Does your indoor cat wear a collar?

All of my cats are indoor only, wear collars with tags and are microchipped. Not everyone thinks to have a cat scanned for a chip, so the tags and collars are very helpful in those situations. Their new tags will say "Indoor ONLY". None of them are prone to running out the door or anything like that; but, natural disasters (particularly tornadoes in my area) and emergencies happen and I want to make sure if my cats get out or get displaced, that they are well identified.

So glad to hear your color coding was collars. I thought you had a.pink cat and I was jealous and curious.

I intend for all of of mine to wear collars (no bells though -- if it annoys me, probably annoys the cat more), tags, and be microchipped. At the moment I am not fully conforming to that -- I have only had Camo for a week, so no tag, collar, or microchip yet for her; didn't buy a tag for Kismet yet because I want her to grow a little bigger before I had something hanging from her neck but she does wear a collar and is microchipped; and Nenya's collar/tags got put in a box and lost in the move so I need to figure out where I packed them so I can put them back on the cat. But Shade and Meko are wearing their collars.

All of them have been doing really well with it, I would say a collar falls off maybe once every couple of months?

I used to put collars on my kitties until Hannah got her lower jaw stuck in hers. Decided to microchip instead and teach them to avoid the door.

Yes! I think its really important for indoor only cats to wear collars. I take it off when we are sleeping though because when she shakes her head the noise wakes me up. I dislike the bells, though, I wouldn't buy a collar with one.

Has anyone heard of the kitty convict project? Its an initiative to get indoor-only cats to wear orange collars to help identify them as indoor-only in the even they escape.

All 3 of my cats are indoor only and they just recently started wearing collars. No dangley tags (their tags slide onto their collars, so they are silent) or bells though, I don't like to hear jingley collars, it annoys me.

As others have said, if a cat does manage to escape and has no collar, some places don't think to check for microchips, and/or people think the cat is a stray or someone's outdoor cat and they just assume the cat belongs outside.

I like the bells. The bells on Mook's collar sound different than Mercy's.

Hello, I've just decided to put a collar on my indoor only cat. Hopefully it goes well. I'm thinking of getting one from the kitty convict project as well.  Has anyone else have any experience with that one?? Thanks.

oreo88 said:

 
Hello, I've just decided to put a collar on my indoor only cat. Hopefully it goes well. I'm thinking of getting one from the kitty convict project as well.  Has anyone else have any experience with that one?? Thanks.

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I laughed when I seen those.

oreo88 said:

Hello, I've just decided to put a collar on my indoor only cat. Hopefully it goes well. I'm thinking of getting one from the kitty convict project as well.  Has anyone else have any experience with that one?? Thanks.

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No experience with those, but I just got Beastie Band collars for all three of my cats (one of which could remove breakaway collars seconds after you put them on her) and they are pretty great so far! None of my cats have seemed particularly bothered by them, even though they have never worn collars before now.

They are so light weight that they don't bother the cats at all. The closure is velcro, and they are stretchy along their entire length, so if the cat does get stuck on something, the velcro will pop open or the collar will slip off of their neck.


They have soooo many designs and colors to choose from! And if you order from Robin's pet club, you can choose the background color for the design you want (most other Beastie Band retailers just send you the design with a random color for the background).


Here is a link to the Beastie Bands on Robin's pet club:

https://www.robbinspetcare.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Beastie

And some pictures of the cute Beastie bands that I got for my cats

oreo88 said:

 
Hello, I've just decided to put a collar on my indoor only cat. Hopefully it goes well. I'm thinking of getting one from the kitty convict project as well.  Has anyone else have any experience with that one?? Thanks.

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All 3 of mine have collars from the kitty convict project. They are nice. They come with a tag and bell.

mine has hers on all the time. no tags but a collar tells people the pet belongs to someone... and it makes her look gorgeous with the pink bell on it lol! and my cat is micro-chipped as well.

Both of ours sport break away collars from Sweet Pickle Designs.  Cocoa has a sparkly orange one (goes nice with her tortie coloring) and Casper's is a multi-color mostly blue plaid, which is quite dapper on him.

