5 Seattle-area adventure cats you need to follow on Instagram

If you peruse any popular Seattle-area hiking location on Instagram, you’re bound to find lots of extremely good dogs. But look a little closer, and you might see something a little less expected: adventure cats.

“Adventure cat” is an increasingly popular term (and also a website with tons of helpful guides) for cats that go on outdoor excursions with their humans. Typically, this means a leash and a harness—a well-fitted one, since cats can wiggle out of a lot of situations—along with training and a whole lot of supervision. Since indoor cats live longer, it’s a safer way to let a kitty experience the outdoors. (Plus, it’s much better for wildlife.)

Not all cats take to it, but some cats can’t get enough of the wilderness—and there’s a whole community of these outgoing felines on Instagram. A few of them are even local, showcasing some of the region’s most iconic hiking destinations and campgrounds. Here’s five kitties who regularly pose with Pacific Northwest scenery.

Prince Akat

You may notice a few very distinctive coats on #adventurecats Instagram. That’s because the notoriously wild bengal breed takes especially well to a harness—and has a lot of energy to burn off on a hike.

Akat is one of those kitties.

“He has so much energy that an 800-square-foot house cannot contain him,” said Akat’s human Hyung Won Yang. “That’s why I take him on walks, hikes, picnics, camping trips, etc. When I do, he sleeps like a baby in the car and at home! For him, it is almost necessary to use up his energy time to time! He loves to climb and explore cool trees, which is something he can’t do at home.”

Inside, Akat spends his time sprinting around the house and running on his treadmill at 4 a.m., said Yang—all the more reason to show him the big, wide world.

Follow this highly regal cat’s adventures at @prince_akat.

Moose

Moose’s person Anneka Rains suggests starting early if you want an adventure cat. “We adopted Moose when he was about 10 weeks old and that’s when I started to put him in a harness around the house just to let him get used to the feeling,” said Rains. Moose eventually moved onto walking down a straight hallway, then to moving about the apartment complex.

“Eventually we introduced him to the car and started frequenting the Ballard Farmers Market and Pike Place,” said Anneka. “One day he climbed up on our shoulders and just sat there, so he is a self-taught shoulder cat. When Moose doesn’t want to walk, he’ll climb up on mine or my partner Ryanne’s shoulder and to rest—we’re always sure to bring his Pokémon bubble backpack with us so he can climb in there when we really just needs his own space.

Rains said that Moose is now more than a year old, and has been kayaking, to Mount Rainier, and even the Womxn’s March. Follow his journeys at @moosetheadventurecat.

Lana

Lana, another highly-energetic bengal, started going outside at five months old. “She never minded the harness or leash,” said person Casey Schadler. It was everything else that was a little more difficult: “It took us quite a few months to get her used to people and dogs on the trail. She still gets nervous with runners or bikers.”

Schadler said that Lana’s longest walk was about three hours. “I always take a backpack with water, cat snacks, bags to clean up the bathroom, a pet medical it, and a coat and towel for her,” said Schadler.

During the off-season, Lana, like Akat, has a treadmill, a key survival tactic for people that live with a bengal. Follow her at @tailofthewild.

Chilli

Surprise: It’s another bengal! Chilli, still a rowdy kitten, loves both chicken and tree-climbing—and wears some incredible costumes. Follow this kitty’s adventures (and check out some itty-bitty kitten pictures in the archives) at @bengalchilli.

Chilli even hangs out with Lana sometimes, and showed up to her big first birthday party in Lincoln Park.

Jake and Jewel

Brother-sister duo Jake and Jewel have slightly different temperaments: Jewel, according to their Instagram bio, is kind of a princess. Jake, on the other hand, loves to go on adventures by backpack or harness.

Follow their indoor-outdoor lives at @seattle_pawsteps.