When I got my kitten it was decided from day one that she would simply be a house cat as was my last cat though this doesn't stop her trying to get out every time I come through the front door!! When I took her to be spayed the vets told me I should really have a flea collar on her even if she was just an indoor cat. I had been telling my brother about it along with the operation and a few days later he came home from uni for a visit and told me he had a present for Cleo - a very sparkly pink flea collar!

The flea collar is one of the Bob Martin range of products so in all honesty I didn't think it would be all that wonderful as I have previously found that range to be a little poor. The collar comes attached to a cardboard backing and is protected by a plastic cover which is see through so you can choose the colour you require. The cardboard is set out in three colours, the top being red with the Bob Martin logo, a green section underneath which tells us that the flea collar is for cats and kittens from 12 weeks and a white section at the bottom which has a large picture of a cat wearing one of the collars. The packaging states that the collars are for day and night safety and have an elastic safety buckle holder. In large lettering at the top it says "Kills fleas for up to four months".

Putting the collar on Cleo proved to be quite a difficult task! As I had never put a collar on her before she was quite horrified at me trying to put something around her neck and in the end it took two of us to do it - one to hold her down and the other to put the collar on!! The collar is pretty much just like any other, it wraps around the neck and then secures in place like a belt of sorts. The collar feeds through a metal fastening which holds it in place. To make sure the collar is on correctly make sure you can fit two fingers between the collar and your cats neck. There was quite a bit of collar sticking out after it was on which fits under the ring which holds the bell so it stays in place or you can just snip it off. Cleo was less than impressed with the collar and spent a good hour charging round the house and trying to get it off!

One thing about the collar that I liked is that it has a bell attached which means I can hear Cleo on the move at all times. This is a good thing as I am sure she is a ninja cat and just appears out of nowhere to pounce and attack me at times so this has stopped the surprise element, but not the attack!!

As Cleo is a house cat the risk of fleas is very much minimised but of course they can still appear but I am happy to say that there has been no sign of them whatsoever and over the months she wore the collar there was not a single case of them. I think I probably left the collar on for more than the four months to be honest but it wasn't a problem as there were still no fleas but the collar started to look really tatty so it definitely needed a change. I would have happily bought another of the Bob Martin Reflective Flea Collars but as Cleo doesn't go outside it was a little pointless buying that one even though they are nice and sparkly! I chose a different pink collar so she still looks all pretty.

I found the flea collar to be a good product for us in that no fleas appeared, though this may have been the case anyway really. I like how they are reflective which makes the cats safer at night being visible and if Cleo did go outside this would give me a little more confidence in her safety as she is a British Blue so in the dark being that colour she would be incredibly hard to see. However, the one big downside to this collar is that there is no release mechanism if the collar gets stuck like on many other collars. On one occasion Cleo did get her paw stuck in the collar and started to panic but the elastic made sure she didn't strangle and I was easily able to release her paw, but had she been outside I am not sure how she would have got on which is a worry for those who do let their cats play out!

All in all I don't think I would recommend the Bob Martin Reflective Flea Collar simply down to the safety aspect of the cat being strangled if they get caught. However, if you do want to purchase one for your cat you can find them in most supermarkets and are priced at around £2.50 and come in a range of different colours and designs, some of which are quite funky.

Thank you for reading my review.