Cat Collar

blueangel479

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Hey is it ok to put a collar on a kitten with a bell? Does it make them go crazy? How loose should it be? Thanks.
 

princess purr

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some people don't like collars at all but others do. The collar should fit snug, not too tight, but you do not want them to be able to get it stuck in there mouth or get there paw in it so it gets caught around there leg. You also have to make sure that it is a safe collar, You want something that will give if the kitty gets caught on something. My guys have been wearing collars off and on since they where around 5 weeks old. Not all cats will except collars, and some brands of collars are easier to get cats to wear then others.
 

talon

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My kitties all have collars with bells, and name tags. I only get the safte-cat kind - the kind that will "break" if a cat gets caught on something. Don't worry, they snap back together. I usually use the 2 finger rule , if I can easily get to fingers between their collar and the neck I am happy. If I can get more, then it is too loose.
 

creepyowl

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The day I got Em I put a flea collar on him. He didn't care one bit about it. Then I got him a blue collar that was SUPER too big for him so he went a long time without a collar on. Now he wears this cute black collar with white mice and cheese on it. It has a bell and a silver mouse shaped name tag. He doesn't seem to care at all. I take it off every now and then and give him neck scratches and keep it off for a night. When I go to put it back on he stretches his neck out for me to clip it on. Its a safe cat collar so if he got stuck somewhere it would snap off. It totally depends on the cat. My friend has 2 cats. One will wear a collar the other won't. Gotta try and see what the kitten thinks of it. I personally like having one on Em just in case he gets outside or something.
 

misscharlotte

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I've been told collars are only for dogs by some people, but I bought a collar for my cat anyway. I bought an adjustable break-away collar with reflective paws prints and bell on it. I swear my cat can walk and stalk without making the bell ring. Other times, I hear her trott through my apartment and hear the bell ring as it was intended. Eventhough I have an indoors only cat, I bought the collar so if she gets out #1) people know she belongs to someone, #2) the collar is reflective at night and people can see her, #3) I have the collar to grab onto if I need to do so, and #4) I can hear her whereabouts in my apartment so I'm less liekly to step on her if she darts in front of me on the way to my kitchen!!
 

chelle

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you have to start them on collars when they're little otherwise
they won't wear them
 

tulip2454

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All my kitties wore collars from babies (they were/are in and out cats) until i got Dirt! He just refuses to wear a collar at all.
I have come home and found him wearing like a sash and other times he has got his mouth caught up in it! - that was a bit scary. So i gave up on the collar and thought it was shame that the others had to wear theirs when he didnt so i took theirs off too. My little old tulip has a completely bare patch round her neck where her collar was. She has not worn a collar now for over 2 years and the fur still hasnt grown back - maybe I should write her name and phone number on the bare patch instead
 

cla517

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My two kitties do not wear collars now.

I had a cat years ago named Jake who was an indoor/outdoor kitty who loved to kill birds and present us with them. We got him a collar with a bell so that the birds would fly away when they heard the bell. This worked for about a week, then Jake started bringing birds in again. We couldn't figure this out until we watched him one day.

Jake had figured out the bell! We watched him put his chin to his chest and take the bell in his mouth. He would stalk the bird like that. Just as he was ready to pounce, he let go of the bell. As the bird started to fly off because it heard the bell, he landed on top of it! It was an amazing thing to watch. Obviously, we took the collar off him, as it was of no use!
 

melissa

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My kitty's don't wear collars. I tried putting a break-away one on Onyx and he went nuts. I took it off and have never tried again.

I have heard the 'two finger' rule is best, though.
 

hell603

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Every safety collar I have ever tried Loki had off in 2 minutes flat.

So I gave up - I planning on having him micro chipped during his next Vet visit.
 

jeeperscat

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I've tried twice with Jeepers and she keeps getting them half off, stuck on her head. I followed the instructions right, I've put collars on Axl all his life with no problem but until she's bigger I won't try again. She was small for her age when we got her and I think I'll wait for her to catch up. It's not worth the distress it's causing her at the moment. I'll be getting her chipped though.
 

superkitty

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cla517 Cheryl, that was a hilarious story! Wow, what a smart little boy.

Mine do not have collars anymore. I bought several different sets, and they showed great teamwork together chewing/pulling the collars off.

As for the bells, it drove ME nuts, let alone the poor guys, so I ripped all the bells off the sets I had bought. Mine are all indoor, though.

They are all microchipped, but I wanted something outwardly showing they were pets, not strays, if something happened, and someone other than animal control picked them up.
 

purr

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What's this microchip thing? If my cat got lost would I be able to find him using that?

I decided not to put a collar on him b/c I didn't want to irritate his skin. So I've been worried about him getting out. I was thinking it'd be cool if they could put a chip in him like they do animals on Animal Planet.
I didn't know they could!

Does it only work in big cities? I live in a small town.
 

lovemypets

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I have just a flea & tick collar on Mozart. We can get ticks pretty bad where I live. (fleas don't seem to be a concern) I did consider buying him a harness and leash, somewhat for use when I take him to the vet or have to travel with him. (That way I could let him out of his carrier to go potty without him running off.) I like the idea of a harness, better than a regular collar. I wouldn't want to pull my cat around by the neck and the leverage would be better. I just haven't bought one, yet. (They have some at PetSmart, but I couldn't match the harness and size leash in the color I wanted.)

But, you can go fairly snug on a cat, since so much neck is just fur. If you don't they'll have it off right away.
 

lovemypets

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About the microchip... your vet can do that for you. It is usually insert by a syringe. The chip is coded to a database that will identify the cat as yours. Many animal shelters now scan animals when they come in, to check for the chip to identify the owner. I believe most microchip databases are nationwide, so the size of your town doesn't matter.

I heard a story about a pet who was lost/ran off, ended up with another owner and was lost again. If I remember correctly, when the animal surfaced later on, both owners tried to claim the pet, but the owner who had microchiped the pet was the one who got the cat back. (I don't remember if it was the 1st or 2nd owner.) The other advantage would be if an animal was hard to identify from similar cats, the chip would be definite.
 

lorie d.

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If Snowball's collar isn't made out of genuine leather, he won't tolerate wearing it.
When he was a kitten he did wear a nylon collar for a while, but he kept scratching at it like it was irritating his skin or something.
 
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