What's Supakit? I hear you ask. Well they produce cat harnesses, collar and accessories see here. I found them when Shelley came to live with us from the RSPCA rehoming centre.
We were told she would be an indoor cat because of her history. We'd never had a completely indoor cat before and had always allowed them to roam in and out but to come indoors at bedtime so it was a new learning experience for us. You can read about her homecoming in the link.
She settled in quickly and after a few months we started to wonder if we could perhaps try taking her out for walks so we found an old cat collar and a leash and tried it. She was very nervous to begin with and was scared if she heard a car going along the lane which wasn't surprising given her horrible ordeal of travelling 70 miles in the engine of a car.
We realised that the collar wasn't the best option for her because there was less control and so I searched online for harnesses and thankfully I found Supakit and purchased a harness and leash.
Our first attempts at getting her into the harness did not go well. It was like trying to get a wriggling toddler into a pushchair. When we eventually got her into it and tried walking she either flopped over onto one side or did a really silly walk rather like John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks!!! When I tried to take her outside we didn't get very far before she'd turn round and head for home. We kept trying for several weeks but it turned into such a trauma that we gave in and agreed that maybe she was a house cat after all. It still seemed such a shame though given the lovely area we live in.
Then I saw that the lovely people at Supakit were looking for testers of a new course called 'How to harness train your cat' in their Supakit Academy. Well of course I applied, never thinking that we'd be accepted but I was absolutely delighted when they confirmed that they'd love to have us as testers and so the training began. It's called 'How to Harness Train your cat' and is like a school for cats and their humans. You can read all about it in this link along with a short video.
I can't enthuse enough about what a difference this has made.
Shelley and I did little bits of the course each day after I'd finished my run and exercises and it turned into a fun time together. Shelley especially enjoyed the treat she got when she did something well - are there any cats who don't like Dreamies? I noticed that the course instructor was using a sort of paste in a tube as a treat and so I purchased a pack to see if she liked them.
The first time I tried them in a lesson she turned her nose up at them. Then there was a knock at the door with a delivery and so I left her unattended for about 5 minutes with the packets on the kitchen counter. By the time I'd got back to her she'd devoured 2 full packets by biting into the packets - there were teeth marks all over them! What I didn't realise until the next morning, when she'd been sick, was that she'd actually swallowed a part of one of the packets. Thankfully she was OK but I'll stick to Dreamies from now on as she definitely can't open the kilner jar they're stored in!
What I liked about the course was that it was in bite-sized sections and each day Shelley became more confident. I'd already taught her to come when called and we didn't need the sections on getting used to going into a cat carrier or backpack because she's used to going into her carrier when she comes into the gym with me to explore. So she associates the carrier with an adventure and fun rather than going to see the Vet.
I'm supervising mum's battle-rope action!
When you complete a section you send a photo or a video and get a little progress badge:
I knew we were getting there when she started to play wearing her harness and then came to sleep next to me whilst I knitted. Plus there wasn't the usual fight to get the harness on as she now associates it with fun and treats.
I would highly recommend this Supakit course if you've ever thought about harness-training for your cat as it's so well produced and they are clearly cat lovers who understand their kitties needs. They put together a little video using some clips I'd sent and watching it I realise how far Shelley has come as a result:
The Running part
Oh my goodness it was nice to get to a couple of events this month. To see real people and run in sme lovely countryside. If everything had gone to plan I'd have passed the 200 mark last year but Covid and 15 months of shielding put paid to that so I'm slowly edging towards that magic number.
Marathon 188 was at Betteshanger again with the lovely Traviss and Rachel. Numbers were still restricted so it didn't seem too scary and I spent most of my time hardly seeing anyone, especially as some people were only doing a couple of laps. I was intending to go for an ultra but it was just too hot and so I didn't!
Marathon/Ultra 189 was an LDWA event, Andredsweald, which I'd run a couple of years go but this time was very different as you can imagine! Parking in a different place, no food at checkpoints except wrapped packets of biscuits/cereal bars/crisps, social distancing (as much as possible), facemasks to be worn at the start/indoors & at checkpoints.
The route had been tweaked in many different areas and although I had the written instructions and the GPX file it was quite tricksy to navigate. Thankfully I teamed up with 2 Davids and Julia and between us we managed to work out the route although we did do well over the 27 miles - my Garmin read 31 miles! The other problem was it had rained very heavily for a couple of days beforehand and it was a very up and down route so there was thick mud to wade through and exposed tree roots to trip over so we were much slower than usual. We did see Mole End and played Pooh Sticks at that special bridge though.
Anyway, that's marathon/ultra 189 done and dusted so I'm on the countdown to 200 if lockdowns/more bad news and restrictions allow! Here are just a few photos, none of the mud as there's no way I could take photos and squelch through the mud at the same time. I think my photos from 2019 are a better representation of the route and the weather was much better too.
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| The charm tree to ward off evil spirits |
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| How very English! It was a mixed field of men and women |
What's next? Hopefully I can get a few more marathons under my belt in August before we get stuck back into some form of lockdown!
More photos of wildlife and gardening to follow soon.............
Stay safe everyone, wherever you are in the world.
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