We are getting Luna spayed at the end of the month and will have her microchipped. She is an indoor cat but the way she stalks the door when we are leaving has us both paranoid. We fear that one day she will be brave enough to make a mad dash to the outdoors. So until we get her microchipped at the end of the month we have been trying to get her to wear a collar.

Well this morning I put the collar on her and went to have breakfast. Normally she puts up a fuss with the collar and cries but this morning she didn't cry. I thought we were making progress! Until about 15 minutes later when she came into the kitchen. I looked down at her and she was covered in blood. I immediately noticed that her collar was stuck in her mouth. I struggled to get it unclipped as she kept squirming away from me. Finally we got it off and I brought Luna into the bathroom. She immediately seemed fine. Purring when I pet her and cleaning herself off. I, on the other hand, was devastated. We had made sure the collar fit her snuggly before putting it on her. It was also a breakaway which I thought was supposed to be safer.

After I made sure Luna had stopped bleeding and was acting normally I inspected our house (while bawling like a baby). It looked like a crime scene. There was blood all over our carpeted up-stairs. Blood all over our white duvet and sheets. Blood on our couch. I feel awful for not noticing sooner but she didn't come into the kitchen until being everywhere else. While I was cleaning up I found one of her back teeth. I called the vet to find out if I should bring her in but they ensured me that when a cat loses a tooth it will bleed like crazy. As long as the bleeding had stopped and she was acting normally, they didn't see the need to bring her in. The vet actually asked me to check her teeth before I even told her I found a tooth.

This has been an eye opener for me for sure. I can't wait to have her microchipped. We are definitely going to stay away from the collar. And in the mean time I am going to cuddle my little girl like crazy. I can't imagine my future children getting hurt if this is how I reacted to my kitten being hurt!

Has anyone else had an accident like this? Or has anyone else experienced their kitten losing a tooth and bleeding excessively?

I had them bleed when a tooth came out, and they can bleed a lot.

I used to keep collars on my cats until my Siamese had an incident with one. I still don't know what happened but when he popped up missing his collar he was absolutely terrified any time I tried to put another one on him. When I moved from CA to TX and had to have them traveling in the car with me I put harnesses on them (like for small dogs) so make catching them safer and easier.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

I hate collars for this very reason.

Even the break away ones can be so unsafe. A friend of mine's cat hung from a door handle on one, sadly didn't make it. The break away but has to be in certain positions for them to come loose if trapped. Also need significant weight behind to do it. So younger cats and kittens at a huge risk!

Elastic acted ones are worse.

I would never use a collar ever again!

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Lollo

I have not used a color on a cat before. That experience sounds very frightening. I would have panicked at the sight of blood! I have never found a cat's tooth, I have no idea where they go.

This is so very scary. Most indoor cats do not wear a collar. I realize you're worried about her getting out. You just have to make sure that does not happen! Obviously, she did not like having the collar on. Sadly she lost a tooth. I can imagine how devastated you've been over this, but these things can happen.You called the vet who didn't seen too concerned. You will be getting her microchipped. Just know that if you plan to let her outside and you think the microchip will protect her, it won't! There are a whole lot of other things gong on outside that she could come in contact with. If she doesn't care for a collar, she probably won't enjoy a harness so you can take her out for walks.

Hopefully, she will heal just fine.

I have been in a similar situation with my bengal prior to my taking possession of him. He was an outdoor cat who belonged to a neighbor. I'd never seen Raiden before since I'd been feeding a stray alpha male and no other cat would dare come into the yard. Bear disappeared, so here come the other cats. I'd never seen a bengal before, but I love cats and try to befriend all who come into my yard. Raiden decided he'd rather be at my house than his own house. The neighbor said it was fine for him to come in and make himself at home since he was out of town a lot and didn't really have time for Raiden. I bought Raiden a collar, figuring then everyone would know he had a home. I put it on him when he wanted to go outside one Sunday. He returned 20 minutes later, the collar was missing. He had been in a horrific cat fight and somehow the breakaway collar came off. Rushed him to the vet and got him fixed up. Neighbor decided to give me Raiden and now Raiden is allowed outside only with a harness and leash and he does have a 12'x12x 8' high cat enclosure on our deck that he can access 24/7. Trust me, when I saw the blood on his eyes and how much pain he was in, it totally broke my heart. But you'll get over it ... maybe not as soon as your kitty. We tend to hang onto this things a while longer.

Sorry that happened. I think you are darned if you do and darned if you don't use collars. Microchipping sure isn't a silver bullet. For one thing the people entering the data for the microchips are incompetent. You're lucky if they get any of your data right The other thing of course is that I'm very cynical about people actually checking for a microchip in the majority of "lost cat" situations. There just isn't a lot of incentive to do it, and unless you are a pretty fanatic cat owner, I don't think "joe 6-pack" even has a concept of such a microchip. I think a collar with a tag probably gives you a much higher probability of getting your cat back in a lost situation, but of course this thread (and others) illustrate the downsides too.

