I was a little shocked by how angry she seemed so I didn't even really respond but to say my cats will pull off breakaway collars.
![kong breakaway cat collar kong breakaway cat collar](https://images.baxterboo.com/global/images/products/large/kitty-breakaway-cat-collar-fish-7805.jpg)
Of course I would probably feel differently one of my five kitties managed to off themselves. Am I really endangering my cat my forcing it to wear a collar? From my perspective it seems like breakaway collars are more of a successful marketing gimmick than a necessary safety measure. I wanted to get some more opinions on the topic. Of course this may be because dogs are more likely to wear collars in the first place. I have however seen a handful of dogs, usually young dogs either on an outdoor runner or in kennel unsupervised. In my five years working in veterinary medicine I have never seen or heard of a case of a cat strangling themselves. They are also microchipped, but having seen stray cats euthanized for treatable injuries because an owner can't be identified right away I am overly paranoid. I also live on a busy road so for my cats getting out and not being identified as owned right away seems like a bigger risk. While I have never had a cat get it's collar caught on anything, I have had them escape my house several times. My cats take them off, usually right away, or they get lost in the house somewhere after a few hours. I like the idea of a breakaway collar but in practice, at least with my five cats they don't work. When I answered that it was for a cat, she proceeded to go on an impassioned tirade about why this was so dangerous, and how only dogs can use non breakaways because they won't pull (but a cat will?).
![kong breakaway cat collar kong breakaway cat collar](https://i.etsystatic.com/5723627/r/il/ca7756/369146827/il_794xN.369146827_lkod.jpg)
So I was at my local pet food store buying a new collar for my cat (not a breakaway) when the cashier asked me if it was for a dog.