Did you know that it is scientifically proven that cats understand when you call them? Those little purr balls just simply do not care about what you want or think.
Well, not all of them, but let's be honest - the majority of them could not care less about matters that do not include feeding them.
For this reason the electric shock collars for cats are getting more popular all around the cat owners' world.
We'll get back to this later...
We do strongly believe that whatever you want it to do, be that a simple trick, a specific action, modifying a specific behavior of theirs or getting them to stop doing something they often tend to do altogether, the best route to go about doing that is almost always going to be positive reinforcement training. More on this in a bit...
But since that does not always help, we wanted to review the best electric shock collars for cats out there.
Our Top Choice For The Best Cat Shock Collar
Top Choice: Aetertek GT-211 Small Dog & Cat Shock Collar
Image | Product | Feature | Price |
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Aetertek GT-211 Small Dog & Cat Shock Collar | Our Top Pick |
*Note: The link above, and several links in the remainder of the article below, will take you to over to Chewy.com where you can find out more information about the product(s), such as current prices and customer reviews.
Our Top Pick For The Best Electric Collar For Cats
Because of the fact that cat shock collars are nowhere near manufactured and sold as much as dog shock collars, this leaves the average cat owner with limited choices when it comes to buying the best and safest shock collar for their feline.
The following shock collar is the safest and most effective collar for use on felines, and will come in very handy if it seems that you've tried every training method out there with your cat but they're just not responding to them.
Top Cat Zap Collar With Remote Control - Aetertek GT-211 Small Dog & Cat Shock Collar
Specifically Designed For Small Pets: The first and one of the most important criteria that you should be looking for in any zapper you want to get for your cat is for it to be specifically designed to be worn by small sized pets, which is exactly what Aetertek has done with this shock collar having designed it specifically to be worn by small animals that are small in size by nature.
This is very important to make sure of right off the bat because the majority of training collars out there are way too big for cats to be wearing around their necks, and if they're adjustable shock collars then there's also the problem that they're way too heavyweight for your feline to be wearing them and moving around comfortably throughout the day without feeling like it's going to fall over from the excess weight around its neck.
Using The Shock Function Isn't Necessary: One of the beautiful things about this electric collar is the fact that you don't really have to make use of the shock function on your cat to make good and effective use of this unit, in case you believe that using any sort of electric shock on your pet for training purposes is an inhumane practice.
Many pet owners have found that just making use of the vibration/buzz sound function or the beep is more than enough to deter their cat from doing whatever unwanted action they were taking part it, and form an association with time between this vibration/buzz/beep and the fact that you don't want them to do whatever they were doing at the time.
This way your cat feels absolutely no physical pain at all since you're not using and electric shock, and you get what you wanted to get in the first place by investing in a shock collar for cats, so it's a win-win situation for both you and your kitty.
Mild Electric Shocks Available: Even if you were to decide to use the electric shock function on your cat, the fact is that no matter what we or anyone else says, you're still going to do it if you've set your mind to it, so you might as well do so with a unit that was specifically designed to give you the ability to emit a low enough electric shock on your cat that does the trick just fine and also ensures the safety and well-being of your feline while at it.
If you were to go and use any other shock collar available on the market that wasn't specifically designed for cat use, and ones that were designed for use on dogs instead, the chances of you inflicting severe physical harm on your pet and putting their lives in danger are very high since even the slightest of electric shocks a shock collar only designed for dogs can be enough to kill a small cat.
As long as you stick to the lowest electric shock settings this unit gives you the ability to use, you should be fine, although we will reiterate it once more that you will almost always find that you don't have to really make use of the electric shock function in order to make this unit effective in training, and that the beep/vibration/buzz functions we talked about in the point above also get the job done tremendously well.
Only if you were to try the buzz/beep/vibration functions and find out that they aren't really rubbing off on your feline should you move on to the electric shock function, at which stage you should only start off with the lowest of electric shocks.
Rechargeable Batteries: Another feature we really like about this cat shock collar, and one that many pet owners also appreciated once some time has passed since they used this unit for the first time, is the rechargeable batteries that come along with it.
The rechargeable batteries for both the remote control you use and the receiver on the collar itself mean that you don't need to keep buying new batteries over and over again just to keep this thing running when the lifespan of the old batteries is up and you need to dispose of them.
Possibly the only thing that Aetertek could have done better in order to improve on this feature is prolong the rechargeable battery life and make it last longer before you have to recharge, especially the one on the collar since those batteries seem to need recharging at a bit faster rate than the batteries on the remote controller.
A Quick Note
Given the very controversial nature of using shock collars for cats, this article is neither an endorsement of this method, nor does it aim to refute it.
A shock collar for cats in the hands of the right and experienced pet owner that knows what they're doing and knows how to not harm their animal in the process can work wonders, while a cat training collar in the hands of the wrong and inexperienced owner that doesn't take the time to look out for their feline's safety in this process can be catastrophic.
