cat collars and bells cruel?

[Asteria]

Originally Posted by carolinalima

You made no enemies here, but we will tell you the truth instead of just agreeing to everything you do... I am sure you are not a bad person, but perhaps if you tried the collar on your own, you would realize that is NOT the lesser of the evils. I have thought my cats to be confined within a yard, with no collars, and no fences - it can be done... the difference is that you would need to be there with them, giving them supervised outside time. Also... if your cat is wearing a collar for an invisible fence, and a coyote, or a dog goes into that area... What happens then? Your cat can not scape, while the dog or the coyote can... I wonder how safe that is?

I agree with you completely, and the point in bold is a VERY good point.

It could be anything, a loose dog, another cat, a snake, a coyote, fox, etc. It keeps your cat from going out, but not from other animals getting in.

 

[venusgirltrap]

My cat has a quick release collar with her name and my phone # on the actual collar. She used to have a tag with her chip #, but she would use the tag to yank the collar off.

Even though she is an indoor only cat I have her in a collar because she is a little escape artist and if (God forbid) she ever got out and I couldn't find her I hope that someone would find her with the collar and call me.

 

[artgecko]

Responding to the original topic....

I use breakaway collars with small bells on my three cats. I have address / phone # tags on them as well, but they are the boomerang tags that are flat and slid onto the collar (don't hang down). I have had the collars break off several times, so I know they will break if needed, so won't strangle the cats. I do not think it is cruel to them, as they seem to mostly not notice them...except when they just started wearing them.. sorta like women learning to wear bras as girls...you dislike it at first, then after becoming habituated to it, you don't notice it anymore. My cats are inside btw, if that makes a difference.

Art

 

[mismaris777]

All my cats wear collars with ID tags on. The tag says their name, my phone number, and says "microchip ID" too so people know to look for it (2 of my 3 are microchipped, I should really get Mia microchipped too). I took the bells off of their collars, because I think if it's annoying for me, it must be 10x more annoying to them!

I also make sure that the collars are made specifically for cats, so they can slip off in an emergent situation

 

[ebrillblaiddes]

About shock training (Invisible Fence or manually), I'm OK with it for safety concerns only. For example, it could be used to teach cats to stay away from the family car so that they won't be behind it when someone backs up. I'm not exactly a fan of it, but I would rather be temporarily hurt than dead, so I can see why someone could reasonably make the same choice for their cat.

 

[blessedvegan]

I use the breakaway collars on my cats too so that they couldn't end up strangled..but I have a question, what about the dog? My dog is a greyhound and has to wear a martingale collar so he can't slip out of it, do they make martingales with the breakaway feature?

 

[nurseangel]

No collars or bells. Speck and Daisy are indoor cats. Marshmallow walks on a leash because he expects to go outside for a few minutes each day. But when he's in the house, he wears his birthday suit only!

 

[misskalamata]

Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes

I would rather be temporarily hurt than dead.

My thoughts exactly.

The second cat I want to put on the Invisible Fence currently roams the neighborhood freely at night. He's gotten into fights and once badly injured his paw. He wouldn't do well as an inside cat, and I would rather he be on Invisible Fence during the day than roaming free at night. Of course, he is really my mother's cat (as is the cat on the Fence), and it is ultimately up to her. So far my attempts to persuade her have fallen on deaf ears.

Browneyes, I'm surprised to hear that others use Invisible Fence for their cats. I'm glad it works for your aunt's cats.

I think I'll retire from this debate now....I understand people's reasons for disagreeing with me, and that's fine.


I forgot to mention in my first post that my indoor only cats don't wear collars. I see no need to force them to.

 

[cattoys]

I dont think that i'ts cruel but i dont think also that there should be bells on it... Like you said... it's irritating when you hear it constantly.

 

[booktigger]

My two dont currently wear collars as they dont leave the house - I must get one for the one that isn't chipped though, as she has gone outside of her own accord once this year. The two long term fosters both go out and wear collars with bells, the male will pick fights, so at least the other cat has a warning, and the female will stalk the male in the house, so at least i know where she is when she goes into stalk mode. The male is chipped, but doesnt' currently wear a tag as he lost his collar when he got chipped and I Wasn't going to replace it, but changed my mind a couple of weeks ago. Neither cat seem bothered by the bell, even though Kizzy is a highly strung cat.

 

[ebrillblaiddes]

I save the word "cruel" for things that are done to intentionally cause harm. Things that accidentally cause harm are "unfortunate," "thoughtless," or "stupid" depending on the obviousness level. Things that don't cause harm but the cat doesn't like it are "annoying."

