We always have our cats collared, it gives them a certain identity. They often lose them and we always replace them .. we've only ever found a couple of lost collars in 25 years!

We've long since stopped including any form of ID with the collar, partly because the discs and/or the little barrels started to get expensive (!) and partly because it's extremely unlikely that either of our cats would allow themselves to picked up and identified in this way.

We believe that the best form of ID is the subcuticular micro-chip, inserted between their shoulder blades. The sad thing is, that probably the only time this particular form of ID will be of any real use is in the unhappy event of one's beloved moggie being taken to a vet by a concerned animal lover, who has found him seriously injured or, worse, dead.

We did the same, and like you thought this is a waste of money, tho come autumn we could then see them dangling from the branches of our trees like strange ornaments, the collars not the cats! I'm of the thinking that if they went walk about, or something else, I think the most effective method is to have them micro- chipped.

Sadly its true that chips will only be read if the cat is captured and taken somewhere with a chip reader. But its better than doing nothing for your pet - and its pretty cheap (or even free from some charities!).

My cats have both a chip and collar with an ID disk. The disks didn't cost much £5 each and I've never had a cat lose a collar or disk perhaps I've just been lucky.