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dogs and cats

Indoor/Outdoor Cat - Breakaway collar?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 2 weeks ago

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Hi All,
I am probably going to be adopting a couple 10 week old kittens who are currently indoor cats. I plan to allow mine access to both inside and outside. When I was a kid, I was told to never put a collar on an outdoor cat as it could get caught on things and the cat could be injured or die. Nowadays people are suggesting the breakaway collars so there is still owner information on the collar, but it is breakaway if they get stuck.

Has anyone used the breakaway collar? Like them? Don't like them?

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John F Dean

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posted 2 weeks ago

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Great topic. My thoughts are how much do these things cost, and how many will be lost each year?

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Timothy Norton

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When I had cats, they had breakaway collars. I never had an experience where they showed up without their collar. I think in an ideal setting for myself, I wouldn't have anything hanging off of it but rather have the pertinent information written/embroidered on the collar material itself.

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Matt McSpadden

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John F Dean wrote:Great topic. My thoughts are how much do these things cost, and how many will be lost each year?

I am seeing them for sale for anywhere from $3 to $12. And some you can get custom embroidered like Timothy suggested.

Anne Miller

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Why do you want them to wear collars?

The only reason I would want my cat to wear a collar is if I wanted to train her to take walks on a leash.

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Timothy Norton

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Anne Miller wrote:Why do you want them to wear collars?

A short funny story, I have a coworker who just got a new apartment. Very quickly, a cat has just appeared on his porch and has started to give affection to my coworker all the time. Soon enough, this cat has just helped himself into my coworkers home so the coworker has adopted him. The cat didn't have any collar, no markings to indicate that he is owned by someone, and did not appear to be fixed. A few weeks later, there are signs posted up in the neighborhood looking for a missing cat. My coworker's new cat. Turns out this cat HAS a home, but the cat apparently REALLY likes my coworker. Between my coworker and the original owner, the cat now has two homes he goes between. What a spoiled animal! I think a collar may help people tell a stray from an already kept cat.

Tereza Okava

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I thought I responded yesterday, guess it got lost somewhere....

my mother always used them on her cats. Never lost one (cat or collar).
Nowadays I think it's more common to chip the cats and assume that someone will bring a lost cat to a vet for a chip reader.

I've often seen cats with collars so they can wear a bell, to give the birds a chance (in places where birds needed protecting from cats). I don't know if that's a factor for you.

Matt McSpadden

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Anne Miller wrote:Why do you want them to wear collars?

The only reason I would want my cat to wear a collar is if I wanted to train her to take walks on a leash.

I would prefer cats without collars, but as was mentioned, it would help identify the cat and get it back to me, if it was ever lost... as long as the collar had my info on it.

Robert Ray

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We put them on the cats so birds and chipmunks would hear them. Mixed results as far as saving them. They would occasionally come home without them and we would find them in the yard with no reason apparent for them coming off.

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Anne Miller

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Thanks, Timothy and Matt I understand now.

Our cat is age four now and doesn't have a problem coming home for food three times a day.

As Robert suggested a bell would be a good idea.

We no longer get to enjoy the birds at the water bowl.

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D Nikolls

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My last cat wore a breakaway collar from about age 8, when he became an indoor/outdoor cat. He broke it off a maybe once a year, I would guess.

He also wore a gps tracker for much of that time, so usually the collar was retrievable.

He was quite reliable about coming home at dark, and on 2 of the occasions that he was very late, he came back without his collar, which I would guess implies that the breakaway function was necessary. On one occasion I found the collar clearly well snagged in brush.

Whether a collar is useful is another question.. I figured the reflector might save him if on the road, and the gps obviously needed a collar. For anti-birding purposes I have read that bells do not really help, but oversized brightly colored collars can, while the reverse applies for rodents.. so next time no bell.

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Matt McSpadden

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Well, I still have not made a decision on the collars, but I did make a decision on the cats, and I will be keeping them indoors this winter until they have settled and grown up a bit before letting them outside some in the spring. So I have several months to think it over.

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures. They are settling in well.

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Fawkes Rosen

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posted 1 week ago

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Breakaway collars do work. I've had them tested two ways. The first way, I woke up one morning and my cat was collarless. Eventually I found the collar caught on a nail next to the cat tree. Cat was fine so the collar did its job then. The other time, my nieces were visiting and one of the cats' collars "fell off". My guess is she tried to grab him by it. Moral of the story is the breakaway clasps do their jobs.

Gray Henon

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Just curious if anyone has found a cat trapped by it’s collar?

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