source: flickr © newandrew - hiking dogs!

Dogs are always the obvious choice when it comes to the perfect non-human hiking partner. A dog never flags, is always good company and crashes out happily on the pub floor after a long hike. It got me thinking about alternative hiking partners. A friend of a friend always goes camping with their cat. The cat also likes to follow them on hikes and might even be the first cat to make a solo ascent to the top of Ben Nevis. I can’t imagine anything more bizarre. Our cat Reggie never strays further than 10-15 metres from our front door, so I couldn’t envisage cats who actually went voluntarily on long hikes.

There’s a local cat, Marley who is well-known for following his owners along the South West Coast Path which passes their house. However, he always turns back after a mile and returns home on his own.

If the feline population are turning to rambling and hiking as a new hobby, are we about to see a surge of specialist clothing for cats? I have seen wellies and camping boots for dogs. But for cats? I know cats go slightly mad when their paws are covered as they rely so heavily on their paw pads for balance, texture etc. Dogs have the misfortune of being able to wear little jackets, jumpers and all sorts of ridiculous outfits to make the general public laugh, but I can’t see any self-respecting cat letting their owner put them in a rain coat or pair of waterproof hiking boots. Watch this space for posts about mountaineering hamsters and fell-running guinea pigs. You never know!

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