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Original poster

Cat collars - please think and fit carefully

29 replies

paddythepooch · 22/09/2014 16:09

I'm sure this has been done before but wanted to post a reminder to think carefully about whether to fit a collate and what type to use.

We found a stray cat last night in our house and realised it had its supposed quick release collar caught round its front leg. Really appalling stench and clearly very badly injured. Completely starving.

We managed to take it to the Blue cross in Victoria. It was chipped. I won't go into details but it was clear that the poor thing has had this wound for weeks. I hope it survives.

I have a cat and will never, ever put a collar of any type on it

Btw blue cross were wonderful. RSPCA unobtainable

OP posts:
CatsCantTwerk · 22/09/2014 16:12

I am 100% against collars on cats, They are cruel and unnecessary. If you have your cat chipped there is no need at all to put a collar on it.

I hope the cat you found is ok, poor kitty :(

thecatneuterer · 22/09/2014 16:42

I entirely agree. We see collar wounds all the time - and they're just the ones that survive. There must be plenty that don't survive that we don't get to see. Even quick release collars can either fail or cause injury in the few seconds it takes them to release.

wantacatplease · 22/09/2014 18:47

Bless you for coming to the cat's rescue! And thanks for the reminder. Sad

splendide · 23/09/2014 11:57

Goodness, I was completely ignorant about this. Our cat has a collar (with our phone number on it). I suppose I feel that someone might ring a number on a collar if they find her but maybe not be bothered (or know to) take her to the vet to be scanned.

Will have a real think about this.

Labrat72 · 23/09/2014 12:06

My silly old boy wears a collar because his car flap is the magnetic type & so he has to have a magnet on the collar. I am always very aware that the collar must be a proper quick release one, I only buy them in person & test the quick release on each one, buying the ones that are 'loosest', probably because of this he's lost about 20 collars in the time we've had him (3 years).
DH refuses to replace the cat flap with one which will open using Pickle's microchip but since seeing this thread I might speak to him about it again as i would prefer him not to wear a collar.
He has a bell too, and doesn't kill birds AFAIK, he does regularly bring in dead mice & rats though, they obviously don't hear the bell.

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/09/2014 13:02

Ours doesn't have a collar and dh keeps saying he needs one.

With what you've spent on collars Lab you could have bought a sureflap by now.

They were on amazon Black Friday last year.

PestoSurfissimos · 23/09/2014 13:07

I've got a SureFlap too, no collars chez Pesto Grin

Labrat72 · 23/09/2014 13:11

I keep saying that! I've spent a bloody fortune on collars & magnets!
DH likes him wearing the collar so that he can hear him when Pickle sneaks into the room in the middle of the night. It means you get a 5 second warning before a great lump of black & white idiot cat lands on your stomach.
However, that's still not a good enough reason. I shall start my nagging campaign again.

superbagpuss · 23/09/2014 13:13

can I ask a couple of questions about sureflap

Will it work if you have three cats (all chipped?)

Also we have a jet black cat that goes out at night - he has a reflective quick release collar to help him be seen at night - any alternatives on this other then not let him out as he likes his midnight prowls?

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/09/2014 13:13

Make your dh buy them.

Or put a collar on while he's under curfew at night.

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/09/2014 13:15

Yes, it works with up 15 of them I think and you can set them so some cats can go out but not others.

PestoSurfissimos · 23/09/2014 15:43

I've just got my instruction manual out, it says you can programme up to 32 different cats in the Sureflap's memory.

splendide · 23/09/2014 15:44

32!

There's a target.

PestoSurfissimos · 23/09/2014 15:44

My cat goes in & out of it both night & day Labrat.

PestoSurfissimos · 23/09/2014 15:46

But if you get the more expensive SureFlap, you can programme it with certain hours, so your cats have a curfew!

PinkSparklyElephant · 23/09/2014 19:42

We've got a Sureflap and it's brilliant - Harry has a curfew between 7.30pm (later in the summer) and 7.30am. We went for the pet door as the cat flap looked stupidly small.

He does wear a collar and I'm reluctant to take it off him as I'm not sure how many people would take a cat to be scanned whereas they may ring a number on a tag. We found my Mum's cat because of the contact details on his collar. Someone found him and phoned her.

Original poster
paddythepooch · 23/09/2014 21:07

Quick update. Cat survived and has been reclaimed by owners. Phew. Frankly, was scared to find out. Apparently collars are a major cause of cat injuries. This was a supposed quick release one.

Big up to blue cross who were fab.

OP posts:
Labrat72 · 23/09/2014 21:13

Pickle would never cope with a curfew! He'd just headbutt the flap all night. When he loses his collars he just bludgeons the flap open. He's a bit of a thug

Labrat72 · 23/09/2014 21:14

I'm very glad the cat is ok.

Fluffycloudland77 · 23/09/2014 21:15

I'm really glad he's ok, his owners must be so pleased to have found him.

crazynanna · 23/09/2014 21:19

My girl, when I tried to put her a collar on, literally somersaulted around the room as if I had just fed her a scotch bonnet pepper!
So that was that
No collar
Great relief now I am more educated

girliefriend · 23/09/2014 22:58

I think collars sometimes put people off thinking a cat is lost or a stray. If people see a collar they assume the cat belongs to someone, if it doesn't they may think stray and be more likely to take it somewhere to be checked for a microchip. Thats my theory anyway Wink

thecatneuterer · 24/09/2014 00:11

That's right girliefriend. A cat with a collar needs to be in a much worse state before people will think of doing something about it than one without a collar.

catsofa · 24/09/2014 00:20

Mine is indoors now so I don't have to worry, but I always wished I could find out the relative risks somewhere.

Injury from a car is a big risk, even on my quiet back street, so in the winter I always put a highly reflective collar on my cat, hoping this would make her (she's black) more visible to drivers. She also always had a tag with my phone number on it - that's how to make sure someone worried about her would help her and contact me!

But I don't know how to weigh up the relative risks of not wearing a collar with the risks of injury from a collar. Are there any statistics anywhere?

catsofa · 24/09/2014 00:21

Also the death toll for local wildlife can be massive if cats don't have a bell on their collar.