# Collar brand opinions?



## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

I seem to have bad luck with break-away collars that have plastic buckles but I'm not a fan of the metal buckles. A while ago, I got a collar for my cat, Ying, and couldn't keep it on her for more than five minutes, so I gave up. I have a collar on my kitten Bear, and he doesn't bother it, but when he's playing with my other kitten, it's constantly popping off. Are there any brands that are a bit sturdier? Obviously I don't want to defeat the purpose of a break-away collar, but with these I may as well not bother with a collar at all. My cat Tugs has a good collar that stays on, but the brand has worn off. 0_o Figures...


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

My sister has two cats which are indoor outdoor cats. They constantly loose their collars. I spend a fortune in collars and tags! The one which stays on the longest is one I buy at my vets. *Tuff Lock*. They are break away. They dont open as easily but do open when needed. 

My sister's neighbor found one of the tuff locks collars high up in her tree where Sookie must of gotten caught on the branch. She returned it to my sister, the bell and tag intact!


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Wow, I looked and they have a lifetime guarantee! :-D Unfortunately they don't come in kitten size, so I'll have to wait til the boys get big enough, but I think I'll get one for stinky Miss Binky now... let her try to get that one off > hahaha


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## scottd (Jun 28, 2011)

Tina doesn't wear a collar. She doesn't go outside and there's little chance of her escaping.

I'm thinking about getting her microchipped but AC doesn't even scan for chips here.


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## LakotaWolf (Aug 10, 2012)

Scott, I always cringe a little when people say their indoor cats have little chance of escaping.

What if a stranger or unfamiliar friend comes to your home and leaves a door slightly ajar?

What if there is a disaster of some kind (e.g., earthquake or fire) and a window or door gets rattled open?

What if someone breaks in?

What if your cat simply gets it into their head to bolt for the door while you're coming inside with a bag of heavy groceries or something?

The point is, not even an indoor cat with the most careful of owner has "little" chance of escaping. There's no excuse not to collar/ID and microchip a cat.

I also don't really see the point of bringing up the subject of your uncollared cat on a thread asking about collar brand opinions, but why not ;p

Now, onto an ACTUAL reply on relevant subject matter!

Minikin, I've been using Rogz brand collars on Win for a couple of years now, and they're fantastic. The thing I like best about them is that their break-away buckle has different "strength" settings, so for kittens, you set the "lock" to the weakest setting. Once kitty grows up, you can switch it to medium. If your kitty gets hulkingly huge, you can set it to the strongest setting.

Rogz | Use it or lose it





 
I've currently got the reflective orange one on Win. I like it because it's a leather-esque texture, and not a cloth/woven texture, so it doesn't get dirty and it doesn't fray.

I've never had her lose a Rogz collar yet!

Also, as a secondary note, if you're looking for a good, lightweight tag, I recommend Lucky Pet tags:

LuckyPet Pet Tags and Pet Stuff!

They're plastic and they velcro straight onto the collar, so your cat won't have a awkward tag hanging down their chest. They're durable - mine have lasted for a few years so far. What I do is velcro the tag onto the collar, and then I _sew _the velcro into place so even if the velcro itself loses its grip/cohesion, my stitches will keep the tag on the collar! :} Theoretically, glue could also work for this, if one is unfamiliar with a needle ;}

I've also used these more conventional tags:

Aluminum Xtra Small Pet ID Tags - $5.99 : Rossi Pet Tags, Pet ID Tags - Dog Tag and Cat Tag - and Tack & Saddle Plates - Custom Engraved

I get the circular-shaped ones. They're REALLY tiny and super lightweight, so they don't bother Win at all. I've got one on her collar right now with the Medical Alert logo with the words "Needs Daily Medication!" so if she gets lost and anyone finds her, they won't be tempted to keep her since she's a high-needs sick kitty ;}


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## rightsaidfed (May 31, 2012)

i've been using a small dog collar on mine only while I'm at home then I put his breakaway collar on. I'm hoping he'll think it's useless to try to get it off since it doesn't come off, but every time I get home I find the collar on the floor.

I'd never leave the dog collar on him when I'm not able to watch him in case of an emergency, but I'm starting to feel hopeless about a collar doing any good since it doesn't stay on. 

I've been trying for about 2 months...


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Wow, that's pretty high tech that it has strength settings! haha cool :-D I am rather awful with a needle but I'm an ace with gorilla glue  It's good to hear about really lightweight small tags, as I don't want one that is going to topple the kittens over


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

LakotaWolf said:


> The point is, not even an indoor cat with the most careful of owner has "little" chance of escaping. There's no excuse not to collar/ID and microchip a cat.


Nice presumptions there. We live in an apartment building. If Io "escapes" she's escaping into a long hallway, and I'm _pretty_ sure she can't work the fire doors to get downstairs. So I can be as reckless as I want to and my cat isn't going to escape and get lost.

