My beautiful cat, from a worried pet owner :)

[Rainbow80]

I've mostly joined because I'm having problems with my cat well other people's cats. I have a 4 year old female domestic cat, she is vaccinated, neutered and is an outdoors/indoor cat, I live in the uk.

I've recently started to watch jackson galaxy on YouTube as I've been becoming concerned about my cat as there are all these cats hanging out in the back garden, its only tiny every time I go out they are there. There's one who hangs out waiting for her, he's a big ginger cat, he defo got a home but he makes this calling sound almost all of the time through the night. Anyway I'm concerned for my baby as she gets jumpy and stressed, now I've counted the amount of cats I've found and once there were 2 males, one I know well as he's a neighbours cats who's pretty neglected (by attention) but in good condition and he's out all of the time, he's a lovely chap, yesterday another cat was around and I've seen another one so that's about 4 or 5. It's like the horror scene from the birds but with cats, lol.

Anyway my cat is my life, she deserves the best and ill do the best thing for her and adapt my house for an indoor cat if that's what it takes. She will try and force her way out if she can so she wants to go out but the fights around here are often with her and others. I think because its such a lovely neighbourhood with gardens and trees its like a heaven for cats I thought, but that was naive as everyone seems to have one. All pet cats neutered know strays around.

I have a catflap at the moment and I'm saving for a microchipped one so shes the only one who can get in, it is blocked off for now as there's an odour which smells like spraying, kind of vinegary and I'm ensuring others can not get in, I do feel bad that I cannot afford a tree and shelves and this catflap yet and the vet made me want to scream as they lecture, but Im not on a vets wage and times are tough and my cat is treated with so much love attention and she has high surfaces she can climb on and a window perch and we do da bird toy play time everyday which she loves, she has always been a huge hunter so if I'm to keep her in she will need so much playtime. At the moment I let her out sometimes when she seems really desperate, obviously she has an indoor litter tray but seems to hold it tbh.

Anyway from a tired cat owner please help.

[Shelley123]

Hello and welcome tired cat owner.
I have never had this situation happen.We dont have cats now but all our previous cats have had free access to the outdoors.They occasionaly had the odd fight but mostly things worked out, we were lucky there were no serious injuries.
Unusual that the male cat calls if he's been neutered ?
Sounds like your cat has a good life and a caring owner so i wouldn't worry too much about expensive indoor equipment, could you perhaps make some toys or a tree ?
Your playtimes with her are probably the most valuable thing you can give.
You will certainly get loads of help on here and advice as well as enjoyment
You could search the threads for ideas about indoor cat entertainment if thats what you choose to do.
One tip, if a tom does spray, wash the area with biological washing powder.
What is your cat called ?

[Phoenix]

Hi and welcome

Have you tried feliway diffusers? They normally work (I've only ever known one male cat to not like the feliway smell - he decided to spray against the feliway diffuser)

[angieh]

Hello Rainbow80 ..... so sorry to hear that your little cat is being "bullied". My beloved Kizzy has just been signed off from treatment for a cat bite, so I know how worrying this can be. Cats' social behaviour, especially in relation to neutered cats is only recently becoming the subject of research and is not really understood. Certainly I don't know enough to comment.

As Shelley says above, you are putting a lot of love and effort in to enriching her indoor life and for your own peace of mind, that's probably the way to go.

Good luck, please let us know how you get on and yes, what is your darling's name?

[Rainbow80]

Hello,

I've tried a diffuser and she didn't seem any different. They r a pain but she is insistent she wants to go out so right now its the daytime only. I have to say she seems less jumpy once I block the catflap off so maybe a microchip one is a good idea, as long as they cannot get in she won't smell them. I think the ginger male maybe is not done but he's defo a pet, anyway ill see how I get on she's called bunny and is a right little sweetie and seems even more affectionate when she cannot get out all of the time. Nice to have a forum of cat lovers as some people just don't get get how amazing they are, I think she's special, lol, well she is to me

[Rainbow80]

Thanku for all ur responses

[Shelley123]

glad things are a little better with Bunny

[fecto's mum]

Is there a way to make it so that other cats can't get in your garden. We have a small yard and we have fenced it so our cats can't get out onto the road and other cats can't get in. We have put a big flat tray of grass there and we grow cat mint, lavender, parsley and other cat friendly plants. See if you can find a small log or bit of tree for her to scratch. You could get a young tom kitten as a friend for her then when he is older and neutered he can go out with her and see off the other tom cats. My Mum's neutered tom protect the 2 she cats from feral toms. Don't worry that she hasn't got the latest toys, sounds like she has a great Mum.