Collars, To Wear or Not To Wear

claire1973

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I was advised by my vet not to put Humphrey's Collar back on him. He was not really keen on it anyway. He got his paw caught once and it was upsetting him too much when we went to put it back on.

My vet recommened that I should not even think about getting another collar for him as she said they are so dangerous, even the safety ones!!!!!!!!!

The things is I always had a reflective one for him as he is pure black and when he went out in the night he would be seen by cars etc. He is a cat luckily that does not go out for long just quick toilet call then back in,but you never know.

What do you guys think???
 

persi & alley

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claire1973;1672908 said:
I was advised by my vet not to put Humphrey's Collar back on him. He was not really keen on it anyway. He got his paw caught once and it was upsetting him too much when we went to put it back on.

My vet recommened that I should not even think about getting another collar for him as she said they are so dangerous, even the safety ones!

The things is I always had a reflective one for him as he is pure black and when he went out in the night he would be seen by cars etc. He is a cat luckily that does not go out for long just quick toilet call then back in,but you never know.

What do you guys think???
Neither of my cats has a collar for the very reasons your vet told you. However, my cats are never allowed outside and are microchipped just in case. If you are allowing your cat to go outside, is it microchipped? Both of my cats are microchipped AND are never allowed outside, so neither wears a collar.
 

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It is a worry when your cats go out, especially at night - all mine do and now we also have a black one - Teddy - but I have the same problem with collars

Dino gets a bad reaction to them and all his hair falls out
Pepsi just scratches at it

Miss Moofi & Teddy have never worn one so I dont know about them really


All my cats climb trees - well except Dino he's way to fat
so I would be worried about them catching a collar on a branch


So for ID purposes I have them chipped, but as for being seen at night, hopefully they are quick enough and are street-wise enough to get out of the way. Well Pepsi & Dino are both over 13yrs & they have always gone outside
 
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claire1973

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Hi

Yes he is microchipped and insured.

He is a kind of a rescue cat, got him at 13 weeks as the family no longer wanted him cos apparently he was a "pain"!!! He was already going outside then, unvaccinated!! I got his vaccines done, then had him done and microchipped and insured.

I dont think there is a lot more I can do. Like I said he hardly goes out anyway,but because he was always allowed out before it was not fair to restrict him to stay in.
 

mooficat

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well, it is difficult, in time he will get more street wise, cats are clever, they have excellent senses and, well my lot seem to have done ok

But as you say it sounds like he doesnt go far - is he neutered as yet ? sorry I dont know how old he is - but of course, you know once he gets mature he will wander further to find females, so that will be a greater risk. So when hes ready for neutering (if not already done) that will also help
 

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nearly all of mine have worn collars, and I have had no probs with them at all - Molly is pure black, she currently has a mint green one (on the bed at the moment, as she lost her ID tag, so waiting for her to come close enough to get it back on her!!) - both are chipped as well, but I like mine to wear collars so everyone who sees them knows they are owned, even though they dont wander far, and even I can't touch them much, so no one else stands any chance!! There are a lot of people against them for safety reasons, I must just be lucky and not dealt with it in about 4 years of cats wearing collars.
 

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I just wanted to add in here that I think collars are a good idea if your animals are going outside... but that's if your name and number are on it.
I believe that the only reason to have one on a cat or any animal is so that way if their lost they can be returned to their owner. Without a collar, who would know if it was a stray or a pet?
You can always get them micro-chipped if you don't believe in collars. Personally, I don't put collars on my cats because they never leave my house- and if they do leave my house they are in my arms the whole time. So there's my opinion- but I'm no expert! I think that you should do what YOU feel is best to do for YOUR CAT!!
 

queenfe

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I had a band on Milli with a bell..
I was helped and got that off Milli sooo fast..

Now Milli has a proper collar, with a bell and she is not even bothered with it
Now there is no more hiding, Oh and we got a small tag for it with our phone number in case..
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by queenfe

I had a band on Milli with a bell..
I was helped and got that off Milli sooo fast..

Now Milli has a proper collar, with a bell and she is not even bothered with it
Now there is no more hiding, Oh and we got a small tag for it with our phone number in case..
Are you familiar with the "Belling the cat" storey? Hint: A bunch of mice decided they wanted to bell the cat so they would know where it was at all times.
 

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My cats are indoor only but all wear collars with tags and are microchipped. I've never had a problem with the safety collars, I know they come apart easily by the amount that I find around the house when they play


I think the more kinds of ID they have on them, the more chance of getting them back if they were ever lost. Not everyone knows to check for a microchip.
 

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Max the outdoor kitty wears a collar, mostly because there are a few sick people (or kids even) that might shoot at a stray cat. An obviously owned cat might make them pause because if they get caught shooting anything in a residential area the police will get involved, there's a small elementary school nearby even.
It also keeps the neighbors across the street from taking him off to their DIL's barn.

