Kitten harness- yes or no ?

[Nutellanjam]

Hello wise cat owners, just after some opinions- our new kitten is 5 months old, not spayed yet and not planning to let her out for a long while ( especially after a previous cat got run over 😢)
the kitten seems v keen to be outside, jumping up at garden door, scratching etc. I’ve been wondering about getting a cat harness to take her in the garden ( garden is v open) so she can have some time outside. Just wondered what was the general consensus on them. Are they easy to put on? Do cats hate them ? I guess ideally it would be great if she loved it and was happy to just go out on harness but Is this completely unlikely?
thank you very much !

I expect it depends on the cat. Ours was absolutely having nothing of it. Went nuts if we put a collar on her let alone a harness. She's a very feisty, independent madam and we love her for being so characterful but she's not a cuddly lap cat.
Like yours she was desperate to go out by five months. The vet had said to not let her out until after her first heat and after spaying. She was about six months when she came on heat - I've never seen a cat on heat before and couldn't believe how she became possessed, writhing around, yowling and desperate to go out and get shagged by any cat she could find. We had her spayed straight after and then started letting her out.
She's an incredibly clean cat and immediately stopped using her litter tray as soon as she was allowed out.
Obviously roads and traffic are a massive worry. We've lived in three different places since we had her, the first was on a quiet dead end street but I was shocked to see her at the bottom of the road crossing a more busy street to spend time in the massive garden of a house down there, it had a wooded area that ran down to the river. There was no stopping her. That was where she went. Now we live in a quiet country village and there is lots of fields and woods for her to roam but she will still hang around on the Main Street. Once a year a huge event happens with loads of traffic, we try to keep her in during the busy arrival and departure times but she got out and was sitting under our car watching all the action. She actively likes to be out and watching it all. I think she has very good car sense thankfully but it's not something you can teach and can always be unlucky if there are fast cars around.
She likes to be out a lot because she's such a hunter which I hate, I really hate when she catches birds. We shut her in at night in the summer so she misses the dawn action with the birds but given the opportunity she prefers to be out all night and asleep on whichever bed has just had clean sheets put on during the day. Now she's older she's becoming a bit more attached to home comforts and chooses to stay in if it's cold and wet so tends not to go out at night in the winter.

She needs to be spayed before you even consider letting her outside.

Personally I think five months is far too young, even on a harness. Mine is a similar age and won't be going out until next Spring when he's a bit bigger and more sensible. You could try a harness on her indoors and get her used to it in the meantime though?

We put ours on a harness. He doesn't mind it when it's on but can sometimes be a pain to get it on(keeps taking legs out nothing major). I think this was April time and he was only 4 months. Only goes out in the garden. He's now nearly 8 months. Bought it from amazon, put his legs in and velcros and clips on his back. We tried one that went over his head but he hated us trying to put that on

Ooh thanks so much! And for the v cute pic! It looks comfy that harness, I saw one today in the Pet shop that puts the legs in and Velcro’s shut so may give it a go and see if she likes it. Fingers crossed !!

My kitten is 3months and i have just started harness training him, I definitely recommend the type that they step into, and then you velco & buckle up. I’m currently only letting him explore the communal areas of my apartment block atm, and won’t take him outside with it until after he’s been neutered etc.
one thing I’ve found a harness really useful for is vet trips. His soft crate has an internal leash, i clip the harness onto that and can then open the top to give him extra reassurance etc, and I know that he can’t escape. My advice is to get an extendible dog leash though as often the leads that come with the cat harness’s are really short.

If you live by a busy road, would a catio be an option?

Cat 1 used to lie down and refuse to move with a harness on.
Catt 2 stands up at the door to wait for his harness to go on so he can go outside.
Cat 3 is quite difficult to get into the harness but tolerates it well once it is on.

I would second the idea of getting an extendable dog lead to clip onto it as the cat leads are really short.

I bought a cat harness, big mistake.He acted like he had had a stroke, I had to drag him round the floor.Lasted all of 2 seconds I took it off, he shook himself like a dog and was fine 😁

They can be very easy to put on. Some cats are fine with the things.

Mine, however, lost the use of his legs entirely whenever it was put on, so I had to witness him being ignominiously dragged back inside like a dead Halibut. He didn't mind the dragging (DD and him were best buddies and he has no sense of dignity or decorum at the best of times), but she'd put it on and watch him slowly keel over sideways every time.

Oh, and at five months old and desperate to get out, she needs to be spayed now. Because she's seconds away from her first season (if she isn't in it already and you're just thinking 'she's very talkative, yelling to go out like that').

Thank you yes I hadn’t realized it was quite so imminent (prev cat male) but yes she is getting a bit vocal !!

Cats are liquid, if she’s determined to escape and mate she will.