Collar guestion,,

Hi, I got a nice light collar for Tuffy to hang his name tag on in case he gets outside again. He don't seem to object to wearing the collar, but he is always scratching at his neck like the collar is making him itch or something. The collar is plenty loose and its not wearing the hair off his neck. So tonite I took off the collar for a while and he looked at me like he was happy to be rid of that thing. He has had it on for a couple weeks or more so he should be used to it if is ever going to be. I am affraid he is going to scratch himself raw on his neck.

Should I just give up on the collar all together or should I try and find one that is softer or padded better?

Anyone else also run into this?

Have you tried Beastie Bands? Those collars along with the soft suade Hot Dogs All Dressed (A Canadian Co. that makes designer pet collars) collars are the only ones that don't bother my Gracie, who is most sensitive to the collar issue. The Hot Dogs collars DO release, but unfortunately, it results in the total demise of the collar, which can get pricey to replace (luckily, it's only happened once with me). Beastie Bands are really good, but I've never had anyone get stuck/scrath one off, so I can't say 100% what their safety is. Cornell calls them the safest cat collars on the market and they are EXTREMELY light and soft.

I use the Tenth Life Cat Collar and have done for years. All of my girls are fine with it -- even Fawn, who gave me a real battle about wearing a collar in the first place, now comes and shows me when she has lost a collar, and lets me put a replacement on her with no fuss at all.

Beastie bands are comfortable but one of my cats, Ellie, can get them off. She has lost two. So now I am back to the sort with an elastic inset and a buckle. But if they are only for emergency use on an inside cat who does not regularly go out, then a beastie band would probably be OK.

One of the collars I tried has a belt buckle type latch and a stretchy part in it, but I got the shorter one thinking a long one would be way to long but it tured out I had to use the longest hole and Tuffy can get the latch to open when he scratches on it.

The other one he had one last was one of those safety ones with a plastic latch but it is so stiff and to make it fit him I have to adjust it so small that allot of the collar is doubled up so it just makes it stiffer.

I saw some padded collars at Wal-Mart the other day but He would look like a "girly man" kitty with one of those on.

Missy used to have a nice soft collar, it was a regular small collar wrapped in some soft yarn looking stuff but I can't find another one like it. I guess I will have to check at a pet shop type store and see what they have.

I like these ones: www.lupinepet.com
because Zissou can bite through the regular breakaway collars snaps but not these buckle ones which are also breakable. She doesn't seem to mind it either. I had one of the heavier ones and she scratched and has learned how to bite it off and how to break the buckles to get them off. She tries to get out all the time so she has to wear a collar.
How much is Tuffy scratching herself? Some scratching is expectable, probably akin to how tags in our collars on shirts make us itchy. Is she really scratching herself obsessively?
Also, you could try one of the tags that doesn't hang down but slides on the collar instead. That would make it even lighter!

Hiya our simba does the same thing when we put his collar on weve tried a few differnt ones now but he just constantly scratches at it and looks sad until we take it off.Im not sure what the answer is but i will be watching your thread for advice.I mite have to google some of the suggestions as im in the uk they might not be available.

Just my opinion....but unless your cat is an outdoor cat I recommend against them.

We have tried all types of collars, including the break-away safety collars...which didn't work.

On two occassions, two of our cats got their feet wrapped around the collar between their neck and the collar itself and would have strangled thermselves had we not been home. Its both frightening to see and dangerous. The cats panick and thrash themselves around the room.

If you have an indoor cat and just want to ensure his return if he gets loose, perhaps a microchip would be better.

Again, just my personal opinion based on my experience.

Greg

Here are the 2 collars I have tried on Tuffy. Maybe I am over reacting about his scratching at his neck. But to me he seems to be scratching at it allot, now with the collar off I have not seen him scratch his neck. The tag on the one is plastic and very light.

Tom the kind you have most of my cats have managed to shred with their claws. My cats all have a bit of a ring from the color- kind of like the hair broke a bit, but it's not like they are bald. I also dont' reccomend the ones from walmart, shred central. I have one cat that wears the lupine colar that another person posted the link too. It did not shred at all, the only problem I had was that the plastic broke b/c he bit at it, and they replaced it no prob at the store. The clerk said it was the first one she replaced from a cat b/c of the plastic snapping.
One cat has been wearing the same safe cat color with a ribbon sewn on for almost two years! Another wears a safe cat color that has a plastic coating which prevents shedding. To round it out, cookie is wearing one with a strong silk covering- It took Rocky a long time to destroy that particular brand.
Occassionally my cats will lose their color in the house, but I've never permanently lost one. Sometimes it pops off when they wrestle eachother. No one has ever gotten stuck or anything.

I know some people here have gotten collars from: http://www.ragtimepetcollars.com/intro.html and were very satisfied with them... I believe the outermost material is cotton, so it's soft - I want to get one for Oliver when I have a few extra bucks... he wears a stretchy cat collar right now with a bell and tag (the bell's more for my and the dog's sake, haha - without it he becomes "stealth kitty" and we've got no chance against secret kitty attacks!)... anyhow, this current collar is thin and lightweight, yet he has some thinning hair around his neck (I had started a thread here once about why is my cat's neck practically bald, but my dog has no problem wearing a leather and nylon collar... I don't think the thinning hair is too big of a problem and varies from animal to animal - and species to species for that matter)... Ollie even dons bandannas occasionally now (no girly, frilly ones of course!)... neither the bandannas or collar are tight (2 finger rule at least!) and he scratches... but he scratches when he's occasionally allowed to be "naked"... beats me! haha

Both of my cats scratch their necks, too. I just bought them new ones at Petsmart Thursday and they have the safety buckle more like the one on the left in the picture. I have been alittle concerned about the scratch, but it is not constant, just every now and then. They are inside/outside cats and I felt like they needed to have a collar since they are out most of the day and come in at night.

Paulena

Originally Posted by Pinkwetnoses

Just my opinion....but unless your cat is an outdoor cat I recommend against them.

If you have an indoor cat and just want to ensure his return if he gets loose, perhaps a microchip would be better.

Again, just my personal opinion based on my experience.

Greg

Click to expand...

This used to be my way of thinking as well.

There was a case not that long ago of a dog that was euthanized at a shelter, wearing ID tags.
While I do realize that this is not a normal thing, there still remains that chance.
If a lazy shelter employee can't be bothered to even look at a dog's tags, can you expect them to scan them?

I would rather my indoor cats have the double protection of a microchip, as well as the collar tag identifying them as being chipped.

I would truly hate it if any of my pets fell between the cracks and became one of those rare cases of shelter negligence.