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Cooper

Cat Collars? Breakaway vs Safety Stretch

My cats currently wear breakaway collars, I live in an apartment building and the chance of them getting out is slim to none. I will be moving to Florida soon and want to make sure they are all wearing good collars just in case. I have always worried about the collars, what if they do get outside and someone finds them and instinctively goes to grab the cat by the collar, collar breaks away and kitty gets away.

I have heard of these safety stretch collars which have a proper closure but stretch enough for the cat to get away if it gets caught on something. I would think if someone went to grab the cat, this is less likely to come off their necks. I am also in the process of getting them all microchipped but I really want them wearing collars as well.

Let me know your experience with these products. Thank you!!!


Asked by Cooper on Jan 22nd 2011 Tagged collar, collars, breakawaycollar, safetystretchcollar in Pet Products
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Allie

I wouldn't think that anybody who would care enough to try to help the kitty would be likely to grab a collar. (like one might for a dog) Knowing cats, I wouldn't reach for a cat's head and expect them not to run. My cats used to wear breakaway collars but they kept getting them off or getting a paw or their teeth caught up in them trying to get them off. I have long haired cats so it really just messed up their fur. But when mine did wear them, I used a Sharpie to write my phone number inside so that if they were found, the people would find me. I would stick with the breakaway if they are ok with them now. It is a great idea to have them wear collars in addition to microchipping. My friend recently rescued a cat from outside and after paying over $300 for vet care I was shocked to hear that not only did she fail to ask them to scan for a chip, but the vet did not suggest it. This cat was already spayed so clearly she had belonged to somebody.


Allie answered on 1/23/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Izadore (Izzie)

If it were me, rather than relying on a collar (my late, sweet Ernie lost about 20 collar/tag sets when he was outside), I would have my cats chipped. In extreme cases, you can have their ears tattooed or have the inside of their thigh tattooted to let people know they have a micro-chip. Most vets WILL scan for a micro-chip. The vet Allie spoke about should be soundly thrashed for not checking!


Izadore (Izzie) answered on 1/23/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Guest

I found stretch to be the better option
I have two mainly outside cats in a neighborhood that tends to have lots of ferals about. one of my neighbors called animal control a number of times and one of my girls was caught in the cat trap so i got them both breakaways. trouble is i have a cat who is too smart and figured if she stuck her front paw up under it and pushed down hard enough she could break it off. when i switched to stretchy, her's has stayed on fine but the other cat lost hers somewhere in the bushes.


Member 1022555 answered on 2/9/11. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


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