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Problem cat


Mrs Trellis
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Having lost two wonderful cats, when we moved house OH promised we would have a cat pen to keep our 4 cats safe.  It's accessed via a catflap in the bathroom!

One cat is particularly stroppy and escaped so we let him out in the daytime but after a while he vanished for a couple of days. One day we found him near the old house, about 1 kilometre away and brought him home.  This happened 3 more times so we kept him in full time but he is so angry and aggressive towards the other cats it becomes stressful for us all.  We are kept awake by yowling and hissing and the other cats aren't happy.

He was kept in for weeks when we first moved and later spent 2 weeks in a cattery while we went away, so I don't know why he's suddenly decided to moved back.  I worry that he will get run over as there's no way he can get there without crossing roads.

Any thoughts? 

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I think some cats are just not adaptable to living inside, even with limited outside access, especially if they have been used to roaming free.  It sounds as if your 'stroppy' cat is one of these.  Maybe he goes back to the old house because he remembers he wasn't shut inside when he lived there.  I would be inclined to let him stay outside as much as he wants, at night too if that was his usual practice, and even feed him outside if that is practicable.  If he goes back to the old house then bring him back and feed him (special treats maybe) but don't shut him inside.  Maybe he'll cotton on to the fact that life in the new place is actually OK and will choose to stay around.  I know this is putting his life at risk but it sounds as though at the moment you have four unhappy cats and two unhappy owners; if he survives the first couple of weeks then life for you all may be very much better.

Good luck!

Val

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I have moved several times from city to rural and then back to city. Last move our cat howled lots especially at night and was stressed in the day as well. My advise try Feliwayspray it may help to calm him. If you have ruled out medical issues then your cat is obviously stressed and not feeling safe in his new home. Cats are very territorial. It takes weeks for some cats to settle and in your case he had another move to the cattery as well. I would not let him out, he seems to want return to his old home and territory rather then just being outside.. Letting him out will probably not help and you may risk losing him. I would try and create a space in the home for him separate to the other cats with his own litter and food, give him treats and time and he will settle. Just be patient!
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Well, he's been a bit stroppy for 5 years even when he went out whenever he wanted.  He's a bit jealous of the others and since he was poisoned a couple of years ago seems more difficult than ever. There is a slightly demented look in his eyes sometimes.

Think like him?  'Food, go out, kill rats, warm bed when I feel like it and get rid of the dogs and the other cats'!

Another reason I prefer him not to roam is that we like to feed the birds (squirrels also appear) and I don't want him to kill them.

Strangely enough, at the cattery he is apparently fine, content, and the owner loves him.

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[quote user="Mrs Trellis"]

He's a bit jealous of the others ...

Strangely enough, at the cattery he is apparently fine, content, and the owner loves him.

[/quote]

I think you might just have the answer there, he doesn't like your other cats at all. Some cats do get stressed by the presence of other cats - we had a female feline who was hugely stressed by her own siblings and needed hormone treatment to calm her. But, IMO, your fellow really does  hate your other cats. Gosh, what a problem.

Sue

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We've got a cat that hates everyone and everything. Or, to be fair, he's stressed by everyone and everything. He came here with his brother at 10 weeks old, and from day 1 he's been stressed and stayed that way. Taking him to the vet to be chipped and snipped involved a pair of sheepskin gloves and a blanket (he'd bitten completely through my nail bed on the one previous occasion I tried to pick him up) and at the beginning of September he lost his collar. The vet put the last one on him whilst he was still groggy from anaesthetic! I've touched him maybe four times in the 12 months he's lived with us.

I managed, with some difficulty, to catch him and put on a new collar, but after that he ran outside and hid. The collar was important because it has a magnet on it which operates the catflap.

From the first of September until last weekend, he hasn't been in the house when we've been around, choosing to pop back for food under cover of darkness. We have seen him on a regular basis around the garden, but he's been outdoors the whole time. Until last Saturday when he came in and sidled past me, stayed for a short while and disappeared again. Now, a week later, he's spending much more time indoors.

His brother is absolutely fine around us, and gets on well with his sibling, but isn't stressed by us.

Whilst the Mad Cat was absent, my neighbour found a tiny stray tabby abandoned on a local field, and brought it home. We ended up taking it in. Which came as a shock to Mad Cat, but he seems to have accepted the new arrival, who is a feisty little thing and not scared of him at all, despite being half his size.

We long ago came to the conclusion that Mad Cat is what he is, and will probably never change. He is, however, much happier if left to accept things on his own terms. Frankly, so are we. I think we got so stressed by trying to de-stress him that it had completely the opposite effect. It now seems the three of them have sorted out some form of hierarchy...with the kitten at the top (!) and - of course - the humans firmly at the bottom.

I'd let your cat out and let him get on with it. You may feel bad, but the cat won't.

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If your cat is calm and happy at the cattery and the owner loves him then it sounds like the problem is the cat is not happy in your home and by the way you desrcibe him you seem to have had enough. What a shame but may be the solution is try and get him rehomed ask the cattery owner she may know someone.
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Oh dear Betty! Our Bromley is nowhere near as bad as that.  We try to let him out in the morning and keep him in at night. If we let him on the bed and shut the others out, he settles very contentedly.  The trouble is sometimes the others then rattle at the door!  In the daytime he sometimes can be found sleeping on our bed with another cat, (not too close).

