Nightmare with stray Maine Coon

[trevgo]

Unusual situation.

We moved to this house 7 months ago with our adored puss, Polly, who is a slight little thing. She coped with the move well, and after 5 frustrating weeks, a catflap was installed and she started to go out. Quite soon we had a problem with another cat coming into the house, terrifying Polly,and eating her food. Not daily, but regularly. All we ever caught was the bang of the flap, an empty bowl, and Polly cowering upstairs. Around 6 weeks ago, I was watching TV in the lounge when Polly sat bolt up on my lap, sniffed the air, growled, and I heard the sound of munching Royal Canin in the kitchen. I crept out in time to encounter a MASSIVE and bedraggled Maine Coon tabby, which bolted immediately. It has been returning with increased frequency, and is creating a problem that I somehow have to solve. A neighbour says it's been around for quite a while, living outside, but she has 2 huge German Shepherds so no problem for her. It's all dogs around here. The poor thing has obviously been abandoned, got lost, or stolen and dumped. It is not your average stray cat.

3 times I've slept downstairs on the couch (it comes in the night more than daytime). Last time it did come in. Woke me up with the bang of the flap, which I'd set to be in-but-not-out. I thought I'd caught it, but as soon as I made towards the kitchen, it took off and simply smashed its way through the locked flap like it wasn't there. The flap lay in two on the floor. We started to keep Polly in at night (much to her annoyance), and blocked the flap with a heavy toolbox. 2am Thursday morning, we suddenly woke by Polly absolutely screaming downstairs like I'd never heard. We ran down to see her atop the box, going absolutely mental at the Maine Coon, which was bashing its way in, despite the toolbox. It took off as soon as we appeared.

I've contacted RSPCA (one person in East London only), Cats Protection League, Wood Green, Mayhew - none of whom can help. Celia Hammond appears to be the only active organisation in East London - I've spoken to them, and they said they would get back. They haven't, so I emailed today. Don't want to nag, as I'm sure they're overworked, but I am desperate to solve this problem. The cat needs trapping, and taking care of. As a last resort, I spoke to my vets, who say they may be able to get a trap I can borrow, but what would I do if I caught it? (and I think, if baited, it could be caught - though would need to be a big and strong cage). If a shelter took it on, cleaned it up, re-socialised it, they would be fighting off adopters. People pay hundreds of pounds for these stunning cats.

Any flashes of genius would be appreciated.

[booktigger]

There are breed specific rescues, might be worth trying one of those

[MarkB]

Beat me to it Desley http://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/kitt ... index.html

I'm surprised someone would get a Maine Coon and dump it. I wonder if there is an owner looking for it.

[trevgo]

Thanks for this guys. I actually Googled "Maine Coon Rescue" and didn't find this page for some reason. I'll see how it pans out, and they may be my next point of call. I posted on Animal Search, though couldn't give specifics (and I am going to find it difficult to get a picture seeing how it usually comes at night, and bolts off in an instant), and have had quite a few contacts from people who have lost Maine Coons. They're all too far away unless the cat was stolen elsewhere and abandoned here. It does leave us alone (so far as we can tell) for 2 or 3 days, but always comes back. Last night was peaceful!

[Ruth]

Hi,
If you could email [email protected] we will hopefully be able to sort this problem out for you.
Apologies that our Canning Town branch hasn't yet got back to you but they are inundated at the moment.
Take care
Ruth

[Jacks]

I don't know anything about specialist rescues but I would take your vet up on the offer of a trap, and catch this beauty. For all you know he or she may be chipped and the mystery of ownership would be solved. There's also an issue of whether the cat is neutered/spayed or not - I would think impossible to tell under all the fur. In any case, capturing the cat and ascertaining if it has a home is the first step. I'm sure you're right that if he or she has been domesticated before they will adjust to love and care once more. I would think offers would be coming in straight away for adoption once he or she is sorted out. It's very unusual to have a Maine Coon abandoned so I would think it could well be an unneutered male who has strayed after a female. Cats can very quickly resort feral-style ways when they are lost and starving, but this doesn't mean he or she is a true feral and re-domestication should be only a matter of course.

Lucky you (I jest) for being picked as the emergency food-base and rescue for this huge visitor!! I hope you can get things in progress soon and poor Polly can get back to a peaceful existence.

[Joe_Danger]

I wish a Maine Coon came into my house, he'd never leave
It's one of my favorite cat breeds and one I've never even seen in real life since they're not common here in Macedonia at all.
Some Croatian or Serbian breeder was selling them here a while back but they were 700 euros per kitten which is way above what even I make a month and I make mighty fine cash.

Hope it all works out with this maine coon, try and tame it if possible

[trevgo]

Well, the plot has thickened, as we were chatting with the neighbour who said it had been living wild and it turns out she was talking about a different cat, when we described it.

So....I guess it's likely our visiting MC belongs to someone after all, though it is not in good condition. Massively long coat is greasy and matted, and it doesn't look cared for at all. Haven't seen it for 2 days now, but it will be back. It isn't every day - 2 - 3 times a week, usually. Puts a different light on the capture plan, as we can't trap someone else's cat. Our problem remains, however.

[Mrs Kane]

No chance the RSPCA can offer one of their trap cages at all? You could place it against the cat flap door for the little tykes next visit over.

[meriad]

I feel for cats that aren't cared for, esp long haired ones - why have a MC if you're not willing to put the time and effort into them; and they do need regular grooming to keep their coat in shape. They really are stunning cats and usually quite friendly, both towards humans and other cats - they're quite gentle 'beasts'

next time you see it, try talking to it and befriend it and then you can try and put a paper collar on it to find out where he or she lives.

In the meantime, any chance you could change your cat flap to a microchip one so only your Polly can come in and out?

[kev1949]

I had this problem with other cats coming into my kitchen and eating my cats food. So I got one of those cats flaps that works on a microchip or programmed disc on the cats collar. However, as three of my cats are fatter than they were when micro-chipped, the cat flap was not picking it up when passing the cats through it to program it. So had to be done with a programable disc attached to their collar. My tortoiseshell feline, small and not so fat was able to be programmed using her microchip.
The cat flap I got was cat mate elite. Only problem is, if a cat looses a disc, £8 from Pets At Home or slightly cheaper on ebay

[Willowgill]

Poor thing - it sounds like its been living rough for some time. I can believe it smashed it's way out of the cat flap - we had a poor boy who practically lived here but only on his terms. He would come in and eat, sleep on the sofa during the night but the minute I tried to touch him he was off. He was in a very bad state and a couple of times I did manage to get hold of him and get him to the vet. One particular time he'd had some treatment for an abscess and they said to try and keep him in so I shut him in the conservatory. Unfortunately we had to go out and when we got back he'd wrecked the blinds trying to escape and had finally somehow managed to open the conservatory door and bolted. I would get the trap from the vet and hopefully catch him to try and find out if he belongs to someone. If he doesn't one of the specialist cat rescue sites might be able to rehome him. Before we got Daphne she was living as a feral in my son's garden in London and was under constant attack from other cats trying to mate her. My son rang the PDSA and they came out and looped her (something which he said was horrific for her and which has obviously scarred her for life) - they spayed her for free so I'm surprised if they have said they can't help in this case.Hope you get something sorted out for this poor cat.