How to deter cat

thesiren

I live in East Wall area, and I have a small tortoiseshell cat. I let her roam outside when I am at home and she's happy doing so, but last week she was attacked and nearly killed by a huge black tom cat. I have been living in the area for 1.5 years and have never seen this cat before, but since then, I have been keeping my cat indoors and the black cat has kept appearing. He will actually come right up to the glass screen doors that we have leading out to the back garden and seems to taunt my cat through the glass, she is beyond terrified and it puts her in a terrible state. I have managed to try and chase it away once but it yowled and hissed at me for going near it, and am considering getting a water pistol to shoot water at it to deter it from coming into our garden again.

The same cat attacked another cat in the area last week, a small tabby which has since then also been kept strictly indoors. This is horrible.

Does anyone have any advice what I can do? I don't want to harm this cat, but it has terrorised and continues to terrorise my cat, and probably the other one too. It has a red collar on with a bell so clearly it must be owned by someone. If that someone actually happens to be reading this, can you please do something to control your cat and ensure that mine doesn't end up injured or dead if she happens to get out again in the future?!!

Nody

Sounds like a intact male; contact the local shelter(s) and arrange for it to be trapped; returned to owner and most likely neutered when said owner is not found.

Also as reference he's not taunting your cat; if he's indeed an previously owned cat he may be looking at coming in because that's what he's used to or simply to do his route to establish territory. Oh and a water gun etc. will not work because all it means is he'll go away when he sees the gun and come back when he don't.

fathead82

Do you know if he is neutered? If he is not,maybe you could trap & neuter him or contact a local charity to do it.Spraying water at him will only teach him to avoid the garden while you are there,he will still be around when you are not there if your garden is part of his territory.
We had a large,very aggressive tom cat coming to our house & beating up our cats,I tried everything to deter him but ended up trapping & neutering him. I never seen him again after the day i released him.

thesiren

Thanks for your suggestions: my concern about that is finding some way to trap him, and also would I have to pay for the neutering? Because there is absolutely no way I could afford it after the unbelievably high vet fees I had to pay to make sure my cat survived the attack.

fathead82

if you contact a local rescue that would be willing to trap neuter & return him, they will supply the trap & I think they pay for the neutering.

boomerang

Post up on the Feral Cats Ireland facebook page - there maybe TNR (trap, neuter, return) volunteers close to your area. They may not be able to do it for free, as they're volunteers, but most will have a good discount worked out with their vet that would make it doable for you.

Ambersky

If the tom cat has a collar and bell as the op has mentioned why would catch and release groups still treat this cat as feral. It may be someones new cat or it may be a cat that has just recently extended its territory perhaps because of a female in the area.
Finding a way for someone to get friendly enough with the cat to attach a note to the collar to talk to the owners, if they exist, might be an idea. However a lot of people will just tell you cats are creatures that will go where they like and do as they choose and come to the conclusion that there is nothing they can do to stop their cat beating up other cats.
This is one of the reasons people choose to keep their cats as indoor cats. Many cats are perfectly happy to be indoors only and its not always such an awful choice even when you didnt origionally intend to do so. There are so many dangers out there for our pets and other cats are just one of them.
I have an indoor cat who goes out on a lead but even then I had a problem with cats coming up to the patio door and taunting him. They would run at the door sometimes like they wanted to play and other times they would hiss and display, marking the garden with their scent. My own cat didnt like this one bit and was on constant alert. When he did sleep he wet his bed, in his sleep not while standing or squatting but while laying down asleep. The vet said it was because of the upset. So even when a visiting cat does not attack a resident cat the constant intrusions onto their territory along with the inability to see off the intruder can have negative consequences.

I found this little gadget very effective. You dont have to be there, it doesnt hurt the other cat and after a cat gets sprinkled on once or twice they avoid the area. After that you dont even have to have it attached to a hose the cats just wont go near it. Only problem is you have to have it off when your own cat is out or keep your cat in.
I tried about three versions of the sonic cat scarers the ones that cats are suppose to hear and humans cant. The cats heard it all right but unusually ignored it. This is the only thing that really worked. My own cat is now happy and confident in his own territory once again.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Contech-ScareCrow-Motion-Activated-Deterrent/dp/B005MW9VOM/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

boomerang

"If you care about the cat in your life - you owe it to that cat to expand your compassion out just that much and love ALL cats. And if you love all cats you will take action on behalf of all cats." - Jackson Galaxy.

thesiren

boomerang wrote: »

"If you care about the cat in your life - you owe it to that cat to expand your compassion out just that much and love ALL cats. And if you love all cats you will take action on behalf of all cats." - Jackson Galaxy.

