To Bell Or Not To Bell?

[Paris Pluto]

Hi cat lovers!

I'm sure this topic has been discussed in the past but I would like some fresh opinions on this. My cat Jiggy is an indoor/outdoor cat and she has occasionally brought mice and a frog once as gifts at the door step.

She has a collar with a pet ID tag as well as a bell and I've read somewhere that the bell is somewhat cruel as the cat can never escape the bell noise as they move. It sure as hell would be annoying for me!

She has never caught any birds and I think it comes down to the bell as well as her lack of ability to catch birds perfectly due to her young age.

So my question is; do I keep the bell on Jiggy or should I remove it. My common sense is telling me to keep it on as she is an indoor/outdoor cat and without a bell, I'm sure she may have more chance of devestating our native wildlife.

I would love your opinions on this.

Also, keeping her indoors only is not an option. She loves the outdoors and uses the bathroom outside.

Thank youuu

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm not going to comment on the "devastating wildlife" issue because I personally don't believe it, plus we humans are far more to blame for loss of wildlife.

You could move your kitty inside with unfertilized potting soil in the litterbox as a transition to all indoor living. You could hang bird feeders outside windows, have screens on the windows so you can open them when the weather's nice for your cat to watch and enjoy the smells, train your kitty to walk in a harness, have only supervised time in your backyard like I do with my boy, build a catio, and there are lots of ways to enrich the indoors including with MusicForCats . com.

With all that said, the main thing I want to mention is that if it isn't, the collar needs to be a breakaway type.

 

[verna davies]

I am not a lover of bells or collars. Bells because the constant noise can cause stress to the cat and collars because cats can get them caught on branches and other things, can not get free and could chock themselves or starve to death. Do you have your cat microchipped ?

 

[Paris Pluto]

I am not a lover of bells or collars. Bells because the constant noise can cause stress to the cat and collars because cats can get them caught on branches and other things, can not get free and could chock themselves or starve to death. Do you have your cat microchipped ?

Yes she is microchipped and registered.

 

[verna davies]

I know we dont want them to catch and kill the wildlife but if she is microchipped then the collar isnt really necessary. Please make sure that it is a breakaway buckle so if she gets caught on something she can get free.

 

[Totsy]

Wow, I had never heard that collar bells can cause stress to cats.

I Googled and I found a 12-page thread on The Cat Site discussing the subject.

cat collars and bells cruel?

My own indoor-only, microchipped cats wear breakaway collars with extra bells on them. I just took off the Easter Bunny bells and put on soccer ball bells. We love the pretty tinkling the boys make when they move around, and we feel better knowing where the kitties are in the house. I don't think my cats are stressed out by the bells. When Artie's collar comes off (I know not how) he will sit next to it, waiting patiently for me to put it back on. Neither cat puts up any fuss when I take the collars off and replace them daily for neck brushing.

I will give the stressed-cat theory of bells more thought, because the bells seem to benefit only the humans in the house, but so far I'm on Team Bell.

Totsy

 

[Furballsmom]

When Artie's collar comes off (I know not how) he will sit next to it, waiting patiently for me to put it back on

.

 

[Ardina]

The only time I put a bell on Saipha was when she had a senior cat housemate. He was a little deaf, so the bell helped him be aware of where Saipha (a naughty little kitten who liked to sneak up on him) was at all times. I don't have collars or bells on either of my cats now (both are indoor only and microchipped) because they get irritated by it and manage to keep squirming out of them.

 

[verna davies]

Here's an article that you might find interesting.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-cruel-to-attach-a-bell-to-a-cat’s-collar

 

[Jem]

We don't do bells. We would never get any peace in the house! Our two males are loud enough on their own between the trills, meowing, running and chasing and clumsily jumping and playing with their toys...and our sweet timid female needs to be able to sneak quietly if she feels the need.
One of our kitties loves to play with toys that have bells in them, so I would hesitate putting a bell on any of my cats for that reason alone. I imagine ambush attacks 24/7. He NEVER stops wanting to play.

 

[She's a witch]

Did you notice if she really minds the bell, does it bother her from what you can tell?
Given that you live in Australia, it may be a good idea to keep it on, I'd worry about the local ecosystem too. But well, if it were me, I'd be afraid to let my cats out in your part of the world, I'd worry too much that some spiders or other creepy creatures that live there would swallow my cat alive

 

[Totsy]

Well, I've gone down a few rabbit holes on this topic and have come to the same conclusion I have for everything cat. Bell or no bell all comes down to your particular cat and its particular circumstances. Why am I not surprised?

Two things I read gave me pause.

Bells don't harm cats' hearing but can in some cases alert predators to the cat's presence. If I had an outdoor cat I would definitely bear that in mind.

Bells also alert rats and mice to the cat's presence. Hooboy, but I guess nobody puts a bell on the barn cat anyway.

I'm leaving my cats' bells on but now that I've read more I'm happy to have a better understanding why people wouldn't put one on their cat.

 

[Spookyandsammy]

Spooky has a break away collar and I call it the bell of doom because it's good to know where she is indoors. I don't step on her

 

[Kflowers]

T Totsy did you read the article in V verna davies 's post? There seems to be a good bit of evidence that bells on collars not only hurt the cat's hearing but have a bad affect on their personalities. ALSO, evidence shows they don't really decimate the wildlife. Like Furballsmom , I have my own opinion for that rumor and the jump on the band wagon screaming of it - sort of an excuse to kill cats, or traps people's cats and send them to shelters where they will be killed.

BTW - if you send a cat to a shelter knowing there is a good chance that cat will be euthanized, in my opinion you might as well have killed the cat yourself. You are not to be praised for saving them cat, at best you can claim you gave it a better death than being run over on the road or shot by a cat hater. That's it.

 

[Suru]

I'm an aussie living in the USA. in the US I could care less whether people put bells on their cats.

BUT, in Australia the loss of native species is such an intense issue that I don't think people in Australia should even let their cats outside, and therefore am strongly for bells for *all* outdoor cats there. Yes, your cat may be a little annoyed by the sound, but she will adapt, and you will be happier knowing that she isn't contributing to the decimation of Australia's native species.

and a little FYI for those who are not aware, culling of feral cats is a big thing in Australia.
The native animals in Australia never had a natural predator such as a cats who are so adept at hunting prey. Evolution-wise native species have not adapted to such dangers and as a result, are faced with extinction due to cat predation.

 

[Kflowers]

good luck on getting rid of the mice and the rabbits and the dingos and the sheep and the cattle and the horses.