Cat collars

[turtlecat]

My sweetie Paige has one unfortunate habit.. She fiddles with her collar....And ends up tearing it to bits. She's just had this one for a month and it's already all scuffled up.. she just scratches the nylon apart. I was looking for a leather cat collar, but I was hoping for a break-away rather than elastic, because, as sweet and adorable as she is.. she's well.. a clutz... She falls off her chair when ba

thing herself! I want a *leather* safety collar that is a little more safe than elastic... I also just don't want her to have a nylon bush around her neck.

any ideas?

 

[KittenKrazy]

Can't help you with this, 'cause I don't have that problem with mine! I do want to welcome you to TCS though, and if you need any help, just click on my username and Private Message me or e-mail me, I'll be glad to help (especially if you need help posting pics of your baby !)

 

[turtlecat]

I need to get some pictures of her.. she's just so cuuuuute! *gushes* a tortoise shell short hair with one white triangle on her belly! she looks like she stomped a puddle with one brown leg in back, lol. We'll see that she doesn't think the camera is a toy

 

[jcat]

I'll second the welcome. Sorry, I don't recall ever seeing a leather breakaway cat collar. JC has been wearing a reflecting collar from Petco (I don't remember the brand) for about two years - it's silver vinyl on the outside, and white felt on the inside, with a breakaway clasp. He generally goes through a collar a year, but this one has held up surprisingly well.

 

[turtlecat]

Unfortunately she seems to be planning on one every other month.. I dunno how she claws through them that fast.. they're not tight or anything.. I'm wondering if the elasty clasped leather ones are our best opportunity.

 

[spotz]

Have you tried tightening it some?

Don't choke her, but make sure it is reasonably snug.

One of my past cats used to manage to get a paw under the collar, and then somehow get it into his mouth and literally chew through it.

After much frustration I realized that even though it looked tight, it wasn't anywhere near. I was able to fasten it another notch without any problems, and the collars managed to last a lot longer.

Spotz

 

[purrfectcatlove]

Welcome to TCS

Is your cat a indoor or outdoor cat ? Or both ? If your cat is a indoor cat only , she really don't need a collar and you can keep it away from her and make your cat very happy .

 

[ricalynn]

I had to tighten Bella's collar quite a bit, she's rather petite. I think the recommendation is that you be able to fit one or two fingers under the collar snugly, no looser than this. Bella's ears were infected, and when she would scratch the collar was doing circles around her neck!!!! Once I realized it was too loose, and her ears cleared up, there's been no additional wear on it at all.

Jcat's reflective collar is a great idea too - the vinyl reflective tape will hold up better against the scratching. I may do that for the next one. I'm not as fond of this collar's fashion design as I was when I first got it.

 

[luvmycats]

What kind of collar do you use? My guys generally hate collars, but they do very well with Beastie Bands. They are really lightweight, so I think once they get over the initial having them put on, they don't even notice they're there. They are stratchy, and close by velcro, so they're safe even for clumsy kitties. I bought mine from WhiskersList on ebay, and they get six paws up from my guys.

 

[turtlecat]

She's indoor only, but since we live in an apartment complex, I'd rather her have a collar just in case maintenance accidentally lets her out. She's currently wearing a nylon collar, and it is tight enough.. she doesn't take it off or chew on it, she just catches the collar with her claws when she's going for her neck. It' just raggy and I of course don't want any of that. plus.. she actually seems to like her collar.. I took it off of her the other day and she was like "Why'd you take away my Jewelry.. It's mine! put it back on." I think it's because she was a second chance kitty.. She had a collar when the lady before me owned her, (they gave it to us when we got her) So I can only assume she thinks of it as part of having a home. plus, the tag jingling gives molly a headstart for under the bed(and when the light catches it right, she gets frantically happy.. it's the best.). I'm probably going to invest in a leather one with an elastic back for the buckle. Incidentally, her old collar thing was a beastie band-type collar and it was all torn the heck up as well. she just spins this one around with her back paw when she scratches her neck.

 

[tuxedokitties]

Perhaps you could try trimming the sharp tips off of her back claws? That should help cut down on collar wear. Felixia used to rip up her collars the same way, and keeping her back claws trimmed stopped it. If you do a search in the forums for nail or claw trimming, you'll find lots of good info on how to do it.

I've also seen some silk breakaway collars at Petsmart - perhaps the tighter weave would help?

 

[turtlecat]

Good call on the silk.. i may try it. I would cut her claws, however, she's very much "don't touch my toes! only I can touch my toes...." which then involves me getting an angry cat attacking my clippers....I may have the vet help me out with some soft paws so she doesn't have that problem and also so she doesn't get me so bad when she wants to play a little rough. (I know, I know, don't play with cats with your hands.... but she never plays too hard.. it's just an occasional back claw kicking.) I think though that they'll pop off quickly because she's really into her scratching tree.. (8 foot of carpet pole and 3 teirs..$20 at wallies.) but they're cute!! I'd get her widdle black ones.. besides... I worry about her hurting herself on her own claws, I've said before that she's a clutz, and she likes to chase her own limbs.. (she rolls onto her back and grabs her back feet and sorta.. bumbles around on her back.. though I suspect it's because she kicks herself in the head when going after her tail.. because when doing this, she glares at her tail as if saying.. "one more paw.. wold be so great right now!"