Coastal Pet Red Mesh Cat Harness
Around $10
Available in red, pink, and black. Ideal for cats that are 8-12 lbs, 14-16 inches around the chest, and 8-10 inches around the neck.
My apartment has a great balcony that offers us private outdoor space for the first time in our experience renting! Of course we want our cats to enjoy the fresh air and all of the wonderful smells, sights, and sounds that the outdoors can offer to an indoor cat. The catch is that we live on the 5th floor of our apartment building and the railing rungs are wide enough apart for a determined and curious cat to slip through. Despite the railing height of around 4 feet, cats can jump very high and we also worried that they would get overly excited and try to jump over the railing. When we first moved into our apartment our cats were tiny 2 lb kittens, so the balcony was not an option at all. However, as the spring begins to bloom and the weather becomes warmer, our kittens have also grown to be much bigger!
Our solution to the balcony hazards was to try out a cat harness. We bought the Coastal Pet Red Mesh Cat Harness because it looked very sturdy and difficult to squirm out of! We got home and popped our cats into these harnesses and then clipped them onto a sturdy cord leash. At first the cats were not happy about the harnesses and laid down on the floor, refusing to move. So we picked them up and put them out onto the balcony. I sat down on the floor with them to show them it was safe and they quickly forgot about the harnesses and wandered all around the balcony. The harnesses were a great success and could also easily be used to take your cat for walks. Anytime you want to take your indoor cat outside a harness is a great tool because it provides much greater control over your cat.