advice needed ( cat issue)

jinxycat

ok so lately my cat has been going over to house to female cat causing annoyance to the owners.
first all their female is neutered so can't understand why he's going over to her.

so i got my fella neutered hoping he'd stop going over to this house, but no luck at all. i really am at my wit ends with him as i'm getting phone calls at all hours of the day and night to come and collect him. i'd the people know my number of by heart at this stage and is on redial.

so basically i'm just wondering is there anything else possible i can do to stop him from rambeling to this house.

thanks.

Gordon Gekko

How recently was your cat neutered? If it was in the last month or so he may still have the hormones running around his body - it may take a few weeks for them to leave his system, after which time he might calm down and not go over there so often.

karlin

It can take 8 weeks for his testosterone levels to drop so this may be why he is still visiting, as noted. I am sure you will be glad you had him neutered though -- males when unneutered get in a lot of fights and because of this can far more easily acquire both feline leukemia and feline Aids, neither of which can be cured. Also they get pretty darn stinky and spray a lot outside and often inside when unnuetered. Abd of course you've saved a lot of unwanted kitten lives. It's a good, responsible thing to do.

That aside -- if your male is left outside, he will almost surely still continue to pay visits to neighbours -- few outdoor cats just stick in the garden by the back door. Cats are social and often like to visit other cats that they know, or go off to investigate their territories (they are quite territorial as well and recognise distinct patches as their own turf, which they will sometimes fight to defend). He also probaby finds it more interesting to visit a neighouring cat then to sit alone in the garden as well.

The only way to keep a cat from wandering is to not let it wander. That means keeping the cat indoors, which suits many cats very well (indeed a kitten brought up indoors or a young cat who has not spent much time outdoors is just as happy in as out -- and statistically will live a much longer and healthier life as it isn't exposed to dogs, cars, potentially cruel neighbours (especially kids sometimes! ) and the diseases that outdoor cats can transmit through fights or attemted matings. Many people build outdoor runs so the cat can have access to both indoors and outdoors. Many outdoor cats will make an easy transition to an inddor life too -- and many absolutely relish the opportunity to NOT live on the streets any longer. Others may find it hard after years outside to be kept indoors. They all vary.

I have several cats that live very happily indoors, with access to an outdoor enclosed side yard that they can't escape from. Even if the front door is open none of them is interested in going outside, so indoor cats can be very happy. Also increasingly an indoor cat is seen as a good neighbour for the reasons you are finding with your own neighbours.

It sounds like maybe it would be good to talk a bit about the nature of outdoor cats with the neighbours and come to some mutual agreement to either keep cats inside or accept them will pay visits. Almost certainly their cat also wanders and pays visits to other neighbours who themselves may not be thrilled with this visitation schedule. I don't think it is reasonable for them to demand yours not wander when they too keep an outdoor cat.

Just a final suggestion: does your cat visit during the day, or evenings/nighttime? Maybe it would reduce tensions if you both agreed to bring your cats indoors at dusk til the following morning?

jinxycat

thanks for all the advice, i'm keeping him inside for now, it's just hard cause he likes the outdoors he likes indoors too it just he refuses to use a litter tray so he cries to get outside to do his business. that's when he wanders.

Just a final suggestion: does your cat visit during the day, or evenings/nighttime? Maybe it would reduce tensions if you both agreed to bring your cats indoors at dusk til the following morning?

he visits usually at night or first thing in the morning like 5 a.m. so i can understand their frustration with having a cat crying outside their house at horrible hours.

thanks again.

tbh

thats funny - we've an issue where a neighbours cat comes into our house and sleeps on the bed, eats our cats food etc. It can be a little annoying, but generally I don't mind. I'm trying to figure out where he lives so I can let the owners know - the odd time we've closed the windows in the morning after he's come in, so he's stuck inside with our cat (another male, who doesn't seem to mind him) all day - would like to let the owners know not to worry. How did your neighbours discover he was your cat?

jinxycat

i'd a collar with an identy tag on it, my name, address and phone numbers are on it.
they don't cost much plus if he gets lost at least he gets home safely.

i suppose they wouldn't mind if he was just visiting but he's giving off the mating cry which is really loud and annoying, their cat's neutered so they don't understand why he's calling to mate with her.

suppose you can't blame him he's a male after all:D

karlin

I'd just try keeping him in at night -- that's a lot safer for him anyway, as nighttime is when the fights and so on tend to happen. Even neutered cats may yowl when outside. It may be that she is attracting a few males and not just yours that is yowling. It may have nbothing to do with her per se but that a few cats are gathering at night and yowling about the borders of their territories -- though yours would likely have started because he'd known there was a female and was intact. Just because she is spayed doesn't mean a guy can't recognise a girl. lol Neutered male dogs also are often quite interested in females whether in heat or not, spayed or not. Just not as intensely as they would be if they weren't neutered.

To encourage him to use a litter box inside, try mixing some ordinary compost (as in potting soil) in with the cat litter -- about 1/4th dirt -- and see if that helps. You can try all dirt too and gradually add in the litter til after a few weeks you have all litter, no dirt.

Cats can also prefer one litter over another. I use the pine litter pellets but many cats prefer the clay based litters. You can encourage him to learn to use a litter box by confining him down to a small room -- say a hallway overnight -- with the litterbox there. Cats much prefer using litter than to not use it but they sometimes need to know it is there. Also if you have a covered box, try taking the cover off. A lot of cats really don;t like the enclosed space or the stronger smells of an enclosed box.

I've even gotten semi-feral cats to use a litterbox if they are in a small enough space so you should be able to nudge him towards using it.

Also try having a good play with him indoors before you go to bed -- eg things for him to chase like dangly toys or a laser light (be sure not to shine it in the eyes ever). Wearing a cat out a bit ensures a sleepier more contented indoor cat at at night. If you start to lure him in at a given time, say with some nice treat like a bit of ham or chicken, he'll also start to come at a regular time in anticipation of his bedtime snack.

doctor evil

Do the neighbours leave food out unintentionally. Perhaps your neighbours could try a water pistle if the cat is wailing at unsocial hours.

jinxycat

thanks for the replies guys.
well i'm keeping him in for now, i feel like i'm turning the poor guy into a fat lazy house cat, plus he's finally using the litter tray so i'm happy

luckat

It's not a good idea to leave cats out at night at this season, anyway - they kill enormous numbers of nestlings and young birds. (I saw a figure for an American state with the same population as Ireland recently; cats had killed 7m birds in a year.)

doctor evil

Magpies also kill a lot of baby birds, even more so now that most people have wheely bins.