# Help! He hates his collar!



## MP2011 (Jul 17, 2011)

With the one cat missing [http://www.catforum.com/forum/37-behavior/145550-where-did-he-go.html], I have decided to get collars for the other two kitties. I have heard that cats can become strangled by their collars, so I opted for the break-away type. The problem is - Snoopy, our partial Ocelot mix, _does not_ want his collar on! He bites at it, growls at it, and finally gets one of his paws latched onto it enough that he successfully snaps it off by himself!

If I tighten it, it will be too tight and loosening it (to see if it annoyed him less) just made it easier for him to remove. 

I purchased tags that slide on (as opposed to hang down their neck) and I really would like them to have that visible ID, especially since their brother is missing and they are now trying to always sneak out. Any suggestions? (Only one vet in town uses micro-chipping technologies, so it seems pointless to have it done right now).


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## its.alice (Jun 15, 2011)

I suggest getting a different collar for your Ocelot (do you mean Ocicat?) mix, purely for the fact that he is thwarting the point of the collar. And collars have to be like harnesses, you let them see it won't hurt them, give them time to adjust to it, make them wear it only a few minutes in the beginnning, and then work your way up from there. 

I would work especially hard to make sure they don't sneak out. Get a spray bottle if they stand at the door when you are trying to get out, or if they try to bolt out. Have a bottle at each door, that way you can repel them without them getting hurt.


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## Valentine's Heart (Mar 18, 2011)

The first time I put a collar on mine, they had a fit. You might try putting it on for a time and then removing it. Put it on tight enough that he can't get it off. Increase the time. Eventually mine got used to it and don't notice they have it on. But Dante has a real fashion sense. If he doesn't like the collar of one of the other cats, he grabs it with his teeth until it releases. When I replaced the collar with a different type, he was OK with it and didn't bother it. He definitely has his preferences!


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## MP2011 (Jul 17, 2011)

I have recently been in touch with Karen Payne, editor of MEOW and cat behaviorist (Karen Payne | LinkedIn) regarding my missing kitty. She has graciously offered to also help with the escape-artists. I did try the water, at my brother's suggestion, and Snoopy looked at me with such shock that it killed me. I know, I know, it is for his own good, but still... oii! (He actually jumps in the shower with me - the water does not seem to phase him so much as the spray bottle being MY decision and not his).

Snoopy came from a "farm" in east Texas originally (at the time we were moving from Austin to Ohio)... apparently the wild ocelots in the area had bred with his farm cats over different generations. Some of his cats were abnormally large and I was issued a "warning" about his probable lineage when we adopted him. I just take it in stride, so regardless of what he may/may not have in him, even his wild streak is simply perfect.  

If I were to purchase a traditional collar for him, is there a possibility that he could choke himself with it? Someone told me a horror story and I am simply paranoid now!

I will definitely try introducing it slowly from now on!


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## its.alice (Jun 15, 2011)

Dear, there's a possibility that I could die from tripping over my own feet. It's just something that you need to do. More people are going to notice a loose cat if he's got a collar on, I learned that the hard way when my cat got out without his collar, otherwise they'll just think he's a stray. There is less chance of him strangling himself with the collar than there is of him getting out at this point. It's safer to know he's got a collar that he can't rip off himself.


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## morse (May 15, 2011)

A different style of breakaway collar has an elastic ring on the collar that is designed to stretch so he can get out if caught, but not break. My roommate's cat at work has one, and has gotten caught and gotten out okay. Its something like this:

Cat Poppies Snag-proof Collar Cat Supplies - GregRobert


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## MP2011 (Jul 17, 2011)

O, thank you! Thank you! A stretching collar is the perfect solution!! 

Apologies for my paranoia, I am a first time "kitty mommy" - still learning and little frantic at times. Why, o why, do people tell all their horror stories? 

Ordering the collars right now!


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