Has anyone ever seen or heard of a cat accidentally strangling itself on it's collar?

Question

You or a family member.
First hand knowledge. Not tall tales.
NOT some sick weirdo deliberately hanging the cats either.
It could be either a break away collar or not.

Answer 1

worked at a vet.
client had outside cat with break away collar. she found the cat tangled up in shrubs with the collar stuck on branches. The cat was struggling and the collar did not break. The cat did not die, but what if the owner did not find it.

Answer 2

Yes. I actually found the neighbors can hung by the collar (not a break away) . It was stuck on a part of chain link fence. It look like it tried to go under and got snagged. It was older fence in the wooded part of the back yard. It had been there a couple of days.
The prong of the fence look like as the cat struggled it got punctured through the collar and the cat could not have gotten free at that point. Pretty sad. They don't kep collars on the outdoor cats anymore!!!
The problem with the break away ones is the they pop off easily!! The cat can scratch it's neck and pop the collar off.

Answer 3

My mom's cat got hung up on a fence with a regular buckle collar years ago and came close to strangling, but she found him in time to save him.

For safe collars, I like the breakaway collars better than the ones with just a stretch elastic insert. My cats have gotten the stretch-insert style collars caught in their jaws, and they've also gotten their front leg stuck through them, and gotten stuck that way for a few hours.

If you get a breakaway collar, test it in the store by pulling the latch apart - you want one that comes apart easily enough that your cat's weight can pull it open in an emergency. I use Beastie Bands collars on my cats - the entire collar is stretchy so it will come off in an emergency, plus the collar attaches with velcro, so that can pop open if it needs to. I've never seen my cats have any problems getting stuck in weird positions with Beastie Bands. They're very soft and light, and don't seem to annoy the cats the way heavier collars do.

Answer 4

My cat has never strangled herself to the point of it endangering her life. She has come home on 5 separate occassions though WITHOUT her collar.

What might have happened if she hadn't been wearing breakaways? I don't like to think about it.

I don't bother with collars for her anymore. She's microchipped and my neighbors all know her. She never goes farther then an ear shot's distance from home and when I call her she always listens, so no more collars for her.

Answer 5

This is the reason I refuse to put collars on my cats except their halter-colrs and only when we go walkies. I mean, cats are curious creatures and they do like to crawl into places... doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that IT IS A POSSIBILITY that a cat with a collar can get itself stuck soemwhere or hung or soemthing of that sort. Just the POSSIBILITY is enough for me!
Why does a cat need a collar for anyway?

Answer 6

I knew a cat that tried to jump off a porch and hung to death beacause the lead was not long enough to touch the ground, and the cat couldn't get loose. Break away collars should not strangle.

Answer 7

I have 3 cats, each of them have safe-cat breakaway collars. None of them have ever strangled on their collars, obviously, since they're still alive. But I have seen where my cat's collar has broken away, which would mean if he wasn't wearing a safe-cat collar he probably would have strangled, so I'm thankful for it.

Answer 8

Yes I have heard of this and my cat almost did it... When you put a collar on your kitty, you want to be able to COMFORTABLY put one finger underneath it... any more and he could potentially get it caught on a cabinet door, something sticking out of the wall or even his own jaw. I saw my cat grooming his chest and his bottom tooth got stuck on the collar and he was thrashing his head around trying to get free... I checked his collar and I fit 3 fingers under it! Now I check it at least once a week...

Answer 9

Very unlikely, but it could happen if a cat gets stuck on something. Use a breakaway collar to be safe, and make sure it WORKS before you buy it. I've never heard of that happening.

Answer 10

Yes. My family does not get collars for cats because when they climb trees their collar gets caught on a branch and that's is that. Their life is over.