Fur caught in clip of cat's collar

dollywops

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that there was a lot of fur caught in the clip of Benji's collar, he has one of the clippy type, that releases if it gets caught in something.

We tried to open it, but couldn't, so we cut it off and put on a brand new one that was waiting in reserve. Benji has a habit of losing collars, so we like to keep a supply.

Last night we treated him with Advantage flea treatment. Just now I have see that there is fur stuck in the clip of his collar and I had to gently remove the fur which was still attached to him. Please let me point out that he was in no way bothered by this.

Once again, the clip of the collar is stuck and I will have to wait until someone else is at home, so we can cut off the collar. There seems to be some sticky stuff and also an odour, which I presume is the remnant of the Advantage.

Can I ask when you treat your cats, do you always remove their collars?

With previous cats, this has never been a problem. We have only used the Advantage twice, because we did not think the previous treatment worked. Could it be that the treatment has got into his collar?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Grimbal

The simple solution would be to not put a collar on your cat.

Chipping is a far more reliable method of identification, and (so I've been told) birds & small mammals don't hear the bell, so there's really no point in collars at all.

dollywops

Grimbal wrote: »

The simple solution would be to not put a collar on your cat.

Chipping is a far more reliable method of identification, and (so I've been told) birds & small mammals don't hear the bell, so there's really no point in collars at all.

You might have a point there. We can't understand how he manages to catch mice when we can hear him coming home as his bell tinkles fairly loudly.

We have always put a collar on him in case he has an accident and we can be contacted. When Clio, our last owner, was run over, someone kindly telephoned me and even brough her home for me. Without her tag, I would never have know what happened to her. I read a long time ago that people from the councils who collect dead cats have microchip readers, but never bother to use them.

UKTigerlily

I'd never risk a collar, you say the fur can make the catch stick so how could it quick release if fur was caught up in it? Apparently as cats are ambush hunters & lie in wait until something is passing by closely, the animal has no time to escape as the cat is just too fast when it pounces so bells are useless & must drive a cat nuts.

A microchip is plenty to allow your cat to be returned (also you said he loses them alot so it'd be better than if he lost a collar while out then got lost himself), if I found a cat I thought was a stray i'd get it scanned, but if well fed i'd probably assume it had a home

~Beanie~

My cat has to wear a collar as the magnet to let him through his cat flap is attached to it.

I have noticed that he gets fur caught in his collar as well, I loosened it off a little and it seems to have worked so far.

dandelionclock30

I stopped using collars on my cats after one of the neighbours kept putting the collar round the cats tummy to strangle it. I wondered at first if the cat had got stuck and the collar got dislodged and pulled down. But it happened a few times and she also came home with a plastic bag handle over he head like an Elizabethan collar.
So I wont use them now because of this, mine are just microchipped.

Grimbal

~Beanie~ wrote: »

My cat has to wear a collar as the magnet to let him through his cat flap is attached to it.

I have noticed that he gets fur caught in his collar as well, I loosened it off a little and it seems to have worked so far.

we have a microchip activated cat flap. Works perfectly for our three, and no worry about kitties being denied access if they lose the collar with the magnet on it.

Honestly, get rid of the collar - my local CP picked up a little male cat a few months ago that had horrific injuries where he had got his front leg caught in his collar, got lost from his owners, and was living wild whilst only having 3 legs usable.

There really is no reason to use a collar, and cats look so much more beautiful without them on !

Grimbal

dollywops wrote: »

You might have a point there. We can't understand how he manages to catch mice when we can hear him coming home as his bell tinkles fairly loudly.

We have always put a collar on him in case he has an accident and we can be contacted. When Clio, our last owner, was run over, someone kindly telephoned me and even brough her home for me. Without her tag, I would never have know what happened to her. I read a long time ago that people from the councils who collect dead cats have microchip readers, but never bother to use them.

I've not heard that myself. I do know that around where we live it generally tends to be the volunteers at CP that get the call to go out. They _always_ scan for a chip.

KxMx

I always take Lily's collar off immediately before I do the flea treatment and it goes back on the next day when everything has been absorbed and dried.
When it goes back on I always run a finger around the circumference of her neck to make sure nothing is caught and that it is not too loose/tight. I will also do this on occasion as a maintenance measure lol.
She is micro chipped as well, the collar is more for a wildlife warning and a means for us to know roughly where she is outside & in.