Hi all. I just wanted to post my horrible experience from this morning to
warn others about what I've learned the hard way. The horror - breakaway
collars
If you recall looking at Romeo (our little siamese kitten) in the picures I
posted, he had a blue collar on. It was a cute blue collar with pawprints,
specifically designed for cats with the BREAKAWAY feature incase they were to
ever get hung up the collar would break free.
Romeo is now turning six months old soon, and today was our first experience
in rushing to an emergency vet. Having 8 kitties, we've had an amazing
record with safety. Accidents are unheard of around here. I woke up to find
my baby in his room crying - howling - in pain. Blood all over the bathroom,
and all over Romeo. I found him thrashing around on the sink, covered in
blood with those beautiful blue eyes bulging out of his skull. His
expression was of total panic, terror, and pain. He stared right into my
eyes, helpless, as if saying "mom please help". Thank God he was still
alive. I was horrified and completely stunned in fear. I immediately
screamed (if you heard a loud scream at 6am eastern time this morning, it was
me!) for my fiance to wake up and help. There was nothing in that room that
could have hurt him this way. Until I saw his collar, still around his neck,
but stuck in his jaw, between the top and bottom teeth. I had always made
sure it was loose enough that you could just slip it right over his head, but
not too loose. I check a couple times a week because he's a growing kitten.
Somehow, he managed to get it stuck, and for what looked like hours, he had
been struggling to get it out. We had been sleeping with a loud wall air
condiner on last night, and could not hear his cries in pain. Luckily, Romeo
is okay. We were able to free him from the collar and get him to a vet.
He's got a fever, really swollen face, and some torn gums, but thankfully,
he's going to be alright. He's also got stained blue fur where the collar's
color ran from the saliva and blood. After cleaning him up, he's now a
siamese with bright blue stripes. He's on clavamox to prevent infection and
an anti-inflammatory to reduce some of the swelling. He's been wearing a
collar for months, and never even tried to get it off. It never bothered
him. Please, anyone else that is using ANY type of collar on their kitty,
don't. Collars are NOT for cats. You wouldn't want to feel the terror I did
this morning. We are lucky, another kitty might not be. I've used breakaway
collars with ID tags on my kitties for years, I would never want to lose them
- even being indoor kitties, you just never know. I honestly don't know how
to keep ID on them now. but it's better to be safe, than sorry. Also, if
you don't have these already, make sure you have the phone number to your
local emergency vet - and KNOW how to get there - take a test drive if
needed. A kitty first aid kit can be priceless in times like this. Don't
wait until you need one to learn and then buy one. It could mean the
difference between life and death...
Genie
