Collars, To Wear or Not To Wear

Two of my cats have collars- Blue, the black cat, has one so I can tell her apart from the ferals when she is outside, and Kiara has one so you can tell from a distance that she isn't a skunk!! lol. I've never had a problem.. they are both breakaway collars.

I went through the same thing...I have not put Trouts collar back on her as there is a 2% chance she would ever get outside..I don't feel like she needs it.

Both of my cats are exclusively indoor cats and they both wear collars with bells. I keep the bells on so I can hear them myself! I keep them in collars just in case they accidentally get out. Even though they are both microchipped, I also have tags on them. Well, actually just Loki right now, I haven't gotten the tag for Possum yet since I was doing a trial adoption.

Since your cat is black and goes outside I'd still recommend a reflective collar for him with tags. His senses may all be sharp, but I still see cats of all colors dead on the side of the road, and I wouldn't want that to happen to your baby.

I also have the breakaway collars, and I haven't had a problem with them.

Tricia

I have always put a collar on my cats, with their tags attatched to it. As I take them outside from time to time on a leash, ifthey do happen to get away, then they can be returned to me once for free by animal care and control. And another reason that I have them on, is that it is a by-law here that all dogs and cats are to have their tags on. When I adopted sugar and spice, I was given a collar for them, and have since replaced those with the breakaway type collar from petsmart. I also keep sugar and spice in a harness 24/7, as they have grown accustomed to it, and it helps with identification very quickly too. It also helps if they want to wander into the hallway when the door is opened, I can hold then back easier too. But most in the building know that they belong to me, and would return them to me if they got out, at least I hope they would.
People in the building have also called animal control, and an officer has come around, checking every unit in the building to make sure that all dogs and cats are licensed. Just my 2 cents worth.

Originally Posted by Green Bunny

Both of my cats are exclusively indoor cats and they both wear collars with bells. I keep the bells on so I can hear them myself!

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Does that not drive you mad? I think it would really annoy me, esp at night.

Sierra & Serenity, both inside only, at all times wear their safety collar with a bell and reflective tag containing our telephone # and address. I always test the safety mechanism before placing their collar on them. I haven't been brave enough to microchip my girlies, this being relatively new technology, and I feel their collars are imperative for their own safety in the case of an emergency.

Hiya

Thanks for all the replies.

When I first had humphrey I put a collar on him, not that he was happy bout it. I had to take him to the vets once because I had come home and he had his paw caught and was in so much distress1 The vet said it would be a bad thing to put the collar back on as she has seen so much saddness and horrific injuries from cats wearing collars! This is what she advises me to do as it happens all the time apparently!

Claire

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ALL of my furbabies are properly lisenced and also have id tags. I work at a shelter- i can not tell you how many animals have been reunited with their owners thanks to collars/id! It is not dangerous for cats so long as the collar fits them properly (you should be able to fit two fingers under their collar. And so long as it is a cat safe break away collar. There is no way i'd let my animals go without being properly id'd. I've seen countless animals come into our shelter and get reunited with their owners as a result of those tags. My animals are all indoors only as well. I also will be microchipping my entire gang soon. I have taken these measures to ensure that my animals have the best chances of being recovered should they get out and escape or something like that. My kitties also are trained to walk on a harness/leash as well - they walk better than most dogs When the weather is warm, i put on their flea prevenative and put them on their leads to to walk them and let them explore the garden.

I think Im gonna try and put another one on. The reason being He is black and I want a reflective one for when he goes out at night.

also you are right about him being mistaken for a stray, I never thought of that, at least people will respect that he is a pet.

Thank you sooooooo much

Claire

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Not sure why you let him out at nite to go potty - what's wrong with a litter pan.

Cats that go outside should have collars, but none of my indoor only cats wear collars. Most of my cats were show cats - pedigree or mixed and I don't like the collar marks

my cat used to wear a collar becasue she used to go outside a lot, and she had a bell so i know where she was around the house but i don't bother with one anymore becasue she dosn't go outside anymore.

I tried to collar our girls and it was a mess. Even with sizing it "correctly" they still were managing to partially wriggle out of them like Houdini and get it caught around their heads, in their mouths, etc. It was so stressful to them and to me that I decided it wasn't worth it. I also have read stories of cats strangling themselves by getting their collars caught around the house when no one was home. I decided the risk of them hurting themselves didn't justify making them wear collars. My girls are afraid of going outside, so I'm not terribly concerned about it. One of them is also microchipped (I need to get the other one done).

Non of my cats wear collars.

If you get breakaway collars for your cats there should not be any accidents or harm done by them. If they get stuck on something, the collar will just come off.

Mine didn't used to wear collars but they do now. They are indoors only but you never know when something might happen and I'd never forgive myself if one got outside and got lost without i.d.

Ok, so I thought this was the perfect thread to post in... My baby PHX is a strictly indoor cat... but lately I could tell he wanted to expore the outside life. So, this weekend I went and got him a collar and leash. I never put a collar on him before since he just lives indoors. I took all of your guys' advice and got him a breakaway collar (just in case). Well here's what happened! I have him outside and he's loving it, rolling on the ground.. smelling the trees... eating grass.. the whole works. Next thing I know, a jogger comes by and scares the crap out of PHX, he takes off running and even though he's on a leash- his breakaway collar broke away- like it's supposed to do I guess. This happened a total of 3 times that day, those breakaway collars won't keep him on the leash. So now I had to go spend another $10 for a collar that isn't breakaway. I put him on this collar and put him outside again. This time when he went to run, he couldn't! So I just wanted to tell everyone that if you need a collar to put your cat on a leash- don't get the breakaway collars. BUT if it's an outside cat already, or indoor- get the breakaway so they can't choke themselves.

Did you have a harness on him? You should attach a leash to a harness, not to a collar.

My cats are all chipped and wore a collar the first year of their lives.
This is just in case it's needed as they do not travel without wearing a collar identifying them as having a chip, and rabies tag.
Otherwise, 4 or the 6 do not wear a collar.

Cassi wears a collar because she was formerly feral and I suspect if she got out she'd again be very hard to catch.
She wears a tag identifying her as being chipped, plus a rabies tag.

Ivory wears a collar that has her chip information on it and her rabies tag.
For Ivory it was because of medical conditions.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

Did you have a harness on him? You should attach a leash to a harness, not to a collar.

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It's much safer and better for both of you if you use a harness when taking kitty outside.

Both of ours wear collars and we haven't had any problems. I was sure to get saftey ones that are breakaway, not the elastic stuff. I played with the collars until it was pretty easy to break the collar off without any struggle. Now they both have their collars and they are "safe" enough that if I put a leash on and they pull hard enough the collars will break on there own. I wouldn't worry as long as they break easy!