Are cat collars a good idea or not?

[bodenbiscuit]

I'm very worried about our kitten getting out because she's a Ragdoll so should be a house cat. She is very laid back and I don't think she'd have much road sense. I am going to get her microchipped but I think I would feel safer if she had a collar so that if someone found her they could immediately see where she comes from.

However, I've also heard that cat collars are really dangerous. So I don't know what to do. When I was a child, our cats always had collars with no problems but these days people seem to be opposed to them don't they? There have been a few times where I came home and someone had left the from door open and I literally nearly had a heart attack.

When I first had my cat I asked the vet what she thought about collars, I thought I would have one with a bell to limit hunting. The vet said that, although rare, she had seen some horrible collar injuries and did not use them on her cats.

Cat is 11 months old now, never had a collar, comes and goes as she pleases (locked in at night) and has never brought in any animals...she's probably a rubbish hunter though. TBH, I'm not sure what her reaction would be to a collar, utter disgust I imagine

I put collars on all my cats, they are labelled, chipped, and bell wearers. It makes them look owned and cared for. The collar and the chips have Brought them back to me when two of them went on a walkabout.
Also the collars are fluorescent. Cats show up on dark roads that way. None of my 11 cats have ever been harmed by a collar.

Mine wore one. It as they are long haired got terrible matts round their necks. I cut one off and cut her neck. They will never wear one again!

As a previous poster said, you could lead train the cat if you wanted to exercise him outside, buy use a harness or jacket with a lead on a cat, not a collar. I would go for the chip option.

It's a zombie thread...