They have a complete set of tags on them, and are microchipped as well.

We live in a house, and while both are completely indoor cats I'd hate to have one of them slip out without ID on them. We live just a block off an extremely busy road; way too close for comfort.  Keeping them safely indoors is necessary.  Both lived outdoors at some points in their lives before we got them and neither of them have shown any interest in being back out there but people who visit hour home can be careless even when cautioned otherwise.  We're firm believers in cats not being allowed outdoors for all the many dangerous reasons one can think of let alone to the annoyance of neighbors. 

My 3 don't wear collars, but I do have some sitting in a drawer, waiting for me to build up the courage to test them out. I'm not sure how it'll go - they're all adult cats and not used to collars.
But I moved and I'm paranoid about them getting out, so I bought the collars, along with ID tags with my phone number and twitter username (easiest way to contact me nowadays!). Will see how they go - I think two will be fine, but the more adventurous kitty is going to be a pain, I just know it

Adding the collar sans the bells and tag is a good start.

Kittens Mom said:

 
Adding the collar sans the bells and tag is a good start.

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I have a couple collars arriving in the mail today.  I figure I'll see how it goes, and then decide whether or not to order tags.

dorimon said:

 
I have a couple collars arriving in the mail today.  I figure I'll see how it goes, and then decide whether or not to order tags.

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I believe as of the last time I ordered tags Drs Foster and Smith still offered free standard shipping for ID tags.

My cats are microchipped and wear collars with tags, 24/7, except for bathing, flea treatment, and grooming. (I do it with my fosters as well but currently have one uncollared foster, because she scratched excessively at her collar and got a sore on her neck as well as fur loss)

I live in a rural area where a lot of people don't know about microchips. Even if they did, it's a real stretch to think that they would trap a stray cat and take them to a vet to scan for one. Our animal control shelter doesn't accept cats. Our Humane Society is chronically full. The few spots in the rescue usually fill up fast. 

Stray cats are likely to get shot at, drowned, trapped and dumped, or "adopted" by people who won't bother with a vet. Or they'll be taken in by kind and responsible people, but the vet won't scan them when they go in. One of the largest animal hospitals in our area has admitted to not always scanning stray cats, because "microchipping cats is not common." 

 If my cat is seen outside without a collar, people won't even know that he's microchipped, neutered, vaccinated, and has an owner who misses him. They'll just assume that he's yet another dumped cat.

Keep in mind, that we're in an area where some people would consider shooting their female cat after she has a litter of kittens rather than getting her spayed. 

Their microchips are basically a backup for if their collars fall off. It's also cheap lifetime insurance that they won't get euthanized in an animal shelter, if by some miracle they actually ended up in one. 

Yes, Mingo is an indoor cat and wears a collar. He is microchipped, and the collar has a bell, his rabies tag, and ID tag. That's probably overkill, but I'm paranoid about him getting out. I like the gentle rattle the tags and bell make because I know at all times where he is, and that could be in the bed springs or behind a bookcase. I took it off him for a while, and he became very subdued and quiet; it was also disconcerting to me, so I got it out to show him. He sniffed it and slow-blinked, so I put it back on him, and he returned to his happy self.

None of these noise-makers have kept him from sneaking up on and catching mice. He does a wonderful job at that.

DreamerRose said:

 
Yes, Mingo is an indoor cat and wears a collar. He is microchipped, and the collar has a bell, his rabies tag, and ID tag. That's probably overkill, but I'm paranoid about him getting out. I like the gentle rattle the tags and bell make because I know at all times where he is, and that could be in the bed springs or behind a bookcase. I took it off him for a while, and he became very subdued and quiet; it was also disconcerting to me, so I got it out to show him. He sniffed it and slow-blinked, so I put it back on him, and he returned to his happy self.

None of these noise-makers have kept him from sneaking up on and catching mice. He does a wonderful job at that.

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They become quite skillful at silencing the bell. Mook will walk into a room , sit down and shake her head for the jingle. It's like she's saying Ta Da! I'm here. She also cleans her tags while grooming herself.