Do your cats wear collars?

[nekochan]

Yes a lot of collars will leave marks (rub) on the neck fur over time.
I found one type that doesn't leave marks, but it's made for dogs so I had to modify it (grind down part of the clasp) in order to make it breakaway.

 

[nes]

Originally Posted by undergunfire

I have thought about collars with ID tags, but do they rub off the fur around their necks after time?

I have only ever had this happen once on any pet I've ever had. My sweet Riki (

) had a ring around her neck where there was no fur. It seemed to be caused by collar I adopted her in (from my great aunt who wouldn't have noticed) which the hair got caught between the fibres of the collar and pulled out over time. I'm not 100% sure that was the cause though

.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Yes a lot of collars will leave marks (rub) on the neck fur over time.
I found one type that doesn't leave marks, but it's made for dogs so I had to modify it (grind down part of the clasp) in order to make it breakaway.

do you have a picture of this?

 

[natalie_ca]

No. My girls are indoor only kitties. Plus they both have tattoos inside their ear for rapid, visual identification if they ever do accidentally get out and get lost. The tattoo is on record at the local humane society, and contains a cross reference to my name and address. When I move I contact the humane society and give them the tattoo numbers and my change in contact information.

I've never put collars on any of my cats. They don't look very comfortable too me, and I know I sure wouldn't want to be wearing something around my neck all of the time. So I've just never bothered with them.

 

[littleraven7726]

Collars with tags are one of the few rules for being a cat at my house.

Our city thinks cats should wear: id tag, city license tag & rabies tag. My poor cats wore that for years. Then we moved out of state, and we switched to just i.d. tags. Sometime after that we discovered Collar Tags. So now they wear a tag with their name, 2 cell phone numbers, and the words INDOOR CAT on the tag. Plus it doesn't dangle.

Stimpy used to get dangling tags so dirty. And when Lola came along she tried to chase herself when we had the temporary tag on her (while we waited for her Collar Tag to arrive). She has to wear the collar with just enough room for 2 fingers or she can get it off. Learned that by trial and error. The 2 guys don't have to have theirs really snug.

I found really cute CFA brand collars at Target last time I bought new ones. Lola has fish on hers, Nabu has mice on his, and Stimpy's has paw prints.

I worked at a shelter for a few years. Collars with tags are a good idea. Imagine if your neighbor finds your cat, with a tag they can call you. Without one, they have to take kitty to the shelter, and hopefully you find your cat there. Most of the cats that came in did not have collars. I do remember a few very happy reunions on the few that did have collars with valid i.d. tags (or city license or rabies tags). The ones with invalid tags, we did our best to try and track down owners.

 

[nekochan]

Originally Posted by sharky

do you have a picture of this?

The fur marks, or the modified collar?

 

[clowangel]

I tried. I seriously tried. Sho always manages to slip them off then chew them to pieces. ><; He's an indoor only cat, and even if he ran out the door, he can't get far nor can he get out. xD There are more doors!

 

[icklemiss21]

Mine never have worn collars unless going outside, they have it on in the carrier going to the vet and it comes off as soon as they get home - even then it was only after I heard about a local groomer losing an indoor cat out an open window.

I have been at the vet when a cat came in after getting stuck on its breakaway collar and since my appointment was cancelled as a result, know the vet took three hours trying to save that poor little tabby cat - it got stuck inside its house.

Mine are microchipped, since chipping is the law here most people know about it and we get people bringing cats into the shelter regularly to scan for a microchip. Many people also prefer to let us do all the healthcare and adopt the cat so they have a legal ownership if the owner ever does come forward to claim their lost cat.

As for cats with collars, we get very few into the shelter but quite a few with collar marks in their fur - it really doesnt help us with identification!

 

[snake_lady]

Yes they do.....

My cats are strictly indoor cats, but you never know.... something could spook them out the door and I'd rather have some sort of visible ID on them. In my neighbourhood, people would call the number on the tag, but I don't think they would take them to the vet to be scanned for a chip.


I say that, but, I did take Kizzys collar off a couple weeks back as I didn't like what it was doing to his beautiful fur..... and wanted to see how his fur looks without the collar. He is the one that I am least afraid of getting out, as he is scared of outside..... I've taken him on a harness and he wants back in LOL.

But basically, yes they wear collars with tags, and Kiwi has a bell.

