Do your cats wear collars?

It has never crossed my mind to put a collar on any of my cats. I see from some posts that many of you do put collars on your cats. I'm just curious what purpose does a collar serve on a cat? Dogs you use it to attach their leash. But cats? I would think it would be uncomfortable on a cat. besides my cats all love to be itched and patted around their necks. A collar would just be in the way.
Plus I think it would dangerous they could get caught up on something. Cats do get into some pretty small spaces and strange areas in the house. So I'm just nosey. Why do so many of you put a collar on a cat?

It is a sense of ownership, it is a sense of pride. There are break-away collars that will snap off at the slightest hint of pressure. There are jeweled collars and even spiked collars for cats.

Personally, I believe collars to be dangerous. I have to many stories in my files from owners asking me to write an article about cats and collars after losing thier cat to strangulation. All my cats are microchipped in the event they do get lost or stolen.

it is an individual choice is what I found out when doing the research. And some owners get mighty offended when you suggest that cat collars are not the way to go that is until they suffer a loss because of a collar being on a cat that was not a break-away collar.

All of my cats used to wear collars but now only Isis does and it has a bell on it because she is the only one that tires to go outside. and shes black so if someone comes to the door late at night and i open the door i can hear her running down the hall to scoot outside and catch her (i don't let any of mine outside) so for her its more of a alert system. Salem and Ailey have collars but I can't find them (i wouldn't be able to find my own head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders)

Both of my cats wear collars with bells on them. They wear them loose enough that if somehow they got caught on something, they would be able to slide their head out very easily. Collars also make them look cuter to.

I`ve never put one on either of my cats...and I susspect they would not take kindly to it if I tried. (Plus I`ve petted cats with collars on before and I don`t like the intrruption of the "stroke")
Linda

My girls wear collars with bells, mostly so I can find them! Cassie hides in nooks and crannies of the basement, the bell helps me locate her. Sophie and Luna can find the strangest places up here in the house to hide, too. I don't know, I like the collars and the i.d. tags, but all of them are micro-chipped as well. Each collar is a safety collar, in the event that they do become snagged on something. Before buying any collar, I pull on it to see how easily it would separate if snagged.

Percy is the only one who doesn't wear a collar. Being outside, he's exposed to too many situations where he could snag it on something. Safety collar or not, that's a chance I don't want to risk with an outdoor cat.

I live in the UK where most cats are indoor/outdoor cats. Mine go out in the garden and they wear breakaway collars with bells.
A: we can hear where they are
B: it gives the birds a sporting chance!

Chester normally wears a collar. He's young enough and curious enough that he's tried to get out of the house before. I really don't want him getting hurt or lost or taken, so I put a collar on him with his Name, microchip number and contact for the microchip place. When he gets older and less curious about the "big room outside" I will probably take it off perminently.
His collars have always been breakaways and I'm currently waiting for my first Beastie Band to arrive in the mail!

No, the first cat I owned had a collar as he was indoor/outdoor and needed id and rabies on the collar. But when I started showing him in HHP, the judges frowned on "collar marks" as that meant the cat went outdoors which was discouraged for many reasons.

So after that, none of my cats ever wore a collar - and of course none were outside anyway. I just kept the rabies tags in a drawer if ever needed.

Duke has worn a collar since he was a little munshkin He had a habbit of getting under people's feet so a bell was needed. Sibohan never took to a collar, she was a rescued cat that was fully grown when I got her. I am planning on having them both microchiped befor spring, Sibohan is a bit of an escape artist and I would hate to loose her. As of now I took Duke's collar off to brush him one day and forgot to put it back on, he was tramatized, he didn't "tinkle" anymore and cried until I put his collar back on.

I wouldn't recommend using a collar with a leash on a cat - if you want to walk a cat on a leash, a harness is much safer. It's very important to only use safety release breakaway collars.

Our cats wear safety collars with ID tags: Beastie Bands that stretch loose all around or Safe Cat collars with the plastic breakaway buckle - make sure to test it to make sure it will release under moderate pressure, some of them are too stiff.

They're microchipped too, but a lot of people don't know about microchips, so I want them to have a visible ID on them so they can be returned if by some chance they were to get outside. Putting something like "if I'm outside, I'm lost" on the tag with your contact info is a good idea so people don't just assume it's an outside cat.

Regular collars without a safety release are indeed dangerous, but in my experience the safety collars have always come loose when they needed to, except for the collars with just an elastic insert in them - the cat can get a leg stuck through them and be unable to get the collar off. I came home to find one of my babies that way one day, and have stayed away from those types of collars ever since.

This is a good article about collars, but there's a pic at the bottom of the page that some might find disturbing (in that case, stop reading at the "case report" section).

my cat has a soft fabric breakaway collar with her name and my phone number embroidered on it. if she ever got outside by mistake I would want someone who found her to return her to me as I love her madly. if she didn't have the collar some one would keep her, she is so very lovable.

she didn't even blink when I put it on her.

Yes we have collars on all ours (the quick release type) If they escaped and somebody found them they would have our phone number. Not everyone carries a microchip scanner on them!

The breakaway collars are v safe and it doesnt take huge pressure for them to release, Mollys lost a couple as she always goes into small spaces. So its good to know they release when there meant to.. But there strong enough to stay on normally

My three are indoor cats, and they are all microchipped, so usually I don't put collars on them unless:

1. I'm taking them to the vet
2. I'm going away and leaving them in the care of a petsitter or friend who'll look in on them (and this is more for her convenience, in case somebody gets sick)
3. Occasionally I collar the youngest, since she likes to sneak up on the other two and it drives them crazy. But she knows how to get out of any collar -- I should have named her Houdina -- LOL so I rarely bother.

My cats wear breakaway collars with name and my number and a separate tag that reads "If I am outside, I am lost - Reward for my safe return!" on one side and has their rabies # on the other side (my county gives out HUGE rabies tags- presumably designed for large dogs that would bug my kitties). I don't put a bell on their collars because, quite frankly, it irritated me and it made them play with their collars and break them off, which is not a situation I'd want unless they were in real danger.

I have 5 cats and I do not put collars on them.

I do not put a collar on my cats. They're all microchipped so hopefully if they get out, someone will find them and they'll be returned to me. I can't risk the danger of strangulation, which is a higher risk than them getting out. Even with the safety collars, I'd rather not risk it. Plus, I'm sure they like it better not having to wear one. My dogs' collars come off the minute they get in from outside, so they don't have to wear them in the house.

my two have break aways with id .. though I will micro chip the younger one when I have tiem

When I was a kid my grandmother's cats all wore rhinestone collars. They looked so pretty that I couldn't wait to have my own cats with rhinestone collars. For some reason my girls didn't share my enthusiasm. They prefer to run around "au naturel" .. the little hussies