Are bells on the collar OK?

I've always wondered if it's not bad for the cat's long term hearing to have a bell on their collars? It's convenient for me because I know where they are and can hear them coming, but does anyone know if it can affect their hearing?

I don't think it has an effect on their hearing...

Bells originally as far as I know were added so the birds could hear a cat coming after them. When my cat wears his collar [which isn't often because he pulls them off] he has a tag on his, I don't think the bells are large enough to cause a hearing problem.

I agree, I doubt the amount of sound coming from the bell is enough to do any damage.... my dog's ID, rabies and license tags make more noise than the cat bells and she's 12 without hearing problems as of yet (knock on wood!)... I'm sure there'd be raging discussions about it if the bells were possibly a health risk....

I don't think the bells post a problem. I imagine they get annoying to the cat though!
But my cats wear collars with a bell so I know where they are. What's funny is that I can tell which cat is which just by hearing thier bell jingle!

i took stoli's bell off, but am wondering if i should put it back on......

I got bell collars because when my cats were little they would get into the most trouble when everything was silent, so we wanted to know where they were. I too can tell which one is which because they run and walk so different from eachother. Cairo is never in a hurry for anything, and Paris has a minimum speed of 60 mph , good thing she's fuel efficient.

The bell is not loud enough to affect their hearing, so I wouldn't worry. Ling has a bell on her collar so we can tell where she is in the house.

Cats have extremely sharp hearing, so what a human being would consider an acceptable "volume" could be extremely annoying/excruciating to a cat. I remove any bells.

what kinds of things have you noticed the bells have helped with???

my cat is strictly indoors so there is no need for a bell to warn birds or anything like that. but i will use a bell just so i know where she is like others have said. if she finds it annoying tho, i will take it off. its not that big of a deal if i know where she is.

I love knowing where Vodka is just by hearing her jingle. When I first put it on her, she tried to get at the bell. I thought she didn't like it so I took it off and she immediately pounced for it! I put it back on her and she has been fine with it ever since! I like it best at night as I am going to sleep. If she isn't ready to go to sleep, I can hear whether she leaves the room and what she is doing as she wanders the house alone. I like the fact that if something were to happen, I would probably hear it because of her bell.

Originally Posted by fatkitties

But my cats wear collars with a bell so I know where they are. What's funny is that I can tell which cat is which just by hearing thier bell jingle!

Click to expand...

Same here! I can tell them appart from the jingle. It's quite funny actually. I know who's getting into something before I even spot them. I like the bells, and they don't seem to bother my kitties.

Bells are good as it keeps them from attacking the birds,and you can hear them coming in