When I first brought home my feral kitty, I thought it was kind of cool that she had been ear tipped and would always have the mark of being a feral. Like a badge of honor or something. But I've since realized that her tipped ear could mean trouble if she gets out. Why would anyone look at an ear tipped cat and suspect they even belong to someone, never mind that they might not belong outdoors at all?
Once my kitty gets used to me enough, I'd like to try to get her to wear a collar. (We're still at the isolated in a room stage.) But I still worry that it won't be enough, or that she'll get the collar broken off and won't be externally marked at all. (She is already chipped.)
I've heard of the kitty convict project, but when I've mentioned it to other cat lovers they hadn't. So until it gains more traction and attention, I really don't think it'll be a huge help. (I also think it's a good idea, but has a major flaw - an orange collar won't stand out on an orange tabby, which are very common. It needs to be more universally applicable.)
I did think of getting a brightly colored collar (probably yellow, to best stand out on her dark fur) and having "INDOOR CAT" embroidered in big black letters so it could more easily be seen from a distance, as opposed to only having that on a tag. I think this is probably the most effective solution?
But, as much as I hate to admit it - my family cats have never had collars, so this is the first time I've had a chance to dress my kitty up. Her safety is much more important to me, but I'm still not excited about having to look at a gaudy, ugly collar against her pretty fur every day. I've found lots of really cute collars that I'd love to get for her, but they would be much less noticeable and wouldn't give an indication that she belongs indoors beyond reading the tag. (I doubt she would approach strangers and give them a chance to read the tag. At least with the embroidered collar they could read from a distance and then look up lost pet ads.) I've never seen an outdoor cat locally with a collar, but there aren't terribly many in my immediate area. I would expect that a collar on an ear tipped cat would make it pretty clear that she wasn't feral and might make people look into it, but I'm really worried that won't be enough.
I could get a cute collar and do the big embroidered letters in a contrasting color, but it would be much less noticable than bold black on neon yellow against dark fur. (Neon yellow I could maybe get used to? Part of wanting yellow over orange, aside from making sure that the words are legible, is that it would look terrible on her...as much as I hate that that's even a factor.)
But back to the point, my main question here is for others that have converted an ear tipped feral to an indoor only cat - what safeguards do you have in case your kitty gets out? Do they wear a collar and what kind? Have they ever gotten out and how did that go?
Once my kitty gets used to me enough, I'd like to try to get her to wear a collar. (We're still at the isolated in a room stage.) But I still worry that it won't be enough, or that she'll get the collar broken off and won't be externally marked at all. (She is already chipped.)
I've heard of the kitty convict project, but when I've mentioned it to other cat lovers they hadn't. So until it gains more traction and attention, I really don't think it'll be a huge help. (I also think it's a good idea, but has a major flaw - an orange collar won't stand out on an orange tabby, which are very common. It needs to be more universally applicable.)
I did think of getting a brightly colored collar (probably yellow, to best stand out on her dark fur) and having "INDOOR CAT" embroidered in big black letters so it could more easily be seen from a distance, as opposed to only having that on a tag. I think this is probably the most effective solution?
But, as much as I hate to admit it - my family cats have never had collars, so this is the first time I've had a chance to dress my kitty up. Her safety is much more important to me, but I'm still not excited about having to look at a gaudy, ugly collar against her pretty fur every day. I've found lots of really cute collars that I'd love to get for her, but they would be much less noticeable and wouldn't give an indication that she belongs indoors beyond reading the tag. (I doubt she would approach strangers and give them a chance to read the tag. At least with the embroidered collar they could read from a distance and then look up lost pet ads.) I've never seen an outdoor cat locally with a collar, but there aren't terribly many in my immediate area. I would expect that a collar on an ear tipped cat would make it pretty clear that she wasn't feral and might make people look into it, but I'm really worried that won't be enough.
I could get a cute collar and do the big embroidered letters in a contrasting color, but it would be much less noticable than bold black on neon yellow against dark fur. (Neon yellow I could maybe get used to? Part of wanting yellow over orange, aside from making sure that the words are legible, is that it would look terrible on her...as much as I hate that that's even a factor.)
But back to the point, my main question here is for others that have converted an ear tipped feral to an indoor only cat - what safeguards do you have in case your kitty gets out? Do they wear a collar and what kind? Have they ever gotten out and how did that go?