Catwalkies! Meet Fudge, the feline rambler who loves hiking with his owner

A CAT that demands to be taken for walks on a lead has discovered a love of hiking.

Fudge the tabby cat happily rambles for miles with owner Andrew Mulligan.

Andrew just needs to shout “walkies” and Fudge rushes to have his lead placed round his neck.

The 18-month-old recently stunned fellow hikers who spotted him walking beside Andrew, 31, all the way to the top of 2,333ft Tinto Hill in South Lanarkshire.

Once there, the faithful feline posed for a photograph in the breeze, before happily toddling all the way back down again.

They certainly make an unusual pair as burly joiner Andrew at 6ft 3in and weighing in at 17 stone towers over his beloved bundle of fluff.

“He just seems to like to come walking with me,” explained Andrew, who with fiance Leanne Kirkpatrick, 26, has had Fudge since he was a kitten.

“As soon as I pick up the leash and collar, he hears the wee buckle on it rattle and comes running.

“He seems to know it’s time to go for a walk.”

Andrew, who lives in Coalburn near Lesmahagow, often places Fudge on the back seat of his car without bothering with a cat basket and drives the contented cat to local beauty spots rain or shine.

Then the pair set off, sometimes walking for up to three hours at a time, most of it with Fudge strolling happily along by his side or wrapped around his shoulders when he fancies a break.

“I’ll put him on a leash if there are dogs around, but he doesn’t seem to mind them that much,” added Andrew.

“And every now and again I’ll stop and sit with him for a while so he can catch his breath.

“We do get a few strange looks.”

Andrew encouraged Fudge to get used to the collar as a kitten, rewarding him with chunks of cooked chicken breast from the local Indian takeaway and taking him for short walks around the local bowling green.

However, Fudge’s brother Junior simply refuses any attempt to be lured outside for even the shortest stroll.

Andrew said: “Junior just lies down and won’t budge. He just doesn’t want to do it.”

According to cat behaviour expert Kim Houston, an increasing number of owners are training cats to walk outside on leads.

“It’s actually good for them, as they can get bored being indoors all the time,” she said.

But she admits it’s highly unusual for a cat to follow its owner on the kind of lengthy and demanding walks that Fudge and Andrew cover.

And she wouldn’t recommend many owners attempt to drive without first placing their moggy in a cat basket as much for their safety as the cat’s!

Kim added: “It’s really unusual for a cat to be comfortable in a busy park where there are dogs and a lot happening to distract them and make them anxious.

“Cats have this image of being very unlike dogs and hard to train.

“But if you have a cat that is young and confident, you can get them to do more than most people think.”Would you take your cat for a walk? Yes, it would love it No, it would be having none of it!