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I often see people out walking their dog to get them exercise and fresh air. However, I have never noticed someone taking their cat for a walk, although I have seen cat harnesses and leashes for outdoor activities with felines.
Why is it less common for cats to be taken outside for walks? Don't they need exercise and fresh air, too, (especially when they're young and hyper and active) or do they get enough indoor play-time?
I use a leash and harness with my cats to let them outside, but I don't take them for a walk as I would with a dog. It's more letting them explore around the yard as much as they want, but controlling how far they go, and when they come back.
They're not interested in walking around the block because they don't really like meeting strangers outside of the house, as they're already nervous from leaving the known safety of the house. I also don't want to take them outside of the yard because I don't want to have to deal with finding out what happens if they meet a dog. They've already had some bad experiences with dogs, so I'd rather keep them away as much as possible.
The only types of cats that really do enjoy walking around the block are cats that are still relatively wild, like Bengals and Servals. They still have strong instincts to patrol/mark a broader territory than normal housecats, along with having higher amounts of energy. Servals are rarely seen as pets due to the legal restrictions on them, and Bengals are generally kept by owners who care more about how they look than how happy they are, so the chances of you happening across an owner walking their cat is almost none.
The only reason I like to take my cats outside to explore is for the fresh air, really. It's mental stimulation, the same reasons people want to get out of the house: it gets boring after so long. It's just nice to see something different every once in a while.
Sure, it's a bit of exercise for them too, but it's not the only way they can get exercise. They are smaller than most dogs, meaning they have more room to run around without knocking into things (most of the time). But really the main difference is that they can climb. I have a 6 foot tall cat tree that my cats can climb up and down, which gives them vertical space to exercise.
I believe the simplest answer is that (a) dogs are more likely to be actively aggressive toward other pets and livestock, and toward humans, and (b) more people feel threatened by a dog than by a cat, so (c) it's considered more necessary to keep dogs under control and (d) leash laws get written for dogs but not cats.
Dogs, being pack animals, also care more about having another member of their pack with them; cats, given their choice are more likely to explore alone. In fact I have walked cats/walked with cats (it's unclear who was accompanying who) at times, usually off-leash. And when travelling with a cat I have sometimes used a light leash, but that's more to reassure both the cat and me and to tell everyone else who we belong to than because I expect it to be needed.
In rural areas, I suspect dogs and outdoor cats are allowed nearly equal freedom.
The other factor, of course, is that dogs need to be let outside. Cats, who have an instinct to bury their waste when they aren't the alpha in their area, are much more willing to use litterboxes -- one of humanity's greatest inventions.
There are a lot of factors that affect the answer here, and each will affect an individual cat/human pair in different amounts.
Harness Training
The first step to being able to exercise your cat outside responsibly is to train him to accept the harness and leash. Often when a cat feels an unfamiliar weight on his back, he will roll over to escape it, and when the harness does not come off he will get confused and distressed. Properly training the cat to accept a harness (instead of just sticking it on him and seeing what happens) is a lengthy process that most cat owners are not familiar with and do not take the time to do properly.
Territorial Familiarity
Cats are territorial, and an indoor cat will view your home as his territory. He's comfortable there because he knows all of the hiding spots, the food/water sources, and the safe places to eliminate, etc.
When you take your cat to a new place (outdoors) you are forcing your cat out of his territory so he's already slightly uncomfortable. Additionally, if the area has any feral/outdoor cats, the area may be scent marked as someone else's territory, further putting him on edge.
You see this behavior some with dogs as they scent mark the route of their walk, but when two dogs meet they may be friends or competition, and they also have a much longer history of looking to humans for socialization cues. Cats are more likely to view an intruder as competition.
Territory Structure
Cats view their surroundings in 3 dimensions, where people (and dogs) generally just look in 2 dimensions. Climbing helps cats feel safe (they can observe their surroundings without beeing seen), but a walk with a person forces them to only use the more exposed ground level. This can be pretty uncomfortable for a cat.