(But what if someone else is coming in and she gets through there? But what if someone _else_ is also on the ground floor coming up the stairs and she gets out there? But what if someone _else_ is also coming in the main door? And what if someone _else_ is also coming in the security door? Okay, yes, there is a chance that the universe will align and 5 people have bad timing and no foresight when they see a cat who is dashing towards them. A cat who would rather be petted then run away from people. That's a calculated risk I'm pretty comfortable taking)

So, no she doesn't wear a collar. I'll put her harness on if we're taking her out for whatever reason, but there's no reason to make her wear something like that day-to-day.


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Eh I live in a house, Jacq, so I don't feel safe that way... my cat Tugs is already trying to take every possible opportunity to get outside and manages to sneak out once every couple months... Luckily he generally wanders slowly sniffing everything so I can scoop him up, but I don't want the kittens uncollared if they decide to take up their big brother's bad habits :-/


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

Ah sorry minikin. I didn't mean to imply that collars were a silly choice for everyone, just that it's impossible to have a blanket opinion (like "every cat needs to wear a collar") apply to everyone, or even most people. 

Good luck finding a combo leash/harness/tags/whatev that works for you!


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## BrnTabbyLvr (Sep 22, 2012)

My cat Bodhi has a good collar on that stays put about 95% of the time. It's breakaway but I guess still pretty strong. I don't know the brand, but I think it was Petsmart's house brand "Whisker City" if I had to guess. My kitten has a breakaway collar from Wal Mart and its not as strong of a clasp but I like that because she is always getting into things and I'd rather it be more forgiving than not. Neither of my cats go outside, but I still collar and tag them because I live in a rural area and if they got loose, I doubt anyone would take them to a vet (closest one is 30 minutes away) to be scanned. Another suggestion is that if your cat is microchipped, put that information on the back of the tag with the website address. For instance - on the back of Bodhi's tag I put "Microchip # ********** 24petwatch.com (using 3 lines). That way, people can look up the tag number and see your information and phone number! I used to not collar and tag, but then Bodhi got loose a couple of years ago when my roommate left the sliding glass door cracked just a bit accidentally. He was an indoor/outdoor cat before I adopted him, and he jumped at the chance to go exploring. Thankfully, he came back 2 days later. Anyway, sorry for the long response! Just trying to help.


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## minikin44 (Aug 25, 2012)

Haha BrnTabbyLvr I know exactly what you mean... I suspect that Tugboat used to be allowed outdoors before I got him, because he makes a beeline for the door every time he hears it open. Most of the time we manage to keep him from getting out but he still manages sometimes. I think the collar Bear has is Whisker City and it used to stay on well... until I got a second kitten and now they rip it off wrestling all the time hahaha I think they've worn out the little bump that keeps it hooked together.


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## BrnTabbyLvr (Sep 22, 2012)

Yes! He probably was outdoors or in/out. Bodhi is ALWAYS waiting at the door when I come in. I specifically have to be very mindful of him so he doesn't escape! He about gave me a heart attack and a nervous breakdown when he got out that time.


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## scottd (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm comfortable with the risk I take of not putting a collar on her. We have our house doors and then another door several feet away on the porches. The chance of both doors being open is minimal. She isn't allowed on the porches because that's where my grandparents smoke. Tina doesn't know what to do when she's outside anyways. I take her out on a leash every once in a while and she just sits there or walks around very slowly. She is quite content with looking out windows.

With the minimal risk, I'd rather not put a collar on her that's likely to just get lost if she gets it caught on something or a collar that will choke her if it gets caught. In 8 years, she has never escaped. Even when I lived with my mom and had a 11 year old sister and her friends running in and out.

With that being said if you're comfortable with the risk, I recommend no collar.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I can think of plenty of reasons not to collar a cat, even if it goes outdoors...

I was excited about putting a collar on Blaze and Blacky and went out and bought _three_ breakaway collars (backup!) ... they're so cute, I was accessorizing. I went and got an ID tag for Blacky, too.

I put one on Blaze in the house and he seemed fine with it on. An hour later it was off. We let him out in the yard a little later with it back on and it was sitting in the grass within an hour, and hard to find at that. I can see Blacky would get hers off every day, several times a day, with the places she wanders and squeezes through. The idea that it may hinder her in any way is off-putting. She doesn't go far and doesn't let strangers (or even neighbors...) approach her, so I ditched the whole idea. The idea of losing the ID tag along with the collar seemed insane, replacing them would not be cheap. I was a little worried about the weight of the ID tag and the noise it might create as well, a cat moving silently is important. 

I wouldn't get her to wear a regular collar, either. Cats have been hung from them, had front paws stuck through them (I've seen this) and other bad stuff... there's also the fear the the breakaway collar wouldn't be breakaway enough, and could cause these problems if we went for ones that were "stronger". She's previously worn flea collars in the summer but that was more out of necessity since she's reacted badly to Advantage in the past.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Err, and my edited time was over. I wanted to add that it will also depend on the cat, where it goes, and how much it wants the collar off. If it wants it off, it's going to be off (or hurt that cat as it tries to get it off).

I think it's hard to recommend a brand, they are all made a little differently - not just the types of break away (stretchy elastic, round clasps, safety buckles) but that each and every collar will have slightly different give to it, I found this when testing them in stores.


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