Cat won't keep collar on?
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After a string of dead starlings being brought to the back door we decided to buy a collar with a bell on so the birds can hear him coming, Problem is he can get it off, its one of those safety collars that will open in the cat gets caught on something, but he is smart enough to get the paw behind it and open it. Any ideas?
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Having said that, I always remove the bell. The noise is very irritating even for me so I can imagine how irritating it must be for the poor cats. Collars are generally risky so better avoided if possible - though they do signal to other people that the cat is 'owned'.
I'm not sure how effective the bell is in reducing murder of wildlife as cats stalk very stealthily and only pounce at the optimum moment when it's too late for the bird to escape. A lot of recent research suggests that the number of birds killed by domestic cats has been vastly overestimated. I have 3 cats and only get the odd bird killed in the summer, I rescued a couple from Lucy last year. My other 2 cats don't hunt unless the creature actually walks in front of them (they've tried to go for a couple of frogs by the fish pond). I've seen no dead wildlife so far this year. Only my Lucy is a proper hunter and she isn't well at the moment, she's hardly going out at all - vet appointment booked, hopefully nothing too serious but I can't help but worry.
No real advice for you except to say that bells on collars probably aren't very effective anyway. It is still possible to get standard collars if you shop around but you need to consider the bell irritation factor for the cat. And collars can be very risky.
Well, we're obviously just very different people. I am prepared to take certain risks but I minimise them as best I can. Others are free to have their own opinion and views but I'm not going to change mine which are mainly based on common sense and practicality. If I had a dog, for example, I wouldn't take the risk of giving them chocolate but you have said in the past you have a different viewpoint. We don't have to agree on what is best for our own pets.
I don't like using collars but I keep them very loose and, luckily, have never had any serious issues with collars in all my years of owning cats. Whenever I have removed the magnetic element from the cat flap - and been able to remove collars - I have come home to strange cats in the house eating my cats' food and 3 stressed cats.
I know the answer is to install a microchip cat flap and that is something I am considering. However, I am also considering moving back to Ireland so don't want to make any sort of change to my house just yet until a decision is made.
a) it's nature and
b) even the RSPB have stated that cat kill has no effect on the bird population in general.
Maybe give the collars a break. I've never collared any of my cats. The choking potential worries me - even with safety collars, a friends cat once came home with his front leg stuck through it whilst it was still round it's neck. I hate the thought of what could've happened if he'd been at any risk from other animals whilst so 'indisposed'....
With the collar & bell it has greatly reduced his kill rate.
He comes home minus his collar approximately ever 6 months or so & I just replace it with another safety collar every time he does.
He's the only one that gets collar & belled as the other 2 cats aren't intrepid hunters. One is too sweet natured & pleasingly plump to hunt & the other is now too old.
I have been considering a microchip catflap but it's not that simple for me as my rear door is fully glazed. The front door is timber but the cats aren't allowed out the front of the house as I have no front garden as such (& although I live in a cul de sac, my neighbours sometimes come tearing down the road in their cars)...which is something they seem to accept & although they all go outside, they are rarely seen outside the front
I compromise by leaving one of my patio sidelight small windows open all night and all day while I'm at work to allow the cats access in and out of the house as they wish. Although this is getting harder for my old lady to manage. I have thought about putting a litter tray out for her, but the other cats then decide to use it as well & she has no love for her adopted brother & sister at all & won't use it if they've used the tray before her.
I'd rather let nature take it's course than chance any of my cats choking to death. Each to their own I guess.
I would rather no creatures cats, dogs, wild creatures any at all were harmed for me that means keeping them in or supervised. But as you say each to their own, sadly letting them out takes away the option for others.
If you live rurally, having a cat keeps the rodent population down, so a complete bonus for me whilst I was in the UK. My cats also tend to eat everything they catch (aside from rabbit ears and tails, they don't like those bits too much...). I'm also a firm believer that cats should not be kept indoors (unless they're one of those breeds that are a bit useless in self defence, like ragdolls). Even the RSPB don't think cats should be curbed and by law they have a right to roam, so I'm completely at ease with the options I have chosen.
