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Comment by watchblob | Hacker News Reader

You shouldn't put collars on cats. If you have to then it should be a quick release collar.

https://www.rspca.org.uk/-/news-collar-warning-after-cat-die...

I came to write the same. I live in Thailand in a place with tons of jungle. It is common around here that cats die due to getting stuck in a tight spot because of the collar. I personally lost my first cat due to this. Now i am aware and will never put a collar on a cat if it hasn't got quick release. Such a horrible way to die. Quick release is for me a hard requirement.

You should put collars on cats so that other people know the cat has a home. But yes, it should be a quick release collar.

And put an orange collar on them to identify them as an escapee.

https://ek.explodingkittens.com/kittyconvict

I agree.

Of course you could add a quick release/stretchy part to the collar so it is safe, but that also means that the tracker would easily get lost (especially if the cat isnt used to collars since kittenhood, they tend to be too annoyed by them and try to remove them)

That is not a problem. It is a tracker. You can just go pick it up if is falls off

You're right, partially. Yes, you can track the tracker itself and go to that location. But that location might be inaccessible to humans, or the cat might drop the tracker somewhere where it gets unusable, say a bit of water for example.

Also, whats the point of a tracker if its not on the cat?

Safety first. I can always buy a new tracker. If the cat got killed by the tracker what the point of the tracker in the first place?

Of course safety first, I dont disagree in that. What I am saying is that I dont see a way to make this safe _and_ reliable at the same time

It's better that it "malfunction" and fall up by mistake than not falling off when needed.

If it do falls off (by mistake or because the quick release did its intended job), at least you now have a good starting point where to go search for the cat. Assuming it doesn't fall off the very first day, you might also have a good idea or sense of in which area the cats normally goes strolling due to the tracking feature.

It's a numbers game. A tabcat used to be £16 to replace the tracker, if you always replace, and they don't lose it that frequently, then it's highly likely that they'll have it in case of emergency. This device is probably more expensive to replace (and unfortunately the tabcat is now £60 to replace, although you do get two trackers for that cost)

> Also, what's the point of a tracker if it's not on the cat?

Well, if your cat is one that tolerates a collar most of the time, he'll have the tracker on most of the time, which is better than no tracking at all. One of our cats tolerates a collar without any problem.

> or the cat might drop the tracker somewhere where it gets unusable, say a bit of water for example.

The dog GPS collars made by e.g. Whistle are waterproof, IPX8.

You might not get a cell signal under a couple of feet of water, but that much water also means you probably aren't finding the gadget even if you have a recent GPS fix.

Have cats with a tabcat each. The safety collar comes off a couple of times a year, once or twice it's been inaccessible - neighbour won't let you in and cant find it themselves, on a roof, etc.

For those worried about collars, I can confirm that https://www.coolcatcollars.co.uk collars do come off. You can also use a luggage scale to measure the force it takes to release.

This should be the top comment. The product being advertised here does not look safe for cats.

> shouldn't put collars on cats

For an indoor outdoor-occasionally GPS-tracked cat, collars are fine. There is no case where they will get themselves into trouble and be unaccompanied to ruin.

I mean, if you're concerned about the cat's health, keeping it indoors (or in a cat patio) is probably going to reduce the risks to the cats health way more than skipping a collar will, and you won't need a collar.

Physically yes, mentally I would argue not so much.

I'm not sure being terrorised by dogs is particularly good for a cats mental health either.

In some cases it is the opposite...but I guess you think you should be put under house arrest for your mental health too. There are so many dangers outside.

Reminds me of this article from yesterday:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37511036

And the old saying "knows just enough to be dangerous".

The fact they got this far without knowing this safety information is concerning, to say the least.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com