Collars - yes or no?

[Stinkle]

My cat was missing for a few days last week (home safe and sound now) - he's usually regular as clockwork so when he didn't appear for his breakfast 2 days in a row, I posted on a local lost pets FB page.

First thing I was asked was whether he was "chipped, snipped and collared"

Yes to the first 2, no to the collar. I then got an absolute pasting for not having a collar.

He used to have a collar, but a few years ago he got caught in a bush by his collar after the "quick snap" bit failed to snap. It took a couple of days to find him, by which time his neck was a mangled mess - he still has a bald patch on his chin now where his hair has failed to regrow.

I've never put a collar on him since

He is microchipped and our contact details are fully up to date

Should he be collared?

After last time, I simply don't trust them to work properly and see them as far more of a risk than a benefit

Thanks!

Mine have always had collars, the "quick-release" ones, but I have kept them quite loose and do check them regularly for loose threads etc. I also check the quick release clip to make sure it is not going to stick or get caught up - some of them are quite stiff. Most cats around where I live do wear collars but some of them look a bit snug and are the elastic ones rather than quick-release. I do think about the risk of collar injury - it is a worry - but also if mine didn't have a collar I'd worry that people would think he was a stray.

My two have reflective collars - I check periodically that the quick-release buckle is working - once one became so jammed with fur & something sticky that I had to cut it off.

They lose roughly one collar between them every month - some turn up in the garden or are left on the front door handle (thanks NDN!) so I have to replace around half of the lost ones - I have lots of spares!

Most of the collar-removals are caused by fighting with next-door's cat - I've seen hooked-off collars flying up in the air during a tussle.

My mother found her cat hanging from a tree by her supposedly quick release collar, luckily in time to save her. And DS recently found a cat with her leg through the collar and a terrible injury, he took it to the vet but it died.

So a big no from me, I will never put a collar on my cat.

Leaving the collar loose would mean a cat would be more likely to get it's front leg through I would have thought.