Cat Territory

Fletch123 · 01-05-2009 1:43pm #1

I'm going through all of the possible pros, cons, scenarios and issues of getting a cat.

One of the questions I have involves the volume of cats that walk through my patio area at the back of my ground floor apartment. If I got a cat (or kitten) would there be territory issues with these other cats? I think one cat is owned by a neighbour and seems to run other cats out of the shared garden space when he has the energy (not often, he's a bit of a barrel). The majority of the other cats seem in pretty good nick which makes me think that they are cared for and have owners but not necessarily in my apartment block.

I don't want to bring a cat into a situation where he/she could get beat up by the more established cats. Has this happened to anyone else? Would it be better to get a kitten who could grow up into a territorial cat?

Any advice welcome!

MsFifers · 01-05-2009 4:22pm

There is a risk of cat fights in this scenario all right - especially as your cat will be viewed as "the invader".

Your options are:
1. Have an indoor only cat.
2. Build an outside cat run to contain your cat.
3. Teach your cat to walk on a leash (better if you can train it from kittenhood to do this) so it get some outside time with you when you are home.
4. See if you can fence off your garden/patio area.
5. Let it out & hope it can fight its territory without being chased off, injured or pick up a disease like Feline HIV (not a good option obviously).:)

Having said all that, my cats have adjusted to a new territory and are mixing tolerably well with the local strays (unfortunately!). In this case though, the strays would know that its my cats territory and will run off if challenged. My cats keep inside the garden & the house, but I used to have them as indoor only.

Call me Socket · 02-05-2009 5:42pm

If you get an adult cat who has been neutered/spayed, it will slightly lessen the risk of territorial battles.... When you get a cat/kitten you need to keep it indoors for 3 weeks anyway for it to settle and learn its way around, and learn that 'this is home', and know that home 'is the place I run to if I'm in trouble', and it'll be able to see other cats in the area from a safe distance.

After that, the cat will be in a better position to learn what boundaries not to cross and what cats to stay away from....believe it or not, they learn this from each other mostly from body language- there doesn't always have to be a fight.

Fletch123 · 28-05-2009 4:39pm

I'm still considering the idea of getting a cat- I just really love cats!

I think if I did get one I would let it outside (when old enough/acclimatised to the area). But I'm not sure if there would be enough space inside for it. We have a one bed ground floor apartment.

Where do other apartment dwellers keep the litter tray and the food dishes?

*I'm being so cautious because I do love cats and I would hate to put a cat into an unsuitable environment!

PCros · 28-05-2009 4:46pm

You can put the litter tray anywhere you want, we have an enclosed litter tray for ours, just looks like a carrier and keeps the smell away.

Cats aren't like dogs, they can get their own excercise around the apartment.

I'll have kittens looking for a home in about 8 weeks so let me know then if you don't have one by then.:)

Call me Socket · 28-05-2009 4:48pm

The size of a litter tray can vary from the size of a placemat to the size of a car window. It'll go snugly into any corner of a room.

A food dish and water dish in another corner-together taking up about 12 inches of floor space.

And a cat only takes up as much space as it occupies at any one time!

Your apartment will be fine for a cat!:)

c4cat · 28-05-2009 4:51pm

Fletch123 wrote: »

I'm still considering the idea of getting a cat- I just really love cats!

I think if I did get one I would let it outside (when old enough/acclimatised to the area). But I'm not sure if there would be enough space inside for it. We have a one bed ground floor apartment.

Where do other apartment dwellers keep the litter tray and the food dishes?

*I'm being so cautious because I do love cats and I would hate to put a cat into an unsuitable environment!

Litter tray in the toilet, scoop the turds into the toilet pan, food in the kitchen thats they way my 2 cats like it

tormented · 28-05-2009 4:54pm

Cats are very adaptable, they make their own space! From my experience with my cat (who has now sadly passed on) I had terrible territory issues with an neighbours older cat, you really have to watch out for that. At one stage this cat came through my patio door to my poor kitten who was asleep on the couch and cut his ear I pulled down the patio blind in the panic to get him out:rolleyes:, I wasn't prepared for that element of it. I think the leash is a great idea also, but please do not let your cat out at night I made this mistake and my little fella paid for it with his life, its like an urban myth that cats need to be out at night so don't listen to it! Best of luck let us know how you get on:)

Fletch123 · 28-05-2009 5:17pm

We always had cats growing up (last cat Chips disappeared without a trace 2years ago

), but that was growing up in a house where we could keep the litter tray in its own private area and the food bowls in the kitchen near the back door. That's why I was wondering where these things fit in in my current smaller abode!

C4cat- thanks for the advice! Do you leave the door to your bathroom and all other doors open most of the time so?

PCros- Good idea about the enclosed litter tray, did you buy one like that or did you make it?

PCros · 28-05-2009 5:40pm

Yep I find them much better, last thing you want to see is a log sticking out of their litter tray covered in sawdust!!

You can buy them anywhere from local petshops, Argos or Zooplus.ie.

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/cats/cat_litter_litter_boxes/hooded_litter_box

Fletch123 · 28-05-2009 6:18pm

Thanks, I didn't realise that there were so many varieties of cat litter box! Those corner ones would be ideal I think...

Now here's another question- how much is costing to keep a cat these days? Our previous cats were family cats so I didn't have to pay for the majority of the bills, just when I was looking after the cat when my mother was away.

I would be taking into account that the start up fees (

) of jabs, neutered, transporters, litter trays etc. are going to be expensive.

PCros, are you giving me so much information on the offchance that I'll take one of those beautiful kittens? :P

c4cat · 29-05-2009 7:24am

Fletch123 wrote: »

We always had cats growing up (last cat Chips disappeared without a trace 2years ago ), but that was growing up in a house where we could keep the litter tray in its own private area and the food bowls in the kitchen near the back door. That's why I was wondering where these things fit in in my current smaller abode!

C4cat- thanks for the advice! Do you leave the door to your bathroom and all other doors open most of the time so?

PCros- Good idea about the enclosed litter tray, did you buy one like that or did you make it?

Always leave open access 24/7 to the litter tray, you never know when the cat would need to use it, just introduce it to your cat by plonking him/her on it and its amazing how they figure out instantly what its for and where its kept

Cat Territory

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