House move - cat having problems with neighbourhood cats

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Michelle
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House move - cat having problems with neighbourhood cats

Post by Michelle »

Hello. I moved to a new house a month ago and my 12 year old neutered Tom is starting to explore his new neighbourhood. He is quite a relaxed and friendly boy who enjoys being outdoors normally and will tolerate (and even make friends with) other cats if they don't bother him.

The first couple of times he went outside was with me following him, he kept looking back now and then to check I was still there, but he seemed to enjoy having a good sniff about. Since then, other neighbourhood cats seemed to pick up his scent and are causing him to not want to leave the house even with me by his side. One cat looks like an un-neutered feral Tom to me, and he comes to the door yowling and hissing. Last night he did this so we closed the door and assumed he would leave, then half an hour later my boy stood at the door so I opened it to let him out and the feral Tom was still sitting there, right on my doorstep, waiting to hiss at him before he gets chance to step out of the house! I've heard I should spray a water spray at this tom to discourage him but that sounds a bit mean, is this a wise thing to do?

The second cat that's causing problems is a bit more of a head scratcher: there's this lovely friendly black cat (not sure male or female etc) that comes to the door and cries, but not in an aggressive way, and when I open the door, this little black cat makes friendly chatter noises and does the slow blink at my boy and seems to want his company. My boy will sit on the doorstep right on the threshold and tolerate this company but will not leave the house. If I do a slow door close (the one we all do when our cats can't decide whether to be in or out) he will panic and run back in, but when I close the door this friendly cat just sits at the other side crying for my cat. It sounds friendly (this little black cat seems to be an absolute sweetheart), but my cat doesn't seem so keen. This behaviour is pretty constant from morning till night (the black cat looks well kept etc but with no collar so not sure if it's homeless or not) I feel mean spraying water at the aggressive Tom, so I definitely don't feel right spraying it at this sweet little cat, but equally if these cats are stopping my cat from even having a chance to explore his new neighbourhood shouldn't I do something to help for the sake of my cats health? He has a long history of stress induced cystitis and bladder inflammation for which we always have medication on hand. He hasn't shown any stress signs as yet but I don't want it to come to that, especially given his age.

I read somewhere that once my boy gets his scent around our yard that other cats will eventually concede that this is my cats territory, but how can that happen when he can't even get past the door? Would it help for me to scatter some of his used litter in our yard or would that make the situation worse?

Any advice greatly appreciated 😁
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Mollycat
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Re: House move - cat having problems with neighbourhood cats

Post by Mollycat »

I think I'd start with trying to find out who the feral looking one belongs to, if anyone, and if nobody owns up after some door knocking and maybe a paper collar if he lets him near you, then talk to a cat rescue especially if he's not been neutered. Do bear in mind that if this cat is still around in the neighbourhood when your lad plucks up the courage to venture out, there are likely to be territorial fights. What your boy is doing now is avoiding those fights.

I don't know if this actually works or not but you could try putting sown some real strong scent to discourage him from the garden, lion or tiger poo pellets around the edge of your garden. Maybe your own cat's used litter there might help too but bear in mind not all litters are eco friendly. I wouldn't hesitate to be a bit mean to a car terrorising mine in its own garden and spray it, though generally it's not all that effective and only makes them run when they see you.

If the sweet little one is actively looking to make friends with yours, I would take advantage of the nice weather to leave the door open as much as possible and hope they make friends, even if that's not enough to lure him outside at this stage. But are you normally close by in case the more aggressive one shows up?
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Kay
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Re: House move - cat having problems with neighbourhood cats

Post by Kay »

any chance the previous occupant of your house was feeding one or both of the cats who sit outside your door?
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