Breeders should make it a contractual obligation for purchasers to leash train their new Maine Coon!

I am being a bit strict here. Very strict perhaps? And uncommercial? But I'm thinking of the cat. I'm thinking of the Maine Coon cat particularly because in one way they get a raw deal. Whereas the majority of less desirable cats are normally allowed to free-roam outside the home (although this is gradually changing), the default M.O. for Maine Coon cat caregiving - or it should be - is that they are confined to the home full-time.

And the reason is the obvious one namely that they are too glamorous and desirable to be allowed to go outside unsupervised where they might be stolen. In the modern world theft is more prevalent than it used to be as far as I can see.

And so this great and wonderful cat, full of energy and with the usual feline desires is often confined to a home which is insufficiently environmentally enriched if I may say so without being too critical. I understand the problems of enriching one's home to make it more cat-friendly and entertaining but there is an added obligation on the Maine Coon owner to "catify" the home to use the language of Jackson Galaxy.

RELATED: Cat ‘training is logical’ – informal and formal training.

The solution is to leash train your Maine Coon cat. And going back one step I think it's reasonable to suggest that Maine Coon cat breeders include a clause in their contract with adopters that they leash train their Maine Coon cat to allow the owner to take the cat outside safely.

I don't think it is a massive "ask" to insist on a contract between breeder and purchaser (adopter) that the adopter leash trains their cat as this would allow the caregiver to take their Maine Coon cat outside perfectly safely provided the harness used is of the best quality! Domestic cats have a habit of wriggling out of harnesses unless they are of a sufficient standard.

I would like to see far more cats leash train. It is a great compromise solution to mentally stimulating a cat companion. In leash training your Maine Coon cat you wouldn't need to entertain your cat in any other way. You wouldn't need to build a catio or a cat confinement fence around your backyard. All the mental stimulation could come from that regular walk! And you'd meet people. An added bonus.

I would like myself to leash train my cat but he behaves very well outside I believe but I could do better. There is a barrier to leash training one's cat and that is laziness! I don't do it because I don't have to do it but I should do it because in my case it would protect wildlife and in the case of a Maine Coon cat it would allow them to go outside safely.

It is very normal for cat breeders to demand that a written contract is employed when selling their cats to purchasers. The breeder usually makes some sort of demand such that the cat is micro-chipped or spayed or neutered. Sometimes breeders spay and neuter the cats before they are sold and sometimes they ask the purchaser to do it under the terms of the contract. The breeder can ask anything of the seller. The seller can refuse to agree those terms or conditions or they can accept them. They normally accept them because they are in the best interest of the cat.

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Please excuse the occasional typo due to preparing these articles at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I don't have a proof reader.