Kitty Invasion Chaos

[Ruth B]

While nothing on the scale of what is happening East of here, we have been having to deal with our own little invasion problem. After years or peace, we suddenly have three invaders coming here, craftily sneaking in through the cat flap when we aren't looking.

I have nothing against them coming in pinching a bit of left over food, having a bit of a warm up and then leaving, but when they start stressing out my own cats, putting them on high alert, and waking us in the night with the feline call to arms cry, it starts to get a bit much. When the invading cats start marking territory behind the TV making mine do the same, it has crossed the point of acceptability, not only because to the unpleasantness having to clean it up, but having any cat, mine or invader, pee next to a live trailing socket is not a risk i was willing to take, so measures had to be taken.

Stage 1: Shutting the lounge door over night. The lounge door is one that can be shut so that was the first option, shut it at night, the cats get the rest of the house. It stopped the peeing behind the TV, but the stress levels over nights seems to go up with my three all hiding upstairs on high alert for any sound of the chat flap opening.

Stage 2, block off the cat flap at night. This has worked well for the most part.
As the flap is old and the catches are gunged shut I got busy with some foam card and pva glue and made a plug t fit in the cat flap so that a board and heavy tool box could be put in front of it, no cat is getting through that. I have to admit I expect more problems from my three when it came to being kept in at night having been allowed free run previously, but after a few issues in the first few days, when one wanted to use a litter tray in the early hours and while the spare was clean the normal one was too messy for him, so he went on a mat close by. The mat went in the washer and some nice new bathmats that would hold any mess and were full washable were bought, and one put where he had gone. He has now decided it is great to sleep on, so that is an improvement, and seems to have accepted the routine knowing when the cat flap will be opened so he can go out.

However while it seems to have put of two of the three invaders, the third is more persistent, and has learned when our three are fed. Sunday I cleaned the litter trays when I got up, took it out to the bin and spotted a little grey face watching my from on top of my neighbours fence, as if to say, you can't chase me off, i'm not in your garden. With in 30 minutes of feeding my cats and them leaving half of it, the bowls were spotless. less than an hour later mine were complaining they were hungry as the bowls were empty.

I can't sit and watch the catflap all the time, so I decided it was time to go high tech. Our backdoor is on the South side of the house and gets full sun pouring onto it (whenever the sun is out) this perishes the plastic on the catflaps, so over the years we have had to replace them at regular intervals, we avoided the microchip ones as it is rather expensive to replace one every couple of years, however now I thought may be the time to invest. There is however a problem, there seems to be two options for teaching the flap your cats' chips, either put it in a learning mode and it learns the cats that come and go, if Grey is someone's then it would just learn his chip as well, alternatively you hold the cat with the head in the flap area for a time before you fit it, i only had to look in Freyja direction to know that was a none starter. So i have ended up at

Stage 3, remote catflap monitoring. When I started doing the leather work, i got an IPad to take to shows for taking pictures and card payments, more recently I actually went and bought an Iphone. With those two bits of kit already in hand, I looked on Amazon and found that the small CCTV security cameras weren't that expensive. So know I have a small motion detecting camera on the floor near the cat flap so I get notified when anyone comes in or out or goes near, so hopefully I can also discourage Grey.

I can't get close enough to him to put a paper collar on him, and he does look well fed (that isn't a surprise, he has a pouch of two off me each day) and isn't always hanging around the garden, so I don't know if he is a stray or an opportunist, he doesn't look in bad condition but I can't really get close enough to tell. If the camera gives me a good picture of him i might put up some posters to see if he is owned, if he isn't I can see if a charity can help, but I don't want ot put him through being trapped and scanned only to find out he lives in one of the houses we back onto.

The only problem now is when one of mine goes near the cat flap, my phone pings at me (only during the day, i disable the motion detection during the night while the cat flap is blocked), so now i have to train myself not to sit watching my own cats wandering around the dining room, while i'm meant to be busy on the computer.

[Mollycat]

Goodness what an adventure, you've been in the wars!

I have some questions - don't they register the chips once and then you take it out of learning mode and that's Grey locked out? Until of course he figures out how to follow so close the flap is still open when he gets his head through.

Would it be possible to put something in front of the cat flap to take the worst of the sun off the plastic? Like a little mini porch for cats, if you will. If it's in the back door and you need to open it for humans, maybe a pot or something strategically placed for shade? Just a couple of thoughts!

