Training Your Cat to Wear a Collar

When you think of pets wearing a collar, typically, you think of dogs. Cats don’t really strike us as pets to put a collar on, but you can train your feline friend to wear a collar. Cats will take more time and patience to train to wear their collars, but they will learn how to wear collars over time and with consistent effort.

Why should my cat wear a collar?

Training your cat to wear a collar is an excellent idea, even if your cat stays indoors. There is always a small chance your cat may dart outside. A cat that is wearing a collar lets people know that the cat belongs to someone. You can also have an ID on your cat’s collar with your phone number on it, and there are even GPS trackers available such as the 4G GPS tracker available at YoPets to attach to your cat’s collar. All these measures will drastically increase the chances of your precious pet being returned to you. If your cat regularly goes outside, the GPS tracker will let you keep a track of what your cat is up to and how your kitty is spending her day.

Tips on choosing a suitable collar

• Be sure the collar you buy has a quick release or a break-away feature. If your cat gets its collar stuck on something, like a fence, the collar will easily break to free your cat from being tangled up.
• When fitting a collar for your cat, it should be snug enough that it will not easily slip over the kitty’s head but also loose enough to fit two fingers between the collar and your cat’s neck.

Getting your cat used to the new collar

• Let your cat investigate and possibly even play with the collar by laying it on the ground. Do a gentle introduction of the collar.
• Do not try to put the collar on your cat when they are frisky. Please wait until the kitty is relaxed and happy; your cat will be more receptive when relaxed and happy.
• Once you have the collar on your cat, try distracting the kitty with play or treats.
• Do not expect the first time you put the collar on your cat to be a permanent fixture around their neck. Try going slowly, an hour at a time. Give the kitty lots of time to adjust to the collar.

You may find that it takes longer than you expected to get your cat used to wearing a collar. You may even find that your cat is cleverly slipping off the collar. Cats are known to be clever creatures. Just replace the collar, stay patient and continue with collar training.

The biggest take-away from this article is to keep collar wearing sessions short, use rewards when needed, stay persistent and stay patient; you will be successful in collar training your cat.