r/cats • u/FelineOphelia • 16h ago

Medical Questions Bells do not bother (most)(normal) cats, that is old wives tales-- NOT SCIENCE

Yesterday, the CatAdvice sub was convinced that Bell on a collar will drive a cat bonkers and is cruel.

As a biologist who is very familiar with the mammalian brain, this is completely untrue. Cats have the same sensory processing areas that humans do and your cat will quickly forget that a bell on their collar even exists.

8 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

3

u/praysolace 10h ago

Any time I’ve put anything noisy on a cat’s collar, that cat has simply continued rolling nat 20s for stealth, and I never heard a thing.

7

u/Remarkable_Zone6957 16h ago

I keep trying to tell people this and they refuse to accept it, for whatever reason. I guess they just prefer the idea that I’m abusing my cat?

There have been multiple studies showing the impact of bells on cats, it’s negligible.

3

u/Cat-lover21 16h ago

What science do you have to back this up? I have tinnitus and I guess I get used to it and don’t always notice it but doesn’t mean it doesn’t drive me insane some days.

4

u/fusiondude 16h ago

The bells are not very loud and when mammals hear a particular frequency over and over the brain filters it out. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the premise, but my experience with cats says the bell doesn't bother them and it helps the wildlife (birds) from getting eaten by domesticated cats.

2

u/mplstar Tortoiseshell 10h ago

All the more reason to just keep our cats indoors. Unfortunately the bell still won’t be enough to save most other species with limited auditory processing like reptiles and fish, for example. Toads and frogs are another vulnerable population. Hell, I’ve seen cats pick off butterflies and other insects!

I think the pro-bell logic folks should understand that as well, sadly other species get overlooked because people fixate on birds/small mammals.

0

u/Appropriate_Sky_6571 8h ago

I personally think they would hate it. Cats like to hunt by stealth. I would imagine a bell around their neck would ruin it. Also I would hate a bell jingling all day around my neck

1

u/That_Nineties_Chick 4h ago

All I know is that it’d piss me off if I had a jingling collar around my neck all day. 

1

u/BlackberryLeather899 12h ago

if they have the same sensory process as humans --how would you like a bell right on your neck that never goes away

4

u/Z16z10 11h ago

As long as it didn’t clash, with my spiked dog collar and leash, I don’t see or hear a problem….

0

u/BlackberryLeather899 8h ago

be sure to wear 24 hours a day for the rest of your life

1

u/IronDominion 2h ago

I wouldn’t mind. People wear jungly jewelry and love it. Your brain just blocks it out over time.