Collars - quick poll

[goldpendant]

To put one on kitten or not as he starts to go outdoors?

He is microchipped, neutered, all vaccines and spot on up to date etc.

So, collars, yes or no?

I don't put a collar on mine as she doesn't like it. However, my cat only goes out in the night when it's dark and quiet. She's more of a garden cat. As yours is a kitten maybe a good idea with a tag just in case until she gets use to venturing. I wouldn't leave it on all the time as I imagine it's uncomfortable.

I wouldn’t because of the choke risk. Even snap release can harm them.

Absolutely pointless with mine. They remove them as soon as they get outside.

No, don't want them getting caught on something and injuring themselves.

I don't like them due to risk of injury or worse.

I would not our next door neighbour did and I had to recuse her cat who had it stuck in her mouth and around her neck, thankfully I could help but what if I not been there?

Rescue

I buy ones that come apart [by Ancol] if they catch on anything. Also reflective so the cats can be seen at night.

I have one cat that can remove a collar in seconds but my other cat was quite chilled about wearing one. The point about having reflective strips is a very good one at this time of the year.

No. Risk of injury too high.

Magic doesn't have one as she's long haired and it caused knots when she wore one. cheddar does wear one as she's practically invisible in the dark and impossible to spot if she escapes.

No due to risk of injury.
My cats are microchipped so worst case scenario they could be scanned and identified.
They don't look like stray/feral cats as they are well fed and looked after.
If I suspected someone was feeding them I might put a quick release collar saying DO NOT FEED ME for a bit but only long enough to make the point!

Collars with quick release mechanisn on both of ours with tags that say 'I am chipped please scan me'. Ensure people know they have a home and are chipped if they wander which has happened.

We felt it was better to have a collar on our kittens when we started letting them out, so they looked like they had a home. We put them on when they were quite small so they are used to them. They come off quite easily (have had to replace several times) and are soft velvet ribbon type construction. If they had tried to take them off we would have abandoned the idea (they are chipped).

No - a choking risk. And all of our cats always managed to get theirs off!

I did try when he was a kitten but he wouldn’t keep it on. But he’s chipped and fat looks well fed so no one would ever mistake him for a stray

No.

Adult DS found a young cat terribly injured with one leg through its collar on his doorstep a while back, he took it to the vet but it died.

The rescue told us to put one on our cat when we started letting him out because he looked like a stray at that point. He managed to ditch it the minute he got outside every single time so we gave up. We only have one neighbour though who know him now and we aren't close to a road, plus he doesn't venture very far.

No. Even snap off safety collars are a risk. I've seen injuries caused by them . Also people tend to ignore cats that appear to be hungry or in distress for much longer if they are wearing a collar as they assume they have owners and aren't lost or whatever.

The microchip is all you need.

No, never.
Ditto pps that quick release can still cause injury. And particularly on a kitten/ small cat because it won't break as easily, or even at all.

For me it's the risk of injury or death versus the possibility that if they get lost somebody notices the cat that's been hanging around has a frayed collar, the id tag doesn't come off, and that the same person can only be bothered to call the number on the tag

Anyone genuinely concerned would check the microchip anyway.

Yes, ours have always had collars - quick release ones with mobile phone number on a tag. I've sometimes had calls from people quite a distance away saying "your cat is in our garden, is he/she lost?"

The cats are microchipped too, but non-animal owners don't usually know about microchips IME. Also, even if you do know about them, you would have to take the cat to a vet, which a lot of people might not bother to do - ringing a mobile number is easier.

No mine dont have one

Absolutely No to collars on cats. They are unnecessary and potentially dangerous.

Thanks everyone- I don't think we'll bother!

I have three cats I got three collars one was off as soon as it was on him (three seconds is his record) one lasted a bit longer but his brother kept removing it the third stayed on for a bit but finally his brother got it off him 🤷‍♀️ they are all black cats you cant tell the difference till you look closely the collars helped tell the difference!