I made my first attempt at taking the cat for a walk. I managed to get the harness on her (once I figured out which way it went… good job, me), but I had to carry her outside because she wouldn’t walk under her own steam when I tugged (very gently) on the leash. Once we were outside, she immediately made for a planter with some bushes she could hide in, and she kind of got her leash tangled and got some twigs stuck in her fur. I managed to get her out of there and I tried just sitting with her on the side of a planter and letting her get used to the sounds and smells, but she was definitely not happy; she was making the same yowling noise she does when I put her in her carrier. She was willing to walk in the grass for a bit, but then she tried to hide in the bushes again, so I picked her up and carried her back inside.

I’ll give it another try and see if I can get her used to the great outdoors. Maybe I should go out through the basement of my apartment, away from the construction. But for now my takeaway is: she talks a good game about wanting to go outside, and she loves the smell of the outdoors through a safely closed screen, but when it comes down to it she’s a scaredy indoor cat.