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We have a cat of our own. It has no cat flap into the house but it has free cat flap access in winter to a heated lean to single glaze conservatory. The doors are left wide open all late spring through to mid autumn. Sometimes we have to leave food for our own cat out there, if we are away a large part of the day. Usually he eats in the house.
Since around Xmas a young cat has been visiting the houses around here. Several people have thought it a stray and a neighbour said they were planning to 'take it in' though this did not seem to happen. I took a photo of it and asked around several local houses/streets in case it had just moved to the area. No luck. It comes and goes but has been lurking here more and more often, keeping warm in the conservatory.
The other day my flatmate saw a notice about a missing cat. We contacted the person and the ‘stray’ cat is hers. She said it had been missing for around 4 days. We caught it and took it across to her within minutes of speaking to her (she lives about 300 yards away, across the housing estate). We released it in her living room. It ran straight to the cat flap and tried to get out, before prowling about the edges of the room looking unhappy. It is one of 5 cats living in the house, with 3 children. She told us one of her other cats finds it hard to enter its own house as the other cats now bully it, so I presume there are ‘cat wars’ going on over territory in and around the house. The owner said she would lock in the 'stray' overnight and give it treats etc. She seems very fond of the cat and affectionate towards it.
The next morning it was back here. Over the last week we have been taking it out of the greenhouse and putting it out the front of the house in the hope it will go home. I actually carried it to its home tonight, where 3 children enthusiastically greeted it at the door of the house. Within an hour it was back here (Its owner later said it must have run here the moment she unlocked the cat flap). My flatmate left our house not long after I had taken it back and the cat fired though the front door and into the house like a rocket, leaping on our cats bowl of food in the kitchen as if it was starved (I am sure she would have offered it food at home). We immediately put it back out and phoned the owner saying could she collect it from the front of the house. She politely refused saying there was no point in her collecting it and it was up to us to 'throw water over it to make it come home'.
She added that she had been getting it extra nice food and was being extra kind to it - but we should buy a water pistol or get bowls of water to throw over it every time it comes near our house or in our conservatory. Apart from finding it difficult to be quite that aggressive towards the cat, this would also mean terrorising our own (rescue) cat and possibly soaking him as well and soaking our conservatory. As the place is free access there is nothing to stop it spending all night there and also any time there when it thinks we are not home (fairly often, it seems a bright cat too). The ‘stray’ cat is about 18 months old and a neutered male. I suspect it might be getting food from a 3rd house, but I don’t know which. The owner would like me to ask around to find out so its food source there can be withdrawn. Her vet has told her if the cat is starved enough, has water thrown over it and has no shelter it will continue to live in its original house happily.
We have taken it back twice, we have phoned to ask her to collect it but she refused. We cannot restrict access to the much desired conservatory without spoiling our own cats life style and our cat is shy and nervous and afraid of aggression from humans, which it will witness if we ‘attack’ the ‘stray’ cat.
How far is it reasonable of us to go to comply with the owner? At what point in the future can we reasonably say her cats behaviour is her problem rather than ours?
Take it to the PDSA.....
No good - its chipped, so they will just return it to the owner as 'found'.
RSPCA?
Buy a water pistol.
>our cat is shy and nervous and afraid of aggression from humans, which it will witness if we ‘attack’ the ‘stray’ cat.
lol
Get one of those magnetic cat-flap un-lockers for your own cat?
It's difficult with cats isn't it? If you really don't want it around, the water pistol idea is a good one. If you are worried that your cat will negatively internalise your efforts to drive off the interloper by squirting it with water, maybe you could make the time to do it surreptitiously?
Does the cat bother your cat? Or is it helping your cat settle in perhaps? How about just bowing to fate and accepting that you now own one and three-quarters cats?
Maybe it is best buddies with your cat and that is why it comes round + cats don't like noisy kids and being disturbed. Sounds like your place is a nice quiet haven for it with no kids and cat fights. Also, I've never heard of a 'well treated' cat be that desperate to escape from its own home.
You may as well adopt it 😉
Maybe it is best buddies with your cat and that is why it comes round + cats don't like noisy kids and being disturbed. Sounds like your place is a nice quiet haven for it with no kids and cat fights. Also, I've never heard of a 'well treated' cat be that desperate to escape from its own home.
