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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Collar or no collar what is the view?

18 replies

SecretSquirrels · 04/03/2012 16:34

Little squirrel is 6 months old and microchipped.
I put a collar with a bell on when he first went outside so we could hear him. It's elasticated and fluorescent for safety, but I still worry about him getting it caught. He's getting more adventurous and climbs anything. We are very rural so not much traffic about.
I just wondered what others thought?

OP posts:

Tiago · 04/03/2012 16:42

So long as it is not too tight, it should be fine. Just make sure there is room for him to get it off if it gets caught on anything (but not so loose that he could get his leg stuck through it).

Mine both have collars, one with a bell in an effort to lower the wildlife body count, and contact details. I'm in a town though, so there is possibly more chance of them being injured.

SparkySparrow · 04/03/2012 16:48

I don't like them.
Main reason being that my cat disappeared for a few days, only to be bought to my front door by a neighbour half strangled due to being caught in a tree by the stupid thing. Luckily she saw him while she was walking her dog and bought him home.

Since then none of my cats have had collars.

Just not that keen.

AnnoyingOrange · 04/03/2012 16:50

No collars on any of my cats after they kept losing them. if they lose them regularly there is always a possibility that next time the collar might not come off as per sparkey's story

TwllBach · 04/03/2012 16:52

We did Start out by putting safety collars on CatBach, but every time she went out, she arrived back home without it we must have bought seven or eight before deciding it was a waste of money. We do have her microchipped though.

mrs2cats · 04/03/2012 16:57

One of my cats keeps losing her collars so I've given up - no collar. She must get tangled up in something and the collar comes off. Apart from the cost of constantly replacing collar and ID I did start worrying that, perhaps next time, the collar wouldn't come off and she'd be stuck. Cats are micro chipped though.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 04/03/2012 16:59

Mmm, thnks everyone. Apart from some protection for the wildlife it's possibly more of a hazard then.
I'm inclined to take it off.

OP posts:

workshy · 04/03/2012 17:00

my cat kept losing his so I gave up

he has been chipped though and isn't much of a hunter

DontCallMeBaby · 04/03/2012 18:59

If mine would keep their collars on for any length of time I would put collars on them - reflective (big reflective surfaces, not silly little logos), no bell (the only time I've put them in collars with bells on they went completely bananas until I took them off), and quick-release. I figure there's always a chance that if something happened to one of them someone might be more inclined to read a collar tag and call, rather than make the effort to take a dead cat (sob) to a vet to have its chip read.

BUT one of the little darlings keeps a collar on for approximately five minutes, while the other will manage several weeks it's not sustainable at 5 or 6 quid a pop. Not one of the former cat's collars have ever turned up (he's the adventurous one), we've had the latter cat's back a couple of times - notably a nice lady down the road who called to say she'd found his collar by her fishpond. But they are currently collarless and will remain so (to DD's considerable sorrow every time we happen upon the collar display in Pets At Home).

Sparklingbrook · 04/03/2012 19:04

Sparkling Cat doesn't keep them on. She is microchipped but I always think a collarless cat looks like a stray. I've tried about 5 but she has come back without them all, they had pretty engraved tags and everything.

Lizcat · 04/03/2012 19:15

If you have to use a collar please make sure it is the quick release type. Cats can still be strangled by the elastic type and they can also cause some horrible armpit injuries. The good news is that actually the vast majority of people who find and dead or injured cat after a road traffic accident do take them to the vets and their owners do know the outcome.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 04/03/2012 21:03

The collar is now off much to his delight.

OP posts:

Fluffycloudland77 · 04/03/2012 21:32

You can get two safety release collars for a pound in the pound shop.

Our cat seems to prefer bright pink collars to red so he takes the red one off earlier than the pink ones. Which is odd seeing as there meant to be blind to red, plus he still has little scrotum sacs so he looks very comfortable with his eunach status parading around with a bright pink collar on.

Sort of I'm nutless but ok with it.

Original poster

SecretSquirrels · 05/03/2012 10:35

OP posts:

bochead · 08/03/2012 11:19

Mine won't tolerate them at all. I'm so grateful he's chipped a this is the first cat I've owned that escapes any kind of collar and microchipping is a fairly new innovation.

suburbandream · 10/03/2012 16:18

I have one with, and one without. We have had the cats over a year, and my female cat has had the same collar the whole time. As for my boy - he's got through about one a month at least, I bought the quick release ones but he is a real adventurer and keeps losing them, presumably caught on branches etc. He's never had any harm to himself though. So I've finally given up! (They are both microchipped anyway) The bell on her collar hasn't stopped my little girl catching critters either!! Do check your insurance though - I have mine insured through Tesco and it does actually state that they should have collars but what can you do if they keep losing them??

Grumpla · 10/03/2012 16:25

My cat came to me from a rescue with scarring and bald patches all round her neck and hates collars, so I've never been tough enough managed to make her wear one. She is chipped though.

I think she was either allergic to a flea collar or put in one that was too tight as a little kitten

ragged · 10/03/2012 19:44

am not brave enough to read the rest of the thread.

I love the bell, helps me find them.

They are pitch black & the collars are reflective; despite my best efforts they may well end up staying out all night some time. Road is quiet & they are timid about cars, but they are still pitch black cats.

I really dont' want them to catch wildlife.

Some collar clasps stay on much better than others.

aJumpedUpPantryBoy · 10/03/2012 20:04

No collars.

Two of my cats are rescues who came to us in a terrible state because of their collars.

One of them had been trapped by his collar and was scarred (front and back leg as both had been caught as he tried to escape) ahd he was thin and starving becuase hhe had been trapped for so long. He had to have two operations to remove the gangrenous, maggot infested tissue.
Even now (after 4 years) he is terrified of flies - while he was trapped they had laid eggs in his wounds

The other was abandonned as a kitten, wearing a collar. He lived as a feral on a rubbish tip and grew too big for his collar - when he was rescued it had grown into him and had to be surgically removed. For the first few years we were unable to touch him on his neck as he would scream.

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