I had one cat that I trained to walk on a harness.  He had been an outdoor
cat when I adopted him.  I was a graduate student at the time and lived in a
city apartment located on the corner of two fairly busy streets.  He trained
readily to the harness, and we would go for walks almost every day -- but he
took me where he wanted to go, not the reverse.  That was many years ago,
and I ran into lots of people who had never seen a cat on a harness before.
I made lots of friends that way, and my cat enjoyed all the attention.  I
also traveled by car and plane with him as my companion, and I was very glad
at that time that he was already trained to wear a harness.  On one
occasion, six of us traveled in a car from Nebraska to Ohio (remember, we
were *very poor* graduate students who needed to share resources).  There
was no place for a litter box, but my cat nicely started to scratch at the
door as we were traveling down the interstate very late at night.  We got
out of the car (cat on harness and leash), he did his business -- and a very
nice man driving a Sears delivery truck stopped to see if we were having any
trouble!  He got a good laugh out of it when he learned *why* we had
stopped.

Okay, I have this tendency to turn my answers into long stories ...but the
short of it is that: yes, cats can be trained to walk on a harness and
leash; and yes, many of them enjoy it.  Be sure the harness is sturdy and
fits well so the cat can't wriggle out of it if he or she becomes
frightened.  Stay close to your house the first few times you go outdoors --
and give your cat plenty of time to become adjusted *indoors* before you
venture outside.  Your cat will probably "hug the floor" the first few times
you put a harness on her, so do that indoors for awhile without a leash.
After she becomes acclimated to the harness, add a leash and progress from
there.  There is a true walking jacket (not a harness) that many people have
used with success.  That hasn't worked for me because I can't exert pressure
on the tiny pressure-release connection (arthritis in my fingers).

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly:      >'o'<
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

Sure, lots of people do it. All of our cats are leash trained.

Just take it slowly. It can take a while for an adult cat (ours were kittens
when we began training) to get used to wearing a harness. Just let her wear the
harness around the house for a while until she gets used to it, and then the
leash, and when you do take her outside, also take it slowly. Let her proceed
at her own pace. You will probably find it's more a case of her wandering
around sniffing everything, and you following holding a leash.

I think it's a great way to give cats an opportunity to enjoy being outdoors in
a safe manner. While it's possible to go so far as to train a cat to walk on a
lead as dogs do, most people don't bother. One of our cats took to leash
guidance naturally; a little tug will turn her direction but we didn't bother
to actually train her to do this. We don't mind just following them holding the
leash.

Why not give it a try? As I said, just take it slowly and be patient.

My family took in a stray who was about 2 years old 10 years ago. We turned
her into an indoor cat. When I moved out of my parents' house, I took her
with me because my parents' other female cat wouldn't let her out of their
bedroom. After four years of living here and not letting her out, I got a
harness and leash and took her outside, where I'm fortunate enough to have a
large back yard. She loves it.

The first thing to do is measure your cat's girth to ensure you get the
right size harness. At home, put the harness on your cat and let it wear it
around the house. The first time I put the harness on my cat, I left it on
for 30 minutes. She actually didn't mind, despite being a bit touchy on
being handled. The next day I put the harness on her for another 30 minutes.
On Day 3, I put it on her for about an hour.

When we first went outside, she was lerry, hugging the ground. Noises from
traffic bothered her at first, as did the outdoor temperature (Maine).

The first outing lasted 10 minutes -- she decided to go inside.

However, an hour later my cat began meowing and scratching the door to go
out again. She would not shut up and wouldn't stop scratching the door. I
had to put things in front of the door to protect it. And at one point I had
no choice but to put her in the bathroom with the door closed.

But the more I took her out, the more she realized going out would be a
regular thing. The meowing and scratching stopped (although she did try
letting herself out by standing on her hind legs and reaching desperately
for the door knob).

It's now four years after that first outing and everything is fine. All I
have to do is say, "Let's go outside" and my cat will get up from wherever
she was napping and run to the door. I don't take her away from the back
yard, though, and I don't let her go near the parking lot. I do let her go
wherever else she wants, enforcing an invisible boundary around the yard to
let her know the limits.

People in my apartment building thought at first that walking a cat was odd.
But Sara is now the darling of the building. She did slip her harness once
when a drunken neighbor frightened her. But she allowed me to pick her up
and put the harness back on her, as I promised lots of Pounce in return.
Just remember that if your cat should get away, resist the ugre to chase it.
Don't move toward it suddenly. Talk softly, extend a hand, and offer treats.
My cat gets Pounce after every outing.

Until your cat becomes really comfortable going out, I would refrain from
going out at sunset or night, just in case it gets away. I am now able to
take Sara out at night (it helps to have a well-lighted yard). We have
encountered a couple of skunks without "incident," even when a baby one had
the audacity to stroll right up to us while I was engrossed in a magazine.
When I realized what our visitor was, I calmy directed my cat away from the
skunk. She didn't growl or hiss or arch her back, thankfully. And the skunk
waddled away.

If you see a skunk well before it gets within squirting range, you can scare
it away by hissing yourself.

-- Ryan

Before I knew better, I bought a harness and took my cat  (who was and indoor
cat for all of his 5 year old life) for a walk. The poor kitty was so spooked
by a speeding car, he got out of her harness and ran away. I spent the next 30
hours looking for him..going out over hour to go around the area calling him.
Amazingly, he finally came when I called and I never took him out again.  You
want your cat to experience the outside?  have a window open & a perch made up
for him to look outside (safely indoors)....or get a large cage, put it outside
and have him outside for a given amount of time each day.  No use in gambling
with his life by having him wander unsupervised outside-where he could get run
over, mauled/killed by a dog/wild animal, etc.