Keep those collars comfy as pets grown

If you’ve read my column for any length of time you will know I promote keeping your pet on a non-slip collar with current identification tags at all times. I also encourage people to use a good leash when walking outside.

But did you know collars can be dangerous? Collars in particular may be very dangerous when well meaning people put cute, fun collars on a brand new puppy or kitten they adopt into their families.

How can putting a collar on a puppy or a kitten possibly be a bad thing? If that well-meaning family has the new collar on the baby pet and then forgets about it, a serious problem can occur.

You see puppies and kittens grow into dogs and cats pretty quickly. What doesn’t grow is the size of the collar. So if the puppy or kitten with the new cute collar is not monitored closely it may quickly outgrow the collar with no one noticing. It’s sad the pet can’t tell his parents the collar feels too tight, so we have to count on responsible pet parents to pay attention to the fit of the collar as the pet grows.

It’s wonderful when the pet parent is watching the growth of his pet and adjusts the size of the collar to fit a growing baby. I wish I could tell you everyone does that but it is certainly not the case.

The result of not monitoring the growth of the pet relative to the size of the collar can be disastrous. In fact, as the pet’s neck grows the collar may actually become embedded in the neck. This becomes a very dangerous situation.

We have had at least one fatality in our area from a collar or some type of cord or wire placed around a dog’s neck. As she grew, the collar became deeply embedded in her neck so severely that, unfortunately, she did not survive.

We had another similar case of a deeply embedded collar in our area last week that had to be surgically removed. At last check, the dog seemed to be doing well but clearly experienced extended terrible pain and fear as the collar grew tighter and tighter around his neck over the course of time.

If you decide to put a collar on your pet, and you should along with ID tags, please pledge to regularly check the comfort of the collar. An embedded collar doesn’t just occur on puppies and kittens. It can happen to an adult pet who gains substantial weight.

You should be able to fit one to two fingers beneath the collar and neck. If you can fit more than that the collar is too loose and the pet may be able to escape it while walking on a leash.

I would suggest checking your pet’s collar monthly to see if you can fit two fingers beneath the collar, especially if he’s a growing baby. Also check your adult pet’s collar monthly just to make sure the collar is neither too tight nor too loose.

Seeing if you can fit two fingers is such a simple thing to monitor to keep your baby safe. But it can make a huge difference in the health of your pet. Remember two is terrific.

This story was originally published July 12, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Keep those collars comfy as pets grown."