Cannot get cat to wear collar

Question
Hello,

I'm having a problem keeping a collar on my cat. Although she is strictly an indoor cat, I would prefer to keep a collar and tag on her as a safety measure in case she gets out. I got her about a year ago, and from the moment I put a collar on her, she's had an almost neurotic problem with it. She likes to lodge her jaw in it and chew on the breakaway latch until she pops it off, or eventually destroys the collar. She destroyed two of them, although I had them pretty loose around her neck because I was afraid of tightening them too much. With the third one, I tightened it more than the previous ones, but still making sure there was enough room for her to swallow, etc. However, this irritated her much worse than the old ones and she would constantly lick her neck and slobber on the collar in an attempt to get it in her jaw. Like I said, she was very neurotic about it, and it was sad to watch. I tried to "train" her a bit by snapping my fingers at her or distracting her when she did it, but eventually I just took the collar off her - she had slobbered on it so much that the collar's red dye had left her white neck fur pink.

Sorry for the long message, but I'm hoping you have some advice for me. I'm worried about leaving her without a collar because she's quite energetic and would leap out the door if she had a clear shot.

Thank you!

Answer
Dreams,

Some cats simply refuse to wear a collar. Using a collar as a means of making your cat identifiable isn't the most effective way to be sure that if she gets lost you will find her. Collars can break away or get caught on fences, tree branches, etc and even pose a safety hazard. If you want to be absolutely sure that she has identification on her at all times then I would recommend having her microchipped. Microchips are very cost effective and they have the advantage of being a permanent form of identification which would be very important in the event that your kitty did get out the door as animal shelters and vet clinics routinely scan any strays for them. Microchips are effective, but only if the information on them is kept current. Please be sure to keep any information on the microchip current just in case your kitty does get outside that way you have a permanent means of identification. I hope that this information is helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again.