Identification for Indoor and Outdoor Cats
Several recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) have highlighted the difficulty of reuniting lost pets with their owners. For cats, the situation is especially dire, with fewer than two percent of cats entering shelters being reunited with their owners. This is a terrible statistic, because in shelters without the resources to be “no-kill” many of these otherwise healthy and loved cats will be euthanized if they are not adopted quickly. Another study also showed that 40% of cats who ended up in shelters (and were later found by their owners) were completely indoor cats before they became lost.
These studies show that identifying your cats with your contact information is extremely important. Many people think that their cats do not need to wear identification because they stay indoors, or because they stay inside the yard and never seem to be missing. This is simply not true, since an indoor cat can be let out by a workman in your home, a guest, or children who forget to shut the door. Cats that go outside can be startled by a loud noise or chased by another animal and can leave your yard and forget how to return.
Collars are a good start at identification because they provide easily seen evidence that a cat has an owner and is not a stray. This may prevent well-meaning neighbors from picking up an outdoor cat and taking him to a shelter simply because he appears unowned. On the collar, you can place a nametag with your address and phone number, and some tags read “I am an indoor cat” or “If you have found me, I am lost” so that the finder knows the cat should be returned home. Your cat should also wear his rabies tag on his collar. This is a useful backup item of identfication because each tag has a number and the veterinarian’s office phone number. Cats can be looked up by their tag number if the finder calls the office, even if they don’t have a nametag.
Many people believe that their cat won’t tolerate wearing a collar, but another recent study in JAVMA showed that over a 6 month period, owners were able to get 73% of the cats in the study who had never previously worn a collar to successfully wear one. This shows that with a little persistence, most cats can wear collars.
Cats should always wear a safety collar that has been designed specifically for felines. These can be made of a stretchy material, can have an area that is easily breakable, or have a buckle that is designed to open if pulled sharply. Although these features can make it easier for your cat to escape a collar, they are essential if the collar gets caught on another object or the cat gets his foot caught in the collar. We have several types of safety collars available in our office. Collars should be properly fitted–not too tight, not too loose–and you can test this by being able to fit two fingers between the collar and the cat.
Collars and tags can also increase a cat’s safety inside the house. The tags will jingle, which makes it easier to hear the cat moving. This can prevent tripping accidents with kittens, who don’t know not to walk up behind you, or cats which have a habit of twining around your ankles. Hearing the cat can also help to prevent accidents for elderly owners, owners with vision problems, and owners with poor balance.
Cat owners should also consider a second, more permanent method of identification, the microchip. A microchip is a small electronic transponder encased in glass and is the size of a large grain of rice. It is injected under the skin between the shoulderblades. Microchips are very safe and many cats who are adopted from shelters will already have one that was implanted at the shelter. Once your cat has his own unique number, encoded in the microchip, he can be registered with the company that made the microchip. If your cat is found and brought to a shelter or veterinarian, a scanner will read the number and the staff can call the company and find out how to contact you. The most important thing to remember is that this will only work if you keep your contact information up to date with the registry. Every time you move or change your phone number, you must remember to update your information. It is heartbreaking to find a microchip in a stray cat, only to call a disconnected phone number!
All cats should have one of these forms of identification, and preferably both. Please call us if you have any questions!