Wondering if you need a cat shock collar to better train your furry friend? Trying to work on some behavior problems like keeping your cat off the counters or getting your cat to meow a little less? In this article we’ll cover how cat shock collars work, why and when to use them to build containment systems or for training, and why they make such a great training device.
Plus we’ll review the top 5 electric shock collars out there and show you how to use them for behavior modification.
Note: If you click some of the links in this article we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
How Do Cat Shock Collars Work?
- How Do Cat Shock Collars Work?
- Why and When to Use a Cat E-Collar or Shock Collar
- The Top 5 Cat E-Collars and Shock Collars (Reviewed)
- Best Invisible Fence for Cats (E-Collar and Transmitter) by PetSafe – PAWZ Away Pet Barrier
- Runner Up – Next Best Invisible Fence for Cats
- Best Small Shock Collar for Training
- Best Automatic System to Reduce Meowing
- Best No Shock Collar (Uses Scents and Phermones) to Calm Cats and Reduce Meowing
- How to Train a Cat on an Invisible Fence Using a Training Collar (E-Collar)
Shock collars also known as electric collars or e-collars work by providing a beep, vibration, or static shock (electric shock via a micro electric current) either at the press of a button from a remote or when the shock collar crosses a boundary line set by a transmitter. When used properly they make a great training tool.
Each one comes with two parts, a receiver collar that applies one of three training forms (sound function, vibration or low voltage shock function) plus the remote or transmitter that sends an automatic or button-based signal. Most include the ability to fine tune the static shock level so you use the bare minimum needed to get the attention of your cat, small pets, or small dogs.
Note – Always set the collar to it’s minimum setting and increase the intensity level only enough to get your cat’s attention. That’s all you need for training. Never set it to the maximum level. It should never cause physical pain. We recommend testing it on yourself first.
Electric shock training collars can be used as part of positive reinforcement training and negative reinforcement training to remove negative behaviors. Both training methods work and both require the trainer to undergo some basic training before using these tools.
For a more in depth look at how they work as wireless fences see our article here. That article focuses on dog wireless fences but the concept is the same for cats. A common way cat owners use wireless fences is to keep indoors cats from using the dog door to escape.
Transmitters have a barrier range. When your cat comes to the edge of that range it triggers the receiver collar to send the sound, vibration, or electric shock. Use this to prevent your cat from leaving an area (e.g. your house) or from entering certain areas (e.g. forbidden rooms, counter tops).
Some transmitters, like the ones from PetSafe, allow you to adjust the barrier range. You can set it so it mimics the size of your house preventing your cat or small pets from going through dog doors.
Other transmitters has super small barrier ranges. These can be set to keep your cat away from certain areas. Use them to keep cats off counter tops, furniture, or out of rooms that you want your cat to avoid.
Cat owners use these shock collars for a variety of reasons which we’ll cover next.
Why and When to Use a Cat E-Collar or Shock Collar
Here are some of the top reasons cat owners use e-collars or a shock collar:
- Keep indoors cats or small pets from using the dog door and escaping
- Reduce meowing
- Prevent cat access to certain rooms or expensive furniture
- Create an invisible fence to keep your cat in your yard
The Top 5 Cat E-Collars and Shock Collars (Reviewed)
Best Invisible Fence for Cats (E-Collar and Transmitter) by PetSafe – PAWZ Away Pet Barrier
What We Like
- Petsafe is a trusted brand for e-collar products (along with Dogtra and SportDOG)
- Best to keep cat off kitchen counters, furniture, or out of certain rooms
- Very customizable – You can attach Petsafe “barriers” to specific items. The shock collar then beeps and tingles when they get near these forbidden areas
- Need to cutoff a new area? Just move the transmitter, train your cat, and they will start avoiding that place as well
- Good for smart cats that outwit barriers or automatic spray training devices
- Beeps first as a warning then does a shock if the shock collar/receiver gets to close to the transmitter – our favorite type of training collar always uses beeps first and has multiple shock settings so you can set it super low
- Great battery life
What We Don’t Like
- Not a small device – Receiver is a bit big for cats (you can swap out the shock collar portion to make the overall collar/receiver a bit smaller)
- Thicker hair can prevent the receiver from working. That happens when the contact points can’t touch the skin consistently. You may need to trim the hair while training your cat so it gets used to the electric shock collar. Long hair doesn’t work well with training collars.
Remember – training collar work should be active and you should be involved to make sure your cat is learning!
Runner Up – Next Best Invisible Fence for Cats
What We Like
- Again, trusted brand PetSafe – they have been around and have been working on invisible fence technology since 1991.
- Good general transmitter for creating a larger fenced area. This will work to keep your cat in the house or yard but not good for keeping them off specific pieces of furniture. See the PetSafe Pawz away pet barrier to keep cats off smaller things like counter tops
- Good for travel – easy to setup transmitter and barrier so you can take your cat RV camping.
- Adjustable barrier range
What We Don’t Like
- Transmitter signal gets interference from dense metal objects easily. Signal at edge can be spotty for some houses and setups
- Signal makes a large circular sphere – does not work well for long rectangular yards.
Best Small Shock Collar for Training
What We Like
- Great remote collar for manual training where you actively work with your cat on new habits while using the training collar. Note – this is not an automatic sound, vibration, or shock collar
- Reasonable price, great packaging
- Uses tone mode, vibration, or electric shock to get attention for training purposes – See training collar video below
- Can be used with positive and/or negative reinforcement training
- Multiple intensity levels
What We Don’t Like
- A bit bulky (most e-collars for cats are bulky as the tech isn’t advanced enough to make them super small – they need a sizable battery and it is what it is)
- Shock collar buckle is a little loose and can fall off at times
Best Automatic System to Reduce Meowing
How about an automatic training collar to help reduce meowing? When done well it gives your training a huge advantage.
This is one of the first models we could find that’s tuned to a lower frequency of meowing. Most bark collars are made for dogs.
The best of the best are triggered both by vibration and by sound. This one appears to be a sound-sensitive collar only.
Note – This may not work for all cats. It’s a new model and you should plan on actively training with it at first before just leaving it on. That’s true of all bark or meow collars.
What We Like
- Automatic shock collar training – Still provide some active training in the beginning to help your cat understand how to turn off the beeping or vibrating. After that you can let the automatic sensing system do the training
- Multiple stimulation levels – Uses beeping/sound, vibration, or static correction (electric shock) settings – Lots of options to use the lowest setting to get results
- Additional features – Tuned to a meowing frequency of sound.
What We Don’t Like
- Only comes in blue
- Relatively new product. We wish PetSafe, Dogtra, or SportDOG would work on this but this will do for now
Best No Shock Collar (Uses Scents and Phermones) to Calm Cats and Reduce Meowing
What We Like
- Scent based – doesn’t use vibration or shock
- Intended to reduce meowing, scratching, and marking
- Helps calm cat from loud noises, thunder, fireworks
- Uses the same pheromone that mother cats put out when calming their kittens
- According to TIME magazine, this has been called a kitty Prozac without the pill (source)
What We Don’t Like
- Doesn’t work for all cats – consistency issue
- Could get stuck in cat’s mouths – watch this when you first use it. If your cat fidgets with it too much then it might not be for your cat. You can also attach this to their normal collar via zip ties to make sure they can’t get at it with their mouth.
- Don’t use outside – Only use breakaway collars outside so you cat can’t get stuck on things
How to Train a Cat on an Invisible Fence Using a Training Collar (E-Collar)
We cover boundary training for cats and dogs more thoroughly in this article. You can watch the video below to get a quick overview.