You may as well adopt it 😉
A cat collar will not work as the doors are wide open all spring/summer/autumn, for heat reasons. Also, to be honest, why should we have to buy a new cat flap and make our cat wear a collar, if she is not able to provide a home her cat seems content in? Something must have changed to make it want to spend time away from its own house. I feel its us being asked to make all the effort. She would not even walk over the road to collect it. Sorry, bit stressed over this and worried.
Midnighthour - Member
Sorry, bit stressed over this and worried.
Stressed and worried - are you on a wind-up?
what slw said
I did wonder if it being Easter school break had pushed it over the edge and it did a runner. Our cat does not seem to mind it hanging around in the garden/conservatory. He objects if we drive it through the house and out the front, nearer to its own house. I think being in the house is a step too far. They seem fairly happy to sleep in the conservatory together.
There is only 1 other cat he will allow in the conservatory. He goes ballistic at any others. Unfortunately the 1st 'best friend' has been driven off by the 'stray' cat. He only used to visit for a couple of hours snooze before wandering off back home, so everyone was happy including his owner.
shoot it
[i]You may as well adopt it[/i]
I think you may find that it has adopted you 😉
Druidh, no not on a wind up. I don't like to fall out with people (especially neighbours) or have rows, which this could end up leading to. I feel concerned that the cat is seemingly so desperate to leave its home, I feel sad that its owner who seems caring, is hurt her cat cant wait to get out of its house. It looks like I cant solve any of this without being aggressive and unkind to the cat in question. It may be trivial to other people but I matters to me. Its stressing out my flatmate to come home to answerphone messages saying 'where's my cat', so its not just me having problems with this situation.
seriously. If a cat doesn't like where it lives, it [i]will[/i] move out. Nothing its "owner*" can do to stop it.
If it then finds somewhere else (i.e your house) that it does like, then, again, not much you can do except accept it with open arms.
* dogs have owners, cats have staff
What does your boyfriend think you should do?
Sprinkle catnip seeds in the owners lawn
you're not alone! I think it's just more speed + balls and disengaging yer right thinking brain.
I feel concerned that the cat is seemingly so desperate to leave its home
You're providing it with a heated conservatory and food, so it's not really very surprising. I'm sure that I could entice half the cats in my road, if I started offering them rump steak for example, it doesn't mean to say that the cats are 'desperate to leave home' though.
[i]"I cant solve any of this without being aggressive and unkind to the cat in question"[/i]
For heaven's sake, just get a water pistol and squirt it at the cat every time you see it near your house. It won't in any way at all hurt the cat, and it will [i]very quickly[/i] learn to keep away from your house.
You wanted a solution - there it is.
jesus. It's a cat. We have two cats and I have varying degrees of affection for the two of them but they're cats and they pretty much look after themselves. If this one is causing you issues then a water pistol or boot on an infrequent basis will resolve the matter. Cats are fairly bright and will avoid crazy people, make yourself crazy.
Buy a dog, get rid of both cats. Simples...
Just make sure you get the right kind of dog.
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teach them all to all walk upright ad drive a milkfloat?
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I see what you mean 🙂
Poor thing 😉 Has the dog won any of the cat encounters yet samuri?
Yeah. She's figured out that if she can get the cat running then she's pretty much won. The dog doesn't bite her though, she just loves the chase. The golden rule though is not to corner the cat into somewhere she can't get away, because she'll turn and fight.
Take it in.
Put your cat in the house and leave a large hungry python sunning in the conservatory. Problem solved!
Just get your own cat to MTFU and see it off. Or get a dog.
5 cats and 3 kids? I'm surprised more of the cats aren't looking for alternative homes!
If you don't want it, I think the water pistol is the best answer, as long as you're a good shot, but I think it may be trying to tell its "owner" something...
If you really don't want it around, the water pistol idea is a good one.
We used to have cats visiting us (we had 3 cats and they still came, obviously we are cat lovers) so we used to use a water pistol on the one that turned up as our cats found it a bit annoying. It didn't work overly well, the cat would be back in minutes. Cats do what they like where they like it! I just accepted it as another visiting friend.
The solution is simple, move house. If you don't you will have to put up with you new found friend.
Absolutely true.john_drummer
If a cat doesn't like where it lives, it will move out. Nothing its "owner*" can do to stop it.
