collar questions

Hello

My cats lose their collars about 6/per month

My cats dont take them off, they get stuck climbing trees, and its a safety one, so they can easily get out.

My question

I have read the post about taking the bell of the flea collar, which said that flea collars are a bad idea. What about normal collars? are they bad?

Where can i get cheap good collars, i mean, we have 3 cats, lose 6 per month, thats 18 collars per month and at £4 each, thats £72/month or should i not bother with collars? How can i put a bell on them? i need a bell on them, without a bell they catch about 5-6 mice per day each, with a bell they catch 1-2 per month between them. I live next to a wild life preserve area! so they cant kill all the mice...

If by normal collars you mean non-safety release collars, don't ever use those. Your cats could get caught on something and be strangled.

If you want to keep bells on your cats, perhaps you could look online and find a discount pet supply place that will sell collars to you at a discounted bulk price if you buy several at a time? Or, try approaching a local retailer and see if you can get a special price for buying a large lot of them.

You might want to consider keeping your cats inside, or building an enclosure for them so they can be confined to your yard - there are some threads on this site that show some large, wonderful enclosures that list members have built. Hissy has a fabulous one.

You only want to use the safety collars, otherwise they can get stuck in places and it doesn't end well.

My sister used to have her cats outside and didn't bother with collars, she just had them all microchipped instead.

Ebay often has bulk lots of collars, some come with bells and I've also seen someone just sellling the bells alone.

im asking for a cheap place to get collars...

I have only ever gotten safety collars, which are really expencive... was asking if anyone knew if a place like tesco or adsa done them cheaper

I would recommend Beastie Band collars.

You can get them here:
http://www.funky-felines.co.uk/

From what I've heard from friends they tend to stay on better than regular collars, but they are still 'safety collars'. One friend of mine had a cat who escaped and was gone for a month, when they found him he still had the collar on.

if they lose them thats £100/month well £99/month for you americans double the price for $

Here are some sites that have less expensive cat collars:

http://www.arcatapet.com/category.cf...eq=3&catnum=36 (located in the U.S. so shipping might be higher, but they have some that are only $2.77)
http://www.central-pet-supplies.co.uk/cat_collars.php (some are only £2.50)
Ebay user zentica is selling bulk amounts of collars (12 for $20, including shipping).
http://www.purrfectpaw.com/wholesale2C.html (this site has a variety at bulk pricing, but they have a minimum order for international clients)

Also, someone on one of the groups I'm on decided to make their own break-away collars. They are using 1/2 inch ribbon and 1/2 inch Velocro adhesive dots.

I don't think normal collars are bad. I keep them on my indoor-only boys in case something happens and they get out (I live in an apartment, so there is always a risk of escape in an emergency situation). Both "lose" their collars on occasion, but since they're indoors, I eventually find them again. I personally don't use bells since the noise would drive me crazy.

I know this isn't really answering very well, but my cat will not ever leave a collar on, or leave it alone so I gave up. She is indoor only so it's not a big deal. Have you seen how your cats are getting them off? Mine will get her whole front leg stuck in the collar and stumble around looking sheepish until someone sees her and takes it off That didn't seem very safe to me. Make sure they're not doing that outside where it could be serious.

lol...

i just want a collar where i can tell where they are... (with the bell)

I just bought a new batch of collars with bells and tags with their names and my phone number. No one has lost one and no one has managed to get them off. As far as cheap?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_...Products%20Inc

Amazon.com is a good place to find things cheap since they use hundreds of different suppliers. Plus they ship fast.

Originally Posted by gaogier

lol...

i just want a collar where i can tell where they are... (with the bell)

Click to expand...

I don't think there is a simple answer. You can get cheap collars at dollar stores here in Canada, but I don't think they are breakaway. Definitely a problem, especially if they are getting stuck in trees already. So, although you could get a cheap collar with a bell, you'd be compromising safety.

From the suggestions on this thread, it seems your cheapest option would be to make your own with ribbon and velcro. The dollar stores here, you would be able to get the ribbon, velcro, and bells quite inexpensively. You could probably get some sort of little rings to attach the bells as well, or use a small piece of wire (ie. piece of the wire from a twist tie). I'm guessing you could make at least 8 collars for about $4. Seems like something that you could make fairly easily once you got used to it. I would test to make sure that they are safe before you send your cats out in them.