# Collars and Ruffs



## KittehNom (Apr 26, 2011)

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone has any experiences of any kinds of collars which don't harm the neck "ruffs" on semi-long hair or long-hair breeds such as Birmans or Maine Coones? 

I am getting my Birman in the Summer and whilst he will be an indoor cat I do worry about him "sneaking" past me and getting out. If he ever did having a collar on him would obviously be best as if anyone found him, they could get my contact details straight away.

However, I also know that the collars tend to damage the ruff of the neck. Was thinking if there is a softer kind of collar which is less harmful maybe? Or is this wishful thinking?
He is going to be a show boy so I dont want to damage the ruff as clearly this will work against him in show situations. But I imagine this is a situation for weighing up the pros and cons. What are other peoples experiences?



Many thanks 

x


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## Donskie (Feb 2, 2011)

KittehNom said:


> However, I also know that the collars tend to damage the ruff of the neck. Was thinking if there is a softer kind of collar which is less harmful maybe? Or is this wishful thinking?
> He is going to be a show boy so I dont want to damage the ruff as clearly this will work against him in show situations. But I imagine this is a situation for weighing up the pros and cons. What are other peoples experiences?


I would have him micro chipped as a just in case he got out for a start. I never put collars on my cats, they are all micro chipped. Collars can rub and if you are to show then you don't want any rub marks where the ruff should be.


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## KittehNom (Apr 26, 2011)

the micro-chipping goes without saying for me! 

And thanks for the advice 

x


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

I had exactly the same problem. Mine needed to wear a bell because I'm blind, and without it I haven't a clue where they are. I have Persians, so for them, wearing a collar really, really flattens the profuse coat. I tried everything, but in the end I found only one that works.

I got some 3 or 4 MM thick white Organza ribbon (white in case it got wet and colour bled into the coat. At least with white there's no colour to bleed!). Then I purchased some poppers. You know the type that hold babygrows together? I sewed a popper on each end of the ribbon so that when they were popper together the popper stood proud away from the neck rather than lying flat agsinst the skin. I sewed a bell onto each collar and there it was. If it got caught on anything, rather than the cat choking, the popper would disengage just like one of those plastic safety buckles. You could thread a tag onto one of these, but I'd suggest one of the plastic capsules that you can put a bit of paper in with your details on as they're lighter and so won't put more weight on the ribbon which in turn means even less coat flattening. The organza tends to slip between the hairs rather than crunching them down anyway, but the less weight the better.

Hope I've explained that well enough!


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## KittehNom (Apr 26, 2011)

Thanks for the advice and help  

May look into some organza ribbon for an ID capsule for the little guy when he arrives  Thats a great idea! 

Thanks again,

Fran x


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