Breakaway / Safety Buckles

Let’s start with breakaway buckles, since that’s the default option for the collars on our website. You may have seen breakaway collars referred to as "safety" or "quick release" collars, since they are specifically designed to automatically open / unclasp when pulled or tugged on with a sufficient amount of force. This feature is designed to prevent injury or strangulation of pets if the collar gets caught on something, like a tree branch, fence (or in the jaws of another animal). Naturally, this is a bigger concern for outdoor cats who like to climb or are extra adventurous, but breakaway buckles can even protect indoor kitties who may jump on ledges or shelving. Although safety is the obvious priority when choosing this type of closure for your pet's collar, the obvious drawback to this format is that there is inherently a greater risk of your pet losing his or her collar if it's a breakaway style. If you choose one of the cat collar sizes (Kitten, Adult Cat, XL Cat), the buckle type will default to breakaway unless you manually choose a Non-Breakaway option thereafter.

Note: The visual appearance of breakaway buckle closures can vary quite a lot depending on the brand of collar you are looking at. Some styles are rounded, while others may look more boxy, similar to standard dog collar / non-breakaway buckles. If ever in doubt, take a look at the internal prongs to see if they are rounded or sharp, and do a quick 'pull' test to see if the collar stays closed or pops open when you tug hard on both ends of the clasp.

Non-breakaway Buckles

Non-breakaway buckles are designed to stay closed when pulled, regardless of the force applied. These are intended for pets who are walked on leashes or harnesses – usually dogs. Still, some cat owners prefer to purchase non-breakaway buckles if their cats have a tendency to lose their collars often. Note: In regards to choosing this style of buckle for cats, it's important to underscore the importance of carefully considering the level of risk, in terms of how likely your cat is to get into an unsafe, life-threatening situation when unsupervised. This type of buckle is NOT recommended for very young cats or ones that are inexperienced in an outdoor environment or have a tendency to get in 'adventurous / mischievous' situations indoors.

Non-breakaway buckles will be the default option when you choose a dog size collar on our website, though you can manually change it to breakaway. We also offer metal buckle upgrades in gold or silver for non-breakaway buckles only, if you’d prefer a more premium look and feel.

To recap, here’s a chart that should run down the advantages of each type of buckle so that you can make the right decision for your pet’s collar.

Regardless of the type of buckle clasp you choose for your pet collars — we recommend always adding a pet ID to the collar, either as a hanging tag or a flat, noiseless slide tag. Having a pet ID tag on the collar helps identify your animal in the event that they are lost or get out of the house unexpectedly. Click here to see what ID tag options are available.