I do worry about the road, the rats (he had a nasty abscess once from a rat bite), birds and squirrels and I don't want him beating up the elderly strays our neighbour feeds.

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'Taking him to the vet to be chipped and snipped involved a pair of sheepskin gloves and a blanket (he'd bitten completely through my nail bed on the one previous occasion I tried to pick him up)'

We had the same problem with the older of the two cats who beats up on the younger one and who gets stressed by other cats that come into the garden. To get him snipped we bought what we thought was quite a sturdy cat transporter cage. Trying to get him in it took us around 45 minutes, thank goodness the windows were closed as the neighbours may well have thought we were committing murder! The hissing, growling and wowling I wouldn't have thought possible so in the end the OH put on the thickest pair of gardening gloves and hallelujah, we finally got him into the cage. What happened next, he burst the door off and flew around the kitchen like something demented. We let him run out of steam and then bundled him into the car as he was. We had an appointment at the vets and had to ring and apologise for not turning up on time. The vet was very good and told us to bring him anyway and to leave him in the car when we arrived. We sometimes wonder what on earth we've taken but after several years he is now much calmer although he still has a go at the other cat from time to time but rightly or wrongly I have done as a friend suggested and have an empty plastic water bottle with a couple of bits of gravel in it. One shake is all it takes and he's off like the clappers.

He prefers to live in the garage and bless him he can be quite a sweety pie when he wants to be so I think time and patience has gone somewhere to a relatively peaceful household!

I would post a picture of them both but don't know how from my mac machine!
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So slowly it comes out, bit by bit.

 

First a question, has Bromley been neutered?  If not then doing so may help.

 

From your description Bromley has been used to being top cat.  Now you have moved he has a whole lot of (almost certainly) unneutered dominant males to contend with next door.  And rather than him beating them up, I suspect he is worried about being beat up by them.  He therefore returns to his old territory where he was and can remain top cat.  I am not sure what you can really do about this since locking him in is tantamount to a prison sentence from his perspective - and he takes it out on the other cats.

If he has not been neutered, doing so will reduce his tendency to need to be top cat, if he has, then you will just have to accept his ways and wanderings - and yes of course he will chase and catch the birds, rabbits, squirrels etc.  It is what cats do - it's called predation.

 

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wooly,

I'll second that. We have had lots of cats and some have moved away because they didn't get along with the others and several have appeared out of nowhere and stayed. At the moment, we only have two or three visiting cats from nearby because we have an open catflap policy.

David

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Yes he's been neutered. I fully support the rescue organisations here and have never kept an un-neutered cat.  I agree Bromley thinks he's an alpha male.  I don't think the two old moggies nearby are much of a threat - one has no teeth!  I think there are more challenging cats around the old house.  Last time we fetched him back he was having a set-to with one and seems a bit scared.

I think we'll have to carry on keeping him in at night (assuming we can get him in before he wanders) and letting him out in the morning.  He is currently relaxing on the bottom of our bed (it's a horrible rainy day)- with the rescued Siamese curled up on a pillow and Lola the rescued poodle has sneaked on the bed too! 

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[quote user="Mrs Trellis"] He is currently relaxing on the bottom of our bed (it's a horrible rainy day)- with the rescued Siamese curled up on a pillow and Lola the rescued poodle has sneaked on the bed too!  [/quote]

Well that sounds extremely hopeful to me !

Sue

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  • 2 months later...
[quote user="dwmcn"]

wooly,

I'll second that. We have had lots of cats and some have moved away because they didn't get along with the others and several have appeared out of nowhere and stayed. At the moment, we only have two or three visiting cats from nearby because we have an open catflap policy.

David

[/quote]

I agree. We have a varying number of cats, between 12 and 15; they come and go as they please - although most of them are not house cats most of them are friendly and affectionate. We've also had visitors for a week or two that are not ours, but they know it's a good cafe! We have one who spends most of the day inside, but she doesn't like any of the others and is not allowed to stay in at night; sometimes we don't see her for a week or more, but she always turns up eventually.

I've also had cats killed on the road outside, it's sad but it happens and each one has it's own marked 'plot' on our land.

Cats are independent creatures, they like to roam and wanting to control them and enclose them because it suits the owner, or they don't like the idea that cats hunt and kill instinctively is not, IMO, kind to the animal.
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After many weeks of staying put, he did it again! We went to the old house and he kept his distance. Next day he'd gone in through the cat flap and slept on the bed so we were able to pick him up and bring him home..

The cats and dogs are our little family and I feel it's up to us to keep them safe and happy. I hate to think of Bromley killed on the road or lying injured somewhere with no-one to help him.

A couple of years ago he was poisoned but we were lucky to spot him on a roof and able to fetch him down and get him to the vet. Our other cat disappeared at the same time and never returned. He was, a great character - found in a bin, the only surviving kitten, and bottle fed. I still miss him and hate to think he crawled away to die alone.
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