Are collars that bad?

[lololulu]

My 5 year old female hasn't worn one for 3 years. She's more timid and stays near our house.

Our 1 year old male goes out far and loves being out. He hasn't worn a collar before. He's started to bring home mice, baby birds and he even left a magpie on my bed. The poor things.

I need to stop this. Is the only way to do this putting a collar and bell on him?

I've read even the safety ones aren't ok and I know I couldn't open one once so I'm not sure they are all that safe.

I'm not sure he will take to it. Any tips?

I feel bad enough about these poor animals so please don't have a go.

Thank you xx

I won't put one on my cat.. three years ago l saw a cat hanged in a tree by it's collar.
😪

I'd manage the time he goes out rather than put a collar on him and avoid dawn and dusk, most cats grow out of bringing it home in a year or two.

You can get fancy catflaps that won't let them in with a catch.

I'm still haunted by the memory, 45 years ago, of finding our cat completely trapped by his collar in a dense Bush. He'd been missing for 2 days and was horribly distressed. I shudder to think how long he'd been struggling there.

I’ve read that cats which wear a collar with a bell often end up becoming better hunters than they would without as they learn to be extra stealthy to catch their prey so as not to set off the bell, so you might find a collar makes things worse!

I would make sure that he isn’t going outside hungry and that you are playing chase and catch games either your cat before he goes outside (eg: feathers on wands, rolling a small ball, wand toys etc) as this will satisfy his prey drive and make him less likely to want to hunt afterwards.

Our cats both wear collars. The safety release thing works as they often come home without them!

I wouldn't chance it. I've heard horror stories (as per some of the posters above). I'm not even sure it reduces their hunting capacity enough to warrant the possible danger. Most cats do grow out of such prolific hunting after while. I do know how distressing it is though.

My lad nearly had to have his front leg amputated following an caught collar injury. They saved the leg, but kept him in the rescue for nearly six months before it healed properly. He has a huge scar going right under his arm pit and I don’t think the hair will ever grow back. Years back before I realised what hazards they can be another cat had his paw stuck, luckily he managed to get home so I could cut it off before he was permanently damaged. Stopped using collars from then on. Hate them.

Always hated collars on cats. Even the 'choke-hazard-free' ones aren't 100% safe. Never had one on my cats. They're chipped, and have never got lost anyway. (Always had female cats, and they rarely wander more than 100 yards away from the house.)

Bells won't stop hunting, so it's a pointless risk.

Keeping cats in at dawn and dusk is a reasonably effective way of reducing kills.

Please don't put a collar on him for all the reasons given. Bells won't stop the hunting and catching things.

Cats will hunt and I understand it's distressing for you but it's in their nature. It would be best to keep him in at dusk and dawn to prevent it as that is the prime time for them to hunt.

I refuse to risk putting a collar on my cat.

Collars are so dangerous - they also don't stop them hunting so it's not even as though it's a risk worth taking in that respect.

If you don't want him bringing stuff in, lock the window or cat flap and make him wait to be let inside. And keep him in at dawn and dusk.

Agree with others. I will never put collars on any of mine after one of my boys years ago got his front leg caught in it whilst trying to remove it. His injury was horrific.
Mine r all chipped.
Let them hunt. It's natural.

I can't keep him in as he has a car flap and he loves being outside.

I ordered two collars just before I posted this 🤦‍♀️

Unanimous no then.

My
cat wears a collar when she goes out, it has a tracker on so we can see where she is. The safety release thing definitely works as she comes home without it sometimes. The modern ones have a weight setting which I think makes them better than they were?

Please think of the baby birds on the spring and try the collar.

But it will still be dangerous in the spring?

I stopped putting collars on my cat on the advice of the vet.

She had a puncture injury under her arm from a branch and when the vet saw it he said had he thought on the phone it must've been a collar injury and he had been dreading me bringing her in as it's common to have to put cats to sleep with armpit collar injuries as they often never heal properly.

He said they are often a deep slice injury right under the armpit and they just can't keep them immobile for long enough to not keep splitting it back open and getting infected, and to never put a collar on my cat.

I wouldn’t put a collar on my girl, not with all the horror stories.

See above for what happened to my boy. How they kept him still enough for it to heal I don’t know, he never stops!

TMI Warning!!!!!

I just hate seeing the mice on the back step or the guts he sicks up in the kitchen 🤮🤮

My first cat wasn't this bad.

My 'old lady' of 15yrs still brings in mice, usually half a mouse by the time we find it.

Both my girls have collars, one rarely goes out but she is ridiculously skinny (she is very old) so the collar helps locals know she is owned and not a stray.

The other cat is a menace and brings home a variety of still alive toys to torment me with. The bell has zero effect and the quick release absolutely works as she comes home without it at least once a week.

I won't buy the ones with the elastic stretch (bob Marton flea type ones) I always get the ones with a catchbl similar to that on a safety lanyard as they snap loose at the very slightest tug.

A collar won't make any difference OP - cats are hunters. We have three but only one brings us gifts.