Well, probably the reason why is that you don't talk to your cat! I was just telling my kitty yesterday, in fact, that "If you don't talk to your kitty cats, they just get bored and lie there, and fall asleep ... "
And it's so true. I've had my kitty, who you see in my pics, for about 9 years now, and I've been talking to him ever since he barged into the house and adopted me as his human. Another thing about him, previous to him, I had another black cat who I leash trained, and took him for daily walks out in the yard on a leash. My neighbor saw me doing that once and asked "is that a little black dog of some sort that you have?"
So I tried the leash on my "new kitty" and after about 2 days he was out walking on the leash too. I was talking to him all the time, explaining to him what we were going to do. He listened very carefully to my voice and watched my hands as I was explaining it to him. In a short time, he was listening, and watching my hands for hand signals when we were out with him on the leash. I would just point in the direction I wanted him to go, and he would be out ahead, on the leash, his ears quickly changing directions (an indication that he was listening to me) and glancing at my hands for signals. Basically, that's all there is to it. No cat is too old or too lazy to learn how to do this, so just give it a try!
A tip: The first time you put the leash and collar on your cat, he or she will just lay down and wonder what you're doing. Don't pull on the leash to get your kitty to raise up. Never do that, or it's all over. Never again can you approach that cat with a collar and leash. Just let the cat lay there and talk to it. If he struggles to get off the leash, take it off immediately and try again some other day. Just say "It's OK, let's try again some other time ..." You have to vocalize it so he or she can hear the tone of your voice, whether you're mad, or just casual, etc. Very important to vocalize.
My kitty is a little scrapper. He's caught so many mice I've lost track. When he sees a big dog come into his territory he will raise up and "sit at attention." If the dog approaches, he will hunch up his back, fluff up his fur, and advance toward the dog! This surprises most people the first time they see it. It surprised my next door neighbor who has a "puppy" mastiff which is much bigger than my kitty, but kitty advanced toward puppy, puppy backed down and went the other direction. Another time it was my brother who came over with his big black lab on a leash. Same thing, kitty hunched up, fluffed up, and advanced toward the dog. Since it was kitty's territory, and the black lab knew it, he just lay down, bewildered.
Kitty also has raccoons and possums to contend with at night, so he's not bored by any means!
