Dusty the cat eagerly runs to the door and waits, tail swishing, after hearing her owner and friend Joseph Baraba announce with a big "let's go" that it's time to go for a walk.

Baraba, a self-described "crazy animal lover," started leash-training Dusty when he first got the orange-and-white tabby eight years ago, although he didn't immediately start walking her.

Dusty used to roam freely outside, at least some of the time, but when the pair more recently moved to a new home closer to wilderness, Dusty's roaming days were over.

The thought of Miss Dusty trying to fight off coyotes and other animals on the prowl was just too much to bear, but he didn't want to force her to stay inside all the time, Baraba said.

Taking her for several daily walks turned into the ideal solution, he said.

"To me, she's more valuable than anything," said Baraba, who's 60 and loves his cat so much he's even published a children's book about her called Dusty.

Walking your cat might seem like an odd thing, but Baraba is far from the only Santa Fean who takes his kitty on strolls.

Greg Aevermann, 47, likes to take his cat for walks in the wee hours of the morning, around 3 a.m., when it's quiet and there are fewer cars outside.

It's a way to protect her while still letting her act like a cat, he said.

"I adopted her about six months ago, and I think she was probably born outside," Aevermann said. "Other people let their cats just run around, but it's safer to walk her on a leash with the cars around here. Besides, walking her gets me outside, too."

Teaching a cat to walk on a leash can be a bit like, well, herding cats, both men said. There's no such thing as a long stroll around the neighborhood with kitty following at your heel.

The first step is getting the cat used to wearing a harness — which is much harder to escape from than a collar — and it requires lots of patience.

Dozens of videos on YouTube after a search for "cat leash" show eager feline aficionados placing harnesses on their cats for short periods of time as part of the process. And in almost every video, the cat falls over on its side at first, the weight of the harness apparently upsetting the delicate feline sense of balance.

They get used to it eventually, though, Baraba said.

"When I started training her, I would put it on her for a half-hour at a time or so," Baraba said of Dusty's harness training experience. "Now she's fine with it. She behaves herself. She's a good kid."

After the cat gets used to the harness, the next step is to attach a leash to it and let her roam around the house before taking her on a walk.

But even once all of that is done, it's sometimes hard to tell if you're walking the cat or the cat is walking you, Aevermann said.

"We're working on getting her to follow me. She's still young," Aevermann said. "We walk in a cul-de-sac area, and she's starting to get an idea of where I'll let her go and where I won't let her go."

The areas underneath parked cars are especially tempting, but she's starting to get the message that she can't go there, he added.

Dusty will often take short walks around the backyard with Baraba, but sometimes he also just ties the leash up to a horseshoe back there and lets her roam around on her own while he watches from the window, he said.

"A lot of people think it's funny," Baraba said. "They've never seen a cat on a leash. But cats are like kids: They want what they want. So she can go outside on the leash, but not without the leash. We've reached an understanding."

The added bonus of the leash is that it also protects nearby wildlife, he said.

"One time when I wasn't using the leash, I looked away for a second and she had a baby rabbit in her mouth," Baraba said. "She didn't hurt it; she was treating it like a kitten. But I said 'Dusty, no, no, no.' "

With the leash, bunnies and small birds can escape her clutches, he said.

Benefits aside, though, there are plenty of Santa Fe cat owners who just don't see the point of walking a cat.

"I think it's just uncatlike," said Janie Baker, 59. "But I guess if you can get your cat to that, good for you."

Kim Caylor, who has a skittish indoor cat, said the notion of walking her pet seemed like it could lead to great bodily harm.

"She's kind of afraid, and I don't think she'd put up with it," Caylor said. "I know somebody who did that for a while, and it was really funny looking. It was cute, though."

One thing that both cat walkers and non-cat walkers seemed to agree upon, though, is that cat prams — those baby-carriage looking strollers designed for pet owners to wheel their cat around the block — are a bad idea.

"That's too much, I think," Baker said. "It's along the same lines as putting dogs in little dresses."

It also sort of defeats the purpose of outdoor time, Aevermann said.

"Going out on a leash, it should be their time to eat bugs, grass, walk around, explore," Aevermann said. "I'm not sure why people would use a cat pram."

Really, there's no point to embarrassing your best friend like that, not when the more sensible leash idea can bring you both closer together, Baraba said.

"Animals, they know; they know you're an animal lover," Baraba said. "Miss Dusty, she's spoiled rotten. But I just love spending time with her."

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.