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Tribune News Service

Gnocchi sits attentively on a Beverly Grove pavement with his owner, Julia Luke. Gnocchi wears a pink collar with his name on it, an AirTag and a red harness with a leash. He observes the neighbours. He sniffs the grass. He watches bugs crawl in the dirt.
“People know Gnocchi’s name before they know mine,” Luke says.
But seeing Gnocchi stops strangers in their tracks.
That is because Gnocchi is not a dog.
“It’s a cat on a leash!” an unfamiliar neighbour exclaims, stooping to pet him.
While walking cats may seem like a novelty, more pet owners in Los Angeles do it than you think. Many say they want to give their pets a fully enriched life, fearing that indoor-only cats miss out on the outdoors experience. Rather than subjecting free-roaming outdoor cats to dangers like cars and coyotes, some opt for supervised harness and pram walking.
“I know [Gnocchi] is happier when he has exposure to more sensory things than being inside all day long,” Luke says of her domestic shorthair. “I think about how happy I would be if my whole entire life was inside.”
In Highland Park, Hayden Freedman and her partner Kyle Smithers walk their cat Zephyr up and down their quiet street, usually once a week. Sometimes they bring their dog Ivy, who treats the walk more as a cool-down than a workout.


In Silver Lake, Allison Nill walks her cats around the local reservoir in a pet stroller. Safely tucked beneath the pram’s netted covering, Lana – short for Lana Del Rey – a tabby, takes in the sights while Steve, an orange American shorthair and Abyssinian mix named after Stevie Nicks, lounges in the shade.
“I call them our hot girl walks,” Nill says, pushing Lana and Steve in their stroller around the Silver Lake Reservoir. The sunset-hour routine helps relax her when she feels anxious. “Most nights, it’s just [Lana] and me.”
Meanwhile, Beachwood Canyon residents David Atrakchi and Sophie Meister, both actors and producers, take their Bengal cat, Taita, for hikes near the Hollywood Reservoir, Bronson Canyon and even Joshua Tree. Taita prances along rock walls and rolls in the dirt, meowing with his tail held high.
“When he has his tail up, he is happy,” Atrakchi says on a recent hike overlooking the reservoir.

The practice comes with benefits and risks. Dr Kate Blair, a feline veterinarian at the Cat Hospital in Marina del Rey, says it comes down to knowing your cat.
“For the right cat, I think it’s a great thing. That’s the key … not every cat will enjoy spending time outdoors on a walk,” Blair says. Confident, curious cats may do well, but cats who like predictable environments may be fearful. “It’s not something to force by any means.”
Mental enrichment is the biggest health benefit “by far”, Blair adds. Understimulated cats may have an increased risk of obesity and urinary problems, and the ability to explore the sounds, scents and textures of the outdoors is one way to provide that enrichment.
There’s also a small exercise benefit, but remember: you aren’t walking a dog, Blair says.
“A very successful cat walk can be five minutes,” Blair says. “They go outside, they smell a bush, they look at some birds, they get to make a few choices on their own. You’re following their lead, and then you go back home.”
That is what a walk looks like with Freedman and Smithers’ cat, Zephyr: a short, leisurely stroll up their street, with plenty of pauses for Zephyr to rest on the pavement or scratch a tree.
“Are you ready to go back?” Freedman says on a recent evening, noticing Zephyr had turned around. “All right, well, he is ready to go back.”

Rescues in LA tend to discourage cat walking, says Gwendolyn Mathers, executive director of Pasadena’s Tail Town Cats, a cat cafe and adoption centre that partners with Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, one of the city’s largest shelters. Tail Town Cats doesn’t exclude adopters who consider walking their cats. However, they advise caution due to the many uncontrollable factors that could spook a cat outdoors like cars, dogs and wildlife.
“That’s what this is all about,” Mathers says. “What do you have control over?”
If a cat panics, Mathers says, anything could happen, including losing the pet.
“Anyone who has wrangled a scared cat knows it’s not just like picking up a dog and holding them,” Mathers says. “They are clawing you to get away because, to them, that is a life-and-death situation.”
Nill, a digital creator and actor, got her first pet stroller in a brand deal about a year ago. After one walk, Lana was hooked. She would climb into the basket on her own, meowing, purring and rolling on her back. Steve isn’t as consistently interested in the ride as Lana, but if he makes his way to the stroller, Nill takes him along, too.

