There is so much to explore outdoors, but why not take your pet with you? For me I just didn't want to leave my little kitten home everytime I go outside somewhere. So since I decided to take him with me have taken him on overnight camping trips, hikes, in the snow, I have taken him on long 8 hour car rides, and times to just hang around my university to do homework. But with getting him to a point where he did not mind being on a harness and loved the car and the outdoors, it took a lot of work.
I knew even before I got him in my arms that I wanted to make him an adventure cat. I can't handle a dog at this point in my life but I really wanted a pet. So I got this little kitten and it was super overwhelming. This little kitten was super anxious, hated car rides, and did not like going outside. But I decided to take my cat on adventures. We go hiking, on drives and sometimes on night walks, hopefully someday I will take him canoeing. Let me tell you, you get a lot of weird looks walking down the street with a cat on your shoulders. Some people look at me with this bewildered look, I mean Artie, usually chills on my shoulders or in a backpack. Some people look and wonder how the heck did I get my cat to do that. It's simple, sorta.
I got my kitten when he was 13 weeks old, he was still a little baby. So I quickly put him in a little sweater and got him a harness. The first harness I bought him was way to big for him, and honestly is still to big for him (he's still growing). When they are young they are still learning, so I had to teach him that his little harness was a good thing. His first adventure was us going outside my building for 10 minutes. Which does not seem like a lot, but for him it was. He cried the whole time. I slowly got him more and more into the exploring aspect of going outside.
For the first few months I had him it was very cold outside and there was still lots of snow on the ground. It was cold for me, so I didn't blame him for not wanting to walk around in 20 degree weather. When it was that cold though I still took him out, but I put him in a little coat and a lot of times he hung out in my zipped up coat.
It was slow moving. That is the thing about training an adventure cat patience is very important. At least for Artie it takes him a while to warm up to a new thing. It took him months to figure out he can walk when he is on a leash. And even still he likes to explore things rather than go in a straight line. Let them go at their own pace, and be sure to be ready to carry them most of the way if you want to go on a hike. I still like to bring a backpack so that if he doesn't want to walk he has a safe place to be.
I trained Artie to hang out on my shoulders. It is really nice for us because then I can still walk and he has the freedom to look wherever he pleases. It is his favorite place to be when there are dogs around, because he feels really safe. I even put him on my shoulders when I'm hanging around the house.
He is just now getting the hang of actually hiking (sometimes), five months after I got him. If there is any piece of advice that I wish I had been told when getting my cat and deciding to take him on hikes is: it takes time. So don't be discouraged when your cat doesn't take off running when you first go out. They will get there just keep going. Soon you will have a cat who will sleep on your lap on long car rides, want to bolt out the door every time you try and leave, and who will love you forever.
