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- Jun 24, 2020
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So I tried to get all three of my cats to wear collars so they could use an RFID-enabled smart feeder, allowing me to keep the overweight cats on a restricted diet while my other cat can continue to have free access to food as he is used to.
Two of my cats are ~10 months and they took to the collars just fine - they wear them with no trouble.
My seven-year-old cat Reggie, though, is a different story. The first time I tried to put a collar on him a few days ago it was a little too loose, and he did end up in a legitimately scary situation - he managed to slip the collar under his chin, but got it caught inside his mouth. It took me several minutes to free him as he panicked and hid. I'm not sure if he ever wore a collar with any of his previous owners, or if that was his first experience with one.
I tried again today (with the collar not quite as loose, but still I could easily fit two fingers into the collar), and while he initially seemed okay, he then started to sprint around the house and then began hiding. He went and hid under the bed for a bit and even pooped under the bed rather than come out to use the litter box. I took the collar off him (he had it on for maybe 2 hours) and he's spent the whole rest of the evening hiding under a bed, albeit a different one.
I certainly didn't expect him to react this badly to having a collar. Any thoughts on whether I should continue to try, or would that just traumatize him worse? Is this sort of thing at all normal?
Two of my cats are ~10 months and they took to the collars just fine - they wear them with no trouble.
My seven-year-old cat Reggie, though, is a different story. The first time I tried to put a collar on him a few days ago it was a little too loose, and he did end up in a legitimately scary situation - he managed to slip the collar under his chin, but got it caught inside his mouth. It took me several minutes to free him as he panicked and hid. I'm not sure if he ever wore a collar with any of his previous owners, or if that was his first experience with one.
I tried again today (with the collar not quite as loose, but still I could easily fit two fingers into the collar), and while he initially seemed okay, he then started to sprint around the house and then began hiding. He went and hid under the bed for a bit and even pooped under the bed rather than come out to use the litter box. I took the collar off him (he had it on for maybe 2 hours) and he's spent the whole rest of the evening hiding under a bed, albeit a different one.
I certainly didn't expect him to react this badly to having a collar. Any thoughts on whether I should continue to try, or would that just traumatize him worse? Is this sort of thing at all normal?