Would you buy this product? I am not pocking this product! “Pocking” means criticising products and people on PoC. There are many cat products on Amazon.
It is possible – if care and skepticism are exercised – to get some good insights into cat behavior, and more importantly human behavior in relation to cats, on the Amazon websites. The best one is the dot com site as it supplies the North American market and they have more products.
The Calming Collar is impregnated with a cat pheromone, which is meant to make the place feel more friendly to a cat.
I know cat collars are not popular (hated?) with regular PoCer’s. However, one imaginative and committed lady cut her calming collar up and distributed the pieces at strategic places around the home. Neat.
Her cat was pooping in the litter box but peeing outside it because he has IBS (inflammatory bowel syndrome) and he associated the litter box with pain. The cat’s caretaker did other things to make things better but the calming collar helped. It is a nice creative way of using the collar! It worked. She says the collars last a couple of months. So, someone could learn something about how to solve inappropriate urination by a cat with IBS on Amazon by reading the customer reviews. Not bad.
I realise that customer reviews
are not 100% reliable because they are planted by businesses sometimes to promote a product. Although, you can normally distinguish the genuine from the promo stuff.
Another lady says:
My cat has been acting out since our move in March. He was urinating everywhere and hissing at everyone but me. We took him to the vet and all the tests came back negative. He was put on prozac but could not handle it and was still hissing and growling. I tried this collar, I wasn’t hopeful, but then…It worked. I have my sweet kitty back. He has done a 180 and has stopped all of the bad behavior….
Genuine? I am not sure but one thing I don’t like is the fact she tried Prozac on her cat. The best way is patience and plenty of input from the caretaker.
I know the best way to resolve cat problems that are rooted in anxiety is for the caretaker to do more to keep her cat calm and contented. Basically, removing the cause of the anxiety is the true answer. A lot of these cases turn on forcing strange cats together in the home.
Many people look for easy solutions because they don’t understand how to fix “cat behavior problems” and don’t have the time. For practical and realistic reasons, sometimes, cat products such as the calming collar are justified, I believe. Personally I don’t use them but that does not mean they are unsuitable for every cat and every situation.
It is clear that this calming collar is neither a wonderful product nor a hopeless product. Some cats are calmed by it and some are not. Its effectiveness is unpredictable and depends on the cat. That would not surprise regular PoCers or people who understand cats. It is, however, an educational point. Cats are individuals. A lot of people are unaware of it.
The collar seems to be rather cheaply manufactured. There is a powder on it and it stinks of lavender. It appears not to be “breakaway” as described on the box. All that said, there are some success stories and the lady who cut it up and used the pieces had the best idea, I think.
We’re currently feeding what we feel is a stray cat. She’s beautiful and solid white. Yet I’m afraid she belongs to someone in the neighborhood. A collar would say she does.
Our escape artists wear collars. The others don’t. They’re breakaway collars so I feel ok with the cats wearing them and they don’t seem to mind.
In my area you’d get a lost cat back a lot faster with a collar and tags than a microchip
You don’t have a Cats Protection there Elisa, volunteers work together in the UK to ensure every lost cat is widely advertised and most people take a found cat for a micro chip scan.
I think most UK people are more tolerant of cats around because most cats have their precious freedom, so we get to know the local ones and notice if a new cat appears looking lost.
My sister spotted a collarless one last week on her way home from work and recognised he was on the lost page, result…a happy reunion.
I don’t mind collars at all. If your cat goes outside you should have one with a phone number on it anyway. Wait until your cat runs off for 24 hours and then tell me you don’t like collars. I had a cat dissapear and he wasn’t wearing a collar. I then used collars and Lilly once disappeared and we got a call right away.
Also – and most importantly, all the cats I have ever had that have worn a collar have liked them. I used to take them on and off untill it became clear they actually liked wearing them. Don’t ask me why but it was very obvious they did. If your cat has a collar your neighbour won’t be so tempted to feed it. There a hundreds of good reasons for them – not the least of which is that cats get used to them in about one day and then look at you wierd if you try and take them off. I also firmly believe they subconciously know that when they are with a cat who isn’t wearing one that there is a difference. They know it means they are somehow attached to a human and I know Lilly seems to not want to go outside without wearing one. She waits at the door for me to put it on her when she could just leave without it. Strange but true.
