feral cat issue

john 08

hi all. i have a 10 month old tom cat, hes neutered. he loves been out doors but does nt leave garden. there is a feral cat who keeps coming into our garden and attacking him. i had to bring him to the vet 2 weeks ago because he got an infection from this other cat biting him. i have no problem keeping my cat indoors but i dont think its fair that he cant even go outside to the garden without been constantly attacked/bullied by this other cat !! is there anything i can do to keep this other cat away ??

lolo62

cats aid catch and neuter ferals in dublin

maybe theres something like that in your area?

if not you could try catching and neutering him yourself, he'll be much less aggressive then

MaryK666

As lolo62 said, a TNR of the other feral might sort out the aggression problem but this feral obviously sees your garden as his territory and that won't change, even if he gets neutered. You have to be very careful with feral toms as there's a good chance of them carrying FIV and it's easily passed on to your wee man if they fight and he gets bitten.

If you own your house or have an understanding landlord there's always the option to put a cat fence around your garden which will keep your cat in the garden and keep the feral cat out. Depending on the size of the garden, cat fences can be a bit expensive but, having got one myself for our tribe, I have to say that it was the best investment ever.

If that's not an option, you might be better to keep your cat indoors, just to be on the safe side. Contrary to some opinions, indoor cats do not suffer as a result of being kept indoors as long as they have sufficient stimulation, room for exercise and - ideally - a companion to keep them entertained.

CJhaughey

If you want it gone then you need to trap it and dispose of it responsibly.
Not just dumping it somewhere else.

TooManyDogs

CJhaughey wrote: »

If you want it gone then you need to trap it and dispose of it responsibly.
Not just dumping it somewhere else.

Exactly what do you define as responsible disposal?

Noffles

We trapped and had neutered a very large feral tom in our garden / surrounding area... he improved hugely but was still a pain in the arse for the other cats..

Discodog

CJhaughey wrote: »

If you want it gone then you need to trap it and dispose of it responsibly.
Not just dumping it somewhere else.

How can you dispose of it when it could be someone's pet ?

Bullseye1

Discodog wrote: »

How can you dispose of it when it could be someone's pet ?

If its feral?

Discodog

Bullseye1 wrote: »

If its feral?

How do you tell ?

My neighbours have a lovely ginger tom that they refuse to neuter so he wanders far & wide. He is very nervy away from their house so anyone could assume that he is feral. It is very common in Ireland for cats not to be neutered so you cannot assume that, what may appear to be a feral, isn't a pet.

One aspect with TNR is that the worst thing could be possibly neutering a pet & by returning it to where it was trapped, it may go home. Funnily enough I think this happened to someone that I know as their cat, a female, went missing & came back a different cat. They are puzzled as to why she is now so friendly

doctor evil

Not in my area it is not common for them not to be neutered. Sounds like you are using Ireland crappy animal care for the benefit of your argument.

If your friend refuses to neuter their Tom and allows it to roam than they are anything but responsible owners. I'm not even going to get into the whole unwanted kittens and disease angles.

OP try a live and trap and bring it to the vet to be checked out or disposed of humanely, you may have to pay for this unless the vet is generous. Any there any cat groups in your area?

Discodog

doctor evil wrote: »

Not in my area it is not common for them not to be neutered. Sounds like you are using Ireland crappy animal care for the benefit of your argument.

The Feral threads are here because of cats not being neutered. Pete Wedderburn seems to agree:

"While no official figures exist for numbers of stray or destroyed cats in Ireland, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the country’s feline destruction rate is even higher than the canine equivalent."

http://www.spayweekireland.ie/blog/?cat=1&paged=2

john 08

im assuming this other cat is a feral or maybe a stray. my cat has been attacked numerous times by this other cat and he has come back smelling really bad after been attacked, i had to bring him to the vet because he got an infection after been biten. i thought he hurt his leg climbing but when i brought him to the vet, he said he was after been fighting or attacked. when he shaved the hair off his paw you could see bite marks.
this other cat is considerably larger than my cat, and is obviously carrying diseases. there is a lot of fields around my estate which he could be using to stay at night ?
i checked the net to see if there is animal control around my area but i could nt find any. so my only options now are to either catch this other cat and bring him to get neutered (which i think would be nearly impossible since the cat runs off when he see`s any people around) or else keep my cat indoors.

planetX

Don't assume anything, there are plenty of pets without collars in the countryside. If you haven't had a good view, you can't assume he isn't neutered either. My cats are terrorised, and sometimes bitten, by a neutered male living nearby. Sometimes he wears a collar, sometimes its gone. Often cats neutered later than 6 months are more aggressive, and they spray too - it just doesn't smell as bad.
If you don't want to keep your cat in, I can recommend keeping a bucket of water handy - a super soaker is even better. And keep an eye on your cat for abscesses.

kildare.17hmr

Discodog wrote: »

My neighbours have a lovely ginger tom that they refuse to neuter so he wanders far & wide. He is very nervy away from their house so anyone could assume that he is feral.

IMO thats not a pet and if it was causing trouble it would be the "owners" fault if someone took it upon themselves to kill it to stop it causing trouble

sambuka41

john 08 wrote: »

im assuming this other cat is a feral or maybe a stray. my cat has been attacked numerous times by this other cat and he has come back smelling really bad after been attacked, i had to bring him to the vet because he got an infection after been biten.

A cat or any other animal bitten by a cat will get an infection, its due to the bacteria on the cats tooth, it goes deep into the wound. So that's no indication that it is a feral cat.

My cat is neutered since he was 6 months but he is incredibly aggressive with other cats. So it may not make a difference. He was attacked several times by a ginger tom in our old estate; in the end I had to just keep him indoors because it got too stressful, upsetting, unfair on him to leave him wandering.

Aside from this feral (who isn't the devil, he or his parents/grandparents were once someone's cat who was left to fend for himself) you have plenty of other reasons to keep your cat indoors or confined to a secure place. Poisoning, attacks by humans, getting knocked down.

Ireland sucks when it comes to our attitudes towards cats. I keep my cat in for all the reasons above, but its really sad that we have to, just to keep them safe.