It's up to you to do your due diligence and ensure your cat's safety and well being at all times, no matter which training method you ultimately choose to go with.
What Pet Owners Think About Using Shock Collars For Cats
However, the problem here is that you have to know what you're actually doing in order for the technique you're implementing to be effective, which requires that you study everything related about positive reinforcement training beforehand.
And, after you spend the adequate time studying everything related to positive reinforcement training in cats, you have to implement the techniques that you learned for a long duration of time for you to see results with your feline, and you're going to have to stay true to these techniques in a consistent manner during tough times as well.
While we almost always advise every cat owner out there to learn about positive reinforcement training techniques that they can implement with their pets (the same way we advise every dog owner learn about these techniques so they can implement them with their dogs), such time commitments aren't really a possibility for many animal owners, and these individuals would much prefer a "quick fix" that offers them instant gratification right on the spot - and this is where cat shock collars come in.
How Do Electronic Collars For Cats Work?
If you're familiar with the mechanism of dog shock collars at all, then cat shock collars work exactly the same.
Shock collars for felines are essentially collars that they wear around their necks that enable you, the owner, to emit specific electrical shock levels via a remote controller that comes with the unit.
The theory behind this is that whenever your animal does something they shouldn't be doing (attempting to jump over the fence for example, having a go at scratching your furniture, etc ..) and you emit a specific level of electrical shock, they'll immediately be interrupted from doing this specific action and will register at the back of their minds that whatever they were doing right then and there was bad and will get them in trouble if they try to do it another time.
And, whenever they do a specific action and you don't emit a shock when they're doing whatever they're doing, it also registers in the back of their minds that this specific action is fine by you and they can carry on doing it.
Here's a list of some of the most common feline behavioral problems that pet owners try to solve by using a shock collar.
- The display aggressive behavior towards other pets at home for no apparent reason
- They like to scratch away at your home's furniture just because they're bored
- They like to sit on top of things and places they shouldn't be on because you want to make use of these spaces (example: your laptop, your table, your kitchen counter, etc ..) and refuse to get off without putting up a fight
Check out this video to learn more about cat behavioral problems and how to help train them using positive reinforcement:
The best shock collars for cats will give you the ability to start from extremely low and minimal electrical shocks that barely physically hurt your pet (it's more like discomfort than pain when you're at such a low level), but ones that will do the trick just fine in order to distract your cat from whatever they were doing and deliver the message loud and clear that if they were to ever try to do it another time, they're going to feel a similar discomfort.
But remember that the most important way to stop your cat from misbehaving is to use positive reinforcement and only resort to a shock collar if that does not work.
What Should I Look For?
When looking for the best shock collar for cats, you should be on the lookout for a few features that will ensure the safety and well-being of your feline, most important and crucial of which we've mentioned in the following list.
Mild Electric Shock: In order for any shock collar out there labeled as "cat safe" to be really so, there must be the option for the pet owner to be in control of the level of electric shock being emitted, with the option of very low and mild electric shocks being available.
If strong electric shocks are all that's available, stay far away as possible from this shock collar and do not use it on your cat as strong electric shocks could lead to death.
Specifically Manufactured For Cats: Some manufacturing companies out there will design shock collars specifically designed for use on dogs, while also marketing their products as "cat-friendly", while in reality this is not the case.
Some shock collars specifically designed for dogs can kill cats because of the difference in size between these two pets.
Proper Fit: Again, this ties hand in hand with the point we mentioned right above this one about the shock collar being specifically manufactured for cats.
The best cat shock collar will be one that fits your cat's neck perfectly, one that isn't too wide to the extent that it keeps falling off, and one that isn't too tight to the extent that your pet could easily get injured and/or choke on it.
Minimal Risk Of Getting Caught On Something: Because of the very energetic, active and lively nature of felines that are always on the move throughout the day, there's always the risk of your cat shock collar getting caught on something like a post, a fence, a tree branch, etc .. something which will result in great risk of them choking.
Ideally, any shock collar you get for your feline should be designed in order to greatly reduce the risk of getting caught on to something and your cat choking as a result.
The Importance Of Immediate Action
If you're going to get a shock collar to use on your feline as part of whatever training or behavioral modification process you want to follow, there's one thing you have to keep in mind very well, and that's the importance of immediate action.
Immediate action in issuing the electric shock and your cat's behavior can make or break your success in delivering your message across to them in terms of what they should not be doing.
For your feline to be able to register in its mind that the shock they received right now was because of a behavior they did that they weren't supposed to do, the electric shock should come right on the spot when they're still doing that behavior.
If you were to emit an electric shock a few minutes after your cat has finished doing whatever behavior you don't want them to do and have moved on to doing something else, the communication message will never be delivered clearly and they will only be left confused.