Many of those who have walked their cat offered the same tips: start slow, don’t force anything and follow your cat’s lead.
“We started outside our building, by the pool, by the gardens, then in the street, and then we went to here, on different hikes,” Atrakchi says. Every hike is at Taita’s pace: “Very slow,” Meister says.
Be prepared: if you take your cat outdoors, they may expect it regularly.
“It’s like Pandora’s box,” Atrakchi says. “Once you open it, you have to continue doing it, because they will want to go out.”


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Pets

Should you walk your cat? Los Angeles pet owners and vets weigh in

David Atrakchi walks his Bengal cat, Taita, near Hollywood Reservoir in Los Angeles, California. Photo: TNS

Zephyr the cat leads Ivy the dog on an evening walk in Highland Park, Los Angeles. Photo: TNS

Allison Nill pets her cat Lana during a walk around the Silver Lake Reservoir in Los Angeles. Photo: TNS

Taita saunters along a rock wall near the Hollywood Reservoir. Photo: TNS

Zephyr, left, is given a snack while Ivy looks on after going on an evening walk with owners Hayden Freedman and Kyle Smithers in Highland Park. Photo: TNS

Sophie Meister carries Taita in a backpack while hiking a trail near Hollywood Reservoir, Los Angeles. Photo: TNS

How to take care of your dog during Hong Kong’s summer heat and thunderstorms

Golden Doodle “NaNa” plays with water at the lawn of training centre “Dogather” in Yuen Long. 02SEP26 SCMP / Elson Li

Jack Chan, dog training director at Hong Kong pet training centre Dogather, plays with Fifteen, who is awaiting adoption. Photo: Elson Li

Goldendoodle NaNa plays with water at Dogather, in Yuen Long. Photo: Elson Li

Debbie Ngai, founder and service director at the Hong Kong Animal Assisted Therapy Association. Photo: HKAATA

Chan gives water to his dog Taidi. Photo: Elson Li

A fan helps Taidi cool off from the heat. Photo: Silvia Siu

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Kaiping’s diaolou watchtowers are scattered across the flat countryside of China’s Guangdong province, and with many only accessible along farm tracks and quiet paths, a bicycle tour is the ideal way to see them. Photo: Bruce Foreman

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Bike Aways participants cycle past one of Kaiping’s many diaolou. Photo: Jakki Phillips

The village of Zili is one of the four Kaiping village areas listed by Unesco and has the greatest concentration of residential diaolou in the region. Photo: Jakki Phillips

An abandoned diaolou in Kaiping. At one time there were more than 3,000 such structures in the area; now many are falling into disrepair. Photo: Jakki Phillips

At 28 metres high, Ruishi Lou in Jinjiangli Village is the tallest surviving diaolou in Kaiping. Photo: Jakki Phillips

Magang goose is a speciality of the Kaiping area. Photo: Bruce Foreman

Hainongdao Jiangyuan Kafei’s signature soy sauce coffee, made with its own brewed soy sauce, is subtly salty and gently sweet. Photo: Bruce Foreman

Hongkongers spend record HK$2,000 per month on cats as ‘silver’ feline market grows

Cats owners and their pets at a press conference held by the Hong Kong Cat Expo 2026 in Wan Chai on Monday. Photo: May Tse

Coins Tang and her five-year-old cat, Dobby, at the Hong Kong Cat Expo 2026 press conference held in Wan Chai on Monday. Photo: May Tse

Spend HK$10,000 a month on your pets? Why not, say cat lovers at Hong Kong expo

The Hong Kong Cat Expo 2026 was held from July 31 to Aug 2 in Wan Chai. Photo: Karma Lo

Mr and Mrs Cheung with one of their four Maine Coon cats. Photo: Emily Hung

The event featured more than 180 exhibitors offering cat food, supplements and even AI gadgets. Photo: Karma Lo

Alice Tan says this was VIPets’ fifth time at the expo. Photo: Emily Hung

Lifestyle

Family & Relationships

From harnesses to strollers, owners are taking their pets outdoors for enrichment. But experts warn that cat walking is not for every feline


From harnesses to strollers, owners are taking their pets outdoors for enrichment. But experts warn that cat walking is not for every feline.


Los Angeles

Should you walk your cat? Los Angeles pet owners and vets weigh in

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From harnesses to strollers, owners are taking their pets outdoors for enrichment. But experts warn that cat walking is not for every feline

From harnesses to strollers, owners are taking their pets outdoors for enrichment. But experts warn that cat walking is not for every feline