Do many people put tags on their cats?

[CraigMST]

Following story quite horrible so if you're a cat owner, or an emotional person don't read.





I was driving to my fiancees at midnight on Saturday and noticed a cat on the side of the road. It had been hit for definite, a head wound which was quite bloody.
I stopped to see if the cat had a collar to see see if I could call the owners if there was a phone number but it didn't have a collar on.
So was there a chance this cat was a stray? Can't be that many strays can there?

Edited by CraigMST on Monday 27th February 08:58

[Mubby]

My cat will not keep a collar on, I have bought so many and tags and within an hour or two he comes home without it, so now I just don't bother as it's just throwing money away on somthing he clearly will remove!! he is microchipped as he cant lose that!

my other cat that was killed in Jan also did not keep a collar on but was chipped, but she managed to make it into the garden before she died, bless her.

so in answer, just because it does not wear a collar does not mean it's a stray!

you can take them to the vets and they will scan them for a microchip, and also dispose of the body correctly.

[Simpo Two]

I read - possibly here - that there are different sorts of microchip and not every scanner sees them all. Can BexVN confirm?

[bexVN]

Simpo Two said:

I read - possibly here - that there are different sorts of microchip and not every scanner sees them all. Can BexVN confirm?

The scanners should scan all chips in this country as far as I know unless the scanner being used is so old it can't read the 15 digit numbers, which is unlikely...I hope!(chips used to be a mixture of numbers and letters - 9 digits in total). The problem is contacting the right company for the info. There are about 3 companies that hold the info of the different microchips used I think but they don't have access too each others, so you can guarantee that we phone the wrong one first!! If we do the company we phone are able to tell us who we should be contacting. I just wish they all worked together to save us a bit of time.

What I don't know is if the old style of chip (numbers and letters) still work with new scanners, should be easy enough for me to ck as 2 of my cats have the old chips! Haven't needed to scan them for a few years.

[Munter]

Both have collars on. And tomorrow scraggy will also be showing an improved turn of speed due to being chipped.

Getting the collar on Alan was....entertaining. It involves one person running a distraction routine using treats, and the 2nd gently attaching the collar, and only letting it touch him at the last moment. This takes a couple of attempts generally over several days to allow the humans to top up their blood levels.

[DKL]

We stick to the reflective collars and whilst we have lost a few they are well tolerated and allow some road visibility. We also use Loc8tor radio tags which have retrieved a few lost collars from neighbouring gardens.
Sadly one of ours is currently MIA and we can't find her anywhere - 3 days now. She's not the most robust of things and almost never goes out yet disappeared without a trace on Friday in a 30 minute period. Loc8tor isn't doing its job yet we know it works so ? Frantic doesn't cover it at the moment.
Off out again soon

[PaulG40]

^Hope you find yours soon

Our cat, tinks, always wears a luminous yellow reflextive collar with a metal tag saying our phone numbers, house number and postcode. The collar is one of those quick release ones, just in case she ever gets caught by it. She also wears a little bell, although think we are quite blessed that always stays local within 30m of the house in our fairly quiet cul de sac and has a cemetery to wander around in in front of us should she want to.

[CheekyCherub]

Can't keep one on my newest kitten. But she is only just over six months and is still tiny - always going to be a slight cat I think. Even the smallest kitten collars don't fit her skinny neck!

Something like the accident in the OP worries me a lot though, so I will keep persevering! She's being spayed tomorrow though so I think I'll let her get over the trauma of wearing the cone of shame for a while first...

[Mubby]

just curious , how much does it cost to take a cat to the vet and get chipped??

mine have been chipped when we rescued them so not had to do this!

[jimmyjimjim]

No idea in the UK, but about $30 in the US. Similar cash, I'd guess.

[Pints]

Ours is microchipped and collar-tagged. Had the microchipping done when she was a kitten, which was many years ago, so I don't recall the cost.

[Who me ?]

Been some recent schemes round the midlands area where organisations ,have set up free chipping sessions in community centres for cats and dogs . Can't tremember which one ,as my woof was done as a pup by his first owners ( or breeder) so I wasn't interested .