Bells on cats

[Cheshire Chestnut]

We have two cats; one male cat who catches mice mainly and the odd rat, and we have a tiny female cat who is so quiet and timid but catches the most beautiful tiny hedge birds

We can't keep her inside because she gets very distressed and messes in the house despite having a litter tray. Today she brought home two baby robins and I'm so angry with her, not that I shout or anything as she wouldn't understand. It's getting more and more frequent, we've had tiny finches, bluebirds, little green birds and now these robins in the past two weeks.

Should I put a collar and a bell on her? Would that help matters? A friend said she would never collar her cat even with a safety one as she found him stuck under a fence by his neck when it got caught.

Do you collar your cats and put a bell on them? Does it stop the bird murders? I know she's a cat and doing what she knows but I worry about the hedge bird population in a way.

 

[BeckyFlowers]

I know how you feel. My girl is a bird-catcher. Has yours ever had a collar on before? I tried this a couple of weeks ago, put the collar, complete with jingly bell, on and she freaked out - jumped out the window and ran off into the bushes over the road. She didn't come back all day and I had to go to work, returned home at midnight and she was in the car park but she was acting like she was terrified of me. Eventually managed to coax her in and whipped the collar off and dumped it straight in the bin! If your girl hasn't been collared before then be sure not to make the same mistake I did (i.e. forgetting to shut the window!). See how she reacts - I think mine didn't like it because she couldn't get away from the bell and couldn't understand why it was chasing her around.

Are there many fences or other obstacles around where you live that you think could cause issues with her becoming trapped? If not then I would definitely give it a go. I would be less worried about her being caught on a bush branch or something because at least they can move about whilst trying to become unstuck - they can't get much purchase on the ground or move about if they are half way under a fence. I would be more inclined to get one of the ones with the plastic safety clips rather than one with a piece of elastic built into the collar as at least the ones with the clips come apart.

I know you say you can't keep her in, but will she tolerate being kept in for the daytime and then let out when the sun goes down? I believe birdies are most active in the daylight and more likely to be out and about. I have been doing this with my kitteh and she has spent the last few nights out and she has been cream-crackered in the day so has spent most of it sleeping!

I hope none of this sounds obvious or patronising! If you feel comfortable about collaring her with a jingly bell it can only help matters regarding the birds. What do others think?

 

[Goldenstar]

I have bells on my devil cats they still catch the odd bird but if you take the collars off it's a bird massacre .

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I've been contemplating this, my two boys are a year and a bit old and between them seem to be decimating the local wildlife population. I'm scared that they'll hang themselves though and not sure how effective a bell would be.

 

[cobsarefab]

My cat has a bell in fact two bells and doesn't catch birds. If you get a collar with a safety catch they can't strangle themselves either.

 

[Cheshire Chestnut]

Thank you for all of your replies. Thanks for the tip about introducing the collar slowly as she's never had one on before and don't want to scare her.

I think it's worth looking into because I worry about all the poor hedge birds, she doesn't even eat them - just kills them and leaves them and then goes off to find the next victim. Poor souls.

Thank you again.

 

[TheFizzPony]

Mine have had collars on since they were kittens so can't help with that. When buying them I always give them a test in the shop to see how easily they come apart. We have found several collars round the garden and one stuck on a fence so I would rather that they came off too easily than didn't come off at all, especially as they only cost a pound or two each

 

[Emma_H]

I don't have bells on my cats collars. I read cats have such sensitive hearing that they can hear electrical current so I can imagine what it must be like for them with a bell which is so close to their ears.
I have a hunter but she only catches and brings in frogs!