Balding where collar was - common?

kcidr

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I removed Sadie's collar yesterday and discovered she has a bald ring where the collar was. The is her 3rd collar, seeing as they get pretty shredded after about a year, but I never noticed any balding before. Sadie has a soft but thick coat of short fur.

I am going to let her go collar-less to see if her fur grows back. She is an indoor-kitty so it is not a big deal.

Anybody ever notice anything like this with their cats?
 

hissy

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If this is happening then stop putting a collar on her.
If she is an indoor cat then she doesn't need a collar, and apparently she doesn't like them, probably either rubbing herself or scratching herself raw from it. If you are concerned you might lose her if she gets outside, talk to your vet about microchipping her.
 

lorie d.

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kcidr, my cat Snowball wore a collar for years and developed a couple of small bald patches on his neck. He has been collarless for a year now and his fur is gradually growing back.
 

greycat2

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I have the same problem with Sphinx, but since he's an indoor only kitty going outside only in a carrier or on his leash, he doesn't normally wear his collar. He waers it only if he goes out on his leash or to the vet for obvious reasons - otherwises it's off.
 

spotz

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I'm in the same boat as Greycat2...the collar(harness) is a temporary item, only worn when going outside, or somewhere other than home.

Spotz
 

tulip2454

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My Tulip who is 18 has a bald ring. She wore a collar for 15 years until we moved here and they spend most of their time indoors. A little bit of fur has grown back under her chin but the rest is totally pink skin! She never had any bad reaction against collars and it was never sore just bald even after 3 years caollar less.
 
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kcidr

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Sadie had never scratched at the collar or rubbed there, I think the collar itself just rubbed at the fur as she moved. The shredding was mostly because the collar was a hand-woven 'maya' collar that was prone to unravelling - especially if my other cat Scarlett's claws were helping it along. The bald ring looks to be only on the back of her neck. I'm afraid it will make me sound bad, but she already is microchipped. I wonder how many people are risking balding from a collar unnecessarily without realizing it. It is just something I never considered, especially since there was nothing noticeable - either in her reaction or her fur - with the collar on.

All of my cats are going without collars now, an ounce of prevention... There's some hope that her hair will regrow with Snowball's account, time will tell. Even if it doesn't regrow, at least now I know.
 

weatherlight

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It's not uncommon for cats to get a ring where the collar sits, but it honestly isn't a problem. When Kitty was first adjusting to his collar, he started scratching and we found a bald spot starting--we took off the collar and went back to only putting it on at mealtimes. Now both our cats are fine with collars. Some people tell me that their cats wear collars, but it hasn't made any mark in the fur. Kitty and Robin do have a ring where the fur is pushed at an angle, but it's only a cosmetic thing.

And collars are a good idea. Do you really want to bet your cat's life that she'll never run out? Microchips are great, and if I could choose only one I'd go with a chip (tags can fall off), but if your average person picks the cat off the street they might not scan for a chip.

We're just trying to find a stretch collar that fits for our bigger cat. He knows how to pop off his breakaway lol. We should probably get one at Walmart, but we don't go there any more.
 
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