Today marks the first time when I have been able to try out Zander’s trail savviness safely away from too many dogs or humans. Van Zander Cat rose to the challenge enthusiastically demonstrating a fervor for exploring that caused me to burst with pride.

Getting Zander accustomed to the leash has been an ongoing process. When I first adopted him at four months old, I tried to use the padded harness, but he wriggled out of that too easily causing me to experience major episodes of panic as he took off into nearby hedges once he was free. Eventually I settled for a the strap style harness and very short leash to limit how far he could go. Taking him out for short, 15 minute walks outside of the van wherever we were parked at for that day became a daily routine that has gotten him used to going out, seeing new places, and returning home to safety. Because we change location every night, I worried that if he did get loose from me, he wouldn’t know where home was causing us both to panic even though he does have an Apple Tag and is microchipped, which in theory should enable me to find him wherever he might get to. 

During the past week, Zander has upgraded to the longer, retractable leash which has been allowing him the freedom to explore greater distances away from me as well as to climb some pretty tall trees. However, I have trained him to sense that the distance he can climb is limited since I once had to fetch a ladder from my van to get my previous cat, Zaf, from an extremely high tree with few low branches. Surprisingly, he has gotten used to his climbs being limited, and though he may occasionally let out a subtle meow in disagreement, he eventually turns back and climbs down the tree. At times he tries to spurt away from me, but he has learned that my speed can’t match his so the fast dashes typically only occur if he gets started by a bicyclist passing us in the park or I happen to step on a particularly loud branch.

What made me think that he might be ready for an actually trail was his demonstrating to me that he knew where “home“ (Goldbug, the van) was. While out exploring several different parks and harbors during my spring break, Zander would occasionally get spooked by a few off-leash dogs or loud traffic causing him to make a bee-line for our van. He would try to crawl up the van doors waiting for me to open up the slider in order for him to get inside. Sometimes it seemed that he just wanted a few more hours to get used to his new location by sitting inside the van, perched on the window hammock watching passer-by and birds for a bit. Then he would be eager to get his leash and harness on to explore the great outdoors more confidently. Unlike Zaf, Zander is a very quiet cat and rarely meows, even when I step on his tail, but when he is ready to venture outside he does meow quietly in response to my question, “Want to go outside?” Thus, I have started waiting a bit before taking him for a walk, unless we are staying at one of our favorite locations that we revisit regularly, and usually allow him to indicate his readiness to explore with a subtle meow at the door. 

As my spring break was coming to a close, I figured that heading out to the forest location at Felton would be a perfect location to let Zander roam around more freely. Therefore, it was while at the Hallcrest Vineyards (a member of Harvest Hosts which is an organization that allows travelers to stay at stunning locations like wineries, dairies, farms, or even just parking lots for a small donation or set price of about $30/night spent on products such as wine, cheese, honey, lavender, meat, etc.) Zander was able get accustomed to exploring the winery’s grand expanse. He climbed up and down wood logs, rolled around mounds of dirt and sand, and sniffed meadow flowers to his heart’s content. 

After about an hour, he discovered the back trail that leads from behind the horse corral where we parked for the night. Somehow, he knew that he could venture down the trail safely, without fear, and that is exactly what he did. I would almost say he trotted down the trail much like the horse that had been roaming around the winery earlier was doing. Occasionally he would stop to sniff or to listen to something on the trail, but then he would speed up and continue further down the switchbacks. 

Me being the party pooper that I am when I see myself getting too many steps into my day, I decided to put an end to the adventure. I picked up eager-beaver Zander, and set him back down facing up the hill we had just come down. Amazingly, he showed his understanding a bit too well when I declared it was time to go home because he started dashing up the hill. Now because both his leash is too short and I am too sluggish when sprinting uphill, he had to make his ascent less quickly than he liked. As he waited for me to catch up to him, he would remain crouched down low to the ground looking ready to pounce, but would then spurt ahead of me just as I caught up to his location. 

Eventually he and I made it back up to the top of the hill and I coaxed him to go back to the van after we had rounded the camping areas a few more times. Seeing how well he oriented himself on the trail and in finding his way back to the van, I began imaging what it would be like to take him on other trails in the future for even greater lengths of time. I may even decide to get him the longer, retractable leash so that his independence from me could be pushed further. All in all, Van Zander Cat and I had a lovely wrap up to our spring break.