My intruder cat.........questions.....

[charliebubs]

Right, well you all know about my intruder tabby cat. I am really struggling to get rid of him. He's coming in more and more..........morning, noon and night. He's even sat in the doorway now as I'm writing this!! lol

I'm still torn as to whether to chase him out every time I see him, or to welcome him in and try to catch him and take him to the vets.

Anyway, my latest questions are:

1) As Lily is entire and I think this stray is entire can he mate her when she's not actually calling? Also, now when he comes into the house he comes in crying and meowing very loudly. Do stud cats do this when they are looking for a female?

2) I've also noticed for the first time today that he was eating their food. Do you think this means he is a stray/feral or just greedy?!?

[Fran]

Originally Posted by charliebubs

Right, well you all know about my intruder tabby cat. I am really struggling to get rid of him. He's coming in more and more..........morning, noon and night. He's even sat in the doorway now as I'm writing this!! lol

I'm still torn as to whether to chase him out every time I see him, or to welcome him in and try to catch him and take him to the vets.

Anyway, my latest questions are:

1) As Lily is entire and I think this stray is entire can he mate her when she's not actually calling? Also, now when he comes into the house he comes in crying and meowing very loudly. Do stud cats do this when they are looking for a female?

2) I've also noticed for the first time today that he was eating their food. Do you think this means he is a stray/feral or just greedy?!?

He is a nuisance isn't he?

In answer to your questions, here are my thoughts...

1) Yes, he physically could go through the motions of trying to mate her if she was not calling, although it's unlikely she will let him and unlikely he would be interested in mating her unless she was on heat. His crying/meowing could be a sign he is looking for a mate but he could just be saying 'hello' to you all and letting you know he has arrived

2) It could be either! He could be stray... Does he look unkempt, on the slender side? Or your food might be better than what he gets served up at home!

I'd be tempted to try and catch him and get him neutered

[charliebubs]

Originally Posted by Fran

He is a nuisance isn't he?


I'd be tempted to try and catch him and get him neutered

Yes, he's a huge nuisance - but at least he seems to have stopped spraying!!!

He does look slim, doesn't have a collar and the other day had quite a gunky eye - so I am wondering if he's a stray.

I would love to catch him and take him to see if he has a chip and neutering. Trouble is that although he loves my house he doesn't seem to love me and won't let me anywhere near him. The minute I move he's out the door!!

Oh, the joys of cat ownership!!! lol

[Fran]

Originally Posted by charliebubs

The minute I move he's out the door!!

Sounds like he has had a lifetime of being shooo'd out of people's houses

You never know, neutering and given time, you may gain his trust. Let us know what you decide to do.

Sometimes it's a case of if you can't beat them, join them

[dandysmom]

It's my understanding that the female will not allow the male to mate if she's not in season; also, yes some entire toms do loudly advertise their presence and availability to any girls in the neighborhood! We had an entire sealpoint Siamese named Ming in our neighborhood who used to stroll through the alley regularly shouting his head off! We also had lots and lots of black kittens in the neighborhood: a very common result of a Siamese/moggy mating! And probably the grub's better at your house...

[smudgley]

Agree with Frans comments.

Have you been feeding him? Or does he just come inside & help himself?

I wouldn't have an entire male stray in my house, even if it meant shutting off the catflap.

[charliebubs]

Originally Posted by smudgley

Have you been feeding him? Or does he just come inside & help himself?

I wouldn't have an entire male stray in my house, even if it meant shutting off the catflap.

I haven't been knowingly feeding him, but the food is there. Yesterday was the first time that I had actually seen him eat anything though.

He does seem to have stopped spraying, so that's one good thing!

I managed to get quite close to him last night for the first time too and he sniffed my hand before running off. So, I think I'm going to change tactic.........rather than trying to stop him from coming in (which I have tried very unsucessfully!! lol) I'm going to try and gain his trust and then catch him.

I'm going to call the CP at lunchtime and see if they would take him to be neutered etc if I could catch him. He is definitely an entire male.........you should see his package!!! lol

I just hope that I can catch him before Lily comes into call.

I'm afraid that even after neutering I won't be able to keep him, as Bernard doesn't like him and I don't think I could really cope with another cat anyway. I'm happy to donate to the CP though and see what they can do for him.

[alexgirl73]

Good luck with your 'mission' Charlie!!

[Hreow]

You'd better be double-sure you know when she's due to call. One of Rovers "uncles" was born due to that breeder not knowing the female cat was just starting to and she thought his dad was too young to mate yet. The "uncle"'s dad came into the world in the same way. Just be very careful - he's likely to know she's due to call a lot sooner than you will.

[charliebubs]

Originally Posted by Hreow

You'd better be double-sure you know when she's due to call. One of Rovers "uncles" was born due to that breeder not knowing the female cat was just starting to and she thought his dad was too young to mate yet. The "uncle"'s dad came into the world in the same way. Just be very careful - he's likely to know she's due to call a lot sooner than you will.

Thanks for the tip - I'm sure he does know something that I don't!! But, as she hasn't called before I have no idea when she is likely to

I tried to call the local CP at lunchtime, but there was no-one there, so I have sent them an email. Hopefully they will have some helpful suggestions.

Thanks guys