Collars on Cats

This elderly cat came in to us recently wearing a collar that was much too tight.  Her neck was bare where the collar had been fastened round her neck.  It must have been very uncomfortable for her and it wasn’t surprising that her appetite was poor.   Why do people put collars on cats?

It’s certainly not natural, the collars can be dangerous and the cats must hate having a piece of fabric or even worse, plastic, fastened tightly round their neck.  It seems that the first thing some people do when they get a cat or kitten is to rush out and buy a collar.   The theory could be that with a name tag also fastened on (and more weight for the poor cat to carry round her neck) if the cat goes missing she will be found and returned to her owner.   

It’s a nice idea but cats don’t usually stray and if they do they can easily find their way home.   A cat would get back home from almost anywhere within reason, she has a wonderful sense of direction.   So if your cat has disappeared it’s unlikely that she will be lost.   More probable is that she’s been taken by someone who likes the look of her and wants to keep  her.   Or it could be that the fox has had the same idea.   In either case, the collar won’t be any help.   There are a lot of foxes around now that hunting them is banned and they are especially hungry at this time of the year because they have broods of young cubs to feed.   Cat is a popular item on the fox menu although street wise cats can usually evade the hungry vixen, a sweet little house cat or the slow down senior will have little chance.

If your cat has been taken far away and then dumped, the identification tag would be a help but does this ever happen?   Anyone taking a cat usually wants to keep it.   The best way of ensuring that if your cat is lost he or she will be brought back to you, is to have her microchipped.   It’s foolproof identification – the vet will do it quickly and easily and then there will be no reason to tie anything round your cat’s neck.

Collars for dogs are more necessary, we attach a lead when we take them out for a walk.   Again microchipping is the best way of identification, the metal disc on the collar can easily get lost.   We take all collars off when a dog is in the house or in the kennels.   A dog who we are familiar with can be walked on a soft slip lead if he is microchipped.    Dog collars don’t tend to be fastened on too tight though.   Our canine chum would complain bitterly if that was so.

Cats are more long suffering and tend to go into a depressed and miserable state if they are in discomfort or pain.   They do not have so many ways to communicate what is wrong as does the dog.    Not eating is the first sign of the ‘tight collar syndrome’.    One cat that came to stay with us had a diet sheet of tempting items – chopped prawns, pate, fine minced chicken.  The cat was thin and obviously miserable.   The owner was worried about leaving him.    He was a long haired cat and when I did the collar check I didn’t at first notice anything.   Seeing the poor cat gulp when he tried to eat prompted a further investigation.   The collar was embedded in the cats skin under the fur.   I had to cut hair and bathe and soften the skin to get it off.   I thought the cat’s head was going to fall off with it – the relief felt was obvious to see.  By the time the owner returned he was eating normally and putting weight on.   Apparently she’d been given the cat as an adult and not realised there was a collar under all that fur.   It was so small it looked as though it had been put on as a kitten and forgotten.  Because of the collar there had been years of suffering for that poor cat. 

 The promotion and sale of collars for cats is big money like all pet products and great for the businesses who make them.   Is the manufacture of cat collars an environmentally sound thing to do?   I don’t think so.   Cats don’t need them.   People buy them because they are hooked on shopping and consumerism and like to browse and choose – pink or blue?   Diamante?   Or sequins?    What does the cat think to this?   It’s nothing that she wants and a terrible waste of the earth’s rescources to make something so unecessary – factory, then transport to shops, display sell, wear and throw it away.

The biggest problem we have with collars is that they get put on and then, like the poor cat shown above, they are forgotten.   The cat might put on weight and the collar gets too tight.   Yes, it’s hard to believe that this can happen but it does.   Sometimes the collar has been on so long it is buried in the fur.   The first thing we do when any cats come in is to check for a collar and if there is one, take it off right away.   When we’ve been told the cat is a poor eater, it’s great to see the appetite return when the tight collar has been removed.  

We keep animals as pets, it’s for our benefit not theirs.   Let’s make sure we give them as natural a life and as much freedom as possible.   Would you like a piece of plastic and a tag and a bell and sometimes a magnet, fastened tightly round your neck?   No, and neither does the cat.