Collar questions

[thembcat]

Chacho already has a collar but due to the issues we've had with it we have to go get him a new one.

The issue that we've been having have been Chacho constantly taking off his collar. Its one of those safety collars that just pretty much pull off and to try to stop him taking it off, we've tightened it up as tight as I feel comfortable with, I've taken his tag (which had an incorrect name on it anyways) and the bell that was on it because I had seen him using both to pull his collar off. Well that helped for like a day before he figured out that he can use his back feet to either take it off or create just enough slack for him to get his jaw around it to pull it off. I don't know how he can still manage to get his mouth around the collar because its pretty tight.

Anyways, we decided to get a non-safety collar for him but I have some concerns. Since Chacho can pretty much get his lower jaw under his collar when its really tight, I'm worried that if we get a collar that doesn't pop off easily then he could really hurt himself. If I'm home or awake it wouldn't be a big deal because I can keep an eye on him but I'm concerned about when I'm asleep or at work.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[mrblanche]

Is there a reason for his having a collar?

I don't put a collar on an indoor cat, unless he's a door dasher. I've come home to find them tangled up, one foot caught in it, a jaw caught in it, too many times to be comfortable with them.

 

[cat person]

Two of my cats have collars and two do not.

The two completely indoor cats do have collars on them. The only way I have managed to keep collars on them is to put non-breakaway collars on them.

Now having said that it took them WEEKS to get used to the collars. When I take the collars off them for forty eight hours to apply monthly flea medication, then put the collars back on them they both scratch, claw, and bite the collar till they "get used to the collar" again.

With the collars I am using, I have never had any issues with them getting suck on anything in my home or the cat itself.

 

[melesine]

I'm having similar problems with collar loss. I'm convinced they have learned to get them off, even though I've never caught them in the act. One of my babies lost his collar 3x the other day. They are both indoors, but one has a history of being a door dasher and we just moved out of state and there are coyotes. Tightening it hasn't worked.

 

[thembcat]

Chacho hasn't tried to run yet but I swear he's thinking about it. I likes to get a little too close to the door when I come home or go to leave. I've started feeding his dinner later at night when I'm about to leave for work just so he's not hovering around to door. I want him to have a collar on just in case he ever does bolt.

 

[kittehtime]

Getting stuck in the collar/hanging themselves is really scary.

I've been using a beastie band and a boomerang tag and Merlin is fine with it. He hasn't hung himself or gotten caught in it. He's a cautious cat as it is tho, so I don't know if hanging himself is really a concern...

He is a strictly indoor cat, but we travel and I am always concerned someone will leave a door open or something.

It didn't take him 5 minutes to get used to his collar.

I think maybe i'm lucky.

 

[thembcat]

I could probably do without a collar on him but Matt demands that Chacho has a collar with a bell on because its the only way he can keep an on him. Chacho likes to get into trouble on Matt's watch so the bell helps Matt know when Chacho's in somewhere he shouldn't be. I still worry about him bolting out the door one day but for now he's just curious. I talked Matt into waiting to put Chacho's collar on till Tuesday morning because that's that start of my days off and I'll be able to watch him to make sure he doesn't get hung up or anything.

 

[Draco]

I also got Beastie Band collar for Monet. He used to pull off the break-aways often too. The beastie bands is stretchy, extremely light and velcro shut (glows in the dark too.. some of them)

I don't think he notices it on him anymore since its very light. I like that it's stretchy, that way if he does get hung on something, he can slip his head through easily

 

[nekochan]

I've noticed that some breakaway collars break away more easily than others. When I had ones from Ragtime Collars my cats were always losing their collars around the house. I switched to other types but still with breakaway buckles, and now I don't usually have a problem but if the collar really does get stuck or something it will still break apart.
I also use Beastie Bands for some of my cats.