As for a calming collar I am not sure if it’s an invitation for the caretaker to be lazy about solving problems. Until we have all experienced a serious problem where even we can’t fix it and we hold out hope for a product like this then I guess we’ll never really know. It’s hard not to be suspicious though but it’s also important to keep anopen mind for the things we just don’t know.
We have to agree to disagree this time Marc, even ‘safe’ collars can cause injury to a cat.
As for a cat with a collar and tag being returned home quicker, having done CP lost and found for many years there were often cats reported missing wearing collars with phone no. etc but 9 out of 10 were identified by their microchip or description or by advertising them, having lost their collars.
A neighbours cat wearing a ‘safe’ collar was hobbled helplessly behind out houses here, thankfully she’d managed to drag herself under cover of the trees where we found her. You can guess she doesn’t wear one now, she has been micro chipped.
I don’t know about cats liking wearing them, I think it’s more of the stoic acceptance thing cats are known for when they have no other choice.
I can’t see the point in indoor cats being force to wear collars, but I just hate anything which goes against the nature of a cat being allowed to be a cat.
I understand – it did take me years to find the right collar. They are elastic and come off very easily but the main thing is they are reflective. When you see a cat with a reflective collar from your car at night the light is so bright you don’t even see the cat. I am too scared to let my cats on roads late at night without a reflective collar. The numbers have come in handy a few times before too. Having lost a cat with no collar I can’t really do it any other way.
My cats now don’t wear collars because they are inside. It’s only if I am letting my cat out anytime of day or night that I insist on collars and the main reason is the reflectiveness. I never use non reflective collars. I remember arriving home in a taxi and seeing my cat run accross the road because of her collar. Without it she would have been invisible – with it she was so visible she looked like a moving light on the road. I couldn’t not do it just for that reason alone.
I understand your thoughts though and there are many collars I hate and it is not a simple thing. They have to be just right in all ways. Lilly totally wants her collar – it’s part of going outside for her and it might be acceptance but I don’t think it bothers her in the slightest otherwise she would have just gone without it or tried to reject it. I think she wanted one just because her first cat friend Pepi had one and she didn’t. Red didn’t mind his collar at all – never rejected it -= I would have a serious problem with giving a cat a collar if I thought the cat didn’t like it. So far I have been lucky with that I guess. I’m sure some don’t like them but I still think it’s for a reason like ‘too tight’ or ‘stiff material’ or something else.
Seeing cats with reflective collars in the headlights of your car might make you reconsider but then again that would only be if you let your cats out all night.
I understand Marc. Our cats are always kept in after dark and when no one is home, but yes I see your point about reflective collars on cats who are out after dark where there are roads.
I think a collar on a cat makes me feel it’s a badge of ‘ownership’ and I just hate that cats are ‘owned’ but the law says they ARE our possessions.
Take no notice of me, I truly must be a cat in disguise I think lol
I understand Ruth – actually when I first put a collar on my cat Gigi in Canada I had the same concern. However having her able to go in and out whenever she wanted mean’t I felt I had to do it. But as I said – it never turned out to be a problem. Somehow my cats have always been totally fine with it in the sense they have never objected. I am the first to give in when my cat objects so I feel lucky that way because I really value the reflector. I read somewhere it gives your cat a 700% greater chance of being seen. Probably nonsense but not far off. I haven’t had a white cat and Gigi in Canada and Lilly here and even big old Red were all totally invisible in the dark without them. Taking photos of them with a flash and the collar on was always a problem because the collar reflects so brightly it bleaches the image. I don’t know what or how they make reflective material but it’s as good as turning a light on when it’s reflecting. I still worried about cyclist who don’t use lights on their bikes but otherwise it seemed like the right thing to do. After some years of searching I found some collars in Slovenia that fit in with all my needs. They are elastic so if they caught will come off right away. They are soft edged – not causing discomfort by digging in like rigid collars. They have powerful reflection which I personally tested to be sure and I also found the perfect tags for them. They are lightweight and plastic and I put them on facing forward so you can see the cats name and number without having to touch the cat. If a person was to find my cat scared in their garage they could feed it and read the number and call. You can also write ‘do not feed – on medication’ on the collar. I have been called a total of 3 times. Once Lilly was stuck many floors up the building and a couple called us. The other 2 times it was just concerned people who had Lilly come and say hi – she’s social 🙂 The calls also made me feel like it was a good thing to have the number and tag, not just the reflective collar. Having said that all my cats were also microchipped. But that only works if your cat makes it to the vet. IF your cat is run over or dies and there is no number then nobody can call you and tell you.
