Dear Little Man Kitty,
You want to know what a collar is? A collar is a piece of fabric which goes around your neck. A beautiful bell hangs on the fabric. If you are an outdoor cat, you get an award tag saying whose you are and where you got your shots (aka "owies"). Lots of cats wear collars.
We wear collars for several reasons. First, our Mom saw a movie "Lady and the Tramp" when she was a girl. It's a dog movie so don't bother watching it, ok? The yard dog in the movie gets a collar to show that he belongs to his people. He likes it. It's a sign of human-pet ownership. Another reason we wear collars is because Andy wears a collar. He's an outdoor/indoor kitty. If he gets lost or hurt outside, his collar will help him get home and help. Finally, the bells on collars helps our Mom find us when we are cat hiding. You know what that is don't you? Like when Fish goes on Retreat under the wing chair in the living room. He stays there for hours thinking deep cat thoughts. But, if Mom gets lonely for him, she calls his name and he will ring his bell for her to find him. He says he rings his bell from under the chair because he is irritated, but really he wants Mom to find him and scratch his polka dot cat tummy.
We have collars. We have leather collars with pewter accents for special occasions. We have soft collars to wear when we are being "cool". Our everyday collars are blue. Andy loses a collar 'bout everyday. Mom finds his collars on the ground underneath the azalea bushes and on the driveway. I take my collar off when I feel like it. Fish doesn't take off his collar. Not. Ever. Dubby keeps his collar on these days because sometimes he remembers where he lived before and the collar reminds him that his a forever cat in our family now.

We love you, LMK. You are a fine Cat Cousin. We all say this.

Whistle, your cousin