We finaly adopted a cat who kept sitting outside our back door for months looking mournful, after his owner got another cat, and then a dog to go with their noisy children. Original cat got fed up and left home to find somewhere quieter. We did return the cat to his original owner many times, who locked him in, but he just took any chance to escape. We gave into his demands in the end.
I'm not a 'cat lover' however I'd take it in as I'm quite soft.
Cat in boot of your car. Drive for 20-30mls. Release cat. Job sorted and now someone elses problem.
Honestly, if you arent man enough to sort a problem like this out you arent gonna be much good in something that really matters. There are a whole host of things you could do from clipping it around the ear. Soaking it in the bath a few times. Spraying it with a hose pipe - Forget a water pistol, a hose pipe on a cornered cat means they will think twice (I have done it to my own to get a point across and it works). Or just plain box the cat up, hand it back to the owner and tell her to sort her own sh*t out. Its a cat ffs, its not your problem and it is coming into your house. Any cat in my own garden gets a damned good soaking and i would expect the same of others if my cat was in their garden unwanted.
slw + 1
😆
Blindfold your cat while you carry out said aggressive deed ? 😉
any canals nearby ?
Just add water
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Just add water
...and cover your eyes (to stop them being removed)
we have had tons of cats round ours over the years (trying to move in) you have to be cruel to be kind! glass of coke over them works well, they hate it and after 2 or 3 times they hate it. Or once they are in the house, lock them in and then squirt them, no escape for 10 mins, they get the message! but not getting rid of them you are inviting them into your house, show them the door, squirt them then throw them out... its for the best
**** me some people on here. The mind boggles.
If you really don't want to adopt it and it's bothering you that much, take it to a cat resuce centre as a 'lost cat'. Let them look after it and find it a decent home.
Midnighthour, do consider to take it in. We took in a stray about a year ago and our resident cat at first wasn't too pleased and still puts this disgusted face on when they meet but overall they live together without problems. I found it very rewarding to give a cat without a home a home! This one obviously got one but not one it likes.
And for the posters suggesting to drive the cat miles out and release it - horrible, honestly. Even though cats are good at survival it is very cruel on them. Our stray had hardly any hair (from malnutrition) and was generally a very unhealthy and unhappy cat. Maybe he has been abandonded from someone like you.
If you hold a cat tight enough it doesnt matter how much they struggle. They stop breathing
And for all those people suggesting being cruel to the cat blah blah blah.
Its a solution to a problem
It was said in jest compared to the other suggestions and if you cant take it then return to your daily mail
The suggestions of spraying the cat are the best ones which will eventually lead to the cat going eleswhere with only the minimal discomfort to the cat.
Its a lot less than some people would do
if you cant take it then return to your daily mail
WTF?
Daily Mail ? What ???
Anyway, just because it's '[i]a lot less than some people would do'[/i] it doesn't mean that it is right ? Strange logic.
Water pistol? Bucket more like. You'll only have to do it once.
And I am a cat owner 🙂
Spankmonkey - your house must be sticky as ****. Bet you get bad ants in there in summer with all that coke being slung about at cats.
😆
orangina: "And for the posters suggesting to drive the cat miles out and release it - horrible, honestly."
When I was a kid (8 yrs old) we took in a stray tom cat and I loved it very much until my uncle (now ex-uncle) decided he hated it, so he requested my parents to let him release it far far away ... Until today I still cannot know the exact reason for him to do so, except my mum speculated that the cat wee in his golf shoes (could be other cat) My heart bleeds when I remember that moment.
Now, if I see this ex-uncle again in my life I would kick the shite out of him. Like a football. 👿
As for stray mixing with own cat ... no worry they will be fine. They might fight for a while but after that they will just ignore each other.
🙄
If your cat gets on OK with the interloper, then where is the problem for you? The official owner knows where it is, the cat is happy and you have an extra cat most of the time.
If you chase it away then it'll only go somewhere else rather than going back home.
wee in his golf shoes
how very stw of it
Definately agree with the water pistol solution, not sure why you wouldnt? Youre not hurting the cat, its just an unpleasant sensation the cat will come to associate with you and your house. If youre worried about your own cat, remove it to another room, then administer the water pistol?
