cat collars and bells cruel?

[srrh]

I have two cats, and one wears a collar with a bell. Reason being that Fiona is blind, and Lolly is young and feisty, so we want Fiona to be able to hear Lolly when she's sneaking up on her.

If not for Fiona's blindness, neither would have collars or bells.

 

[glitterstick]

i have 3 cats, all of which are strictly indoor cats and only go outside on a lead and supervised. all 3 of my cats have different personalities. my oldest does not wear a collar, in fact, refuses to wear a collar of any kind, but loves his harness for going outside. my 2 younger cats both wear collars that i make for them using hemp. my collars are safe for my cats because they are big enough to slip over their heads, and thus if my kitties were to get caught on anything, could easily escape their collars and avoid injury. my collars are strickly for dressing up my cats. my 2 youngest cats love collars and will even put them on themselves if i hold them out for them. both my younger cats also wear bells. they don't mind them at all, and they don't hinder their sneaking and stealth abilities whatsoever. as a matter of fact, if your concerned about your cat being upset that their prey will hear them coming, think again. cats are very adaptable, and in no time your belled kittie will be stalking around not making a single tinkle sound. i primarily started having my kittens wear bells so i could keep an ear on them to make sure they say out of trouble, or don't get lost in my living space. but as they got older, the bells just kinda stuck. not to mention, my 2 girls are very shy, and sometimes they sneak up on me when they don't have their collars on and i end up stepping on someones tail or walking into them. having my cats wear bells lets me know where they are so their safer from accidental injury due to just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

really when it comes to bells it all about prefrences and your environment. i like to know where my cats are at all times, and my cats like to make sure i know they're coming... lol

my cats bells have no effect on my cats temperment, attitude, or well-being. they're happy just like kitties that don't wear bells.

 

[bellaandme]

Bella wears a collar with a little bell. She is deaf and can't hear me calling her(not that she would respond if she could hear me). Anyway the bell lets me know where she is most of the time .It doesn't bother her cuz she can't hear it and it doesn't bother me either.

 

[3catsn1dog]

I dont use collars or collars with bells on any of mine. Ive probably spent about 50-60 bucks in two years buying collars of different styles, sizes and textures to see if any of them would wear them. All three especially Hercules gets them off and then hides them from me. I actually found most of them back in the closet under clothes and under the couch. I tried the collar with a bell and it just irritated the heck out of me and I cut the bell off after about an hour of listening to it. Thankfully mine have a double guard to keep them inside. If they slip out of the front door then they are stopped by the sliding door. They are however allowed on the front porch for as long as they like to watch birds and talk to outside cat. Thats enough to make us all happy, Im not worrying about them getting hit or eaten by a ground hog and they can get outside and pretend to be jungle cats.

 

[suri]

When I get my new kitten he will being wearing a collar with tags and a bell.
I want to know where hes at, at all times. It would be horrible If he some
how escaped and got lost who knows what could happen! I wouldn't
mind the sound of the bell its really not that loud and I'm sure he'll
get use to it too. I'm only using it for his safety.

 

[otto]

I am completely against collars with bells for cats.

Cats have extremely sensitive hearing, and those bells jingling with every move must drive them crazy. I suppose they "get used to it" but why should they have to?

I vote take the bells OFF!

 

[puddle_duck]

my personal view on collars is its pretty barbaric! when i first got my kitty it did cross my mind about getting one until my friend found his cat hanging from a tree where his collar had caught on a branch and hed obviously tried to jump and strangled himself! how sad!

getting them chipped is so much safer.

 

[shedevil]

i agree.chipping is much better and safer than a collar with or without a bell.

 

[knh+cuttie4ever]

well i have a cat that lives indoors with a collar an bell on an she will wear it till the day we move out of the apartment cuz there are some big holes in the walls an in the cupboards an even if we cover them she stills manage to get in the walls an its nice to hear her so we know where she is @ and i think collars an bells are NOT curel in no shap or form... now if i was to hit her now that is very curel an bells an collars ARE NOT... an i leave a collar on her to show she belongs to someone cuz she trys to get out now an then.

i think if people want to put collars an bells on there cats they can its not up to others to pick for them!

 

[twobananaz]

our cats are both micro-chipped, but also have collars with the jingle bells on them. I personally find it reassuring to hear the jingle when I call a cat's name, it lets me know they're still in the house. I'm paranoid, so when I call their names and don't hear that sound, I can be almost positive that they got locked in a cupboard, or in a room (only happened a few times, but still a scary thought). we adopted both of our cats as adults that they act like they've had collars on their whole lives. their collars have the jingle bells, their microchip tag, and an ID tag as well. they don't seem to mind, and can stalk well enough to keep the bell silent when they want to.

 

[lauren_miller]

All three of my cats have collars. Two of them have bells on them. The two with bells have bells on them because they torture Pandora and she needs to know where they are. Hurley and Lilly (with bells) do not mind their bells. I tend to think they like being jingly. Lilly always prances when she has her collar on and she gets pissed when you take it off. It's very much apart of her.

