[artemisa]

Hey there,

I was wondering if most people here use collars for their cats. I bought him one, called Safe Cat (you can see it here: http://www.kittenkaboodle.com/thestore/prods/7001.html) which I thought was good 'cause it had that breakaway feature. It doesn't seem hard when you touch it but it isn't completely elastic either, but I'm wondering if it'll bother him when he sleeps, etc :? I know he won't like it at first, but he might get used to it. I'm also thinking about an ID tag since he'll be going outside when he's older. Will that annoy him? I did take away taht jingly thingy 'cause I reckon the sound might bug him. What do you do with yours??

 

[Petra]

I live in the way way out country and my cats just stay by the house . I am kinda iffy on collars myself. Even with a break away feature cats have gotten stuck with collars on. But I think maybe for others it works. I think the bell is for birds etc..Cats can and will get used to collars ..eventually. I kept a flea collar on Toots for a while but then I realized they dont work worth a flip out here I took it off. My male George doesnt mind anything I do to him but I wont collar him.Just a personal preference on my part. They have 90 acres to roam around on and no cars anywhere close. And they dont go anywhere besides lounging on the porch or catch the occational grasshoper or mole or mouse or spider or garder snake or ... well ..lol.. ALOT of stuff I dont have the heart to "dispose of" .Anyway.. try what works best for ya or the cat.

Petra

 

[Superkitties]

I don't have collars on mine anymore. Mozart got the collar between his jaws and stuck there a couple times trying to get it off, thankfully I was there to free him right away. Then he and Ginza figured out that working as a team they could get the second type of collar off each other. Now I just put a collar on them when we're visiting the vet.

Oh yeah, I definitely removed the bells off mine. They're only for alerting birds of an impending attack by outside cats, and that doesn't even work, from what I hear.

 

[Zalensia]

Actually bells not working i disagree with, ive even seen it said on the tv bells make no difference.
Vienna is a master hunter after she had her babies- bringing back things for them, that was with 1 bell, she was catching things daily..... she even braught home a fully grown crow one day, ive got pictures somewhere............ 8 bells later and she nearly never brings anything home now- from my experince bells do work.

having said that, when i first put collars on my cats they went nuts, doing everything they could to get them off, rubbing heads on floor, using their claws and many-a-time getting their mouth stuck in it. Obviously if they get their mouth stuck in it rescue them... what i did was put the collars on while im home, and awake, when i went out, even for 5 minutes i go to bed i took the collars off, eventually like after a week they are past caring and you can leave it on all the time.

 

[kristi]

My 3 adults wear breakaways. Frodo broke his the first day, but I put it back on him and he's left it on since. Xander would have none of it; he's a total spaz and completely freaked out. So I gave up; he is nekkid. I figure if he ever does get out, poster saying "3-Legged Cat Lost: Reward!!" would probably do the trick. :lol:

 

[Superkitties]

Actually bells not working i disagree with, ive even seen it said on the tv bells make no difference.

That is very cool that it worked for your little hunter Vienna! I was talking about 3 of my friends whose cats are still consummate hunters with the bell; the bells never made a noise while they stalked and caught the birds. They were observed in action several times, and the amount of catch they brought back didn't really drop. Scary!

 

[jonsgirl]

Stix and Kota have worn collars since they were kittens. They are strictly indoors but Stix has escaped a few times (only for like 3 min. at a time) and sometimes I dont shut the door all the way and it blows open.
They both have the breakaway collars but I agree that they are still not totally safe; Kota once jumped down from the window ledge and was hanging from the mini-blind cord that had wound around the collar. The collar did not "release", I guess because she did not weigh much. Luckily I saw when it happened and got her loose.

As far as the bells, I only have bells on my kitties because they are always sneaking up on me or hiding, and I like to know where they are. I have seen them "hunt" each other though, and they move so slow that the bells wont even make noise!

 

[Majicou]

I find that bells generally work in frighteneing off birds, but not other prey. I have seen collars fitted with a device that emits some sort of signal to scare off birds, if you want an alternative - but they were quite expensive, and they weren't elasticated.

 

[artemisa]

Thanks guys. I'm deffo putting the breakaway collar I bought on him then. It's still a little big so that seems dangerous, to leave it like that 'cause he can get his teeth into it. I hope it's not too uncomfy for him when he's sleeping etc. He will be able to go outdoors so I think that's important.

Thanks.

 

[artemisa]

I found pics of the collars I have in mind.

This one's the one I got

This one seems great, BUT the breakaway feature doesn't seem to work too well. It's too hard, I tried it in my hands and I have to pull with all my strenght until it finally breaks away. That can't be good :? Like what happened to Kota, jonsgirl's cat.

This have the elastic thingy on them (can't see it in the pic) that makes them expandible. The fabric seems to be softer, but the buckle's made out of metal, don't like that too much. Do you think that'll be a problem?

Sorry to keep bugging u all with this

 

[Zalensia]

because of the cat flap key i cant use breakaway ones, so i cant really comment on them, the elastic ones i think are good- many-a-time vienna has come back with no collar which must mean they work.

btw with her bells, one didnt work, nor did 3 or 3 or 4 infact she has 9 bells on her collar

 

[artemisa]

Wow 9! :shock: lol, can't imagine what she looks like with all those bells hanging inher collar, hehe.

 

[drjean]

Collar or no, I highly recommend having your cats microchipped. I figure it's cheap insurance. I have heard some pretty amazing stories of cats being reunited with owners after *years* of being missing, and have returned a few myself after finding a chip. Mine are totally indoors, but they're all microchipped for safety.

If you do get a chip, make sure it is placed off the midline and low enough so as not to interfere with a collar.

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[artemisa]

Wish I could, we don't get that here