itchy cats

Question
I have 2 kittens, 8 months old.  They are indoor cats except they occasionally go outside on a harness.  I have just recently put collars with bell son them as the male kittten has managed to sneak between my legs a couple of times and being black he is very ahrd to see at night.  Iam sure that they don't have fleas but they scratch a lot around their collars.  Is this because they are not used to them and will it subside as it is very annoying?

Answer
Margo,

The behavior you're describing isn't uncommon in cats with new collars (although since they do go outside occasionally checking for fleas isn't a bad idea even though you're fairly certain that parasites aren't playing a role in the scratching) - it's their way of showing discomfort with the new collars. I do believe that you've done the smart thing by belling these kids, especially if they see the need to try Houdini like escapes from time to time, but it will take awhile to get them comfortable with collars that have bells on them. I know that it's obnoxious, when my three resident cats went on vacation this summer we placed them all in belled harnesses since we didn't want any accidental escapes from the cottage and they scratched for 2 weeks solid just because they were uncomfortable - we found that removing the bells when the household was ready for bed really kept us sane since the scratching was no longer accompanied by the tinkle of little bells. If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me again and I'll do my absolute best to help you out.