Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 24, 2022

Another bad assumption since it doesn’t seem like cats want to be walked – they like to do their own thing.

Dogs are team/pack animals. Cats are definitely singletons.

Two years into the pandemic, back in New Delhi, I saw a man at a milk booth with his white cat on a leash. Admittedly she was perched on his shoulders at the time, but a cat on a leash is still a rarity. Although I do see cats being walked on leashes down in Goa a lot more often…though that may be more for the fisherfolk’s sake.

Yet in Norse mythology the goddess Freya had a vehicle pulled by cats. I think it was Freya, might have been Frigga?

And you probably never will see a long-tailed cat in a room full of . . . well you know.

If she were in a classroom, Miss Plainwell would be able to deal with this girl’s strange musing.

Actually, where I live, I’ve seen a couple of people walking their cats. The cats didn’t look like they were enjoying it much, though.

You can walk cats on a leash, but it generally takes longer to train them to do that than dogs do – and unlike dogs, when they explore freely away from you a bit, that often means jumping onto a fence or climbing up a tree!

Most people I know who have leash-trained their cats don’t actually walk their cats anyway. Their cats hitch a ride on their shoulders or head, and the leash is just there as added protection from running away.

I had a cat that walked on a leash and fetched a ball.

Dogs only walk with you on a leash after they understand that it pleases you. There’s the problem.

There is a man I follow on Instagram who takes his cat skiing and hiking. The cat’s name is Gary and he decides where they walk.

My husband was made aware of Norwegian Forest cats. He joked about getting 8 of them for sledding. The things are massive. A cousin of mine had 3 Maine c o o n cats. So much hair!

My daughter has a cat that enjoys going outside on a leash.

Ever “heard” the expression: “this is impossible, it’s like herding cats!”?

So where did Jane think this was going? Or is that expanded upon on tomorrow’s installment?

That girl doesn’t have a cat, does she?

We saw 5 dachshunds pulling a guy on a skateboard.

Cats pulling a sled? Snow leopards?

I have a friend on facebook whose cat loves to ride in the car draped across her shoulders. Mine have to take Xanax for their yearly vet visits.

Nope. But I have seen poodles pulling a sled. https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/2022/03/06/heres-what-happened-to-john-suter-the-musher-who-ran-poodles-in-the-iditarod/

We travel/camp with a cat. It is always on a leash when it goes outside. When it goes for a walk – it leads (where it wants to go) – doesn’t like to follow – and if you try to pull on the harness to get it to follow, it will slip out of the harness and run away or up a tree. 2000 years ago cats were treated as gods – and they have not forgotten that…

They don’t enjoy is as much as a dog. They can be taught to do it, but it takes work, and they don’t take to it naturally.

My grandmother used to have the cats on a long rope that was fastened to a lawn statue. It let them explore pretty much the whole yard without leaving it.

The teevee sitcom “Community” had a gag about the futility of a cat-powered car.

So, where is this going

My cat accepts the harness and leash but tugs on it like any dog seeing a squirrel.

A cat can be trained to do anything it wants to do….

One of my neighbor had two annoyed pocket dogs and a siamese cat. She walked them all on a divided lead.

Because pulling a sled is useful. Cats have no use except, possibly, as taco meat (I had some delicious but mysterious tacos from a street vendor in Nogales, Sonora, once – I suspect they were tacos gatos; if not, the filthy things have no use).

Cats can learn 120 commands, they just don’t want to. I’ve tried a leash on several cats, same result. They lay down on their belly and refuse to move.

Lots of people walk their cats. Check out this : https://www.adventurecats.org/

Both of my cats are leash trained. You just have to start them young.

Cats don’t like to be restrained by a leash.

There’s a good reason the collective noun for cats isn’t team

Cats are also smart enough to refuse to take intelligence tests.

They would have to be much larger cats like tiger, lion etc.

Stray thoughts unleashed!

Why cats will never join a 12-step program:

Step 1: I acknowledge the existence of a higher authority.