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There is always that one pet that you have a special connection with. For me, that is my cat, Tiger. I actually found him as a stray when I was in graduate school. He showed up on my doorstep one day and he has been with me ever since.
He can be ornery and can definitely make me crazy sometimes, but whenever I am having a bad day or am feeling down I know that he’ll always be there to make me feel better. Maybe its because of his loyalty, or maybe it is my maternal instinct, but taking good care of him is something that is very important to me.
Tiger has an unknown allergy which causes him to often get ulcers on his mouth and lose his hair if he is not taking medication. I hate the thought of my cat having to be on medication for the rest of his life, so I am trying to use more natural products for him.
Since the veterinarian thought the allergy might be something Tiger was coming in contact with, I started by making him a homemade breakaway collar. This way I would know exactly what materials were in the collar — plus I could make it look exactly the way I wanted! In fact, I have a variety of collars in fun designs to make different holidays or seasons.
Making a Homemade Cat Collar
You will need a few things to get started, including:
- a sewing machine
- 1/2 yard of interface
- 1/2 yard of cotton fabric
- coordinating thread
- breakaway buckle
- iron
Note: It is really important to purchase the breakaway collars for cats so that if your cat’s collar gets caught while climbing or jumping the collar will release.
You will want to cut a piece of the cotton fabric 2″ wide by 16″ long. You will also want to cut a matching length of interface.
Fuse the interface to the back side of the cotton fabric (the side without bold colors) using an iron on the lowest steam setting.
Once you have pushed the interface and cotton together you will fold it in half lengthwise and iron it. 
Open the fabric, fold one side into the center and crease and press. Repeat with the second side. Open the fabric, fold the ends to the inside and press. 
Stitch two long lines close to the edge along both long sides.
Thread the fabric up through the bottom left side of the adjuster buckle and down through the right side. Leave approximately 1 1/4 inches of excess fabric. Stitch along the edges of the flap and make an “X” pattern. 
Thread the free end of the fabric up through one slot in the side release buckle. Thread fabric back through the adjuster buckle and up through the other slot in the side release buckle.
Leave approximately a 1 1/4 inch flap, and open the buckle. Stitch with the same square and X pattern in order to secure the flap. 
Use the jump ring to attach the bell and attach it to the collar. 
In addition to making my own collars for the cats, I also feed Tiger Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food. The Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food is made from Real Recipes, Real Ingredients, and Real Food. This means that the cat food is made from real chicken or seafood and never contains grains, glutens, fillers, artificial flavors, artificial colors, artificial preservatives, or meat/poultry by-product meal.
What is nice is that Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® comes in a Zero Grain dry food, such as the Zero Grain Chicken and Potato recipe. This dry food features U.S. farm-raised chicken as the main ingredient as well as high-quality essential nutrients for lean muscle mass and healthy organs.
When I want to give my cats a special treat, I feel them the Nutrish® Grain Free wet food. Same as the dry food, these wet foods contain only real ingredients.
What I also love is that Rachael’s personal proceeds go to help fund Rachael’s Rescue which was created to help shelter pets in need.
You can purchase Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® wet and dry cat food at a variety of retailers including Giant Eagle. To find out where you can buy Nutrish® visit the Where to Buy Section of the Nutrish® website.
Comment On: Do you have a special cat in your life? What do you do to keep them healthy?
We use running water (a fountain) for our pets- I feel the running water, with filter, encourages them to drink more water and cleaner water. I’m particular about cleaning it often, too! Thanks for sharing this wonderful tutorial! #client
Where did you find the break-away buckle? Also, how does this collar adjust to fit?
Has your veterinarian told you about the fact that using plastic anything can cause sores on or near a cat’s mouth? Just wondering.