Cat Dopers: Good Break-Away Collar?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Help me out, catfolk: I have a young, small spaz cat, Annie - does kitty parkour all over the house ;). She’s nearly hung herself a couple of times, so I got her a Safe Cat breakaway collar - has a male-female connector made of black plastic that pulls free if enough of a tug is applied.

Well, in the past week she’s had it on, she’s had it *off *a bunch of times - to the point where the connectors have loosened and now it comes off if you look at it funny.

Any recommendations for a different brand of breakaway collar that can handle a spaz cat?

#2

I feel ya… my cat figured out early on that vigorous licking could free him from a safety buckle collar with ridiculous ease.

I finally tried one that was elasticized along the whole length (it looks like the usual woven nylon but is very stretchy) and that seemed to work, they have enough give that a the cat can easily pull his head loose if he gets snagged but don’t come off otherwise.

#3

My solution has been microchip and no collar. I think it’s worth it, since the collar coming off if one of them gets out would become useless anyway.

#4

You know, I was totally considering that - I guess the assumption is that if you find a lost kitty, there is a standard process where they check for a microchip?

Thanks. Oh, and urt? Yeah, we had an elasticized collar on her in the first place an that is what got stretched out and tangled up - she was wrestling (in a good way) with our other cat; he had her collar and she was stretching to twist out of it and got tangled up - yes, she stretched it that much. She’s such a spaz.

#5

Same, for the same reasons, plus I never liked the perma-mat mark around their neck from regularly wearing a collar.

I believe all the animal shelters around here (Chicago) check for a microchip as a matter of course with any new arrivals these days. When I found my kitty 10 years ago, I had the vet check for one while she was checking him over healthwise. An individual who finds your cat may not think to have it checked, but at the same time, if she broke out of her collar and has NO chip, you’re not getting her back anyway.

I don’t think microchips are all that expensive these days, either. The big thing is to remember to change your contact information with the microchip company if you move (pretty easy to forget in the shuffle of changing your address with everyone else).

#6

Let me know when you find one.

Our indoor/outdoor cat roams and loses at least one safety collar per month.
I suppose that tells us that her life outside is constant peril, so I won’t get her a solid collar.

She knows where she lives, so I don’t see her getting lost or catnapped, but I do want anyone who comes across her to know she has an owner and home already, and just leave her be! Plus, maybe the bell will save a few birds…

#7

Heh. Kitties possess many of the skills necessary for parkour, but none of the stamina. If an obstacle is too challenging, they just go around it.

Oh, and Dopers with cats are not necessarily Cat Dopers, unless Mittens is getting tranqed out regularly. :wink:

#8

We use the Safe Cat kind from Petco, and yes, that is the one our ball of fur is wearing :slight_smile: He also has a matching harness and leash for outside time. It doesn’t come off when he’s rough-housing, and requires a good tug on it to do so. The only time he’s ever been able to get out of it was when he was stuck under a dresser, and the collar was caught on a piece of wood. He panicked and kinda freaked out, and it released. Which to me is ideally what it should do.

ETA: Those bells are also super easy to remove too. We knew we’d lose our minds if we left it on.

#9

Yep - that’s what I’ve had on Annie that she weakened in a few days. Now it won’t stay on if she scratches her neck…

#10

D’oh! :smack: Sorry about that, didn’t see where you said Safe Cat in the OP! My bad!

Hope you find something better that works for you though :slight_smile:

#11

I don’t know how good they are since I don’t have a cat, but I was just looking over the Critter Gear website to find new collars for my dogs and happened to notice that they have breakaway collars for cats. Then I came here and saw this thread.

I very much like their dog collars but that still isn’t helpful to you, is it?

Anyway, this is their website.

#12

Thanks. As for how helpful - well, how active is your dog? Is engaging the break-away feature a realistic possibility on a regular basis? If so, does it feel like the feature is “set” correctly - holding for reasonable tugs but breaking open appropriately? Does it retain it’s stiffness or get loose in a too-short period?

#13

I’m fairly certain that the dog collars aren’t breakaway. They’re not advertised as such. The cat collars are though.

#14

Ah. Never mind. :wink: