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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / April 2006Strange Cat Invading our Home. Help!
We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed that she was getting thin even though we kept giving her larger bowls of food. Now we know why : a strange cat comes in and beats her up, urinates inside the house, eats her food and is a bl***y nuisance. We have tried putting one of those (harmless) spring loaded traps down, hoping that if we caught it we could sprinkle it with water to try and deter it from coming here. It ripped the door off the cage and escaped. THREE times. Then we tried putting a booby trap on the cat flap: as soon as it came through the flap, a trap door would drop and stop it getting out. Then we could sprinkle it with water etc. This time, it ripped the trap door off its screws and escaped. It has now discovered how to lift up the flap and escape.In the morning, we find all the food has gone, the trap door has fallen down but there is NO CAT to be found. Houdini had nothing on this animal. Any ideas please? It is driving my husband crazy being outwitted by a cat. We cant put any repellents etc; down as we have a cat ourselves. It is also costing a fortune in food and cleansing materials to try and get the stink of cat pee out of the house. They make a type of cat flap that will only open to your cat. It has some kind of censor on it, that picks up a signal from a little box on your cat's collar. Check the online petstores. -- Maryjane PS. Here in Texas, in some rural suburbs - people find raccoons coming through their cat flaps! They not only eat all the food, they act like mini-vandals -- pick up and play with little knickknacks, steal small shiny things, etc!! Imagine waking up to find 2-3 full size raccoons in your house ; ) !!!!!!!!!!! Its not just funny - but a bit scary chasing them back outside. > We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to > go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > fortune in food and cleansing materials to try and get the stink of cat > pee out of the house. I will look around and see whether you can get collars with sensors in them over here. Good idea! Yes - I know about those darned racoons. Our kids are working in Florida and they have a hard time with the little creatures coming into the enclosed patio, eating the cat and dog food, turning things upside down, climbing up to reach things on shelves. They seem to be a problem not only in The United States but also here in Europe. They get into the attics and destroy insulation, and all sorts of other antisocial activities. Keep the cat advice rolling in :-) Thanks >I will look around and see whether you can get collars with sensors in > them over here. Good idea! Yes - I know about those darned racoons. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > and all sorts of other antisocial activities. Keep the cat advice > rolling in :-) Thanks The raccoons are actually kind of cute, as long as they're not eating your pet's food or getting into stuff. Bad on garbage cans too - root through them as much as loose dogs. Eat your chickens, if you live somewhere where you can keep a few. (Chickens are the worlds best garbage disposals. They'll eat any kind of scraps!! And you get eggs in return) The real problem is a lot of them carry rabies - so you definitely don't want them around. -- maryjane > We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to > go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > fortune in food and cleansing materials to try and get the stink of cat > pee out of the house. Ever thought of disabling the cat flap? Ever thought of getting an electronic cat flap that is only activated by *your* cat through a device in a collar she wears? It is actually better health wise for your own cat and she not be allowed outside. The solution seems so simple. Our cat was a wild cat that decided when only a couple of months old, that she wanted a family to spoil her. After sitting on our patio, studying us contemptuously for a couple of weeks, she eventually condescended to eat a piece of steak we put out for her. She has her own bed with cushions and settee - her own room which is a huge glassed in area overlooking the back garden. This is where her cat flap goes into/out of. If she cannot get out, she gets really frantic. She has never been an "indoor cat". We live in the South West of France and have a huge garden with trees and shrubs, no neighbours and a river running through it. It would be terribly cruel to confine her. Apart from this monster cat that is causing us hassles, there is nothing to cause her any harm or distress; She even goes for daily walks with me, through the Kiwi-fruit fields and along the river banks. Unfortunately keeping her in wont work! AND - probably wont keep Houdini out either. > We live in the South West of France and > have a huge garden with trees and shrubs, no neighbours and a river [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > through the Kiwi-fruit fields and along the river banks. Unfortunately > keeping her in wont work! AND - probably wont keep Houdini out either. Oh, will you adopt me? It sounds gorgeous! Candace Candace - Your adoption can only be considered provided you dont shed hair, dont claw the furniture and dont pee in the corner. If you think you can truthfully answer DON'T DO IT to all of the above, we can think about it :-) Here's a link for a sensored cat door: http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8455244417 81297&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302033663&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=253437430202 3690&bmUID=1145808374145&itemNo=8&In=Cat&N=2033663&Ne=2 