Water pistol = A little game for the cat
Hose pipe whilst cornered in your garden = Proper lesson that it will remember. Trust me you are not harming the cat and he will get the message quickly. If you are at all worried by this then explain your plans to its owner. Let them know kitty will be a little wet after it visits your house on the next few occasions.
Cats spend hours licking themselves after a good soaking. Imagine how peeved they will be if you do it every time they visit.
I'd just take it in, your cat seems to get on fine with it so I can't see the problem unless you've got an issue with an extra few tins of cat food each time you go shopping.
I'd have a cat, just nowhere to stick a catflap!
I propose that assasination is the only logical course of action. Either that or get it a job as a outdoor bin gaurd at tesco.
My cats come in and out through the bathroom window. Some years back I became aware that a strange cat was coming in - plant pots turned over, cats fur where they had been fighting mine etc.
One day I came home to catch the little ****er. I quickly shut the bathroom window and then proceeded the chase the bugger all over the bleeding shop, shouting abuse at him whilst soaking him with a plant sprayer set on squirt. I was determined it would be an experience that he would never forget.
After several minutes he managed to get back to the bathroom and rushed to the window only to find it shut, at which point, utterly saturated, he began to howl and then started to urinate uncontrollably. As I watch the piss cascading off the window sill, I decided that he had probably had enough and opened the window and he was gone.
As I calmed down and started to think about events, it began to occur to me just how much like my niece's cat it had resembled. When I had first caught the cat in my place I hadn't bothered assessing the situation very much and just went into action. Now the terrible truth slowly began to dawn on me - it had indeed been my niece's cat.
Which did cause some slight problems. My niece always asked me to feed her cat if she was away for a few days. After that incident the bugger never let me get anywhere near him. And it was many years before I found the courage to confess and tell my niece why.
On the plus side, the little **** never went through my bathroom window again 8)
@ernie-lynch the cat probably thought you liked it! did you talk to it or pet it when you fed it?
Ernie
with a plant sprayer set on squirt.
Is that a bit like a phaser set to stun, Jim?
The essential point is the cat has watched you, probably how you treat your own cat, how you've treated the interloper and and has come to a conclusion you are a better home.
Fact is, the cat is, if cats can be, "happier" with you. Its clearly a social cat. If it's miserable where it is, what can you do? It's not a "rescue" proposition, it will always run away when something better is on offer. Is your own cat happier with company? If so, then what's the issue?
the cat has watched you.............and has come to a conclusion you are a better home.
I do like a cat who carefully weighs up the pros and cons before making any rash decision.
If anyone is worried, NOTHING BAD is going to happen to the cat - its the humans who have the problems, mostly diplomatic ones! We have no intention of being unkind or cruel to it or dumping it somewhere. Let face it, we feel too guilty to even jet it with a water pistol even if its owner is demanding we should.
It is very well cared for, as its owner is clearly fond of it and we too have been nice to it for some while, believing it to be a stray Our household quite likes it and we dont mind it being around to visit. However its owner is not happy with it visiting us. She is upset her cat wishes to move out and find a new house.
The owner seems nice and caring, she has 4 other cats all 'rescued'. I think the 'stray' likes its owner, but it seems to hate her house, or maybe not cope with the other cats in it.
Anyway, again to anyone worried, this cat is a problem because people feel concern for it and becasue its owner loves it and is upset it is so determined to move out of her house, not because it is disliked by anyone 🙂
Suggest to her that she reads some of the Vicky Halls books - "The Cat Detective" etc. They sound dire, but they're written by someone who specialises in feline behavioural issues. She has a lot to say about indiscriminately adopting cats without thinking about the cats you already have...
Midnighthour, that's re-assuring. However, you said in an earlier post
...She would not even walk over the road to collect it...
so how fond/caring is she really ? And if I had 5 cats and 3 kids and one cat clearly would feel more relaxed elsewhere, I would be a bit sad but would let the cat go where she wants to be as I want it to be content.
Maybe you should try and diplomatically talk her into letting the cat be with you.
shouting abuse at him
Ernie, what did you shout? 🙂
Cats roam my garden and sometimes do a shite in the vegetable patch, I've been looking for a non-physical means of retribution for a while, maybe just hurt their feelings a bit.
"What insult for uninvited cat?"
