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Collar or no?

post #1 of 6
10/7/10 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 
When I got my cat from the shelter last month, he had a patch of very short fur along where his "collar" was (the shelter collars are basically the same as concert wristbands, and they looked to be tighter than would be comfortable), and the second I brought him home, he started scratching at his new collar, so I removed it. I was fne with him not being in a collar... that is, until he got out of my apartment for a few hours (my roommate's girlfriend left the front door open) and ended up in my downstairs neighbor's apartment somehow. Now I put him in a collar, but he still scratched there a bit. How long should it take for his fur to grow back there, and should I leave the collar off in the interim so it grows back quicker? Thanks.

By the way, I would be all for not putting a collar on him ever, but I was already heartbroken after two weeks of having him when i thought he was gone
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post #2 of 6
10/7/10 at 10:56pm
In your situation I would trim nails, get a soft collar, and microchip. Make sure the cat isn't losing hair for any other reason at the vet.
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post #3 of 6
10/8/10 at 1:34am
A collar that is too loose will also agitate the cat.

There should be two fingers room on the collar, and of course ensure its a quick disconnect one.

I have a nice reflective collar with ID tag and the works, but honestly I found its just easier to comb them and they seem more comfortable "in the nude".

Whenever there is a slight risk they could escape though, such as when company is coming over and what not where someone may not be using the garage as a failsafe escape hatch, I do put it on them though.
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post #4 of 6
10/9/10 at 5:41am
The only way the fur will grow back is to leave the collar off for at least 6 months (maybe more). Our one cat (1st one) that was inside/outside wore a collar and it left a mark or ring around the neck.

When I started showing cats, judges commented that they could tell when a cat was allowed outside because it had the collar mark on the neck. So after that NONE of my cats ever wore collars. And Mitten was only allowed outside under supervision after he got in a an argument with another tom cat.

Ling (our HHP) wore a collar with a bell for awhile (she hated it) only cause she is mostly black and we needed to know where she was in the dark. When younger she had a habit of trying to get outside. She doesn't any more and no collars will be on my cats.
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post #5 of 6
10/11/10 at 11:31am
I like to use a collar, but Wessie always loses his. I wouldn't recommend using a collar on your kitty, though.
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post #6 of 6
10/11/10 at 2:27pm
The fur might not grow back. When I got my cat Sneakers she had band of bare skin all the way around her neck from wearing a collar and even though I didn't put a collar on her for a very long time, the fur never grew back.

I prefer my cats to wear collars because I am paranoid about the possibility of one of them escaping, but I hate the ring-around-the-neck... Even though I used soft cotton collars correctly fitted, my cats were getting rubbed off fur from the collars. The collars were embroidered with my number so the cats didn't have any annoying tags too.
I've been trying to find some alternative that won't leave marks, but no luck so far. I even tried a type of collar made for show dogs for that purpose (made to not rub off the fur) and it still left marks. I'm trying out Beastie Bands now to see if those might not rub the fur as much.
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