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Yesterday was the day. I had finally gotten the right size harnesses for the cats. Hunter green for Amber, Teal for tortie Sheba, and red for black Djoser. I also got matching leashes that came with rhinestones on them. But those I put away for a few weeks.
First the cats have to get used to wearing a harness. So, I put Ambers' on. He has had his on before, so it wasn't too hard. Sheba tried to play with hers while I was trying to fasten it on her portly self. Djoser disappeared and I had to hunt him down and then I was wishing for 4 hands. But the deed was done.
Amber got quiet and hung around me like he was saying "what have I done? Why are you doing this to me?" Sheba tried to lick hers off. And she walked like she was crippled; partly from having her head sideways, licking. Both she and Amber managed to get an arm through the too loose neck opening. It was real fun trying to tighten them up.
Djoser had disappeared again. I finally found him literaly buried in the covers of my unmade bed. His straps seemed tight enough. I watched Djoser walk. He slunk low to the floor and seemed a bit afraid of me. So I picked him up and petted him and loved him up.
Then I put him on the perch and got out the Feathered Flyer to take their minds off their humiliation. I also wanted them to learn they could play and do anything even though they thought they were tied up.
It took awhile but they came out of it. Sheba was first. She focused in on the bird and got it by the throat and got the feathers out of the black thingie! I had to rescue it from her and fix it. Once it started flying again, Amber forgot about his harness and began having fun.
Djoser would only make half-hearted swipes at it. At one point Amber was on his back swiping at the feathers as they passed overhead; then Djoser turned sideways on the perch and his tail brushed Amber's face. A new toy! Suddenly Djoser forgot the harness. He got rather lively after that; between swatting at Amber and lashing his tail and swatting at the feathers. 
Since I am off most weekends or only work half a day, I am going to do the harness just those days for awhile. Then when they are trained on the leash, we will go outside and they will associate outside with the leash and harness. They already know when I am not working they often get to go outside. I hope the weather is decent for the experiment.
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