Pussy Stress

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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    Cats are nasty, vicious, conniving critters.
    Every time you see the unwelcome one, chase it away.
    You've got to think of something that will help persuade it that yours is not a place it wants to be.
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  • That's a pathetic response from the RSPCA they are supposed to rescue animals from cruel or neglectful owners, clearly these are & you're offering to do part of it for them. Same goes for the rescue place.- owners said "they are too busy to come and check", there it is there, owners can't be arsed, or maybe just want rid because he too much of a handful.

    Not sure where you are, but if you contact these people maybe they could direct you to someone a bit more helpful-

    Alternatively, & more likely to have somewhere local- https://www.cats.org.uk/
    Hope it's not them that have refused to help so far.

    Driving him away & releasing him somewhere doesn't really fix it for him, though I can understand it's totally unfair on you & your neighbour's cats.

    Best of luck.

    Oh, & @LuttiS ; great photo. The people on cat forums never seem to have pictures of good guitars.
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    prowla said:
    Cats are nasty, vicious, conniving critters.
    Every time you see the unwelcome one, chase it away.
    You've got to think of something that will help persuade it that yours is not a place it wants to be.
    Every time you see the unwelcome one, chase it away, yeah, that will really work.
    My neighbour has a cat that has 24/7 access to the outdoors and for years I have been chasing it out of my garden where it comes to kill the birds I feed. I often use an old brass garden sprayer filled with water.
    She leaves at a rate of knots and comes back again and again...

    My two were house cats that were out when anyone was at home and never killed anything but the occasional fly.
    I won't harm the cat, but she is a demon and I wish she would sod off elsewhere.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71954

    My two were house cats that were out when anyone was at home and never killed anything but the occasional fly.
    I won't harm the cat, but she is a demon and I wish she would sod off elsewhere.
    The solution to this problem would actually be my cat - he never hunts any other animals larger than a moth... except other cats. He hates them with a burning intensity - if he ever sees one in our garden when he's inside, he demands to be let out immediately so he can go and attack the intruder. He's actually a complete pain to be honest! He's already been at the vets twice for infected cuts, as have a couple of the neighbours' cats...

    ...but no, you can't have him :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    @ICBM ;
    Don't get me wrong, my two were as territorial as any of them. I lost count of the amount of plants, pots, radio's etc. that were knocked off windowsills and any other surfaces in a mad attempt to get at other cat's passing by or in the garden.
    As they are both dead, the neighbours cat has modified her behaviour, as the likelihood of having two furry cruise missiles set after her has gone.

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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    That's a pathetic response from the RSPCA they are supposed to rescue animals from cruel or neglectful owners, clearly these are & you're offering to do part of it for them. Same goes for the rescue place.- owners said "they are too busy to come and check", there it is there, owners can't be arsed, or maybe just want rid because he too much of a handful.

    Not sure where you are, but if you contact these people maybe they could direct you to someone a bit more helpful-

    Alternatively, & more likely to have somewhere local- https://www.cats.org.uk/
    Hope it's not them that have refused to help so far.

    Driving him away & releasing him somewhere doesn't really fix it for him, though I can understand it's totally unfair on you & your neighbour's cats.

    Best of luck.

    Oh, & @LuttiS ; great photo. The people on cat forums never seem to have pictures of good guitars.
    Cats Protection were one of the places we contacted - no help or assistance, just said they can't take him as they are full... And try a vet. Vet said try cat's protection.

    Pisses me off as trying to do the right thing, but nobody is helping.
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  • LesbianWithAGunLesbianWithAGun Frets: 785
    edited July 2019
    I have a loaner from the cats protection league, one of their humane traps... I caught a cat I thought was my missing cat who was another missing cat with this trap... I have to give it back this week or it'll cost me £100 they charge me and it'll cost them more to replace. Remember to not leave it unattended and to cover the trap with a sheet to calm the caught trapped cat down. If another tom cat or fox gets trapped, after you release it, wash your trap out because the scent of big cats and foxes will deter the target cat. When you bait the trap, don't put food on a bowl, the bowl will stop the trap mechanism from working, put bait food directly into the part of the trap where the bait goes. Take the cat to a vet to get it scanned to see if it's microchipped.
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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    Found a cat rescue place that has reserved a pen for me.... 50 miles away!

    Will keep ours in all night and check it every 2 hours. Hopefully it'll get sorted!
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  • Good luck, and well done for doing the right thing - we went through this recently, but mum decided to, er, befriend it...

    So now she has two cats, kinda. 