Yeah, I know it's not pleasant - I'm not thrilled at the thought of it at all and if they caught something and it was live and well enough for me to save I would. But it's what they do. And if a cat wants to hunt enough, they'll learn even with a bell and collar how to do it.
Remove the bell that seems to be on all collars these days (like they make a difference to hunting skills *rolleyes* ) and replace with these little mice magnets.
Problem solved.
Although I've never had a problem with my cats taking their collars off.
Wish my cat would leave them at the door - she tends to bring them in to play with and then leaves them to rot behind the sofa or under the beds.:(
She doesn't usually eat them either - I've a feeling she doesn't realise they are food as she won't eat raw meat if I offer it to her either, or maybe she just prefers cooked food.
I did find last year that once the grasshopper and butterfly numbers increased she tended to hunt these instead of birds, so I'm going to encourage insects for her this year.
My late Tabitha was a prolific hunter who literally brought in hundreds of mice over many years (and 2 rats) but definitely under 10 birds in all her 16 years. Mice are much easier for cats to catch and they are, in my opinion, vermin. It's a shame when birds are killed but the numbers overall are pretty low even though some cats are more adept than others.
Farmers and owners of smallholdings keep cats specifically for keeping the rodents under control.
One of my work colleagues has a pure ragdoll who is very much an outdoor cat and my parents own a persian cross who is most at home following my dad around the farm, she also is a very good hunter despite her now advancing years.
I am also completely at ease with my choices (except for the collars - I like the mice magnets posted above).
It certainly has stopped my cat from catching as much
When he manages to lose his collar & bell the kill rate goes back up again until it's replaced, so I now keep spare new collars in reserve..
Generally he catches mice & voles ( I live fairly rurally too) but I have watched him climb to the tops of really high trees to raid birds nests for the baby birds.
My boycat has lost a collar once (he's 14 now and has worn them all his life) and leaving the bell on made no appreciable difference to how many mice / voles / frogs he brings in. None of mine really bother to catch birds, only the occassional stupid one.
I didn't even hear the bells as they walked around, it was only when they were having a scratch.
Sorry to hear about Lucy. Hope she is soon well.
Thanks North Downs, that's very kind and thoughtful of you. I hope so too - my vet was called to a personal emergency when I arrived at the surgery so I've had to reschedule for Friday. I didn't really want to wait for the locum who has never met my cat before. It's not an emergency so I want her seen by the vet who knows her - but Lucy is just not herself, she's still eating in the evenings but sleeping most of the time and not interested in going out, which is very unlike her. She's snuggled up with my Bernard at the moment (she's half his size). She's again lost a lot of her fur which seems to be a recurring problem (last seen by my vet a few weeks ago) and definitely not due to fleas. She wasn't too impressed with the pointless car journey this afternoon!
Feeling a bit low today, it's the 3 year anniversary since my Tabs was put to sleep. Time goes by quickly. Hopefully, there's nothing too serious wrong with Lucy but I think my vet is going to put her through some tests, this time, which are always very stressful for cats.
Ah, that might be the difference then. I make sure that my little boy has the loudest jingliest bell I can get. He only has to move & it starts jingling.
If I could find a way of fixing a cowbell to him, it may bring his killrate down to zero
(I joke of course, he actually seems quite proud of his bell & frequently parades around his adopted sisters jingling it at them as if to rub in the fact that they don't have one & he does
Hmmmm... I'm firmly of the opinion that nothing short of putting something around his neck so heavy that it limits his speed is the only way I'd stop him from catching stuff
She wouldn't have done that with a bell on! - Mind you I'm 99.9% sure the mouse was one she caught and brought in in the first place:(
I was compassionate and released it into the garden - I'm getting soft in my old age.