I can quite imagine the breakdown. Our cat in England was an inside/outside cat but was always in at night.Yeah. That sounds nice and peaceful. I wouldn't hate that a bit.
I'd still keep them inside though. I'd be paranoid about birds, dogs, raccoons and nasty people doing bad things to them. We have tons of hawks and vultures (not to mention gators, snakes, poisonous toads and lizards) here in Florida. I'd imagine the birds waiting to swoop in on my 5 pound Sophie the minute she walked out the door.I would never be able to relax. i'd be out looking for them constantly.
Sophie? you're OK... Good. gotta go find Lilith. You're OK?.. good. gotta go find Henry.. You're OK. Good. Now I better go back and check on Sophie again because something could have happened while I was looking for the other 2.
Put that on a continuous loop until I had a nervous breakdown or gave up and brought them back in. :lol3:
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cat collars and bells cruel?
- Thread starter russiankitten
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I have three cats. I am a recent, last year on owning cats. Started with a beautiful rescued black and white Tuxedo. Then a second B & W Tuxedo and the most recent is a gray and white Tuxedo-all rescues all super cute. Our home has two small dogs a couple of gerbils, lizards, a dwarf hamster and hundreds of fish-salt and fresh.
To the point, all three have collars with a bell as if I am working on a lizard cage or working on a tank, I need to know where my babies are at during those times. I leave them on 24/7 and they are all three inside cats. I also have three large outside dogs-including a grand dog that is a cat hater. I have to have those bells so if either Ms. Kitty, Little Kitty or Lola are near the back yard door, I know to move them to another room while I go out in case the grand dog is at the door.
I have never noticed them upset or in any way affected that I can see due to the collar or the bell. I do know that they were not happy when I put them on but since appear fine in wearing them. I may be missing some sign of agitation but they, for all intents and purposes seem healthy and happy.
To the point, all three have collars with a bell as if I am working on a lizard cage or working on a tank, I need to know where my babies are at during those times. I leave them on 24/7 and they are all three inside cats. I also have three large outside dogs-including a grand dog that is a cat hater. I have to have those bells so if either Ms. Kitty, Little Kitty or Lola are near the back yard door, I know to move them to another room while I go out in case the grand dog is at the door.
I have never noticed them upset or in any way affected that I can see due to the collar or the bell. I do know that they were not happy when I put them on but since appear fine in wearing them. I may be missing some sign of agitation but they, for all intents and purposes seem healthy and happy.
Cats invariably object to the installation of a collar. Jasmine figured out that all she had to do was catch the collar on something and she could get rid of it, which is why she now wears one of these neoprene and velcro collars that are harder to catch (but still safe if they do get caught on something). She finds the collar somewhat annoying, but it provides enough extra safety that she'll just have to put up with it. It does not appear to actually make her unhappy. As for the bell that makes it easier to figure out where she's hiding (she apparently thinks that feeding time is a game of hide and seek — go figure), she seems to be totally unaware of it.
The really strange thing is the harness I use to walk her. She gets very excited when I pull it out, because it means a walk (i.e. a chance to explore all the grass in the yard), but then she makes it as difficult as possible to put it on her, and, even stranger, as difficult as possible to take it off when we come back inside.
Cats have their own brand of logic, I guess.
Margret
The really strange thing is the harness I use to walk her. She gets very excited when I pull it out, because it means a walk (i.e. a chance to explore all the grass in the yard), but then she makes it as difficult as possible to put it on her, and, even stranger, as difficult as possible to take it off when we come back inside.
Cats have their own brand of logic, I guess.
Margret
I guess I'm lucky. We moved almost a month ago to a new place and just in case Sammy snuck out I put a collar on him. He has never bothered to try to take it off nor did it seem to bother him when I first put it on.
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My cat Leah wears a collar but it does not have bells on it. She did not like it at first but it does not bother her now. It just took her a little time to get used to it.
My Toothless has a small breakaway collar with a bell that I got for him when I was planning on moving and getting an apartment, just for my own security. I still plan on getting a tag for it, but since my plans for moving have been put on hold, I'm not worrying about it. Now, he just runs around the house, jingling. I haven't bothered taking it off for 3 reasons: 1, the bell doesn't bother him, and the only time you hear them are when he runs around. 2, he looks absolutely adorable in his collar. And 3, it's how my family tells him apart from our other orange tabby (even though I still say it's easy to tell them apart). I don't plan on taking his collar, or bell, off anytime soon.
I really think it depends on the cat. I put a collar with tags and bell on Rogue when she was a little kitten because she was sick and timid when I got her. If I had let her have her way, she would have hidden so well from me I would never had been able to properly feed or medicate her. Even today, I still call her my "Ninja Cat" because she can move while barely jingling the bell. I have to listen really hard for her sometimes.
