Collars on cats

Please do not put a collar on your cat. I did that to one of mine years ago and fortunately noticed she had got a leg somehow tangled up and would have had a nasty, deep painful groove if I had not seen it fairly soon.

I cannot think of any other way of stopping her catching the birds. My present cat just stopped bird and mouse catching one day but she was around 12 at the time. She is 14 now and could outrun a greyhound if the mood took her.

I would have another word with that idiot of a neighbour but if your cat does not catch "her" birds she will look elsewhere.

Our previous cat wore a collar with a bell and was still a very successful hunter.
The one we have now went crazy the minute we put a collar on him, so we had to remove it immediately.

You may find the collar dosen't do the job. I have yet to find a solution to cats hunting.

Birds and cats aren't a happy combination. are they? I have a cat who is hopeless at catching things, thank goodness, but have had 'hunters' in the past.
A bell can be a good idea but you don't know how your cat will react until you try one. Some cats find them distressing but many don't. My first cat managed to lose every single collar - I never knew how or where, but he would disappear for a while and then return without it. We gave up in the end.
It doesn't sound like there's a lot you can do about your neighbour either, I'm afraid. Could you make sure your cat doesn't go out at 'feeding time'? That may help a bit.

I don't trust cat collars having seen some of the damage they have done when a cat gets caught somewhere. You have asked your neighbour not to throw food out on the ground and she's chosen to ignore you, so she has no right to complain. What does she expect you to do - get rid of your cat? Even though it is very unpleasant, the cat is only following it's natural instincts.

There is plenty of information on line to show your neighbour that feeding birds at ground level not only makes any bird easy prey for cats but also attracts vermin.

This is also the reason bird feeders are placed high where birds can safely feed. Tell her she is knowingly putting the birds at risk.

I gave up using cat collars on mine as they kept losing them which thankfully came off whenever caught on something.

All my cats have worn collars with bells on, you can buy quick release collars that open if they get snagged on anything. None of mine have ever gone deaf and a couple lived to be 19 and their hearing was still good. I can't say they were ever bothered by wearing a bell either and it's the only way to warn the birds of the cats proximity.

Sounds like a good solution FlexibleFriend that's what cats do unfortunately but its the cycle of life.

Tell your neighbour that leaving food on the ground encourages rats, which will get into her house and chew through electric cabling.

Cats visiting from further away are as likely to kill "her" birds as your cats are.

I keep my feeders high off the ground, but was extremely upset a few weeks ago to see a cat take a bird out of my bird bath where it was gaily splashing away. Before I could get out of the house, it was gone with it’s prey. I know that this is what cats do; one of mine was a skilled predator, collar notwithstanding. I did put collars on my cats for no better reason than to house a contact details capsule, and this proved to be an excellent strategy when my sister took over one of our cats as we were going abroad, and cat decided she wanted to go back to where we had lived (Yorkshire to Essex? Nah! Not many cat miles it seemed! I think she had been reading too much Dick Whittington!). She was found, emaciated, nearly five miles from home (strangely, going in the right direction!), in a churchyard and returned to my sister to live out a happy and thereafter uneventful life!

My cats wear collars, but I don't attach bells. I found that they would lie still when stalking then still catch birds. Fortunately as they got older they became lazier and rarely bring birds in. I wish the same applied to rodents but one cat still gives me 'presents'.
The collars are Beastie bands which are the safest on the market. I add little engraved ID discs and Loc8tor trackers. Although they are microchipped I don't think many members of the public finding a dead run-over animal would go to the trouble of taking it to a vet for checking. Sadly two of my previous cats were found on the main road and I was very grateful for the people who rang me. The 'not knowing' is awful if a pet goes missing. The tracker is very useful for finding lost collars but have not recently had to use it for a lost cat!
www.funky-felines.co.uk/beastieband.html

Thank you all- I'm going to have to think more about it but at the moment I won't get a collar. I have looked at the Beastie Band though if it comes to it.
Absolutely no point talking to my neighbour again- she is one of those people who talks non stop but never LISTENS.
I might get my husband to mention the rat idea to her as he just talks over her when he has to make a point, Sometimes works.
At least it is only one of our 4 cats who hunts. The others are far too lazy or maybe I should say 'thick'!

Emphasis the rat thing. We had one in our garden who was eating the food the birds had dropped (and food I put down for ground feeders!). We were advised to stop putting food on the ground for the birds, and use thin metal feeder poles which they can’t climb up. Advice followed. Rat disappeared to find richer pickings.

Ordered a Beastieband collar today when a sweet female green finch was brought to me as a gift.
Husband has mentioned rats to neighbour who says SHE has never seen one. We got a mouse yesterday so if she does catch a rat I will throw it over the hedge onto neighbour's patio early one morning!