Escape-Artist Kitty

(Yes!  I got the checks.  Finally.)

My cat is an indoor kitty.  Lately, she's been crowding the door when I come in, as if she wants to go outside.  Once or twice, she's run out the door and I've had to pick her up and put her back in.

When I first got her, I bought her a kitty leash.  Cat leashes are different than dog leashes -- they're sorta like those harnesses you put in itty bitty dogs -- where it goes not just around the neck but also around the front paws.  You also don't WALK a cat like a dog -- you just put the harness on them and let them explore.  So.  I'd bought the leash for Jasmine.  I'd put her in it and taken her for a little explore once or twice.  She'd been really interested in it, but ultimately, made a choice not to go outside.  By about the third time I'd put the harness on her, I walked her outside and she turned right around and came back in.  Indoor kitty since then.

But with these recent attempts at going outside, I thought I'd try the leash again.  Tried it a couple weeks ago.  Made the huge mistake of putting it on her without holding the other end.  And once I got it on her, she tore around the house, flopping herself every which way, shouting the kitty equivalent of "get it off me!  get it off me!"  Finally had to drag her out from under the bed just to get the harness off.  I did nothing more towards getting her outside.

Decided to try again today.  She's a bigger cat than she was before, and I thought maybe she hated the leash so much because it was too tight.  So I loosed up some of the straps on the harness.  And, real gentle and casual-like, I put her in it.  (THIS time, I had the other end tied round my wrist when I started.)  She didn't roll around trying to get out of it, although she did try to bite me when I was reaching around to do the little clip.  The harness was pretty loose, so I had to tighten it a bit while it was on her.  That accomplished, we were ready to go outside for a wander.

I picked her up and carried her toward the door.  I picked up my keys.  I opened the door.  I still had the leash on my wrist, so all I had to do was plop her down on the other side of the door and we'd successfully be taking our first outdoor walk in about a year and a half!

I set her down.  She turned around and FLEW back into the house.  In fact, she flew back into the house so fast, she sent her ENTIRE body through both sections of the harness.  She stopped at the far end of the hallway, staring at me in front of the open door, with an empty leash in my hand -- the harness still gently swaying from the velocity of cat flying right through it.

I believe she's an indoor cat.