She appears to be healthy and happy and not bothered by the bell at all. Possibly because she may have tuned out the sound that she makes. She is indoor only and does not do any hunting outdoors.
Some cats can wear collars, some cannot. The same can be said for dogs yet we are required to collar all of them. Am I really a cruel person to put something on my cat to show people she has an owner and to call said owner if they find her? Rogue has since gotten out twice and it took me hours to locate her because she was doing her ninja cat impersonation and I really had to listen hard to find her.
Rogue is going to keep wearing a collar and bell. If some of you here do not like that then by all means call the ASPCA on me. I feel it's necessary so that I can keep providing for my ninja cat.
She appears to be healthy and happy and not bothered by the bell at all. Possibly because she may have tuned out the sound that she makes. She is indoor only and does not do any hunting outdoors.
Some cats can wear collars, some cannot. The same can be said for dogs yet we are required to collar all of them. Am I really a cruel person to put something on my cat to show people she has an owner and to call said owner if they find her? Rogue has since gotten out twice and it took me hours to locate her because she was doing her ninja cat impersonation and I really had to listen hard to find her.
Rogue is going to keep wearing a collar and bell. If some of you here do not like that then by all means call the ASPCA on me. I feel it's necessary so that I can keep providing for my ninja cat.
My cats wear collars with bells, ID tags and are chipped , 100% indoor cats.
I used to have a collar in my cat and then she figured out how to get it off. I have not put a collar on her for a year. She is indoor but I do wonder what would happen if she escaped. I mean, would it help her if she had a collar since people would realize she is not a stray? She is chipped but how would anyone know looking at her?
Have you tried different types of collars? Some are better than others.
I really like the beastie bands.
I've heard good things about those. Are they basically an elastic stretch collar rather than a breakaway buckle collar?
Mine had no buckle. It was like Velcro. Never came off once. very light weight. Mook is wearing the patent leather like leopard collar only because it suits her so well. They were great on Kitten because she was all fluff and you couldn't see a fancy collar anyway. My cats all wear collars but if you had an older cat that hadn't or one that hated collars this might be tolerable.
I'm going to have to try them. My cats wear collars fine but my younger cat loses them periodically. I'd like one that's just as safe, but doesn't get lost as much.
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I have to disagree. Many people see a cat outside with a collar, they know the cat belongs to someone. If it doesn't have one, people see it as fair game. My cats are indoor and only one has a collar only because she will sneak outside. I want to make sure that no one will mistake her as a stray. She doesn't even notice the bell on her collar but if your cat is sensitive to noises then the bell is removable. Many people who keep the bell do so to scare birds away when their cats hunt. I had another cat who hunted and I had a bell on his because, although I didn't mind him hunting, I didn't want him to catch the birds because of parasites.
I agree with kntygrl256, my Katy wears a collar with a bell and it does not bother her in the least. Occasionally she goes outside, there are a lot of ferals in my neighborhood and I do not want Katy to be mistaken for a feral. If she has a collar on and someone goes and checks that she has a microchip in her, they will immediately know that she is my cat. I suppose if your cat never goes outside, it would be a matter of preference. I tripped over one of my ferals last fall, breaking my shoulder in 2 places. When you are a woman in her 60s, you do not risk that happening again, so Katy's bell stays.
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@mazie That is why I only have a collar on Zander. She will slip out before we know it. Luci-fur will look out the window but when the door is open she gets FAR away from it. She won't go near it so I don't bother putting a collar on her because if she gets out it's because someone took her and she will fight you if you take her near the door. She had too many bad memories of the outdoors to want to be out again.
I wish my Kay was more like your Luci-fur, except for the unpleasant memories, I wish she would be happy just being inside. When I adopted her at an Atlanta SPCA last December, I told them she would be exclusively an inside cat. I have been feeding and around ferals for over 2 years, hoping to be able to tame one enough to adopt and bring inside exclusively. That did not work out for me. I became quite close to a few of them, they would come inside, spend time, but ultimately the call of the wild would call them back to the out of doors. Katy was happy being inside for the first 3 months. She would sit in her cat tree, watching the ferals eating out on the patio, so she decided she wanted out too. I worry every time I let her out, but I want her to be happy.
@mazie The problem with cats that are use to being outside is it's hard to keep them inside once they get a taste of the outside. I think that is Zander's problem. She was outside for several weeks before I found her. Luci hardly remembers being outside at a young age. She was brought inside when she was about 4 weeks old. There were a couple of times when she got stressed/frightened and somehow got outside. She was scared to death and once she got back in the house she NEVER went back near the door. She will sit at the window but prefers it shut rather than open.