Elimination
Cats are often trained to use a litter box (as predators they will bury their waste to avoid alerting prey to their presence) and so can eliminate inside. Dogs, on the other hand, are rarely trained to eliminate inside and so must have regular outside time.
Owner Selection
Cats are generally seen as more independant and requiring less intensive care than dogs, so they tend to attract owners who are looking for a pet that does not require regular walks.
Disagreeing with the other answers I would like to share what I have always assumed to be the case: Most cats, like dogs, like to explore their surroundings. Some cats like to stay at home, and keep inside, but those are exceptions. The big difference is that cats are not (that) aggressive naturally, nor are people afraid of cats or worry a lot about their excrements. Although it is perfectly doable to teach a dog to behave in a manner which would allow him to be leashless, the reaction this would solicit from people in the neighborhood would be extremely negative, which is reasonable as it's hard to know whether a 'random' dog has been trained well. Lastly I would like to point out that dogs do not run away, when you go to the woods it's perfectly normal to put the leash of the dog and let the dog run wild and unlike cats the dog will return the second when called. So if anything by that argument it should be cats which require leashes, not dogs.
I think this comes from the basic difference between cats and dogs - the former being predominantly solitary animals, and the latter being pack animals.
Wild dogs living in a pack are regularly led on 'walks' by the alpha dog. In the wild this is obviously for practical reasons like looking for food. The pack leader starts walking and the others follow because of their place in the pack. This makes the idea of following a more dominant leader very natural for a dog.
Although there are some cat species that live in a pack, most live more solitary lives. Therefore, an individual cat will go and explore their environment whenever it chooses, not following the lead of a more dominant cat. For this reason they are not naturally prone to following the lead of a human going for a walk.
You don't see people walking cats because dogs run away...
Both cats and dogs need to go outside. Cats can simply be let out; they come back by themseves. They rarely cause or get in trouble. Dogs needs to be walked to make sure they come back and don't get in trouble while out.
I own a cat and have a harness and a leash for him, he enjoys being outside and running around without the harness. Even with the harness and leash attached and hooked up to somewhere with the purpose of restricting the area he has to explore, he'll still walk around and enjoy it. However, as soon as I grab the leash and try to take him for a walk he gives up and lays down and refuses to be led by the leash. The only way he would walk around while I was holding the leash is if the leash had lots of slack and he was leading in whatever direction he wanted to go in. I've seen other peoples cats do the same thing as well.
I have walked my cats before. Had one who loved to go for a walk and walked very well. Loved to stop and sniff the bejeebers out of every bush and shrubbery. Same cat used to love going on car rides.. would either sit on my lap and stare out the window (got plenty of odd looks as I drove around) or would sit on the back window ledge and stare outside.
I live out in the country and would love to let my cats outside, but there are fishers in the area and they prey on kitties... so I keep them in.
I don't think it is unusual to take walks with one's cat. I might be slightly crazy, but every cat I have had have followed me when I did take a walk in the forest where I live, and not only my own cats, but my neigbours' cats too followed me.
The cat I have now have a small trouble with her heart so she stays at home when I takes my walks, but she still has her opportunity to join me if she wants to.
I have to say I am not forcing the cats to follow me. They have their free will, and I never ever use any type of rope. They run free without anything to stop them.
People I meet don't understand why the cat (s) are following me and I don't understand it. But I don't need to understand the reason for it. It happens, period.
If I walk too fast the cat (s) just stop and wait until I returns and follow me back home.
Dogs are with people for much-much longer than cats, and they need directions almost all the time in tough/unfamiliar etc. situations. A leash is the perfect way to communicate with the dog when walking. Cats are more independent and don't need that.
Having said that, you can train a pet to do anything (within limits). Think about Shepherd dogs who take care of the livestock practically without any directions from humans... but those are not in a megalopolis environment. On the funny side: my cat was raised by a Yorkie terrier, and she fetches toys still, even he passed few years back. Now we have a Scottie which I take for a walk regularly. The cat also takes morning walk with us!!! Although she's hiding in the bushes, tracking us all around the block, sometimes jumping out and back into hiding, playing hunter/prey I guess.
