Best Cat Harnesses Under $30 To Buy in 2023
Because adventure cats are growing in popularity, more and more harnesses to walk our cats are becoming available. They feature different materials and styles; some have completely different designs.
But which one is the best harness to buy?
Well, if you don't have time, Houdini is our favorite cat harness:
★★★★★- Escape Resistant - Hard to escape from
- Comfortable - Reduces escape attempts
- Light - Allows them to move freely
- Safe - Protects their chest if they pull
However, this past year, I bought all the harnesses that had more than 4 stars on Amazon and tried them on Mia while going on adventures and I’m going to review the ones I liked the most today.
There are many things to consider when choosing a harness for your cat. There are 3 attributes to look for in a cat harness: Safety, Comfort, and Ease of Put On. I have a full article talking about it.
Here's our selection of the best harnesses by type:
Depending on how trained your cat is you should prioritize some attributes or some others.
Harnesses to start walking your cat on a leash (Beginners)
When starting to train your cat, prioritize the easiness of putting it on and off. Most of the training is going to happen indoors and you want to keep the training sessions as swift as possible. A harness that's hard to put on will induce stress in your cat affecting the session success and the time it will take for your cat to get comfortable getting on the harness.
The best cat harness to start walking your cat is one that has all the attributes:
- Hard to escape from
- Comfortable for the cat
- Easy to put on
- Safe for the cat's neck
- Durable
First days outdoors walking your cat (Intermediate)
As you start going outdoors, you want a harness that is as safe as it can be. The last thing you want is your cat escaping. This is why intermediate harnesses are slightly bulkier.
Cats that walk on a leash confidently (Advanced)
Once your cat is comfortable outdoors and you have the confidence that it won't try to escape, finding a harness that allows your cat to get the most out of the experience is the most important. Look for a harness that allows your cat to move freely, even if that compromises safety a little.
How to pick the best harness in each category?
I’m going to break down my pick, to share with you the best harness you can buy based on these 3 categories.
The 3 categories I picked to define which is the best harness are:
Security: Escape Proof Cat Harnesses
That’s the #1 reason why we buy a harness in the first place. Security is the ability of a harness to prevent our cat from sneaking out of it. Great for busy places like streets or airports.
Easy to put on: Cat Harnesses That are Easy to Put On Your Cat
Straight forward. The easiness of putting on and off a harness is great for starters or for cats that don’t like to get handled much.
Comfort / Fit: Cat Harnesses That Ensure a Comfortable Snug Fit
This is the one I value the most. How much freedom is the cat going to have while wearing the harness?
Analyzing The Best Harnesses for Cats
Because several harnesses win in more than one category, at the end of the post I’m going to share with you which one I believe is the best harness overall so stick around!
If you would rather watch a YouTube video, the below one will give you all you need to know before buying a cat harness:
Your cat may be used to wearing a collar, but we always recommend that you only attach a leash to a harness.
If you attach the leash to their collar, and they make some sudden movement or are spooked while you are out and about, the leash will tug on their collar. This can cause some serious injury and even death via strangulation. A harness spreads out the pressure and doesn’t tug on your cat’s neck.
The Best Escape Proof Cat Harnesses
The #1 reason for taking our cat out on a harness is safety. We don’t want our cat getting out of reach or getting into trouble.
If you are looking for an escape proof harness, either because you don’t have the handling skills or because you want to leave no room to surprises, you have some very good options out there.
There are 2 good options for escape-proof harnesses:
- Houdini Cat Harness: the Houdini harness from OutdoorBengal is one of the safest harnesses out there. It has a mechanism that allows you to leave the harness a little more loose and it tightens if the cat tries to back off the harness.
- PupTeck Cat Harness: the Pupteck harness has a buckle that will allow you to securely firm the harness around the neck and because it has a mesh, you can tighten it a little more than other harnesses without the risk of suffocating your cat.
★★★★☆- Velcro + buckle around the neck
- Easy to put on and off
- Hard to escape from
- Safe - Protects their chest if they pull
While the PupTeck Harness is an old school design, it's slightly safer than the Houdini cat harness, but cats don't like it as much because it restricts their movement. If you end up going for this option, I recommend you to leave 1 finger minimum between the harness and the cat.