I think the 'stray' likes its owner, but it seems to hate her house
I think there's a possibility that you [i]might be[/i] misinterpreting the situation. One of my cats Dennis, adores me. In all the years I've had him I've only known him not to purr about 2 or 3 times - in fact he's next to me right now purring. He is also very fond of his brother and step bother - they all sleep together.
Despite that, the little git is like Harry Houdini when it comes to escaping. And if he sees the front door open you won't see his fat arse for dust. Anyone witnessing him tearing out of the house like a bat out of hell might well get the impression that he hated his home - he doesn't.
I do let him out almost every day, but only if I'm convinced that he's hungry - I would never let him out on a full stomach. And even then, he will sometimes, specially if the weather is nice, stay out for 6 or 8 hours. I have no idea where he goes. And then the **** comes strolling in about midnight demanding to be instantly fed.
Just as well I love the little ****er to bits.
I think the cat's owner is correct in not coming over to collect him every time he makes it over to you - it would be quite pointless. Don't let it in and don't feed it, and it will eventually go home. I'm sure she is correct in the advise which she says her vet gave her - including using water to drive it away.
.
Ernie, what did you shout?
Couldn't tell you mate. Dishing out abuse is a bit like driving a car for me - it involves automatic reactions which require no thought. Although I think it's probably fair to assume that it included the very liberal use of the word "****".
It's word which can be said with such profound emotion, that even animals seem to understand it.
.
Ernie[b]with a plant sprayer set on squirt[/b].
Is that a bit like a phaser set to stun, Jim?
You could say that Karinofnine. Having it set on 'fine mist' somehow didn't seem appropriate ........ after all,
I wasn't trying to rehydrate the little ****ers complexion, or trying to make him feel somehow refreshed.
Just shoot it, preferably with a shotgun. Problem solved.
Problem solved.
How's that zokes ?
Sounds to me like that could be the beginning of quite a few problems.
It would solve the problem of the cat coming into his conservatory.
Mind you, so would shutting the door, but each to their own...
So the problem is not that you dislike the cat, but that you are trying not to upset your neighbour whose cat prefers you.
I see that that could be tricky.
Thing is, cats choose their owners and there's not much you can do about it. Maybe you could just assure her that you are doing your best to dissuade it and over time her issues surrounding the defection will subside until the cat is yours and she is happy. At which point, knowing cats, it will simply go back home!
Pretty much the situation, except I don't think the incoming cat cares about the humans - it wants the overgrown garden (lots of bushes to hide under) and the conservatory/greenhouse that reaches 120F+ quite often, even with the doors wide open. Mmmm aroma of roasting cats and fried plant!
I don't know how they can choose to stay in such heat but they love it (free access to outdoors at all times). I have been told by our vet that cats come from dessert areas, but I reckon they must have inhabited the centre of the sun to be so immune to heat! I have to give up and go out in the garden or I would have heat stroke.
think about the poor cat - it was probably half-feral, living a jack-the-lad life roaming free when caught, had his nads chopped off and then dumped in a house with 3 kids and 4 other cats....
Cat's vote with their feet.
If it's bothering your other cat then get a magnetic cat-flap if it's not (and you want another cat) then let it adopt you - you don't need to be official about it.
If the owner complains then say it's not bothering you & it's not your job to hunt it down and spray it with water.
I don't know how they can choose to stay in such heat but they love it
One of our cats used to lie on top of the radiators, and another would spread himself out as close to the fire as he could get. I love cats 🙂
...cats come from dessert areas...
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Update, just in case anyone remembers this post from a few months back.
The cat ground us all down. Having it hiss at me and struggle to get away when I carried it up the path of its house was the final straw (its normally a very friendly and placid cat, the owner herself described it as non aggressive). It lives here now with us and its owner is replacing it with another sort of pet and she seems to really be looking forward to the new pet arriving, which is nice as she seems a kind person. All the rest of her cats are still with her, though 2 of them come to visit with the cat that's moved in here. They always go home after though and don't hang around like he used to. They just seem to say hello.
Our orig cat seems very happy with the situation, provided his food gets given to him before the other gets fed! They spend all their time together and often go to sleep near each other.
So the cats seem happy and at least we are still on passable terms with the neighbour.
Thanks for all the advice folks, much of it was interesting, helpful or amusing 🙂