indoor cats - to collar or not to collar... that is the question :)

[vicki]

My gang are all microchipped and are all house cats but only Hattie wears a collar and this is because she is a great escape artisit and is always looking for ways to get out! And I have a neighbour who feeds all the cats in the area and takes them in her house if they dont have id on! Hattie was once gone a whole night and she was next door the whole time because the lady presumed she was stray!
It must be different in the UK for some reason because we see a lot of collar related injuries, mainly when cats have got a leg stick through it and been unable to get it back out. I have seen horrific injuries, some which heal in time, some which require surgery but this normally never works, amputated limbs and in one horrific case I remember the cat eventually had to be pts after months of surgeries and 3 failed skin grafts, he was a gorgeous stray and never complained once through his ordeal, that was a very sad day he had been with us so long and we were all attachted to him but there was simply no more we could do to save him =(
Our practice does all the RSPCA work too and I would say we see on average 2 collar injuries a month, thats quite a high statistic, I think ID is important if your cat goes out, but microchipping and/or tatooing is a safer option. I must add of all the cats we have delt with with collar injuries, none of them have ever had ID on the collars! So their injuries might as well have been prevented and we couldnt return them to owners at the end *grrrr*

[jenny]

Originally Posted by dinahsmum

The only thing I'd say to you specifically Jenny is to make sure you get one with a very easy 'snap' so it will break off easily. I am seeing a situation with a tenacious breed of cat and a tenacious breed of dog having a wonderful rough and tumble when Indie puts her jaws round the cat's neck and gets a long tooth caught in the collar. What happens next? Both panic, cat scrags, bites, screams, ..... goodness knows what ensues. Or, cat twists and twists to get free and risks strangling itself. Sorry, that sounds just awful but I think it is a significant risk with those two breeds.

never thought of that. thats a good point.
i'll look for an easily snappable one perhaps.

altho the likelyhood of him getting out is probably minimal.
i'll ask his breeder what she does as she may have some advice about this also.

[Kazz]

As another Stafford owner I agree totally with DM on this one, you may recall I posted a similar thread on dogweb the year before where Tee's collar got caught in Sal;s tooth chaos luckily we were there but Tess ended up almost choking - seriously although she was about 1 then she was not able to do anything once the collar was caught in Sal's tooth - Tess had a nose bleed, bloos from her ears and bloodshot eyes Sals a torn gum where the collar rubbed against her mouth, both panic striken we cut the collar from her neck it was so tight due to the incident we could not undo it and it was one of those snap ones.

My point is that was a game that went wrong with someonein the room a mistimed move and all hell broke loose.
Tess was a year old Staff and was almost choked even though we got her free in minutes - if she had been a kitten or cat she would have been dead.
Another point you may find with a collar Indie thinks its great to retrieve the kitten by his collar.


Mine used to wear collars but Oscar lost so many I gave up. Cleo does not wear one now mind you she goes nowhere.

Karen

[jenny]

thanks for that kazz.

indie doesnt wear a collar for a similar reason, nearly choking from getting her collar caught on a gate.

i think i may possibly opt for no collar. oh this is so difficult.

well, i guess we will be taking him out on a harness hopefully so he will be familiar with the immediate area and hopefully not wonder too far if he does get out

[dandysmom]

I'm a great believer in harness training, Jenny...fun for you and the cat also. Good luck, whatever you decide!