The main flaw of this design is that the belly area is secured by a velcro and it can get loose with ease.
If you don’t like the velcro mesh or you live in a very warm area, you might want to try something else. H harnesses are great from a safety point of view but the main problem I find in this type of harness is that it can easily pull too much from the neck, as the straps are very thin, which could cause asphyxiation on the cat.
The Houdini Cat Harness is a great compromise. It's almost as safe as the PupTeck but is lighter, more comfortable and a lot cooler (because it has a smaller chest area). Contrary to the H harnesses, it has a chest pad that protects the cat nech and chest distributing the force when the cat pulls.
The Best Cat Harensses that are Easy to Put on and Off
If you have been gifted with a cat that doesn’t mind the harness, you are one lucky cat parent. Cats can really HATE be wear them. The ideal, particularly when our cat hates the harness, is to make the experience of putting the harness on and off as seamless as possible. The easier to put ON/OFF harnesses are those who almost doesn’t require cat handling.
Step on harnesses, despite seem like harnesses that are going to be easy to put on, convincing your cat to put their paws through 2 big holes is an impossible mission. I don’t recommend them all together.
★★★★☆- Easy to put on and off
- Safe - Escape Resistant
- Light, made with strings (no chest pad)
I have a full article talking about how to put a harness on a cat, but in summary, it goes down to these 3 simple steps:
- Call your cat
- Get them to sit
- From a sitting position, secure the neck first, then the body
My top 2 picks are PetSafe and Houdini Harness, they are both great harnesses for cats that don't like harnesses.
Cat Harnesses that Cats Will Like
A good harness or walking jacket should be safe and escape proof but allow free movement. Cats are like acrobats and we want to allow them as much movement as possible when wearing a harness.
Harnesses that cats enjoy wearing has become my #1 priority when choosing a harness for my bengal cat Mia. She has been leash trained for a while now and she is good at sitting still and allowing me to put the harness on and off.
There are a few reasons why comfort is the most sought after attribute when choosing a cat harness:
- The safest cat harness is the harness that the cat won't want to escape from
- We walk cats on a leash for their enjoyment
- A cat that can move freely will also be safer when outdoors
★★★★★- Escape Resistant - Hard to escape from
- Comfortable - Reduces escape attempts
- Light - Allows them to move freely
- Safe - Protects their chest if they pull
The OutdoorBengal cat harness the best harness overall when it comes to all the 5 attributes that make a great cat harness:
- Designed to be Escape-proof
- Comfortable for the cat
- Safe for the cat's neck
- Easy to put on and off
- Durable made out of Nylon and Neoprene
It has a system that goes loose when your cat is not pulling but will apply pressure from the sides if the cat pulls. The #2 option if you want something that's even more comfortable is the PetSafe harness, but again, it’s strangling power is bigger and I’m not a big fan.
If your cat is still a kitten and you want to prioritize comfort, my go to option would be the BINGPET. It’s not a famous option because it’s not very safe, but the mobility is great and it’s soft mesh chest patch will be gentle with an energetic kitten.
Because all prices are under $30, I don’t think it makes sense to do a price comparison.
So, here’s the verdict:
- Best harness overall - Houdini by Outdoorbengal
- Best harness for scared cat parents – PupTeck
- Best harness for good adventure kittens - Houdini by Outdoorbengal
- Best harness for advanced adventure cats – Come with Me by PetSafe
Be aware that taking your cat outdoors can be overwhelming for them so if you haven’t trained your cat to walk on a leash yet, you might want to check out this video here. If you are walking your cat already, check out which are the most common mistakes when walking your cat on a leash.
With this I’m leaving today! But feel free to watch these videos to get ready for walking your cat on a leash!
- Leash Training Your Cat - https://youtu.be/etaaYEuMhx8
- Main Mistakes When Leash Walking a Cat - https://youtu.be/zLco5D7oBMA
- Clicker Training Your Cat - https://youtu.be/iTAcXiYothM
STAY WILD, STAY SAFE! See you outdoors!
Albert
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