[Ruth B]

When it comes to microchip cat flaps I'm not entirely sure how they work and how long it takes for one to learn the chips, Saturn and Tiggy wouldn't be a problem, but then there is Freyja, I would have to leave it in learning mode and hope she went through it before Grey did, or i would have to chase her around the house until she was panicked enough to go through it.
Unfortunately the back of out house faces due South, so from about 10.00 to 4.00 pretty much all year round, if the sun is out it falls on the back door, it means the garden is beautiful sun trap but that there is no real way to shade the back door. This isn't helped by the fact that the door opens outwards into the garden, not into the house so trying to put any type of shade up would have to take that into account as well. It does have its advantages, I've some washing drying on the line this morning, in full sunlight.

This cat flap has lasted longer than previous ones, i'm not sure whether it is that they have changed the plastic formula, or that Tiggy used to use it as a home defense option, she used to wait until a stranger tried to get in and then as they realised she was there and started to back out she would bat the flap at them. if I hadn't actually seen her do it i wouldn't have believed it. She is now too old to be bothered about trying to defend the place, Freyja does try but normally just cries for help, Saturn as a yellow streak a mile wide and hides in the back bedroom if a stranger comes in.

The camera did do its job this morning, Grey was rather later than normal possibly due to me doing some leather working in the dining room earlier, but about 10 minutes after I made a coffee and came upstairs the phone pinged. He may have managed a mouthful or two before he heard me heading down the stairs. My three had been hungry this morning so here wasn't a lot for him and he couldnt' have managed more than a mouthful or so anyway. I'm hoping I don't have to be nasty just to make it inconvenient for him, and can make sure he doesnt' hang around. I used to be able to tell when one of the other cats had been in by the smell that lingered after him, Grey doesn't leave that scent behind so I have a feeling that he is neutered at least which is one good thing and possibly indicates he is an opportunist and not a stray.

[Mollycat]

Yes I get the opening door challenge.

It should only take one pass to be programmed in. I don't have a cat flap and never have but the chip feeders we just put a few treats in, once the chip was read it was programmed in, and the learning mode was only about getting them used to approaching it and the noise it made opening. Cat learning, not chip reader learning.

[fjm]

I bought a micro chip flap and never used it, for all sorts of reasons, but it is in the cupboard and you are welcome to it for a suitable charitable donation. My plan was to register the cats' microchips by luring them through before installing it - I reckoned it would be much easier to persuade them to stick their heads through for chicken while sitting peacefully on the floor with them than in the pouring rain and a howling gale that would inevitably hit the instant it was in place! You could practice first with a cardboard cut out, to get them used to the trick.

[Ruth B]

@fjm, thank you for the offer, but I think it is best, if we do decided to get a microchip cat flap, we try and make sure it will fit the cut out already in the door. The hole was cut when we first had the double glazing put in, and was done by the fitter as my OH is very reluctant to try and do anything to the double glazing doors or frames, he won't even put screws into the window frames for blinds, and with my eyesight trying to see what I'm doing can be a problem, and I hate power tools. We might manage to skive a little away, but a major alteration would mean the flap just ended up in our cupboard not being used either.

As for tempting them to put their heads through it, as I say Saturn and Tiggy no problem, a few pieces of chicken and sorted. Freyja has just about forgiven me for the vets trip, but is still being wary, and i have never found a treat she likes well enough to be tempted to do something she didn't want to for one, (this isn't helped by Saturn loving every treat on offer and the ability to hear a bag open 2 gardens over). I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, just realistic when it comes to Freyja. About the only chance i could see would be a cat flap with a removable chip reader, that could then be waved over her neck when she was in the mood for fuss.

For the time being I'll see how the camera goes, if nothing else I'm getting to see the coming and goings of my own cats.

[Ruth B]

Now I'm trying something new.
This is (if it works) the video i got of Grey this morning. He definitely doesn't look to be skin and bones to me, or scruffy like a stray.
Please accept my apologies for the amount of fluff about and the litter tray in the background.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!At93xplCLvL_jDuiiECCPH6gLW4L

[fjm]

Looks as if he could be a Russian Blue - definitely doesn't look as if he is fending for himself!

[Ruth B]

I did wonder about Russian Blue or British Blue due to the colour, but at the same time have the attitude that with out paperwork it is just a grey cat. Hopefully someone hasn't just thrown him out because he is 'Russian' (I hear some shows are banning Russian breeds' or possibly just cats that were actually bred in Russia.

