Meet Marv — my 13-year-old Adventure Cat
I was only 5 years old when I first met Marv — he was just a little kitten who could fit into the palm of my hand. Out of the whole litter, Marv was the kitten who looked the most like his birth mom — I guess you could say that he’s always been a mama’s boy.
When my family and I first brought Marv home, he talked to us the whole car ride — we thought he was just nervous, but to our surprise, when we arrived home, he just kept talking and talking! Turns out Marv is just an extremely talkative guy and very much enjoys conversing with everyone.
Marv spent his first night home in my room. We fluffed up his cozy new bed and said goodnight. But when we woke up in the morning, we found him still snoozing, not in his bed, but in his litter box! Marv would continue to spend the following nights in the oddest places, including the toy box, sock drawers, and even the bin of Lego bricks! That was our first clue that this cat isn’t exactly normal — and ever since then, Marv has proven to be the quirkiest little weirdo — and I wouldn’t change one thing about him.
Ever since the beginning, Marv and I have shared a very special bond. Though Marv is our family cat, I’ve always kind of thought of him as mine — I guess I kind of just claimed him.
As Marv grew, his curiosity only grew more and more. He’s always wanted to be involved in everything that our family did, besides vacuuming, that is. His curiosity was too strong to be contained in our home.
I found out about adventure cats in 2020 when Marv was 8 years old. At the time, Marv was an indoor cat and spent the majority of his days looking out the window, yearning to get out there and explore. He was the type of cat that we’d have to warn guests about: “Make sure you don’t let the cat out!” There would occasionally even be incidents where he would sneakily bolt out of the house, which sometimes resulted in hour-long chases around the neighborhood!
All Marv has ever wanted is to explore. So when I discovered through social media that people were leash training their cats and taking them on adventures, I knew I just had to give it a try.
So the following day, we headed off to the pet store and purchased Marv a harness and a leash. Being only 13 myself at the time, I didn’t know much about the slow introduction process that is recommended for harness training. So as soon as I got home, I just slipped Marv into his harness, clipped on the leash, and opened the door — and thankfully, Marv LOVED it instantly! It was like he didn’t even notice that he had a harness buckled around him and a leash hanging off him; he was just so happy to be outside.
In that moment, watching him roll around in the grass, sniffing the fresh air, happier than ever, I knew that this was going to be our thing. This was just the beginning — our adventure journey had just started.
I continued to take Marv outside on his leash consistently — almost every day. We started with walking only around the backyard, but each day we would venture out a little further from home. Marv could tell when it was time to go outside on a walk whenever he heard me grab his harness — he would immediately run to the door and start screaming at me to hurry up.
Each time we went out, he gained more confidence and got more comfortable with walking on the leash. It was the most rewarding process getting to see Marv be outside and explore nature. We started hiking in little local forests and trails near our house, and eventually, I bought a cat backpack so that we could travel longer distances and explore more new places.
I started taking Marv in the backpack to new trails and forests, and even local parks. I love how the backpack acts as his little safe space for when he gets a bit nervous or overstimulated. Since then, we’ve pretty much had our adventure routine down — slip on Marv’s harness, clip on the leash, grab the backpack, and go explore somewhere!
When we go out, we often get comments from strangers walking by, such as “Is that a cat?” or “How did you get him to do that?” or “I’ve never seen that before!” Marv loves meeting new people, so I always welcome them to come over and say hi.
Going on adventures with Marv is always the highlight of my day, as I’m sure it is his too. Getting to watch him live his best life, exploring and experiencing new things, brings me so much joy and fulfillment, and is something that I will always cherish.
A life of adventure isn’t for every cat, but you don’t know until you try. Some cats are just window watchers, and that’s okay! Other cats may prefer to use their leash to adventure only within the yard or close to home. And other cats (like Marv) will want to adventure everywhere!
Leash training is a versatile tool that lets you and your cat decide what style of adventure works for you while keeping your cat safe, because safety is always the number one priority. So go at your cat’s pace, get to know what they are comfortable with, and trust the process.
So my advice to anyone with a curious kitty is to give the leash a try! Outdoor enrichment is such an important part of so many cats’ lives, including Marv’s.
