Among other lessons learned from the research: Proper fitting, with room for two fingers between the neck and the collar, is critical. And owners should carefully observe their cats’ behavior with new collars for the first few days, when problems apparently are more common as the cats adjust.
Still the lead author of the study, Linda Lord, assistant professor of veterinary preventive medicine at Ohio State University said that convincing cat owners that their pets, even indoor-only cats, need identification is “a tremendous uphill battle.
And indoor-only cats can get lost. Lord’s recommendations from this study are informed in part by her previous research, which found, for example, that 40 percent of lost cats in one community were indoor-only cats, or that free-roaming cats without collars are very likely to either be fed by strangers – reducing the likelihood that they will return home – or to be ignored as strays.
“The return-to-owner rate is abysmal for cats. Fewer than 2 percent of lost cats are returned to their owners,” she said. “If we could get cat owners to try using a collar with identification, it would be a big deal.”
About the study:
The researchers recruited cat owners from the colleges of veterinary medicine at Ohio State, the University of Florida, Texas A&M University and Cornell University. Cats were randomly assigned to wear one of three types of collars: plastic buckle collars, buckle collars designed to detach if they become caught on something, or elastic stretch safety collars. A total of 538 cats with 338 owners participated in the study. Of those, 391 cats, or 72.7 percent, wore their collars for the entire six-month study period.
All of the enrolled cats also were microchipped for the study. Lord said that, especially for cats that cannot tolerate a collar, a microchip is an important and reliable form of identification in case the pets are lost.
This study which was published in a recent issue of recent issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association was supported by the companion animal division of the Humane Society of the United States, PetCo Foundation and Schering-Plough HomeAgain LLC.
Barb Kohn is a communications consultant. She has a passion for the welfare of animals and has volunteered with many San Francisco Bay Area rescue and shelter organizations, including Homeless Cat Network, Peninsula Fix Our Ferals, Pets in Need and Furry Friends Rescue. She also is the National Cats Examiner for the Examiner.com.
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