Many cat owners think to put a collar on their cat, especially in the summer when a flea collars helps to keep your kitty free from unwanted pests, but they don’t think to buy some form of ID so that if the cat wanders off, it can be identified and brought back to them.
Reasons to provide ID for your cat include:
- Cat wandering off. Most cats have a good sense of direction and can get home again. However, well meaning people see a “stray” cat and often adopt it by feeding and providing a bed. A cat that has a collar and tag is obviously not a stray and so anyone finding a strange cat in their garden should phone the contact number and let you know where the cat is.
- If your cat is in an accident, you’ll be informed immediately so that you can get the cat to a veterinary as soon as possible.
- If your cat is somewhere it shouldn’t be and gets rounded up by the RSPCA, they will contact you and keep the cat safe until you collect it.
There are a few ways of putting some form of identification on your cat:
- Buy a simple barrel type of ID that has a paper strip inside for you to write your contact information on it.
- Buy a disk that can be engraved with your cat’s name and your contact information.
- Have your cat electronically tagged by a veterinary with an implant – this is the most intrusive and expensive route, but it’s also the one surest not to get lost!
If your cat is an indoors only cat, an ID tag isn’t that important – although if it does manage to get out, it’s more at risk of getting lost than an outdoors savvy cat! An outdoors cat should always have the protection of some form of ID so that it’s quickly and easily identified as your cat should a problem arise.