I'd be interested if you could point out to me exactly WHERE I said I don't love ALL cats??? I specifically said that I didn't want to harm the one that nearly killed my own cat. Hence me asking for some advice. But it's nice to know that there are horribly judgemental people wherever you go!!!

thesiren

Ambersky wrote: »

If the tom cat has a collar and bell as the op has mentioned why would catch and release groups still treat this cat as feral. It may be someones new cat or it may be a cat that has just recently extended its territory perhaps because of a female in the area.
Finding a way for someone to get friendly enough with the cat to attach a note to the collar to talk to the owners, if they exist, might be an idea. However a lot of people will just tell you cats are creatures that will go where they like and do as they choose and come to the conclusion that there is nothing they can do to stop their cat beating up other cats.
This is one of the reasons people choose to keep their cats as indoor cats. Many cats are perfectly happy to be indoors only and its not always such an awful choice even when you didnt origionally intend to do so. There are so many dangers out there for our pets and other cats are just one of them.
I have an indoor cat who goes out on a lead but even then I had a problem with cats coming up to the patio door and taunting him. They would run at the door sometimes like they wanted to play and other times they would hiss and display, marking the garden with their scent. My own cat didnt like this one bit and was on constant alert. When he did sleep he wet his bed, in his sleep not while standing or squatting but while laying down asleep. The vet said it was because of the upset. So even when a visiting cat does not attack a resident cat the constant intrusions onto their territory along with the inability to see off the intruder can have negative consequences.

I found this little gadget very effective. You dont have to be there, it doesnt hurt the other cat and after a cat gets sprinkled on once or twice they avoid the area. After that you dont even have to have it attached to a hose the cats just wont go near it. Only problem is you have to have it off when your own cat is out or keep your cat in.
I tried about three versions of the sonic cat scarers the ones that cats are suppose to hear and humans cant. The cats heard it all right but unusually ignored it. This is the only thing that really worked. My own cat is now happy and confident in his own territory once again.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Contech-ScareCrow-Motion-Activated-Deterrent/dp/B005MW9VOM/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Hi, thanks so much for this. The poster below you seems to think that I clearly want to cause harm to this cat, which I find extremely distasteful, particularly as I asked specifically how to deter the cat without harming it.

I agree that there are a lot of hazards outside for cats, so I'm reassured that you're saying it's not a bad thing for a cat to become an indoors cat. I will definitely look into the option you suggest. I will also see if I can get close to the cat to put a note in its collar, because if this cat is getting into fights, there's a good chance that he might get injured at some point and develop an infection himself so I'm sure the owner would prefer to get him neutered and prevent any future harm to him.

DBB

Thesiren, the report function is there so that mods can take action if necessary, rather than posters going off at each other and derailing the thread.
Everybody calm things down now: threads about dealing with other people's roaming cats can be quite emotive, so let's try to make this one the exception.
Do not reply to this post on-thread.
Thanks,
DBB

Ambersky

The indoor vs indoor/outdoor cat issue can have proponents with very strong opinions on both sides. Some of those in the middle would say it depends on the cat whether it can be indoor only or has to be allowed access to outdoors. I dont know what is true and I havent had a lot of cats but in the little experience I have had I have seen very happy, well cared for, played with and exercised, indoor cats who have known nothing else. So I know it can work out.
My friend has my cats brother as an indoor cat in an apartment and he is brought over to stay in my house once a month. In my house he has more room, a stairs to play on, lots going on outdoors to look at and his brother to play with and yet after the first night he howls at the front door to go home to his own little place and the owner he loves.
Some will say you cant convert a cat who has had access to outdoors to become indoors only and yet there will be people who will say they have done it.
Cats can become lead trained too and although that does not usually mean they can be walked around the block they can accompany you in the garden and still enjoy a bit of outdoors. I think a lot of it is about giving your cat loads of love and reassurance with play times, places to hide and feel safe in away from windows, high places in the house s/he can jump up on and relax in and a good tip is to keep food away from the patio or back door or window as visiting cats are often drawn to it and the house cat may feel uncomfortable eating in view of surprise visitors.

You might find these articles very interesting
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Neighbourhood-Cat-Campaign/

Bullies Intruders and Wanderers

http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Neighbourhood-Cat-Campaign/bullies-intruders-and-wanderers.html

A large proportion of owners have significant problems with other people’s cats. A third of owners whose cats have freedom to come and go told us they have issues with their neighbours’ pets, in particular with cat fights, intimidation and entering their homes. Around the same amount have had to pay for veterinary treatment for their own cat’s wounds and abscesses caused in battles fought tooth and claw.

Leading veterinary behaviourist, Jon Bowen, who devised and analysed the survey, discovered that 16 per cent of households had a more severe pattern of problems than the rest. Here neighbourhood cats were making it hard for resident cats to go outside — many reported that their cats were being chased back into the house. What set these households apart was a higher population of cats; gardens were more frequently visited by a greater number of cats.

“It appears that the frequency of seeing other people’s cats in the garden is particularly important: households where neighbourhood cats were most problematic saw cats at least a couple of times each week, and saw three or more different cats regularly coming to their garden,” Jon says.

Replicate

I live in East Wall too and have a neutered male cat that is coming and going as he pleases (used to have two up until two months ago when we had to put him down). I find that the cats limit their territories as they are restricted by other cats and our male does not wander off very far. He hasn't really been in any major fights though, but to be honest I think that they usually deal with these things themselves and although it looks nasty it isn't half as bad as it looks (and sounds). <snip>

Mod edit: as per the charter, only humane recommendations for how to deal with this problem will be permitted.
Do not reply to this edit on-thread.
Thanks,
DBB