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

Original poster

Collar or no collar?

28 replies

VelvetStrider · 01/07/2013 13:35

We are getting a couple of young rescue cats soon, around 6 months old. They will be mostly indoor cats but will gradually be introduced to the garden when we've had them for a few months, although we're never going to let them just roam around all day outside, and they will be kept in when it's dark.
We're getting them from a rescue sanctuary. In the course of looking for the right cats for us we visited several sanctuaries and received conflicting advice regarding collars.

One place advised having reflective collars so just in case they got out onto the road they would be more likely to be seen by drivers. Another place said they were anti collars and showed me a horrific picture of a poor puss who had got his leg caught in his collar and it caused an infected abscess in his armpit. A third place said safety collars were ok but harnesses were a no-no.
I'm not really sure what to think. They were all reputable sanctuaries but had such very different advice Confused. Any thoughts?

OP posts:
ragged · 01/07/2013 13:39

Damned if do you damned if you don't.

I like collars on mine because:

belled, prey stand somewhat better chance & I can hear them if they run off in the dark! Mine are curfewed at night so easily finding them when reluctant to come in is bonus.

I think trick is to have the collar quite tight; 2 fingers gap sure but no more. Then very unlikely to get caught. Hard to find collars nowadays that don't have a safety release.

Poundland is cheapest place to buy them, by the way.

GemmaTeller · 01/07/2013 13:53

My new cat hasn't got a collar as the vet advised against it as we live semi rural and kitten cat is quite proficient at tree climbing and we don't want him to get caught on a branch.
He is chipped.

Fat old cat and her sister had collars but frequently came home without them so I gave up in the end.

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 01/07/2013 14:10

So that's one vote for and one against! Grin

OP posts:
riojabotherer · 01/07/2013 15:10

We are going to put collars and bells on ours so the local bird population stands a chance. We live on a large estate so also want ID tags just in case they get stuck somewhere. Like you, I've heard horror stories but hopefully a decent collar fitted well should be ok.

thecatneuterer · 01/07/2013 15:13

We (Celia Hammonds) generally advise against them because of the injuries they can cause. If you must have them then then must of course be safety collars. However even safety collars can do some damage before they snap. My friends cat was involved in some sort of road accident and the vet thinks the cat's collar was somehow caught on the car and was dragged along before it snapped. It was touch and go whether the cat lived (thankfully it did). The conclusion was that if it hadn't been a safety collar the cat would have died, and if he had had no collar then he would probably have escaped injury altogether.

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 01/07/2013 17:53

Another one for and one against - you lot really aren't making the decision easier!!!!! Grin

Actually it was the woman from Celia Hammond who advised about the reflective collar. What a scary story thecatneuterer, I'm glad the cat survived.

Are safety collars the type with the little plastic clips like the ones you get on rucksacks etc? Rather than the older style collars with the elastic section so it stretches over the cat's head if necessary? Or is there a safer type?

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 01/07/2013 18:09

Velvet yes there are some situations where the benefits of a reflective one can be seen to outweigh the risks.

And yes, safety collars are the ones with the snappy plastic clips. The ones with elastic don't come off easily/quick enough, and those are also the ones that we see cats with their legs stuck in which cause those appalling collar wounds.

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 01/07/2013 18:44

Thanks - yes it was part of the advice about the road, along with getting female, non-black cats.

I've got a while to think about it anyway, we're not planning on letting them out at all until winter.

OP posts:
Frenchfemme · 01/07/2013 18:46

It depends where you live to some extent. In my situation (rural France, adventurous cats, lots of trees, hardly any traffic) I would not consider collars. I try not to let my 2 worst offenders out at dawn and dusk when the birds are most actively feeding, but can't do much to stop predation of small rodents, lizards etc. If I lived near a busy road, I might consider reflective collars, but would always worry about them.

sashh · 02/07/2013 00:20

If you use a collar then make sure it has an easy release mechanism.

Personally I don't but she is chipped.

BadgersRetreat · 02/07/2013 21:23

mine has a reflective safety one with a bell and a tag her name and our telephone number on - we only put it on her when we let her out, indoors she's naked Grin

we know the safety catch works because about every 6 months it disappears. Usually found in her bed or the garden.

i think a particularly vigorous scratch gets it off!

Italiangreyhound · 02/07/2013 21:28

Was just coming on to post about whether to get a collar for my 14 week old kitten's first sortie outside!

cozietoesie · 02/07/2013 21:34

I recall that The Lodger once had a cartoon-style (all puffs of cloud and inserts of 'Kerbang' and 'Kaboom') fight outside our former house and when we went out there was a huge pile of fur on the grass with a pink collar lying on top.