I am not saying people use it necessarily but it raises the odds considerably.
I myself found a dead cat hit by a car and used the number on the collar to call the owner. It was very sad but I am glad for the number and that I could call. Also if a person can see the name of your cat without touching them it means they can call him or her – might make a difference somewhere doen the line if a person is trying to help. There are many positives which is why I use them. It is also important to note that you don’t let them out unless you are around whereas I have always had an open door, day and night, winter and summer until Red died a year ago in two days. My indoor cats don’t have collars and the catio will be done in the next couple weeks. I will see how solid the catio is but if I doubt it even slightly (Lilly will try everything to break through it!) then on goes the collar for Lilly at least who likes to go accross roads and in other people’s gardens if she’s out and about. The younger ones wouldn’t go far if they excaped but even so if I suspect they can I will give them collars. Cats who are not used to the outdoors can get spooked and run and be lost in the space of 5 minutes. People are usually kind enough to care and help around here so the number on the tag works well – and in my opinion it has to be written large enough to read and facing forward to there is no need to touch the cat to see it.
I have a whole system 🙂 – I also see what you mean by the ownership thing although I never thought of it that way. Having said that I have thought to myself, after Pepi dissapeared not wearing a collar, that maybe somebody just took him because he’s nice and they liked him. If he’d had a collar it might have made them think he was “owned” as you say but that might have saved him from being taken if he was. If he was killed somebody could have called us and told us if he’d had a collar. Not knowing is torture – he was the sweetest cat you ever met, very cuddly tabby boy and I still wonder if he is alive somewhere nearby or if he died.
If one of my cats ogjected unhappily to a collar I might be sitting here saying the exact opposite so it’s also just a matter of chance that mine have always been ok with what I give them to wear.
I HATE bells on collars. Did you know that most collars now come with bells on them. This is evil. This is horrid. I even went to find Red’s mama wearing a collar with a bell. I ripped it off immediatly and the lady probably thought it just came off. Some think it saves birds and others just want to know where their cat is. I say it’s cruelty to cats to make them wear a bell. If a cat wearing a bell ever comes up to me for cuddles I always rip the bell off. I know how to get them off easily. You just have to twist them whilst holding the metal loop. I do it. Even if I don’t know the cat or the owner because I can’t stand it and I know the cat’s hate it too.
They are not our possesions I agree. If I had a sick cat or one on a diet though I would want to be able to let them out safe from other people feeding them so that’s when I’d use a “don’t feed” tag for example. I would also like it if my cat is in somebody’s garden that they know the cat is cared for. They can see by the collar and the cat it is well loved and that they shouldn’t over interfere. We had a cat get overweight and die constantly being fed god knows what by the old ladies nextdoor when I was a kid. I hated them for it. They kept feeding Basil even after we asked them not to. They didn’t care a damn. He didn’t have a collar but if he did it wouldn’t have stopped them. He died on the way back from their place on the road.
In a way if your cat is free to go out anytime – even when you are away on holiday for a couple days – as mine always were – then a collar is one thing that you have to help them and you. Now I haven’t gone into the problems and dangers of collars but I know they exist and like I said I spent many years finding the right ones. I have several spares for the future because they are so good.
