Rhinestone Cat Collars

Here's a nice selection of rhinestone cat collars brought together on one page. They look particularly good on wildcat hybrids. I am thinking Savannah cats in fact, F1 Savannah cats in particular. Cat collars should be the type that release if they get caught as there have been cases of cats being injured and hanged by cat collars.

Cats can get feet and legs caught in them too. Please take precautions and chose wisely if you buy a rhinestone cat collar. They look classy on the right cat but there is a health issue. Collars can become too tight if the cat is growing up. This is another thing to factor in when buying.

Personally I wouldn't buy one but I respect peoples' choice and preferences as long as they are sensible and show concern for the cat as well.

Rhinestones are fake diamonds. They are made of glass, rock crystal or acrylic.

As for the Amazon UK market, I don't see rhinestone collars. One of the nearest to this type of cat collar is a glitter one!



Next are a series of links.

There are some really fancy Rhinestone Cat Collars at Here Kitty Kitty (USA market):

Fancy rhinestone cat collar perfect for a Russian Blue cat

See a full selection on this page.

The reason why this particular cat collar would suit a Russian Blue is because they have gooseberry coloured eyes and those eyes would go really well with the colours of these stones.

Pet Jewelry & Collars do some nice safety rhinestone collars in a range of 11 colours (USA market):

See their full selection on this page.

Next on the USA market I would like to introduce a Ragdoll cat breeder who sells rhinestone cat collars. They are called Willow Tree Rags and they have some great collars:

 

Cat collar from Willow Tree Rags.

See their full selection on this page.

What about the UK and India (India are a growing marketplace for people who are interested in keeping domestic cats)?

India is a source of low cost consumer goods much like China. So, although there is probably only a very small domestic market for cat collars there are a good number of manufacturers who supply internationally. One is Lotus Handicrafts who don't make rhinestone collars as far as I can tell but they do make customized collars to order.

Designer on Flickr - click on pic.

As for the UK market, this has proved very disappointing. On a Google search I did find UK websites selling cat collars but it appears that rhinestone collars are not a favorite in the UK as none appeared!

It may be that the rhinestone is more a part of American culture resulting in the wide range on Amazon.com (north American market). Although originally, they were "rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine"¹ in Germany.



Associated Pages:

• Cat Collars
• Cat Shock Collar

Note:

1. Wikipedia authors.



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Cat Safety Collar With Bell

Is the cat safety collar with bell a product that is fair to the cat? Now, to those people who will go ballistic reading that simple and I think reasonable question, please calm down and read on.

Photo by Frana Blaylock (Flickr)

The reason I ask is because the argument for putting a cat safety collar with a bell on a cat is to prevent the cat preying on what might be described by some people as native wildlife that needs to be preserved and protected. I think that that argument needs to be tested and challenged.

The first point to make is that in a study it was found that putting a collar with a bell on an outdoor or indoor/outdoor cat is effective in slowing the rate of predation.

I am referring to a study entitled: Bells reduce predation of wildlife by domestic cats (Felis catus) by Graeme D. Ruxton, Sarah Thomas and Jessica W. Wright - Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K. It is published by Cambridge Journals Online. I have only read the abstract as you have to buy the full document and I don't think it will add much to what I want to say.

The study found that over a four week period without a bell cats brought back to the home an average of 5.5 dead prey items. When the collar with the bell was worn the same cats over the same period brought back 2.9 items. The number of prey brought home had nearly halved (53%). An undoubtedly successful experiment if you want to stop cats behaving normally!

Update three hours later!: A study in Australia: Predation by house cats, Felis catus (L.), in Canberra, Australia. II. Factors affecting the amount of prey caught and estimates of the impact on wildlife concluded that "Nor did belling...have a significant influence on the amount of prey caught..." Well there you have it. This highlights the difficulty in achieving really solid so called "facts" through scientific studies.

On the basis that bells do curtail successful preying, should we stop our cat companion behaving normally and enjoying what comes naturally to them, if no harm is done? I am sure you would agree with that.

The only question that remains therefore is whether a domestic cat preying hurts the populations of wildlife such as birds and mammals, usually mice and rodents.

This is where things become murky and statistics from studies are used to support almost any argument so I'll simply report on a study in Bristol, England and a report by the RSPCA in the UK. Please remember that "estimates" and "projections" are essentially guesses and to be ignored.

Both support the view that wildlife populations are not harmed and in respect of birds, for example, domestic cats tend to catch the ill and dying, birds who would die anyway. Cats will always prey on the easiest animals to catch whether they are big cats such as the lion and tiger or the humble domestic cat. And mice, ground living animals are much easier to catch than fit and healthy birds.

There are the studies:

• Domestic cat preying unlikely to effect population size of prey species
• Domestic Cats Do Not Decimate Bird Populations

Also please see: How Feral Cats Affect Wildlife

Conclusion: lets not be too hasty in deciding to curtail our cat companion's natural behavior. We have a duty to allow our cats to behave as naturally as possible consistent with modern life and the cat's safety. Natural behavior promotes contentment. Cat contentment is our ultimate objective.





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Cat Collars

Cat collars can be useful. For example, when a cat gets lost or in the dark if it is one of those collars that has a flashing light. Or, it may be that people where you live think that some cats are "outdoor" cats. Under these circumstances, if they see a stray cat, they will possibly leave her alone, when what might be needed is action to get her back to her human companion. A cat collar would help to ensure that your cat gets home safely. It also might help prevent abuse from violent youths some of whom like to hurt animals.

However here are some things that can happen when a cat wears a "break-away" or any other collar:

--If the cat is a Bengal cat (a particularly active cat) they will probably remove the collar. This applies to less active cats too.

--If they can't remove it they may pick at it. This can make cat collars defective and potentially dangerous.

--Your cat might try and remove the collar and snag her claw in the collar, trapping the leg. This may result in injury to the leg and/or claw.

--Your cat may, when being active, (particularly notable for a Bengal or other wild cat/domestic cat hybrids who are more active that pure domestic cats) get her collar caught in a branch or projecting object. Cats can be strangled under these circumstances. I knew of a cat who was killed like this. On Yahoo Groups stories of cats being strangled like this are not that uncommon.

--Some cat collars may, through friction, cause loss of hair around the neck.

--You may tighten the collar too much without realizing it. This may cause injury. If it is too loose it will be taken off by your cat and be dangerous if not.

--Cat breeders are generally against cat collars it seems to me.

--On balance it is not wise to place a collar on a cat in my opinion. There may, though, be occasions when it is thought necessary.

--An alternative to cat collars is microchipping pets.


Photograph copyright and by Malingering

Note: My thoughts on cat collars are mine. No criticism of any cat keeper who gives their cat a collar is meant.

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