I noticed a thread recently about older cats possibly not becoming settled when on a harness so thought id share some ideas .
Here is some harness advice works preety well for me -
Training a older cat to a harness can be a little more difficult but if you find a harness that fits more like a jacket than just a flimsy collar its realitivly simple but slow the width of the harness really matters and cats really feel safer when supported.Put the harness where the cat can see it a couple of days (his bed?)For a week let your cat get used to wearing the harness NO LEAD,cuddle him when wearing it or make him wear it whilst eating take him outside whilst holding him in the harness On the second week let your cat walk around wearing harness and lead unrestrained by you at first might be skittish but let him get used to do it start with 5minutes and increase the time every day 5,10,15,20,25,30 minutes from now on leave the harness and lead on 30 mins a day.SUPERVISE (dont allow him to become tangled) feed your cat whilst gently tugging on the lead for a couple of days so he becomes used to the sensation ,now offer chicken for a few days giving a gentle tug and saying "come" getting him to follow the food a little do this at first at his level (strokes encouragement praise )and when your confident he has the idea stand up and try Be gentle throughout all this not forceful and dont sound irritated if your not getting the results quick enough this is a slow process involving trust between you and your cat . Praise your cat and if in the later stages (when standing ) your cat is very nervous or unhappy you need to start right from the begginning again (sigh) If not hes ready to go out choose to go out evenings when its quiet still offer food encouragement to move or turn around but allow him to explore hes not a dog and therefore you cannot expect him to follow to heel like one !