I would categorize collar bells as "annoying" at worst, as long as they're breakaway so the cat won't get caught on something and strangled...and I think we should save the word "cruel" for actual sick and wrong stuff, not dilute it with trivial things, so that people will keep having a strong reaction to the word when a strong reaction is needed.

 

[allmycats]

My kitten wears a collar with bell when I am home. When she was smaller, it was to keep from stepping on her. Now it is mainly to know where she is and to help prevent door escapes. The collar comes off when no one is home or at bedtime. No need for it on then. Bells are not cruel...to me that notion is just silly! In this time of vast animal rights legislation I think we have to be very careful with what we call cruel and also with our language and what we accept as the norm. I am not a parent, I am an owner. My cats and dogs are my pets, not my "animal companions"..I am also not their guardian. Just because I own them doesn't mean I don't love them every bit as much as if they were truly family members. They are treated like family members in that their health and care and well being are just as important as ours. Welfare NOT rights! I am not willing to help legislate pets out of existence. Let's be reasonable here. My cats have always had bells on their collars; also agree tags are just as jingly.

 

[rosiemac]

Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes

About shock training . I'm not exactly a fan of it, but I would rather be temporarily hurt than dead .

Theres an easier method?. Keep them indoors

 

[ebrillblaiddes]

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Theres an easier method?. Keep them indoors

That's what I do with my current two. Some cats, though, feel the outdoors calling them too much.

Chilsa

would run out and make me catch him at the old apartment, where it wasn't safe for him to be outdoors; when we got here, where it was reasonably safe, I let him go back to being indoor/outdoor. I'm pretty sure that's how he was raised.

Squirrel and Panther, because I got them to be indoor-only at an early age, don't miss the outdoors, but for some cats, being indoor-only negatively effects their quality of life, so if it can be made safe, they should be able to go out.

 

[nekomania]

I prefer to have a collar on my cat, although he is microchipped, because a lot of people like to pick up cats that they think are strays.

Your average joe doesn't take a cat to the shelter or vetrinarians to have them scanned for a microchip before "adopting" your pet.

A collar with my name, address, and phone number is more likely to catch a potential cat thief's attention.

 

[ebrillblaiddes]

Originally Posted by Nekomania

A collar with my name, address, and phone number is more likely to catch a potential cat thief's attention.

When I put collars on mine (for moving--in case they got out along the way--and also on

Chilsa

for when he went out), I went with the cat's name, my phone number, and "reward." My address wouldn't fit and I wasn't sure I wanted just anyone to have it anyway.

 

[nekomania]

Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes

When I put collars on mine (for moving--in case they got out along the way--and also on

Chilsa

for when he went out), I went with the cat's name, my phone number, and "reward." My address wouldn't fit and I wasn't sure I wanted just anyone to have it anyway.

This is a good point. I don't think I'd want just anyone having my address either. I'll have to think of this next time I make him a new collar.

I guess it's okay since there's not much of a chance of my cat escaping and anyone seeing the tags. There's always a posibility though.

 

[ckblv]

I adopted Mercedes from the Humane Society and one of their few stipulations was, no declawing, no letting her roam outside and keep a collar and tags on her.

All three of those are easy as I would never declaw, don't believe in letting my cat outside and the collar IS a good idea, just in the remote chance she got out.

I am very blessed, she will look out the window but has shown, absolutely,
no inclination, at all, to go outside. It is amazing.

It is a break-away collar, the Humane Society gave it to me even. She is also chipped to the Humane Society.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by ckblv

I adopted Mercedes from the Humane Society and one of their few stipulations was, no declawing, no letting her roam outside and keep a collar and tags on her.

All three of those are easy as I would never declaw, don't believe in letting my cat outside and the collar IS a good idea, just in the remote chance she got out.

I am very blessed, she will look out the window but has shown, absolutely,
no inclination, at all, to go outside. It is amazing.

It is a break-away collar, the Humane Society gave it to me even. She is also chipped to the Humane Society.

I confess I do not wear a collar on Bijou although he is microchipped. He has lost at least 3 collars and tags when John was letting him outside so I just got tired of buying collars and having new tags made up. Now he stays indoors and not a worry as to him running out when the door opens thank goodness.

To get back to the original post, I don't think a collar and bell are cruel but I do think a shock collar is beyond cruel.

BTW, Mercedes is a lovely girl!

 

[-_aj_-]

both my cats have collars with bells on, and in all honesty you only hear the bells jingling when they want you to her them, flash hunts the flies in the flat and its not often you hear the bell jingle so i do not think at all that its cruel, and both flash and sooty are indoor cats

the bells have never bothered flash or sooty. sooty only recently got his first collar id say about a month ago and im being honest here he has never bothered even trying to take it off or scratch at it and hes roughly 11 months old.

i dont see any difference to a bell being on a collar or a tag.