A Stroller for the Kitties

Strolling with Cats - Why Yes!

Wow!   After months of thinking about it, I finally purchased a Pet Gear stroller to try out with ShiShi and Haku, and every last one of us is in love.   Between the ease of use and obvious comfort of the cats, I'm over the moon with the improved quality of our day-to-day adventuring. 

​At nearly 3 weeks post-purchase, we are getting outside for a quick walk around our neighborhood most mornings or evenings, and ShiShi loves the thing so much that she actually sits in it where it's stored on the lanai for hours at a time, meowing to anyone who comes by that it's time for another stroll.  I'm shooting myself for not solving a a whole handful of persnickety cat adventuring problems eons ago.  If only I'd bit the Cat Stroller Bullet sooner...
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This Cat Stroller Thing Really Rocks!

That might sound overly-enthusiastic, but excited is exactly how I feel about it.  Our new cat stroller is opening up exploration possibilities that I just hadn't been able to work out so far.  It's an awesome way of getting my guys out for better adventures around my own neighborhood (not just hikes at a park we have to drive to), and it's a rocking amazing way for just me, myself and I to take both cats out at once .  Usually that's a huge problem for me, since rounding up enough family members to go on a double-cat outing can be an adventure in itself.  You may remember the sheer desperation of my trying to tandem backpack the kitties on my own.  I won't be doing that again!

HUGE bonus -  ShiShi or Haku  just don't mind getting into our new Pet Gear Stroller.  No problems even the first time.  I think it helped a lot that there is room for both ten pound cats together, so there is sibling support for this new way of exploring.   It probably also helped a lot that we already go outside on leashes and occasional backpacks, so some aspects were familiar.   I did hand out catnip chicken treats when they got in that very first time, but I think that's just smart any time I'm expecting something new or challenging from my cats. 

If I'd been doing this with cats who were new to the outdoors, I would have used a much more gradual approach to introduction.

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First Kitty Stroller Ride

​​For our trial run, we zipped out the door on a sunny fall morning to stroll down to the Turtle Bridge - a destination that is normally just a little too far for casual walking on leashes alone - we'd never get there due to all the poking around!  But with our new and awesome stroller though, the world was our oyster, so to speak.  The air was quite cool (novel for Florida!) at a brisk 65 degrees,  so I threw one of the cozier pet blankets in the stroller, followed up with the kitties in their Gooby choke-free harnesses, and we were on our way. 

​There was no crying, no wailing, no freaking out when a car went past (although they did crouch down for a particularly loud motorcycle.  I would have too, if given the chance.)  Instead, I just had two happy kitties looking around , sniffing the air, and generally having a great time.  I simply can't emphasize how incredible this is for us, because backpacks are still not ShiShi or Haku's happy place, although they will tolerate them for short periods of time just to get to a good cat-walking zone.  Five lovely minutes later, and we were at the bridge.  The kitties were actually hesitant to jump out at first, but then had a great time exploring around for the next fifteen minutes until it was time to go. (Still had to cram in our homeschooling for the day!) 

Haku opted to ride most of the way home, but with the back unzipped, and ShiShi trotted home under her own steam.  The only real events were st when we stopped for an adorable grandma/toddler team to pet Haku, and the three (yes three!!!) water snakes that ShiShi managed to locate sunning themselves along the pond edge.  And no, we won't be letting her walk along that area again!

And that was it.  No fuss.  No mess.  No crazy time investment.  Just moments to harness the cats, then pop out the door.  We have it down to a system now, and I'm quite sure that it takes my teen daughters longer to get ready for a walk than the cats.  ShiShi especially comes running when I grab the stroller off the lanai, and both cats are giving me zero problems by the time that I get to the harnesses - they are ready to go.   My only other real thought about the whole thing is that I usually take a minute once we are back home to let both cats explore around the yard a little if they want to.  I always want them to be clear about how we got back home, just in case, and that last bit of exploration leaves them in a great mood.

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Thoughtful Points About Cat Strollers

​1.  Because it was easy to see that ShiShi and Haku were comfortable with the stroller from the start, I really sped up their introduction.   For a cat who was unused to being outdoors on a leash, I'd definitely slow down the process with treats and lots of time to get used to it.  There a great examples of this process in my article How to Train Stubborn Cats to Wear  a Harness.  

2.  Keeping the stroller, at least for now, where both cats have access to it even when we aren't strolling has been a big plus.  It has become a happy, safe place where both of them hop in just to hang out in style whenever they are on the lanai.  And it is cute beyond anything to see one of my teens pushing ShiShi around the lanai yet again, just because she meowed so sweetly for it.

3.  There are several styles of Pet Gear Strollers.  I am thrilled with the flexibility of the Pet Gear Special Edition version.  It is easily able to roll over the grass on my lawn without getting stuck, and the shock absorbers keep the kitties from bouncing around on sidewalk cracks.  Although popping the kitties into our zip-in Pet Gear stroller really is a breeze, now that I know how much the they love strolling I definitely want to get the updated version with no-zip entrance clips, and probably will splurge for the jogging stroller wheels too when I get the chance.  

4.  I know that I said this before - but I really wish that I'd got one of these Cat Strollers sooner.   I eyeballed them at my local pet store for the last year, but just wasn't sure if a stroller would appeal to ShiShi and Haku or not.  I'm sure that they aren't for everyone, but they are changing our 'adventuring' life in a very positive way.  Less trauma + more frequency = happier cats.

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