[erykah1310]

I have no problems with e collars at all as a training tool, however not all situations IMO need such a tool.
I use e collars for things like solidifying off leash recall at distances with distractions that are almost too tempting to ignore.
I have however spent a lot of time in seminars and with trainers on how to use this tool properly and not have my dogs shut down or be reliant on a collar. If improperly used you can teach the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Also this tool should NOT be used in many situations as the reminder and cues must be with in seconds.
To use an e collar as a "punishment" for a behaviour at the wrong time will do more harm than good.
Same can be said for spray collars or beep collars. If you are marking the wrong behaviour with the collar you are creating one heck of a knot that can be harder to unravel than it would have ever been to take another approach to discouraging the behaviour you were hoping to "fix"
The cat problem could be easily worked on and stopped with teaching a solid "leave it" command, and for the barking, there are many ways of stopping that which doesn't need static, vibrations, sprays or horns IMO