One safety catch which worked, I guess.

Italiangreyhound · 02/07/2013 21:34

We live in a rural area but with cars (big busy village), any thing to add, please?

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 03/07/2013 08:09

Thanks everyone!

We've now had our home visit from the sanctuary where our kittens are currently residing, and their advice is now to get harnesses and leads and take them for supervised walks in the garden (busy road, easy access via neighbours garden). They will be house cats for the rest of the time, at least for the first few years while they are young and curious!

So, any harness recommendations? thecatneuterer I know Celia Hammond don't like them but I think in this situation it's better than squashed kittens! Some seem to be just straps and others more like those jackets that those Paris Hilton type rats dogs wear.

OP posts:
ragged · 03/07/2013 18:07

imho harness is ridiculous overkill.

My mom's tactic was only to keep them in for 7 days if brand new, it worked for us, too.
I live on an occasional traffic country lane & the cats are black. I think CPL actually required it as part of adoption that we curfew the cats (kept in at night).
I don't find reflective collars that useful as you can't see them on a fluffy cat anyway. And my cats do spectactularly stupid things like jumping out of the hedgerow straight in front of cars (sigh).

thecatneuterer · 03/07/2013 20:58

velvet sorry I don't know about harnesses, but would agree that it's better than squashed cats. There is no doubt that young cats are at much more risk of being killed on the road than older ones, and if it's a busy road and there is easy access to it, then I think you're right to make sure they can't get to it.

Another option would be of course to cover your garden in wire netting so they can't get out of it at all. Some people who rescue ferals do that. It's a bit of an undertaking though.

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 04/07/2013 07:58

Oh gosh thecatneuterer that would be a very big job indeed! Our garden is about a quarter of an acre, steeply terraced in places, with at least two fox runs going through and several mature trees! I think we'll try the harnesses and leads first, the lady from the sanctuary knows a few people who do this and the cats learn to ask for 'walkies' just like dogs! I suppose we could look at a large pen in the future, which could maybe double as a vegetable plot to keep the birds out too!

OP posts:
jaffajiffy · 04/07/2013 08:18

Our tabby laughed at the safety release collars (off in 20 seconds) and for a while she didn't have one at all until she arrived home with a note attached asking if she had a home as she was always in the neighbour's house. So I then found a buckled collar with the loudest bell available to help the poor birds. We live in central London with a garden; she just has to learn to be a London cat!

sunseasurf · 04/07/2013 20:19

Please don't put a collar on your cat. Today my cat returned having gone missing for several months. His flea collar ( with stretchy elastic bit) had somehow got caught under his front leg . I don't know how long for, but he has a massive open infected wound under his front leg. He is going to be in the pet hospital for some time, with surgery to stitch the wound on Monday. He is a v poorly cat. If he had not had a collar on he would have been fine.

I am lucky that an animal charity has offered to help pay for treatment (hundreds of pounds!!!), otherwise I would have had no choice but to put him to sleep.

I actually came on mumsnet just now to warn people of the danger of cat collars .

sunseasurf · 04/07/2013 20:22

Just to add, I know the easy release collars are better, but my experience has been that they don't last long . So if he recovers, he will not have a collar.

crazynanna · 04/07/2013 20:31

So sorry about your cat sunsea Sad

Of course the big question is...will your kitty keep one on?

My girl, the first time I tried, did back flips and scaled up the walls until I took it off Shock was scary. She's microchipped though, and is a home body, being not bothered about going out to the garden. She just sits at the back door doing the tennis-head with the flies.

Original poster
VelvetStrider · 05/07/2013 14:35

Oh no sunseasurf that's awful, I hope your puss makes a good recovery.

OP posts:
dippymother · 07/07/2013 16:54

My cats are 14, 8 and 3. I have tried harnesses and collars with all of them when young. All the collars went missing within a few weeks. One of my cats just didn't get "walking" with the harness, she was all over the place, laying down, jumping up, rolling over etc etc, quite funny really but "walkies" was out of the question. I gave up trying to get the harness on the other two cats.

They are all chipped and I no longer bother with collars or harnesses - two of the cats are black and we live on a main road but they do seem to avoid the road, at least during the day when I can watch them.

Italiangreyhound · 09/07/2013 01:06

We got a cat collar (elasticated one) and put it on the kitten. He kept it on for about an hour then we found him in the dining room, trying to get it off with much frustration. He had managed to half get it off and it was caught around his mouth. We took it off and have not tried since.