Were he not aggressive to most cats and people, I would have him inside.


Sho did wear a collar but fuzzed it up, I have yet to buy him a new one. None of the cats are micro-chipped due the fact it's practically useless in an area where no one even knows about it. There's no shelter or pound, and animal control won't pick up cats.
 

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Both of my cats wear collars, they are indoor cats but MacKenzie likes to run out of my apartment and into the hallway so I put tags on both collars just in case. If that wasn't an issue I wouldn't keep collars on them.
 

queenfe

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Originally Posted by Persi

Are you familiar with the "Belling the cat" storey? Hint: A bunch of mice decided they wanted to bell the cat so they would know where it was at all times.
Persi, please share, I have never owned a kitty before. So I am eager to hear any fabels or true stories related to kitty's.
Is this a bad thing I have a bell for Milli???
 

dusty's mom

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Originally Posted by mybabyphx

I just wanted to add in here that I think collars are a good idea if your animals are going outside... but that's if your name and number are on it.
I believe that the only reason to have one on a cat or any animal is so that way if their lost they can be returned to their owner. Without a collar, who would know if it was a stray or a pet?
You can always get them micro-chipped if you don't believe in collars. Personally, I don't put collars on my cats because they never leave my house- and if they do leave my house they are in my arms the whole time. So there's my opinion- but I'm no expert! I think that you should do what YOU feel is best to do for YOUR CAT!!
I agree, but if you cat is microchipped and doesn't have a collar with a tag, no one finding the cat will know it is chipped.

So, if your cat is going outside at all, I would have a safety collar, name tag with phone number, and the chip number tag as well.

I would also make sure your cat is in at night, as that is when most bad things happen to outside animals - cars, predators, wandering too far away.
 

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I took my girls off ... Only Kandies stayed off as Zoey goes out back ...
 

urbantigers

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I'm not keen on collars but my cats are indoor only so it's not so important. For cats that go outside they can be useful as many people consider a cat without a collar to be a stray and wouldn't think to check for a chip. It's a personal decision really but on balance I think they are good for indoor/outdoor cats. Just make sure they're breakaway safety collars and not the sort with a buckle and elastic as the latter just aren't safe.

These ones are good. I've not used them myself but have heard good things about them.

http://www.kittycollars.co.uk/
 

horseygal90

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Ours had collars on when they were kittens, but we took them off a few weeks after they started going out as they were liable to get caught in the big fir trees our old nieghbours have had. They're gone now, but we've never put collars back on them for fear of them getting caught - Niether are good hunters so bells aren't an issue, both are white and they're micro-chipped.

I have to say, I've never had a problem with someone thinking our two were strays because they didn't have a collar. Most cats round here don't wear them.
 

keisha

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my cats don't wear collars. because they can get them caught on something and choke tryign to pull themselves off.

i came home one day 4 years and keisha was stuck to that carpet whining. so i havent' used collars since. i dont think they are safe atall. its different for dogs though.
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by queenfe

Persi, please share
, I have never owned a kitty before. So I am eager to hear any fabels or true stories related to kitty's.
Is this a bad thing I have a bell for Milli???
This is an old children's story that often applies to peoples' opinions.
There once was a group of mice living in a house. There was also a cat in that house. The cat liked to chase, pounce on, and eat the mice.
One day, one of the mice came up with an idea. "The basic problem is that the cat is just so silent. What if we were to put a bell on the cat? Then we could hear the cat coming and run away. We could thus run around the house much more safely."
The other mice all, of course, agreed that this was a really good idea.
There was unfortunately one problem with this idea. Who's going to put the bell on the cat?
The mice never did come up with an answer to that dangerous problem.
 

mandm1213

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every animal i have ever owned, has worn a collar. My black cat had a collar and she loved it... it was read and had silver gems on it.. she never went outside though.. only when she got out once.. then my grey cat had a blue collar with a bell.. i like bell collars because then i can find my cats in the house when they disappear..now Bryne just has a reflective flea collar. I've been trying to walk her..so that's why it's reflective, but it hasn't been working well.

I go to school at Chatham College in PA.. it's a private college.. on a private road... secluded by itself. There are other people who live in this little neighborhood though.. so on campus one day i saw this little Tuxedo cat.. and so i called it over.. saw the tag and called public safety. I told them about this cat, whose name is Tom(haha) and they told me that he wanders around campus all the time.. his owners live up the road. So everyone knows this cat and loves him to death.. we all pet him and take care of him and everything.. he's like the campus pet. recently i saw a beautiful siamese cat on campus.. and she had a tag too.. i really like collars just because people do know that the pet is owned. If cats don't have tags.. there is no way for people to know that they are owned.... and that makes me sad..

but yeah.. anyway.. i personally really do like collars on pets. none of my babies have complained.
 
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