Meet Shere Khan and Bagheera

Hi everyone, I’m Aileen, proud cat mom of Shere Khan and Bagheera. We live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in the middle of the city. When apartment life becomes too much we like to go on adventures together.

Believe it or not, but for the longest time I didn’t like cats at all. Luckily, that all changed a few years ago. I grew up as a ‘dog person’ and while I missed having a pet in my life so much, I knew I didn’t want to get a dog because it wouldn’t fit my current lifestyle at all. Going on walks three times a day wouldn’t be realistic for example. Then I met a friend’s new Ragdoll kitten. He jumped up on my lap, started purring and fell asleep in my arms. That moment changed everything for me and I caught myself thinking maybe I should get a cat then?

I spent the next four years trying to learn everything I could about cats. I wanted to be sure I understood their needs as well as I could before deciding to actually get one. While doing all my cat research I came across some people that went exploring with their cat and I knew I wanted to give it a try too. I’ve always loved taking my dog on adventures with me and I thought it would be so neat if I could do it with my cats too.

Once I decided I indeed wanted to get a cat (or rather two) it became a matter of planning. I just had to wait for the right time. For me that was during the covid-19 pandemic. We were all stuck at home and I had nothing but time on my hands. After finding a reputable breeder and waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, I got to take my two boys home (they are actual brothers). They have been such a blessing and have made my house even more of a home.

They clearly were born to explore. As soon as we got home, they stepped out of their carrier and started to investigate their new surroundings. Soon after we started our adventure training. We started out small; we trained with the harness indoors and slowly upgraded to backpack adventures. It took them quite some time to be brave enough to leave the backpack, but eventually they got the hang of it.

We usually ride the bike to a park near us, each cat in his own backpack since they’re both big kitties. Bagheera rides in front of the bike and Shere Khan will ride the backpack on my back. During our first few months of adventuring together we went out every single day! The boys slowly became better at listening and walking along with me. Every night we practice tricks and commands to improve how well they listen during a walk. Shere Khan is extremely food motivated and will continue to do tricks until the snacks run out. Bagheera on the other hand will leave the training halfway through quite regularly because he’s had enough and just wants to chill and lay down instead. Which always cracks me up.

One of my favorite parts of taking them on adventures is seeing them enjoy the fresh air and all the interesting smells. Sometimes Shere Khan will climb halfway out of the backpack, leaning on my shoulder, his face against mine while he closes his eyes and stick his nose in the air. Bagheera always hangs out of the backpack taking in all the sights. When we start the actual walk they want to sniff everything for at least 20 minutes.

Adventuring has strengthened our bond immensely. Sometimes they’ll need a bit of reassurance and encouragement. They’ll meow at me and I’ll crouch down so they can sit near me, hide a bit and get a few pets. I find it so funny that they’ll always walk better if I’m enthusiastically talking to them. It makes me feel like I’m their adventure coach. After our adventures we all love to snuggle uo together for a good snooze.

I was looking forward to show Shere Khan and Bagheera the snow this year. They have a beautiful thick coat and I expected them to love exploring in the snow. I was so happy we were lucky enough to get some snow this year but little did I know that my boys would rather go on a summer adventure instead.

I am still looking forward to binging them on a hiking vacation one day (summer edition of course) but we’ll have to wait till the pandemic is over.

We fully recommend everyone to give adventuring with their cat a try, just keep in mind it takes a lot of practice and not every cat will end up liking it (and that’s just fine too).

If you’d like to see Shere Khan and Bagheera on their adventures you can check @junglebook_ragdolls on Instagram.,