In my memorial for Red you will see in the last picture that I still have his collar – you will see the material of it – just to have an idea of what kind of collar it is. If my cat were to get the collar caught in a tree and literally be hanging by the neck from it they would just slip straight out. I have lost them occasionally which makes me think they are safe. They should come off once in a while if they are safe because cats get in little spaces and get them caught. If they don’t come off it is very dangerous.
I don’t ever want to own a cat but for those people who look at it as ownership I want them to think my cat is owned when they see it, whilst the other people will know my cat has a caretaker.
It’s been a hard subject for me in the past because of the same reasons you speak of – that’s why I have so much to say about it. Luckily my cats have been fine with them. Gigi and Molly never tried them. So that might change everything when they do 🙂
You make a lot of good points Marc.
Many years ago when I brought a kitten home from the vets for my late mother after our dad died suddenly she tried to put a collar on her and she went quite mad. It was very traumatic for us all and we threw the collar away. Looking back maybe it was because she’d been abused before the person rescuing her brought her in as a stray saying she’d been used as a football, yet she was covered in sticky stuff like candy floss. She was very trusting and calm in every other way.
So who knows what the true story was?
I hate bells on collars too, how would the person putting one on their cat like to hear jangling with every move they made. It’s no excuse saying it’s a warning to birds, birds aren’t daft, they know when a cat is about, have you ever heard a blackbird’s warning shout “CAT CAT CAT”
Only the weakest birds get caught by cats. Rodents are much easier to catch and anyway what makes me mad about people grumbling if a cat does catch a bird, is that they think it’s fine for the cat to catch a mouse!
No lie. I just saw a commercial for a fake parakeet thats motion activated. $15. Wonder if a fake cat is in our future. I’ll let you all know if I hear of one.
Lavendar is a horrible smell. Anyone with migraines can’t handle strong odors of any kind. Wonder if cats get headaches from the smell.
Talk about Lavender! The current washing powder we have is lavender scented – horrible 😉 There is a robot cat designed for search and rescue that some clever person will put fur on and sell as a fake cat.
No! No way would I ever buy anything like this. Apart from the fact that I hate to see cats forced to wear collars I believe that the constant stink of lavender would be horrendous to the cat, imagine having something tied to your own neck that you can’t remove and being forced to inhale it 24 hours a day plus there could so easily be an allergic reaction to whatever the collar is impregnated with which could cause at least and itch and maybe a sore or wound around the neck (just like with those damned flea collars that people force cats to wear.) I have seen plug ins, similar to Feliway, with this combination of ingredients and to me that would be a better way of doing it than the collar fastened round the neck with no escape for the cat.
Finally, I can see where the inappropriate marking might make someone try this, and we all know about “scratching” but what the heck is excessive meowing? We ARE talking about cats – cats meow!!!Anyone who considers their cat meow excessively should save up and buy themselves one of those robots we were discussing previously instead.
I’m sure you know I’m not going to like this collar! I think chopping it up was a good idea though lol
I don’t think anything concentrated on the neck of a cat is good, flea collars can be lethal, cats often lose fur under the collar, get sores, get ill, even die from the poison in the collar.
Those impregnated with lavender smelling powder may not be lethal (I very much hope) but would a person like to wear a collar of lavender? It’s a very strong smell. I once sent a friend a lavender pillow to help her sleep, her husband threatened either it went or he did, the smell was so strong to his nose.
Yes cats are individuals and I’m not unaware of that, but they are cats and follow a pattern of feline behaviour, just as we people are individuals but still follow a pattern of human behaviour.
Another new word today ‘pocking’ to add to ‘torture breeding’ Michael we will soon have a whole PoC secret code language lol 😉
I know you don’t like this sort of thing. I totally understand why. What I am focusing on is the experiences of cat owners in comments on products. Sometimes they are quite instructive and you wouldn’t think of looking for it on Amazon.
I think Leah quoted “pocking” first! We are making up some nice words.