the back of the harness to eliminate any pressure on the neck. These are quite adjustable to fit your kitty. You should be able to place a finger underneath to make sure it is not too tight.

Now to get the harness on the kitty! Note that this can take a while to get the kitty used to the harness. You simply put the harness on the cat! One of three things will happen.

1. Your cat lays on the floor and acts paralyzed. This new contraption around them has rendered them helpless and unable to walk. See if you can entice her with treats or toys to get up and walk. Once she realizes she can walk wearing the harness, she should be fine.

2. Your cat will fight as if the devil has just been placed on her back. If this happens, try to distract with a toy or treat. If you cat continues to fight, take the harness off and try again later. You may have to repeat this over and over again. Have patience -- but keep trying. If after a few weeks, you still are unable to keep the harness on her for any length of time ... forget it and try again in another year! Some kitties just aren't going to wear a harness.

3. Your cat will walk around as if there is nothing around her body! This happened with my Raiden and I attached the leash and we were outside in a couple of minutes.

Note that you HAVE to get her used to the harness before you EVER take her outside!!! You do not want her fighting the harness and getting out of it. Some cats are houdinis and can get out of anything!!! So make sure she's comfortable and confident and even "walking" her around the house a few times after she is used to the harness. My Raiden was an outdoor kitty for 6 years, so he really wanted to get outside and the harness was the only way he was getting out there after I took possession of him.

Walking your cat can be a great experience for the most part. I carry a large towel with me in case I need to ward off approaching dogs or to have something to sit on while Raiden explores -- or he decides to rest on the grass (we do a lot of that in the heat of the summer). Just know that one walk will result in a cry for another walk. Raiden gets two walks a day -- if weather cuts one short, I may add one right before dark. Our walks last about an hour at a time, so you're giving up a large portion of your day just to follow your cat around who is sniffing bushes, walking around in circles, and stopping every five steps.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for your concise answer. Like yours Binkiboo used to be an indoor outdoor cat, I will give your suggestions a go and keep you updated
Thanks Dave

We members are happy to help out new bengal owners!

We finally went the jacket route with Hot Chocolate, followed the advice of the jacket lady (http://www.mynwoodcatjackets.com/lead.php) and now we're doing cat walks twice a day.

The introductory period of putting the jacket on, then holding him in front of an open door for a few minutes, really did work... after a couple of days, he put the two together and graduating to walks was no problem.

I am waiting for Binkis jacket to arrive from the same place. Then I will begin the process. I have just found out to never remove all her smells from her litter box like I did with disinfectant cos she was not happy about using it again, preferred using the roof of her kitty pen....but she's back to using her tray lol

Hopefully all will go well. Bengals (and cats in general) are very scent oriented. A litter box needs to be clean, but some cat scent needs to be left in it so they return to use it again and again.

Hmmm well let me vent just a tad of frustration regarding Binki. She woke me at 4.30am wanting to play, I got up and played chase with her fav toy for about half an hour. I am full of a head cold and not feeling the best. I heard her go into her kitty litter scratch about, me being satisfied thinking she's done her morning ablutions, got back into bed with some flume like and coffee. Binki returned and jumped up as she does for a head scratch. The next thing she jumped off the bed and wondered off, next I hear her trying to cover something up in the corner of the bedroom where she had gone before. I was not happy as I was now set to wash down the carpet etc. I went back to her tray and low and behold it was empty. I remove all poop immediately and make sure the kitty litter is not wet etc. Why??? Apart fromlocking her out of the bedroom, placing a litter tray where she keeps going(I don't think that will guarantee not carpet wetting) or putting incontinent pants on her ....any suggestions???

They make incontinent pants to kitties? I need to research that.

Now to your problem with Binki. This is not uncommon -- finding a new place to go to the bathroom! Please consider adding an extra litter box or two! I know it can be inconvenient, but it needs to be convenient for Binki to go to the bathroom. Cleaning the area completely with an enzyme cleaner can help eliminate the odor, but know that when they go on carpet, it soaks down into the padding and the subfloor. If the subfloor is wood, it's there as well and you can't clean that unless you pull up the carpet and pad and seal the wood. You can wash the carpet a million times and the odor will continue to come back through. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!!! We had a 17-year old diabetic cat in kidney failure and she would go on the carpet. Until we took it up to put down wood floors, did we realize just how large the stain was on the plywood under the carpet. Took layers and layers of sealer to get rid of the smell.

The other thing is to make sure there is nothing medically wrong with Binki. Urinary tract infections or crystals in the urine will cause a kitty to go elsewhere. You may want to try a different type a litter or Cat Attract to see if that helps.

Also know that yelling and screaming at the cat doesn't help and only stresses out the kitty and YOU. Finding the reason she is not wanting to use her one litter box and getting her back to using the litter box is what needs to happen.

Hope things improve.