When to get a collar?

[jenny1978]

Ok, I've never had a tiny kitten like Monty before so I have NO clue as to when I should put a collar on him? We got Maggie at 6 months old so she was plenty big enough.

I want to make sure he is used to one before he goes for all his vaccines (he is still small for his age so we need to get his weight up a bit more). That and it would be nice to hear the little turkey coming up behind you LOL

 

[arlyn]

I start kittens as soon as they are no longer with their mother.
For tiny kittens I get ferret collars (break away saftey just like cat collars, but tiny).

Beastie Bands can be cut to fit any sized cat.

For Babies though I would never leave a collar on while you are not there to supervise.

30 minutes to an hour a day for very little kittens is plenty until they reach the point of not even noticing the collar.

I do not keep collars on my girls, but all three will accept one without issue.
They wear a collar anytme they have to be taken anywhere, and when we have company over that isn't exactly cat savvy.

 

[jenny1978]

Thanks! Maggie wears a collar 24/7 but she doesn't seemed phased by hers. Its nice to hear her coming because she is a big stealthy ninja at times LOL.

I'm just tired of stepping on Monty so was wondering about the collar and the age. I'll get him a small one and put it on him in small doses to get him used to it

 

[nekochan]

With my younger kittens, I had them in a "kitten proof" room when I was not around to supervise, and when I was around I would use a harness when they were in the rest of the house so they could not get into danger. So by the time they were old enough to be unsupervised in the house, they were used to wearing harnesses so a collar was no big deal.

 

[milu]

At our Petco they have collars for young kittens. They are much smaller than the adult ones, and the bell sounds really cute and not annoying at all.

Petsmart, on the other hand, only carries large collars. They are a different brand and I don't like the sound of the bells.

When we got Lulu 2 months ago she started wearing the Petco kitten collar as soon as she got home. It is nice to hear where the little kittens are when you can't see them

 

[nekochan]

Oh yeah I wanted to add, when I did get collars for my guys, I got them from Ragtime Collars because I like that they can embroider your phone number on them... They have kitten-sized collars too. I don't use them as much now though because I've found they break away REALLY easy and my cats lost several of them in the house... I also like the Beastie Bands a lot.

 

[cat person]

Originally Posted by Jenny1978

Ok, I've never had a tiny kitten like Monty before so I have NO clue as to when I should put a collar on him? We got Maggie at 6 months old so she was plenty big enough.

I want to make sure he is used to one before he goes for all his vaccines (he is still small for his age so we need to get his weight up a bit more). That and it would be nice to hear the little turkey coming up behind you LOL

I would say the sooner you put a collar on the cat the better. The reason is it takes less time for the cat to be desensitized to the collar.

But a collar can be put on a cat at any age. Just remember if the collar is put on at an older age often times cats will try to claw, bite and in general remove the collar. In general if you keep the collar on long enough the cat will get used to it.

Everyone has suggested great brands/types of collars and I have nothing to add on that issue

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