Marbles has a walking jacket

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Candace - 13 Mar 2005 23:11 GMT

Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in his
life (and something to tire him out) so I had him on a harness a couple
of times outside. Of course, he kept falling over but he seemed to
vaguely enjoy being out there. We don't let our cats out and they
don't try to get out, fortunately.

I'd read what some of you said about walking jackets so I got him one
(metpet.com). He's been outside with it 3 times now. The first day he
still kept falling over, like when he wore the harness, but yesterday
and today he was much more upright and agile. He still walks funny,
kinda low to the ground, and occasionally falls over but then seems to
like rolling in the grass anyway once he's down there. I think he
thinks it's sort of entertaining to go out and do a little exploring.
When I got his jacket out today, he came right over to me and didn't
try to wiggle out of it as I fastened the buckles.

He wouldn't make a very good hunter. He's an exceeding loud and vocal
cat (annoyingly so). He loves chattering at birds from a window but
today he got to see 2 big pigeons up close and personal. He walked
toward them yowling loudly the whole way so I don't think I have to
worry about him snagging some poor creature.

How do you get the walking jacket to keep from sliding around on them a
lot so that it's pretty much on sideways after a couple of rolls? I
have to keep adjusting it. I think it's pretty tight but I don't want
to make it too tight on him.

Candace

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

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Karen - 13 Mar 2005 23:41 GMT

> Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
> separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in his
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> other
> than human." (Loren Eisely)

No tips on the jacket, but maybe this will also help him calm down inside.
Keep us posted!

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equalizer - 13 Mar 2005 23:46 GMT

>Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
>separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in his
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>other
>than human." (Loren Eisely)

I have two of those same jackets. There's not much you can do to prevent
the jacket from sliding over, but as long as it's adjusted, it shouldn't
be a problem. Be very careful, though -- I had one cat squirm out of it
when he got spooked. He'll eventually stop falling over, which is an act
of resistance and defiance, and start walking more upright. However,
it's going to be you following him around, unless he's willing to take
directional "suggestions" from you.

I don't use the jackets anymore as they now have the enclosure to go
into. Interesting thing, though. They used to get excited like dogs at
the site of the jackets when I'd pull them out of the drawer because
they knew they were going outside. The jackets have been in a kitchen
drawer now for almost two years, forgotten. On reading your post, I
remembered them, and took them out of the drawer. I called Floppy and
just stood there with it in my hand, and he started going nuts! I had to
explain to him that he can go outside now whenever he wants.

Here's some shots from the summer of 2002 when I was using it. These are
of Floppy:

http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/jacket_1.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/jacket_2.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/jacket_3.jpg

Have fun being walked by your cat.

eq

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Mary - 14 Mar 2005 00:12 GMT

> Here's some shots from the summer of 2002 when I was using it. These are
> of Floppy:
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> eq

Where did you get your jackets?

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equalizer - 14 Mar 2005 00:29 GMT

>> Here's some shots from the summer of 2002 when I was using it. These are
>> of Floppy:
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Where did you get your jackets?

http://metpet.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/walkingjacket.html

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Candace - 14 Mar 2005 04:04 GMT

> > Here's some shots from the summer of 2002 when I was using it. These are
> > of Floppy:
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Where did you get your jackets?

I see that Eq's cat's jacket also lists to the side if the leash is
pulled from that direction so I guess that's just status quo. Mary,
the jackets are from metpet.com. Does anyone have an idea why I no
longer see Eq's posts directly now that I am reading the ng thru
Google? I only saw what he wrote because /Mary quoted him. Isn't
everything supposed to show up on Google?

Candace

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mlbriggs - 14 Mar 2005 01:57 GMT

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 17:46:53 -0500, wrote:

>>Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
>>separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in his
[quoted text clipped - 58 lines]
>
> Have fun being walked by your cat.

What fascinating territory to explore. No wonder he wants to go out.
MLB

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Connie - 14 Mar 2005 00:05 GMT

Candace - I have a grey tabby named Abigail... she looks just like your
Abbey Gail, only mine is about 10 pounds heavier!! Cute :-)

"Candace" <maccandace@aol.com> wrote in message

> See my cats:
> http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

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Candace - 14 Mar 2005 04:08 GMT

> Candace - I have a grey tabby named Abigail... she looks just like your
> Abbey Gail, only mine is about 10 pounds heavier!! Cute :-)
>
> "Candace" <maccandace@aol.com> wrote in message
> > See my cats:
> > http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

Got any pics of your Abigail? Our Abbey is small-boned, but pudgy.
She looks like a Kliban cat. We call her "Abbey, the tiny yet tubby
tabby." And also refer to her as "short for her weight." Those pics
were taken before she filled out. I need to put some new ones up.

Candace

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye
other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

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Connie - 14 Mar 2005 04:41 GMT

>> Candace - I have a grey tabby named Abigail... she looks just like
> your
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> other
> than human." (Loren Eisely)

My page is outdated - but abbey is still as fat as she is on this page...

:-)

http://www.geocities.com/pluvsc/pictures/pets.html

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Candace - 14 Mar 2005 06:27 GMT

> My page is outdated - but abbey is still as fat as she is on this page...
> :-)
> http://www.geocities.com/pluvsc/pictures/pets.html

She does look like my Abbey. 20 pounds, wow!

Candace

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Cheryl - 14 Mar 2005 00:18 GMT

> Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
> separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in
> his life (and something to tire him out) so I had him on a
> harness a couple of times outside. Of course, he kept falling
> over but he seemed to vaguely enjoy being out there. We don't
> let our cats out and they don't try to get out, fortunately.

I hope this helps your home situation! I have one of those; got it
for Bonnie while she was being socialized but I couldn't get it on
her. Lately I've been using it on Shamrock when he's so aggressive
toward Bonnie because it keeps him from running after her.

> How do you get the walking jacket to keep from sliding around on
> them a lot so that it's pretty much on sideways after a couple
> of rolls? I have to keep adjusting it. I think it's pretty
> tight but I don't want to make it too tight on him.

If it isn't impeding his ability to walk, or isn't strangling him,
I wouldn't worry about it.

Signature

Cheryl

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Cathy Friedmann - 14 Mar 2005 02:36 GMT

> Marbles, our "troubled" kitty, who is aggressive and needs to be
> separated from our other 2 cats, needs some extra stimulation in his
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> toward them yowling loudly the whole way so I don't think I have to
> worry about him snagging some poor creature.

I can't help you out, re: the walking jacket, but this description had me
laughing at the imagery. This cat who gets so vocally excited about seeing
potential prey that he would never need a bell to warn off the birds, mice,
chipmunks, whatever... ;-)

It sounds like he may get to like his outings enough that he'll eventually
stop the flopping over/walking funny bit & will probably just enjoy walking
around normally, scoping things out.

Cathy

> How do you get the walking jacket to keep from sliding around on them a
> lot so that it's pretty much on sideways after a couple of rolls? I
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> other
> than human." (Loren Eisely)

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