    Since being more domesticated other neighbours have taken a shine to him and they absolutely adore him. Lives like a king now. 

    Original owners we think abandoned him. 
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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    The little shit didn't come round last- for the first time in months!!!

    Have moved the trap slightly and loaded it with tuna now. I heard him at 8am, so hopefully he'll come back round.
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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    Jesus, what a night.

    We were watching a film, looked out at half 9.... and the bugger was in the trap! Much rejoicing, ran to get some shoes on... and by the time I got outside, the little f*cker had managed to roll the cage over, and in doing so could get out.

    I then set it back up with more tuna as the bait, and bags of ballast either side (so he can't roll it over), and a couple of weights on top.

    Had about 2 hours sleep, as the cats had to stay indoors with us, and the gits were very disruptive. Kept checking every 2 hours, and nothing in the trap.

    Checked it this morning.... and the tuna has all gone! The little sh!t managed to get the food without tripping the door.

    Now I know how Wile E Coyote feels.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71954
    FarleyUK said:

    Checked it this morning.... and the tuna has all gone! The little sh!t managed to get the food without tripping the door.
    Or you have hedgehogs...

    The problem with the cat being caught and then escaping is that he will be extremely reluctant to go into the box again.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    ICBM said:
    FarleyUK said:

    Checked it this morning.... and the tuna has all gone! The little sh!t managed to get the food without tripping the door.
    Or you have hedgehogs...

    The problem with the cat being caught and then escaping is that he will be extremely reluctant to go into the box again.
    Yeah, but the 'switch' covers the entire base in front of the food, and is pressure activated; so no way a hedgehog could have got to the food without activating it.

    That was my concern after it's been in once; hopefully it realises it's free food, and it can get out, and will go for it again. I've got cable ties on standby, as I intend to run out and cable tie both ends once he's in so he can't get out.

    Well, that's the theory at least....
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    I feel for you, so near to sorting this out !!
    Losing a battle of wits with a 'dumb animal' has been a constant source of humility & frustration to me.
    The best laid plans of men are frequently no match to an experienced, determined mouse/rat/cat.
    Could the cat have simply stayed back toward the door, away from the switch area & reached in for the tuna?

    As @ICBM says, the possibility is unless you get things right fairly quickly, they won't get fooled again.
    Might be worth removing the trap for a day or so, then relocating it somewhere new, so the avoidance pattern isn't established.
    Also (this works for rats) use a solid food/bait and fix it to the switch using netting or even hot glue.
    This way the cat has to get in close & use more force to eat, increasing the odds of the trap working.

    Good luck, we're rooting for you  :3
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  • FarleyUKFarleyUK Frets: 2377
    FFS, had to take one of ours back to the vets today due to - shock horror - an infected bite wound from this stray.

    The vet looked back through the records, and this cat of ours have been in 6 times over the past 2 years due to infected scratches and bites.

    Is it illegal to get a tranquilizer gun and darts?
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    FarleyUK said:


    Is it illegal to get a gun?
    FTFY
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    Befriend someone that works at a wildlife park or zoo & get them to pop round after work with a tranquilizer gun and darts?
    Or get stab vests for your cats?
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413

    Following my frivolous comment above, we had a similar situation.  There was a tomcat getting into our house, even though we had a microchip catflap.  He figured out that if he repeatedly butted his head against it, it would give way eventually.

    Our much smaller female cat had a chunk taken out of her ear, and two trips to the vet with infected bites.  We also ended up with a lot of peeing/marking in the house.  A lot of that was because our cat was stressed.

    We ended up giving our cat away to a friend of a friend. It just wasn't fair on her to keep her.

    If you can catch him, that's probably the best approach, but there are no easy solutions.  If there are lots of houses with cats in an urban environment, there will always be territorial fights.

    I wouldn't get another cat in an urban environment.  My daughters are desperate for a dog, but guess who would end up walking it.  The problem is that I don't think it would be fair on the dog on days when both myself and my wife are working.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71954
    That is exactly why we don't have a catflap. Our cat asks to go in or out - he can be quite annoying sometimes when he changes his mind repeatedly, but we think it's better that than have other cats in the house - it gives him an absolutely safe space that he knows is his. The neighbours have a catflap, and our cat has been found in their house more than once... which may be partly why they're constantly fighting.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    Never had a catflap either for the reasons outlined above, but my two were housecats, so no bother.
    I tend to have the front door open most times & in the last 3 weeks I have had 3 blackbirds, a duck (plus duckling) a mouse and two young siskins come in from the garden.

    Siskin on the way out of the house...

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