Just be careful with your kitty. It seems to me losing all that blood can't be good, in and of itself, plus losing a tooth could be painful. I remember when I had to have a tooth removed (surgically) for one of my cats, and it was a very traumatic experience for her. The vet assured me that it would be "no big deal", and needed to be done, but she was in a lot of pain for weeks afterwards, and I ended up having to go back to the vet to get pain meds for her. The symptoms for her were lack of appetite, and being much less sociable than usual. So anyway, it seems to me like your vet was awfully cavalier about this. I hope it does turn out ok.

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The little monsters 3

We were actually discussing the microchip last night. My boyfriend seemed to think it was more like a gps tracker, which honestly would make so much more sense. I definitely agree that the large majority of people probably wouldn't think to go get a cat scanned, however if they saw a collar with tags they would know the cat had an owner. It's an interesting situation.

As for her tooth, we have been watching her closely to make sure she isn't in pain. She ate her regular meal last night with no issues. She hasn't shown any signs of discomfort. Upon further inspection I noticed a couple small cuts on her lip so i am making sure to clean them after she eats to make sure they don't get infected. She will be visiting the vet soon for her spay so we will have a chance to get her looked over. So far she is healing much better than I am lol.

Microchipping is a GREAT idea! That's how I found out Raiden had an owner. Microchips will not track your cat. They use a radio frequency. All shelters in my city scan for a chip on all cats and dogs that are brought in. Most vets will scan for a chip as well. It's better than nothing as thousands of pets are reunited with their owners through a microchip.

Okay, I know this is an old post, but maybe it will help someone decide.

My first two cats after we were married were Pete and Pixie. Pete wore a leather collar with studs given to him by his first groomer (a biker dude lol) and was always fine with it. I got a breakaway collar for Pixie because she was always getting into things and I didn't want her to get hurt. One day, I drove the kids to school and came back - maybe 20 minutes max - and Pixie was hanging from the window lock by her breakaway collar. Luckily, I was in time. But I think it was close, she wasn't fighting it. The same day, I threw out all the collars, and have never put another on any of my pets. Even when we got a dog, we got him a harness instead, and he only wore that to go outside. Don't believe that a breakaway collar will save your cat from a hanging death. It just might make it a slower hanging death.

A breakaway collar is supposed to do just that, however, if the collar is caught a certain way, it cannot unlatch and free the cat. Mine does not wear a collar. The one time I put one on him, he returned in 20 minutes with it gone. Thank goodness your situation turned out okay.

Everything ended up well with Luna however it was still a scary situation. We did have her microchipped when she was spayed however that is obviously not the be all and end all.

Recently, I walked into our kitchen and found our back door wide open. I instantly slammed the door and started calling for Luna in our house. Since she didn't come running I grabbed a toy and treats and headed for the back door to call for her outside. As soon as I opened the door she came darting back in with her tail all puffed up. I think she had the door open for a while and was wandering in and out. I'm assuming when she noticed I had shut the door it freaked her out. She opened the door on a second occasion however it was raining so she stayed inside. We have yet to see her open the door but we have checked the latch and the door isn't blowing open.

But the point of this is, we went and got her a mesh harness after she got out. Obviously she wanted to go outside. We put the harness on her and brought her outside and the whole time she cried to go back inside. Funny cat.

Know that the first time an indoor cat is outdoors, they are quite stressed out. A totally new environment out there. New smells, new things they've never seen before. Many get scared and want to return to the comfort of the inside of their home. However, the more the cat gets outside, the more confident they become. The more confident they become, the farther they will wander away. It may take some time, but it will happen. Kitties love the outdoors and they deserve some fresh air and grass under their feet as well. Walking a cat is great exercise, but it will not always satisfy the cat. Raiden would be outside 24/7 if I'd let him. And he'd be finding trouble the entire time. Glad you've gotten her spayed and microchipped. You've just got to keep the doors closed. There are a lot of portable, collapsible cat enclosures that you can put out in your yard where the cat can have some time out there. You'll still need to supervise the kitty. Some bengals are ancestors of Houdini and can somehow vanish in the blink of an eye.

Our house has a porch both at the front and back so there is always a closed door to prevent our Bengal Suki escaping but she still 'escapes' into a porch whenever an inner door is opened. We built an enclosure onto the back porch which Suki can access via the open window but I felt she still needed more space and I wanted her to feel the grass under her feet! I bought a harness and lead last summer and I take her into the back garden twice a day, sometimes she only wants to stay for a few minutes, sometimes up to twenty minutes. She has never worn a collar but if you want your cat to experience the outdoors I thoroughly recommend getting a harness, Suki was almost four years old before she had one and only took a few days to get used to wearing one, so I don't think age is a barrier.