How to get my cat to wear a collar?

[sunshine girl]

I have a sweet 2 year old cat who has never worn a collar. I moved to a new home and am now paranoid about her getting out... She's not all that interested in leaving, but you never know what might happen. I worry.

Tried to get her to wear a collar once but she hated it and spent hours contorting her head to try and get at it and somehow remove it. I felt horrible watching this... And listening to her sad meowing (she's Siamese... Vocal!)!!

Does anyone have tips about getting a cat "used" to wearing a collar? Or recommendations on collar brands? I hate to put a collar on her but would be crushed if she got out and didn't have ID. She is microchipped, but still!

Thank you!

 

[Cinderella94]

We have 2 cats. The first one never had a collar, so we didn't even think of getting her one when we adopted her. A couple years later, we adopted the second one. He came with a collar on so we just left it. One night, we came home (the whole family was out all day) and (it's very hard to describe this without you seeing it) he had his collar basically squeezing his abdomen, with his two front legs in front of it. Poor baby! We still have no idea how it happened. It's not like the collar was loose enough for him to just start walking out of it on his own. But that was the end of the collar.

 

[MomofKatie]

I don't really have any suggestions- our 3 are all OK with wearing collars. If she is indoor only, and you've had her chipped, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Maybe put the collar on for a short time and give her treats and praise the whole time. Increase "collar time" by a bit each day until she is used to it. Ours all wear the escape-able ones made of colored fabric webbing material. We also took off the bell that came on them- 2 of the cats didn't like the sound of them.

Good luck- we have 2 Siamese, and know how talkative they can be!!

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Mine is Siamese and she definitely has a lot to say! I don't know about the collar thing really, mine has always worn one with a name tag and jingle bell. Of course she was very young when I got her so she has always been used to wearing jewelry.

 

[sunshine girl]

We have 2 cats. The first one never had a collar, so we didn't even think of getting her one when we adopted her. A couple years later, we adopted the second one. He came with a collar on so we just left it. One night, we came home (the whole family was out all day) and (it's very hard to describe this without you seeing it) he had his collar basically squeezing his abdomen, with his two front legs in front of it. Poor baby! We still have no idea how it happened. It's not like the collar was loose enough for him to just start walking out of it on his own. But that was the end of the collar.

YIKES!! Ok, that's something to think about. Eeeek. Poor thing!

 

[Cinderella94]

YIKES!! Ok, that's something to think about. Eeeek. Poor thing!

I'm sure it isn't terribly common. But he never wants to go out anyway, and since yours doesn't either, I wouldn't worry about collaring them too much. Whenever we open the doors to come in from the outside, we just have our feet ready to block any kitties that may be trying to escape (our older one is very determined to see what's out there!)

 

[Deb & Bill]

You either need a breakaway collar or a stretchy collar so your cat doesn't choke herself or catch it on something.

 

[sunshine girl]

I don't really have any suggestions- our 3 are all OK with wearing collars. If she is indoor only, and you've had her chipped, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Maybe put the collar on for a short time and give her treats and praise the whole time. Increase "collar time" by a bit each day until she is used to it. Ours all wear the escape-able ones made of colored fabric webbing material. We also took off the bell that came on them- 2 of the cats didn't like the sound of them.

Good luck- we have 2 Siamese, and know how talkative they can be!!

The escape/breakaway collar is definitely a good plan. I think increasing collar time daily makes sense. Thank you! I don't know if the collar will fly, but I'm forcing myself to think it through.

 

[sunshine girl]

I'm sure it isn't terribly common. But he never wants to go out anyway, and since yours doesn't either, I wouldn't worry about collaring them too much. Whenever we open the doors to come in from the outside, we just have our feet ready to block any kitties that may be trying to escape (our older one is very determined to see what's out there!)

I'm excellent at "blocking" too! My parents, though... They're less careful and sometimes come over when I'm not home... they're not so quick to police the doorways. Kitty escaped ONCE from my old home (got way too excited about some wildlife and busted thru a screen!) and it was totally traumatic for me... Couldn't find her for several hours. She probably had a blast chasing squirrels while I was in a panic!!! Haha.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

You either need a breakaway collar or a stretchy collar so your cat doesn't choke herself or catch it on something.

Please use this type! Back in the day of flea collars our cat almost hung himself in a tree when he got a branch between him and the collar.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Not a fan of collars on cats. They are little Houdini's. Use the breakaway if you are going to let them wear one.

 

[torinsmom]

Has your cat been microchipped? Mine all are and they don't wear collars. Of course, they have it so good, I don't think they're going anywhere

 

[FredinFL]

If your cat doesn't dig the neck bling, there is little to nothing you can do to make her wear one. My cat would come back with the collar missing all the time, then one day, he came back with it around his waist. That was it, done. No collar. I did have him chipped tho...now if I could only find someone that would do the kids.

 

[sunshine girl]

Has your cat been microchipped? Mine all are and they don't wear collars. Of course, they have it so good, I don't think they're going anywhere

Yeah, she is microchipped. She's pretty attached to me and she seems to be happy (she is a purr factory), so I would hope she wouldn't just take off without wanting to return... plus, she is very pampered! She meows and I come running. It's pathetic!

If your cat doesn't dig the neck bling, there is little to nothing you can do to make her wear one. My cat would come back with the collar missing all the time, then one day, he came back with it around his waist. That was it, done. No collar. I did have him chipped tho...now if I could only find someone that would do the kids.

Ugh, I don't like the idea of a collar incident like that. But if she did get out, it seems she might be returned to me faster if she had a collar with my phone number on it. Though honestly I don't think anyone could catch her in order to read the collar... ! (btw, she does have claws so could technically defend herself, but I'm more worried about her getting hit by a car...).

Anyway! This is helpful. Thanks for your thoughts everyone!

 

[MichelleVW]

Good luck. My two boy cats have never worn collars. They freak out and run around the house like crazy cats trying to get them off! It's pretty comical and good for some entertainment, but we gave up years ago trying to make them wear collars. But both of my girl cats that we adopted as adult strays wear their collars with no problem. Maybe they just want to be pretty IDK? The girls have bells on their collars and it's cute to hear them run around the house, but they really don't serve a purpose since they don't have id tags on them.

 

[FredinFL]

We briefly tried the breakways after the collar to belt incident, went thru 3 collars in 6 days. Apparently nobody puts Baby in a collar.

 

[sunshine girl]

We briefly tried the breakways after the collar to belt incident, went thru 3 collars in 6 days. Apparently nobody puts Baby in a collar.

HA!!!! Classic.

 

[TinkTock]

Have you considered getting a chip put in instead of using a collar? Then if the cat gets out and lost, anyone who finds the cat could take it to any vet or shelter and they will notify you.

 

[disneyismyname]

Whats funny is that my cat wore her breakaway collar since I brought her home as a kitten. Then when my sister had to get rid of her cat (who never wore a collar) due to allergies, I took the little guy in. So I decided to get them two cute little collars....my sister's cat, within 2 hours, had used the bottom part of his mouth to get the collar off and got it stuck in his mouth! So I had to take if off. Now my cat (who has had many collar changes) must of took notice because no more that a couple hours after that...she did the same thing!! Now BOTH of them won't wear a collar and my cat does try to sneak outside from time to time. Its very frustrating!

 

[shortbun]

OP, why collar a cat? They get out of them as fast as you can get another one on them. Get them chipped and don't let them out. Kitties can get really hurt with collars. If they are trying to escape a predator once outside and the collar gets hung up, breakaway or not...the cat is in trouble. Just keep them in.