Covert Operations

[Skids]

Does putting a small bell on your cat's collar teach it the art of stealth? I know they have a bell so that you can find them and so that other smaller animals that might be caught are warned off, but should the cat itself be hunted a bell on its collar would give away its hiding place to its pursuer. Would the cat learn that whenever it moves it produces a jingle sound thus giving the game away so It won't move once in a suitable hiding place?

[delilahcat]

Personally, although I always put a collar on my cats I never put a bell on them. This is because I think it must be incredibly annoying to a cat to have to hear that tinkling sound and know it can never get rid of it!

If people are concerned about their cat hunting, far better to keep them in at night when they're most likely to go hunting.

[Clare A]

I've heard of cats who learn to move in a way to keep the bell from tinkling when they're hunting! I'd say the bell wouldn't endanger the cat unduly, as it can swiftly scale a tree or other high object. I've had cats with and without collars over the years - current lot don't wear them. You hear horror stories of them strangling themselves when entangled while wearing a collar. I have heard of one such, but also known of many more wearing them without mishap.

Incidentally, a name-tag or little roll-cylinder doesn't prevent a neighbour from stealing your cat, they merely remove it. That happened to me.