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If your cat goes out or can sneak out, by all means have a tag on him. Any neighbor that finds him can read the tag and get him back to you right away. A collar or harness is also visable sign that this is an owned cat and not a stray. But cat collars are designed to stretch or break if they get caught, because unlike dogs, cats climb and can get that collar hung-up on something and strangle (and NEVER use a dog collar on a cat). Most of my cats go collarless because they never go out and my place is relatively escape proof. I had one cat though who went out on a tie-out or for walks on a leash, as well as trying to sneak out on his own, so he wore a harness ALL the time, with ID tags on it. And I will have collars on cats that haven't been chipped yet. Any cats that travel with me wear a harness with tags. But cat collars come off, and I have had the occational cat get out of a harness, so I ALWAYS MICROCHIP!!!! A tag is quick and easy for the adverage person to read without a scanner, but a microchip is something the cat can't wiggle out of! After two trips to Katrina, I'm ready to chip anything that moves!
And while we're on the subject, urge your Veterinarian to scan any new animal coming into their practice, and then run the chip registry. If it was chipped by the shelter, this will check that it's readable and remind the new owner to register the chip if they haven't. If it was stray, free-to-a-good-home, or a gift from a friend, it might turn out to be someone's missing pet that they've been searching for quite a while to find. Furthermore, if your pet gets lost and it's been months or years and you've given up ever seeing them again, if you move or change your phone number, notify the microchip registry! Pets have been found years later and several states away, and gotten home again thanks to that microchip. But it only works if you keep that contact info up to date!!!!!
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