 

[isaacgreycat]

Of 5...3 do, 1 doesn't and one is kitten. I used to think that it would spoil their looks, and that cats really should not have collars because of their independent wild nature...for years I thought that. They are all indoor only but I am very nervous that they will get out from maybe a visitor holding the door open too long or maybe a burgler (and I have been burgled in the past) breaking a window while I am away. OK...take my stuff but don't let the cats out!!! I fear they will freak and not find home again on their own!!
My long haired 'Flash' does not have hers on at the moment as it came off and I have not put it back on, but she is the only one with adult outdoor experience, and the long hair does present some problems with a collar.
All except the kitten are microchipped, but like some of you say, a collar sends a message that the kitty has a home. My tags are from Boomerang and are a very high quality plastic (they don't get scratched) and are printed on both sides. Side one has all the home info and on the back it says 'indoor cat only..if you found me call my family'. The collars are breakaway and the boys have red and the girls have purple. When you first put a collar on a cat it does freak out but it doesn't last too long. And yes,if they get out, it might come off but then again it might not. I feel that it is just one more level of safety for my fids! IMO

 

[709juggalette]

Thats a good idea,I never thought of having "INDOOR ONLY" on the collars!

 

[nekochan]

My cats' Collartags say "I'm Lost - Call:" as the first line.

Bianca's (my dog) says "If I'm Alone, I'm Lost" (since it's a bigger dog-sized tag it has more space.)

 

[wellingtoncats]

No collars on my Exotics, DSH or Persian

 

[zoeysmom]

Mine wear Beastie Bands with CollarTags. They are also chipped. I often find a collar on the living room floor after a fight, so I'm confident they come off pretty easily.

They don't go outside, and I'm pretty sure if they did go out, they wouldn't go too far, but you never know. If I see a cat outside with a collar on, I'd definitely check it. If the cat didn't have a collar and didn't approach (I don't think my cats would willingly approach anyone if they were outside) I would probably guess it didn't have a home.

 

[tortietudelove]

Everyone here wears collars, except Siana. She's still too little for a collar. I used to not put collars on cats, but we had an incident where 3 got out. These three were homeless that I had brought in to find them new homes. Well, I had forgotten that I had opened the window that day, since it was so nice out. That night, one of them had pushed the screen loose. I never could find them, so after that I decided that everyone would wear collars for visual ID that they belonged to someone. I'm planning to get everyone microchipped soon, though.

 

[lizita]

All my cats, my own and fosters, wear collars. One of my biggest fear is to loose any of my babies so I want to do what I can to ensure that they would come back to me if they would ever get out (they are all inside only). You never know when an accident may happen so I keep their collars with ID tags on at all times just like I do with my dogs. My cats and some of my fosters are chipped too but I want my cats to have something visual showing that they are owned.
There are a lot of strays in my area and a lot of outside cats so to make sure that people would know that my cats are not supposed to be out there all their ID tags say "I"M LOST" and some also say "I WANT HOME". I'm hoping this will make people understand that they are suposed to call the number on the tag.

My kittens also wear collars. I make my own collars that fit kittens older than two months, approximately. For the younger ones I use paper collars that I write my phone number on (they are Ejay bands that I cut leanth wise to make them thinner to fit better). I know that the paper collars are not going to hold up forever if they would get out but I figure it's better than nothing. Ejay bands are also very cheap and works great as temporary collars for fosters and transport animals that haven't got a real collar yet.

I really wish that everyone would keep some sort of ID on their pets. I would really want people to get my lost pet home and I want to do the same for others but when there is no ID it makes things a lot harder. It's clear that most of the cats and dogs that come to the shelter I volunteer at are someone's pet but since few of them wear any kind of ID most are not reuinted with their owners and some are euthanized.

 

[trouts mom]

No. Trout is an indoor cat and she looks cute naked.

 

[kara_leigh]

Yes, Nora wears a collar with a tag stating her name, our address, and our phone number. She is an indoor only cat, and actually LOATHES the idea of ever stepping foot outdoors, but I want her to wear a collar in the off chance she does get outside. I want to hope there would be some chance that someone would see her collar and bring her back.

We started putting collars on our cats with Gus b/c even though he was always an indoor only cat and had NEVER been an indoor/outdoor cat, every chance he got he was slipping outside. He didn't run far, he usually only got to the front walkway before he couldn't resist the urge to fall down and rub all over the concrete. I just didn't want to take the chance of a guest coming over and thinking it was alright for him to be outside and shut the door behind him.

I want to get a tag for Nora that says "If you see me outside I'm lost" but it would have to be a huge tag.

 

[catfriend]

Danny doesn't wear a collar because he is an indoor cat. He does wear a leash and halter for outside walks. Even though he was an adult when I started training him to the leash, he does really well now!

 

[catfriend]

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

No. Trout is an indoor cat and she looks cute naked.