Pandora didn't like the bell (this was before the evil kitten came into our lives, lol) and I cut it off immediately.

I believe collars are helpful if a cat gets outside then the neighbors know it belongs to someone. Although microchips are even better. Mine have never gotten out but you just never know what they are gonna do.

Edited to add ~ The collars that mine wear are break-away collars. They will come off if they get stuck on something. My cats are also microchipped.

 

[cosabella]

My cat is almost 10 years old and he's never worn a collar. He's microchipped. For most of his life, he's been indoor-only. Only last summer was he allowed to explore the walled-in backyard/jungle with me following behind. He's older now and has no interest in escaping.

I just don't think it's necessary for an indoor-only cat to wear collars, let alone with bells (for the reason otto has given), unless you have a cat (s) that is prone to escaping. Collars to me are like chains around their necks. It's added weight and obstructs the growth of the fur around the neck.

 

[taryn]

Nuts always has a collar on and it does have a bell. He is indoor only but sometimes he wants to go outside to say hi to the ferals and if he were to take off I know he'll end up back with me due to the collar and tags.

I have a second very important and lifesaving reason why Nuts always has his collar and ID tags on. Nuts is FeLV+ and he will be euthanized if tested if he were to end up at a shelter or rescue but with the tags I will be contacted and can get him before anything goes wrong and he ends up dead.

I like the bell because I can tell who is in the kitchen or hallway, etc by listening(and it also makes it harder for me to step on him. I iwsh I could put a bell on Dexter's collar as he is always under foot and getting stepped on or accidentally kicked or accidentally kneed.) Ironically enough a 12.5 lb cat running sounds the same as a 25 lb dog so if I hear a bell I know it's the cat if I hear just tags I know Dexter is exploring and if I hear both I know the dog is chasing the cat

Nuts ignores it, Dexter ignores it, Paul ignores it and I ignore it unless I want to hear it. Paul lives right across the street from railroad track and a crossing, which is obviously loud, the trailer literally shakes when a train comes through and you have to pause the TV because you can't hear it over the trains whistling at the crossing, so a little bell isn't going to annoy me and except for maybe the first 5 mins I put it on Nuts it hasn't bothered him either.

Animals adapt, no one reacts when a train rattles through and that is LOUD, even the feral ignore it and they are outside. If they can ignore that I highly doubt a little bell is going to bother Nuts in the least, and he can be perfectly silent when he wants to.

Taryn

 

[jalindal]

Mackerel had a bell on her collar- I live next to a lake with lots of wildlife and rare birds, and I had to take steps to make sure she didn't kill anything as it wasn't feasible to keep her inside at that point in time.

She was microchipped, though, and her collars were always either very stretchy or quick release so that if she fell from a tree she wouldn't be strangled. She lost one collar like that- I'm so glad that she left the collar behind and came home- I'd definitely recommend the quick-release kind.

 

[c1atsite]

Originally Posted by otto

I am completely against collars with bells for cats.

Cats have extremely sensitive hearing, and those bells jingling with every move must drive them crazy. I suppose they "get used to it" but why should they have to?

I vote take the bells OFF!

i vote for no bells too, although penny and daisy have always been collar-free and bell-free. in fact, with the many cats in my extended family spanning more than 3 decades, i can barely remember 1 kitty ever having a collar of any kind. bells i don't remember at all ...i think a non-belled collar was tried on 1 kitty but wasn't a success. collars and bells aren't found in nature. just my opinion.

 

[tigganat]

My cat doesn't wear a bell, he only wears his collar with the address and last name on it, I don't know much about bells, since i've never seen a cat wearing one.

 

[my4llma]

Lynxx's

collar we always kept the bell on. He didn't mind the collar, or the bell. He even showed off every time we got him a new collar. If the bell bothered him, we'd have cut it off. I liked the bell, because I knew where he was.

Luna we cut the bells off the collars. The bells drive her crazy. She hated the collar at first but now doesn't mind it. She'll wear them. The problem is Midnight always pulls her collar off of her.

Midnight hates wearing a collar. Even cutting the bell off so it won't annoy him, he still hates it.

 

[feline22]

Im sorry you feel this way. But cats are a domesticated animal,they dont live in the wild,

 

[paws4life]

My 4 are indoors only and sometimes they wear collars. The Fiance and I have different views. I like them and he doesn't. They also have tags but no Bells. If my cats went outside there would be a safety collar, tag and bell.

 

[ritz]

My friend is a cat lover and has had many cats throughout her life. She is also blind (adult onset). All her cats wore/wear collars with bells on them with no problem. Her cats are/were adult age cats adopted from the local SPCA so they may or may not had worn collars before.
Other than that, I think it depends on the cat. I would be very cautious, concerned that the collar not catch on anything, especially outdoors (barbed wire comes to mind).
Ritz would absolutely not tolerate it. I fostered another cat who lived outdoors; he would not wear a collar (I thought about walking him--he really wanted outside.)