Cat won’t stay home

[Thunderkit]

Hello everyone. Since moving house in May our two cats have behaved very differently to one another. One has stayed home and settled in with no problems. The other, his brother, has made ten escapes to the old house (which is in the same village). He’s currently on escape no. 10 and I’m waiting for the owner of our old house to catch him - she has more luck than me going and calling as he likes to invade her kitchen they would keep him, he’s obviously happier there, but they have two male cats and the three are fighting.

I have tried EVERYTHING. Keeping him in frustrates him and then doesn’t work once we do let him out after weeks! He was under house arrrest for the whole winter after I talked to the rescue where I got him from (they suggested this rather than going back to the rescue just to sit in a pen all winter) but I opened the back door to put the bin out and he appeared from nowhere and shot out, was seen at the old house within the hour.

I worry about him crossing the busy road to get back to the old house. We think rehoming him might be the only option for him but have no idea how! I agree with his rescue that sitting in a pen all winter isn’t what’s best for him but it’s so hard to keep him in at ours.

Help?!

[Kay]

I suspect he sees the presence of the two cats in what was once his territory as a threat, which he needs to sort out - I'm almost tempted to say you could do with a stranger cat invading your garden now, so he feels the need to defend his new territory

it would help if the people at your old house made sure he never gets into the house, and never gets any food there - I fear as long as he can get into what he obviously still thinks of as his house, he will keep going there - is he going in via a cat flap? is there a possibility they would install one which would only work for their cats?

[Thunderkit]

Thanks for replying Kay. There is another cat that comes into the garden - my other cat loves her but I think she’s the reason for the first cat running off as they don’t get on.

The trouble is the people at my old house love him! They can’t see him go without food and don’t mind him comin in even though he attacks their cats. It’s a problem!!!

[Kay]

how do you and the people at your former house feel about transferring ownership? it might be easier for them to integrate him than for you to keep him at home, especially if he is welcome there

though it wouldn't surprise me at all if he did become theirs and then kept coming back to you - just like a lot of us can't resist having more than one cat, some cats seem to be unable to resist having more than one human