Hello everyone,
(I am sorry, I know this post is way too long!)
So my 2 cats were able to get out of my apartment a few weeks ago. My boyfriend went out to smoke on the balcony and didn't close the door properly when he came in, obviously that was not his intention at all, but it still happened!
Needless to say, when I went in the kitchen and saw the door open I went into an immediate panic attack. They are my babies. (You know that age when all your friends are pregnant and you're like: I am feeling completely fulfilled with my cats? That's where I am right now, lol!) We searched quickly and then realized they must have go outside. My apartment is on the ground floor but the balcony is a little less than 2 meters from the ground. Also, the balcony gives on a Shopper's Drugmarket parking. Thankfully, it was 1am so it was completely empty. The cats were less than 15 meters away, crouched close to a bush (and like 20 meters near a really busy street, even at 1am), looked very scared and were stuck to each other like glue. We found them in less than 5 minutes but they were the longest minutes of my life. My boyfriend felt so guilty. He still does. We also noticed that the door is really hard to close completely, you have to push on it heavily around the knob for it to latch properly.
I am a very anxious person and I worry easily. Since that night, I've been thinking daily about "what if they go outside again"? Because if they jump down the balcony, they won't be able to come back. My friend's cat (who is microchipped and wears a collar) has been missing for 6 months now and she is sure someone just took her cat. My 2 cats are microchipped, however, I can't help but to think that if someone brings them to a vet clinic saying it's their own cats, the vet won't check for the chip. Is this paranoia? Do you believe in people's good will to bring a lost cat to a vet/shelter to verify if they are microchipped?
I tried to put a breakaway collar on my cats. Happy deals with it well but when they fight he often ends up losing the collar. I also put the microchip I.D. and his rabies tab on it today but he was able to stuck his bottom tooth in the ring and couldn't close his mouth. So I removed the tags only 2 hours after attaching them to the collar
Meeko just... can't stand it. At all. He ends up doing a crazy cat dance, and would probably rip off the collar in 10 minutes. Maybe his collar was too tight (I was able to put two fingers in it) but he didn't let me try to put it on him again. He loves to sleep with his head hanging down, he always has his throat on the brink of the chair/cat tree and the collar is probably really annoying him.
How long should I try to have him get used to a collar? I'm pretty sure he'd never be able to wear a tag on it, too...
I guess I just need some reassurance because this has been haunting me, I wish there was an easy solution. I know they sell GPS collars but.. that's still a collar. For the time being, I check the balcony door every time I go in the kitchen, even when it's locked. I don't want to lose my furbabies...
P.S. I read about the Beastie Band collars, it looks like a good brand but I don't know if I can get them to Canada without paying crazy shipping fees (Amazon.ca was showing a collar at $80.00..!?!?!)
(I am sorry, I know this post is way too long!)
So my 2 cats were able to get out of my apartment a few weeks ago. My boyfriend went out to smoke on the balcony and didn't close the door properly when he came in, obviously that was not his intention at all, but it still happened!
Needless to say, when I went in the kitchen and saw the door open I went into an immediate panic attack. They are my babies. (You know that age when all your friends are pregnant and you're like: I am feeling completely fulfilled with my cats? That's where I am right now, lol!) We searched quickly and then realized they must have go outside. My apartment is on the ground floor but the balcony is a little less than 2 meters from the ground. Also, the balcony gives on a Shopper's Drugmarket parking. Thankfully, it was 1am so it was completely empty. The cats were less than 15 meters away, crouched close to a bush (and like 20 meters near a really busy street, even at 1am), looked very scared and were stuck to each other like glue. We found them in less than 5 minutes but they were the longest minutes of my life. My boyfriend felt so guilty. He still does. We also noticed that the door is really hard to close completely, you have to push on it heavily around the knob for it to latch properly.
I am a very anxious person and I worry easily. Since that night, I've been thinking daily about "what if they go outside again"? Because if they jump down the balcony, they won't be able to come back. My friend's cat (who is microchipped and wears a collar) has been missing for 6 months now and she is sure someone just took her cat. My 2 cats are microchipped, however, I can't help but to think that if someone brings them to a vet clinic saying it's their own cats, the vet won't check for the chip. Is this paranoia? Do you believe in people's good will to bring a lost cat to a vet/shelter to verify if they are microchipped?
I tried to put a breakaway collar on my cats. Happy deals with it well but when they fight he often ends up losing the collar. I also put the microchip I.D. and his rabies tab on it today but he was able to stuck his bottom tooth in the ring and couldn't close his mouth. So I removed the tags only 2 hours after attaching them to the collar
Meeko just... can't stand it. At all. He ends up doing a crazy cat dance, and would probably rip off the collar in 10 minutes. Maybe his collar was too tight (I was able to put two fingers in it) but he didn't let me try to put it on him again. He loves to sleep with his head hanging down, he always has his throat on the brink of the chair/cat tree and the collar is probably really annoying him.
How long should I try to have him get used to a collar? I'm pretty sure he'd never be able to wear a tag on it, too...
I guess I just need some reassurance because this has been haunting me, I wish there was an easy solution. I know they sell GPS collars but.. that's still a collar. For the time being, I check the balcony door every time I go in the kitchen, even when it's locked. I don't want to lose my furbabies...
P.S. I read about the Beastie Band collars, it looks like a good brand but I don't know if I can get them to Canada without paying crazy shipping fees (Amazon.ca was showing a collar at $80.00..!?!?!)
