Do your indoor cats wear collars? Why or why not?

erinandseamus

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Mine are microchipped but don't wear collars unless traveling. Even then, Seamus manages to unclip a safety collar or slip out of a harness pretty quickly. And he stashes them. The last one was lost for nearly a year before it turned up in my stepmother's closet behind her shoes.
 
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trouts mom

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Post pics & we'll give you opinions if she looks cute with a collar or not!
Although I say she's gorgeous either way!
Alrighty you be the judge:

With collar




Without:
 

MoochNNoodles

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All my kitties do. I think they pretty much require us to have collars with the rabies tags and what not on our cats when we take them out to the vet and what not. My Tiger and Glory were indoor/outdoor cats. (Glory only was in her later years.) Tiger brought home plenty of mice and birds with her collar, but with Mooch and Noodles, it helps me to know they are sneakin up, or on the counters, on the fish tank, etc. They've worn them since they were small and have had no problems, other than when Noodles managed to get her rabies tag stuck in the floor vent, but they wear the break away ones so she got loose. Now I just take the rabies tags off in the house. My girls are also chipped.


I like Trout with and without the collar. It makes her look small with it on though!
 

katachtig

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Originally Posted by squirtle

Dori doesn't wear a collar now, but she used to. I woke up one night to her thrashing around on my bed. I jumped up and turned the light on and found that she had managed to get her lower jaw caught up under the collar. She couldn't free it so her mouth was stuck open
It took me a while to let her wear one again.... when I finally put a new one on her I made sure it was snug enough not to allow her jaw to fit underneath, but loose enough not to choke her (insert 2 fingers between the collar and kitty), but she STILL managed to get her jaw caught. She hasn't worn a collar since.
That is what happened with Lucy. I have never been so afraid for one of my cats as that time.
 

4crazycats

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Nope none of mine wear collars. Ive never had luck with them keeping them on so I gave up several years ago. Kitten and Zumi do have harnesses though that they wear when they go outisde and to the vets.
 

sweatereyes

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I have a collar for dante, for when we leave the apartment, and i try to keep his collar on all the time but he doesn't really like it. He's microchipped, and he would need to get past 4 doors in order to get outside so I'm not really worried.
 

mygypsy

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I tried keeping Gypsy in a collar for a while, till one day I came home from work and she had lodged her paw between the straps that make the collar tighten. It was a breakaway collar, but it didn't breakaway and she could have had major trouble breathing if it had been any tighter.

She's microchipped, so I just have to hope that's enough, and take care not to let her out of the house.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by katachtig

That is what happened with Lucy. I have never been so afraid for one of my cats as that time.
Chip did that once, when i first got him. but it was a Beastie band, & he basically chewed it in two
he hasn't had a problem since, tho.
 

sicycat

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Mine dont wear collars but they are both microchipped.
I think they'd kill me if I tried to put collars on them.

The front door leads to an inside hallway (apt complex). They run out and run up and down the hall sometimes but there really isnt anywhere for them to go and I just shoo them back in. Back door leads to the patio where my fences are 7ft tall and I know it would probably take them a long time to figure out how to climb up them haha.
 

delilah_blue

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Originally Posted by bloob & valo

How do you get your cat microchipped?
Usually by your veterinarian. Some shelters and rescues microchip their animals before adoption, and they may also offer microchip clinics for the public to bring their animals to be chipped (for a fee). It's a tiny rice-sized chip that is injected under the cat's skin with a large needle. One of my kitty's is having her chip inserted today while she's being spayed, and my newest kitty got his chip at his vet checkup yesterday.
 

white cat lover

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I like Trout both with & without a collar on, so I'm no help there! I think that provided you use the correct kind of safety collar & put ID tags on the collar, they're a good idea! I've seen some "breakaway" collars that weren't very breakaway!
 

jkrodger

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Didn't read through the other responses but I thought I'd put my 2 cents in:
both our cats are completely indoor and both have collars with tags on them, mainly b/c Phoebe tries to run out occasionally (even though we're in an apartment complex so she'd really just run out to a hallway) and we got her as a stray off the street. I'd hate for either of the cats to get out and not be able to get back to us!
 

bloob & valo

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Originally Posted by Delilah_Blue

Usually by your veterinarian. Some shelters and rescues microchip their animals before adoption, and they may also offer microchip clinics for the public to bring their animals to be chipped (for a fee). It's a tiny rice-sized chip that is injected under the cat's skin with a large needle. One of my kitty's is having her chip inserted today while she's being spayed, and my newest kitty got his chip at his vet checkup yesterday.
Interesting! OK thanks for the info!
 

lady20

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

I always go back and forth, and am not really sure if I should have a collar on Trout..Do your indoor kits have collars?

There is like a 0.5% chance she would ever get outside.
Hi,

Two of my indoor cats wear collars because I adopted them as kittens from a ferral mom and the more curious one, Douglas, always seems to want to try to get out when I leave in the morning. I think part of it is that he is just curious and has seen all of the house. and the other part is that he remembers when he was an outdoor cat. His older sister, who is 12 years old does not wear a collar as she has never been outside and shows no intention of wanting to go. The collars have bells so she can hear them, because she has very poor eyesight and must rely mainly on hearing. This way they cannot sneak up on her and scare her.

Helene, slave to Lady, Douglas and Deacon
 

jade cat

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My Cat refuses to wear a collar when I do put one on he manages to find some way to get it off, so I figure save him the trouble and don't put it on. But of course he is an indoor cat. I guess it all depends on how concerned you are about you cat escaping.
 

x-ta-z

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My Singa doesn't wear one - yet. She isn't chipped either (wonder if they do that in Singapore...)
The apartment I live in doesn't leave much room for her to run away, coz she'd have to able to call for the elevator even if she darts out the door. I am just a little worried that she may fall from the balcony. She'd definitely survive the fall more or less, but if that should happen I'd definitely want her to be identifiable, especially in Singapore with so many strays.

I bought a collar already, but I need a tag. What do you guys have printed on it? What is important for the tag? Her name and my phone number?
 

salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

When I first adopted Puff I bought a harness because I was hoping he would like to go outside on a leash. However he seemed stressed by that and the last time I took him out he slipped out of the harness and went back inside. Then he started pulling the hair out from under the harness. So I took it off. Now he has a regular collar with an ID tag. I think it's important to keep ID on them even if in the house. You never know when they might slip between your feet and out the door. No matter how afraid of the big bad world they are.
Since he tried to kill himself today..Puff is no longer wearing a collar. And I'll ask my vet about the id chip when he goes to the vet the next time. I still think it's important. But not if their going to hurt themselves on them.. I guess some kitties are just better without them.
 

jean44

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None of my cats have collars. I tried one on Kolohe when he was a kitten and he hated it. I've never tried on the others. All are completely indoor and show no indication of wanting to go out. Four are microchipped and the other three will get their chips at their annual exams in February and March this year.
 

bnwalker2

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Ours all have collars but no tags. We have six cats, and the two former "ferals" wear bells on their collars so we can hear where they are.
 
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