bells on collars?

We finally found a collar small enough for Starlight. The bell is driving her bonkers, though! Is it really necessary?

I know what you mean, she'll get used to it. Be nice to her, give her treats, distract her with toys and she'll forget about it in about 20mins or so. Of course if she doesn't change and she seems very distressed then remove it and try again later

You can remove it if she doesnt get used to it... I keep Oliver's on for my and my dog's sake.... I hate when he's naked after his monthly bath, cuz he goes into super attack mode like he knows he cant be heard coming and you can't walk anywhere without an orange furball flying at your feet!

We usually take them off b/c the bells drive US bonkers, esp at night . I think the idea of the bell is either to scare off birds, or so you know where the kitty is. We kept Suzies on because she is rather elusive and I would like to know where she is or if I have to find her.. Also she doesn't come in the bedroom at night.
Rocky has a bell on now.. hubby was too lazy to help me take it off his new collar. We have gotten used to it and it isn't quite as tinkly as the others.

We had a bell on our kitty's collar, but it drove us bonkers, and because she's an inside cat we took it off, so she has just a collar and ID tag now. If she was an outside cat at all though, she would have TWO bells and she (and us) would just have to deal with it!

Abby is skittish, so we always remove the bells from her collar.

I leave the bells on my collars, I thought it would drive me nuts, but I've actually grown to like it and can you imagine when the kittens are big enough!? I'll have 7 little tinklers running around! The cats don't seem to mind that I've noticed either

I thought I read somewhere that the bells don't actually do anything to warn off birds and other animals, although I could be mistaken; I think the bells are primarily so that you know where your kitty is (and I have met a couple of cats who were so cautiously agile, they were able to go into stealth-mode and move without causing the bells to ring!).

Ginger sometimes disappears in the apartment, and I've grown to really appreciate that little tinkle-tinkle, just so I know she's safe in the house!

At first it seemed to bother her, but over time she got used to it. She's so good - she even holds her chin up for me now when I am putting her collar back on after grooming her.

My cats don't wear collars, since they are all inside cats.
I kittysat for a friend that had a bell on her kitten's collar. Fred, and Webb, (both now gone to the Bridge) the gentlest of cats, kept smacking this poor kitten around. I finally took the collar off so they could not catch him by it, and they immediately stopped smacking him, and began grooming and loving on him. I figure either the bell drove them nuts or they thought he was a toy.

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

My cats don't wear collars, since they are all inside cats.

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I hope your kitties are at least microchipped, because indoor cats CAN get out of the house - my Ginger proved it recently (what a scary day THAT was!) I was SO relieved that at least she had a collar with ID on it so if she was killed by a car she'd be identifyable!

Originally Posted by krazy kat2

I figure either the bell drove them nuts or they thought he was a toy.

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that's hysterical!!!!

I put collars on my babies just because I think they look pretty I need to get ID tags made for if they escape, but for right now, they're just fashion accessories

After joining TCS I learned how important good ID is for our kitties safety.
Both Dexter & Sadie, indoor kitties, are microchipped and wear collars with 2 ID's each.
They have their microchip info on the front & back of one tag.
On the front of the other tag is large letters is REWARD followed by my phone #.
On the back side is "If Outside I Am Lost."

I remove the annoying bells from their collars because their 2 tags tinkle together when they move.

Oh both Oliver and my lab, Cuddles, both have Christmas collars that look like they're part of reindeer bridles, hahaha - there's maybe 5 or 6 bells rivited onto the collar.... Cuddles loooovvveesss her "jingles" and comes running when she hears hers. I wasn't sure how Oliver would react to his, but he doesnt seem to mind at all... probably since he wears a bell regularly - haha, my pets are so spoiled with different collars and bandanas!

I took Abby's collar off the other day to give her a really good brushing, and she picked it up, ran off with it, and hid it!

Abby's a clever girl.
Did you find her collar?

Yes, but I still haven't put it back on yet

Sierra and Serenity have always had bells on theie collars.

Originally Posted by xocats

...their 2 tags tinkle together when they move.

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I don't bother getting bell collars for Pudge for that very reason. Between her rabies and ID tags, there's enogh jingling already.

We got a bell collar for Clover, and made her an ID tag to put with it today. The bell has never bothered us.. we like knowing where they are, and it kind of makes us feel like our RB kitty Sassy is still around.