The camera does mean i can limit his time inside and keep an eye on him, if his condition deteriorated then i can see about getting help.

[susand]

Hi Ruth,

You don’t have to have your cats go through a microchip cat flap for it to register the chip! Well not with sureflap anyway. In fact, the instructions clearly state “do NOT attempt to post your cat through the cat flap to register it”. Before fitting the flap into the door, you put it in learning mode and then wave the part of the flap with the sensor over the back of the cats neck, where the microchip is, a bit like scanning goods at a supermarket checkout. You only have 30 seconds though before the flap comes out of learning mode, so it’s helpful if you’ve got someone to hold your cat while you scan him in if he’s a nervous cat that is likely to bolt if you come at him with an unfamiliar object. But the act of actually scanning the cat takes seconds, just like at the supermarket.

Fjm - there is a template for the hole inside the box if you would like to measure it for Ruth.

[Ruth B]

The 'get someone to hold the cat' is the problem part. It took me 5 attempts to get hold of Freyja to get her in a carrier to have her booster jabs, if she works out there is something strange going on then she takes off. Even when it comes to defleaing her, it is a very hit and miss operation. i have to open one of the capsules and then have it beside me on the bed in hopes that she will come close enough that I have a chance to squeeze it on her, it can take hours of waiting to see if i get the chance, if it isn't open ready and i have to try and do any prep work on it she takes off. Some times i will try it twice and end up putting the Stronghold on the other two and then just give up on her. Trying to restrain her is just likely to end up with me or the OH in A&E and no microchip flap is worth that.

The camera seems to be working well though. it lets me know when he comes in so I can control how much access he has to the house and food while keeping an eye on him. I guess while I really don't think he is a stray, shutting him out means i lose track of him and drive him elsewhere. At least at the moment i can limit the amount of food he has by just interrupting him while at the same time keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't loose weight or condition with a restricted food intake and doesn't show any signs of injury or other issues that might warrant intervention.

[susand]

Ok, fair enough. Regarding your battles with Stronghold - have you ever tried Credelio? It’s a tablet and some cats seem to actually like the taste. I just put it down on the floor for Harvey, like I would a treat, and he eats it voluntarily. Obviously I can’t guarantee that your Freya will be the same and if she is a finicky eater it might not I suppose but it might be worth a try.

[Mollycat]

Ruth would you be able to sneak up on Freyja when she is sleeping, to pass the flap close to her chip?

There was a long time when the answer to that question for Molly would have been no way, thankfully she has got past that and nowadays I can even sneak into the flat without her so much as flicking an ear, and stroke her and get a purr without waking her up.

So I would understand if you don't think it's possible!

[Ruth B]

The the chip reader could be set in the learning mode and then just sat beside me for an hour or 3 then I might have a chance to get it near her, but if it will only stay in learning mode for a few minutes or less then the chances are it would takes months to try and get it near here at the right point in time. You can't sneak up on her when she is asleep, she is the type of cat that sleeps with one eye open, and ready to run if she things something strange is going on. As I found out when it came to her boosters, it doesn't matter how hard i try and relax and act like there is nothing strange going on, she can still read it in my body language and takes off.

Maybe one day, like Molly she will settle and be more handleably but not yet. i love her dearly, and don't really regret taking her on, but sometimes I wish I could explain things to her so she would understand what I'm trying to do is for her benefit. When she wants to be friendly and wants fuss she is a real fusspot demanding attention, but it very much is when she chooses to be.

[Mollycat]

Sounds like they are very similar but Freyja a lot more so. Hope so too, it is amazing when they feel able to relax a bit.

Hubby says, can you get the reader out of the cat flap, so that you can hopefully get closer with a smaller thing in your hand? I'm struggling to remember the kind of tricks I used in the early years.

[alanc]

Might not work for you, but I trained the microchip catflap by putting it propped open in a gap in a wall of boxes in the bedroom before installing in the back door. Badger went through straight away, but Tilly was much more reluctant to oblige.

[Ruth B]

If I could get the chip reader part out then I might have a chance. I'll see how things go for now, but if I have to a chip reader flap might actually be an option.

For now the camera is working at letting me know when he comes in, and blocking the cat flap at night prevents any over night incursions. The problem may come as the days are getting longer, and the weather getting better, Saturn particularly is wanting to be outside more, the camera is serving a second function, it is letting me know when he finally returns in the evening and I can shut up shop.

I also can't say I'm sorry to be able to watch my own cats come and go a bit and see what they get up to when I'm not around.