It will only open for your cat - who wear's a small magnet attached to her collar. -- maryjane > We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to > go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > fortune in food and cleansing materials to try and get the stink of cat > pee out of the house. And here's a cat door that uses and infra-red collar key http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8455244418 06487&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302033663&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=253437430202 3690&bmUID=1145808518513&itemNo=10&In=Cat&N=2033663&Ne=2 -- maryjane > We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to > go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > fortune in food and cleansing materials to try and get the stink of cat > pee out of the house. Thanks Maryjane. My daughter who works in Florida, and her family are coming for a visit early next month and I will ask her to go into Pets Mart and buy one for us. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I am SURE my husband lies awake at night plotting how to outsmart Houdini. Its definitely an Einstein of the feline kind :-) In gerneral French cats are very petite compared with those I have been used to. Houdini though is in a class of his own. He must travel miles to get here, crossing bridges and through fields. It must be the expensive brand of cat food we give our cat. Perhaps Pur***a should sponsor us? "We only got Invaded once we started buying Pur**a Pet Products" : Thanks Maryjane. My daughter who works in Florida, and her family are : coming for a visit early next month and I will ask her to go into Pets [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] : cat food we give our cat. Perhaps Pur***a should sponsor us? "We only : got Invaded once we started buying Pur**a Pet Products" Are you sure that it's a cat and not a raccoon?  Signature------------------- Keep working millions on welfare depend on you : We have a very sweet little NEUTERED female cat. She has a cat flat to : go in and out of the house. Over the past few months we have noticed [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] : has gone, the trap door has fallen down but there is NO CAT to be : found. Houdini had nothing on this animal. Any ideas please?... Since your cat lives with you, why do you have to leave food out? You can feed her on a shcedule right in front of you. Without food and its smells, the other cat will have much less reason to want to come in. Otherwise those cat doors that only open for your cat (identified by a special collar) should also work. The food is not actually left "Out", like putting it outside. There is an enclosed room looking onto the garden with a cat flap to go in and out. Her food is in here. Yes, we do feed her in front of us but she seems to like having a bowl of pellets to nibble on during the night. Houdini comes inside the house. I think that in this instance, the collar should work fine and after Houdini finds that there is nothing around for him to eat, hi might go away. Yesterday we blocked up the cat flap and kept our cat indoors with litter tray. In the middle of the night though, there was a heck of a racket when the invading monster tried to get in. He sat and yowled outside our bedroom window demanding to be fed. I wish I knew who he belonged to! Thanks for the advice though and one way or another, we will sort him out. : The food is not actually left "Out", like putting it outside. There is : an enclosed room looking onto the garden with a cat flap to go in and [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] : demanding to be fed. I wish I knew who he belonged to! Thanks for the : advice though and one way or another, we will sort him out. That would have been a good opportunity to open the door, let him in and examine his collar if any, and squirt some water if needed... :) Seriously, though, we are assuming he belongs to someone, has home and food by implication, but is a bully by nature. But do you really know? What if he is homeless or effectively so (uncaring owners) and hungry, just from a big breed? At least your description that he "yowled" for food suggests that rather than an opportunistic bully. I might investigate him a little more. I would keep the two cats and their food separated but feed both until I knew just what is going on. As Kiran says, don't free-feed your cat. That "she likes to nibble" all night is hardly a good reason and may lead to health problems later. Train her to have two square meals a day. Remove and discard the food after 30 minutes. In a few days she will learn to eat what she wants in 30 minutes. Susan <izarra9@hotmail.com> wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav: > The food is not actually left "Out", like putting it outside. > There is an enclosed room looking onto the garden with a cat flap [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > be fed. I wish I knew who he belonged to! Thanks for the advice > though and one way or another, we will sort him out. Knowing that a stray cat is a frequent, almost nightly visitor, I would actually be locking my cat up even if she gets upset. It's better than feline leukemia and other diseases she can pick up unless and until you firmly identify the intruder. SignatureBrandy Alexandre -- Everything tastes better with cat hair in it. =^.^= If only ---- people would be compelled to neuter their cats -- if only --- it was not a nightly ritual to many people to "put the cat out" --- if only -- we didnt have such garden that attracts wildlife like magnets --- life would be so much easier :-) |
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