Cat Intruder inside the house! help please!

Furny

We have a cat flap next to our front door for our two year old tom.
Recently another cat from the street has been caught inside our house (coming through the flap) & near our cats food etc each time we have shouted & its run back out. We are surprised this happens as thought our cats scent would put it off?.
So far the two cats have not been in the house at the same time but we know its only a matter of time before it happens & we wake up to a cat fight in the living room which we obviously do not want to happen especially as we have a young child who would be scared stiff.
Has anyone any advice to how we could deter the cheeky intruder?

rising_from_the_ashes

A couple of things spring immediately to mind ....

1) keep the cat food well away from the cat flap - not sure which room this is in (?) but if say in the front or back door, keep the food and water in a different room such as the kitchen.

Cats will often pop in to try out their neighbours dinners! Having the food well away from the cat flap really helps stop this as the stronger the smell (ie nearer the door), the more tempting it will be!

2) think about investing in a cat flap which works on a microchip - they are expensive, but very good

3) does it come in at a certain time every day - could you lock the cat flap at these times (or is your cat always out then)?

Kay_Peel

Is there any way that you can disable the cat-flap, block it or lock it for a week?

If the intruder fails to gain entry for a few days or longer then s/he will probably give up trying. Your own cat will just have to sit on the doorstep rather than come and go as he pleases - but it's just for a short time and it'll be worth it.

roxy13

I had this problem, neighbours cats coming in at all hours and thinking they could do what they wanted. Had to fork out for a microchip cat flap. Expensive but worth every penny. I used to get woken up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning by my cat and another one having a massive scrap. Made her really anxious and nervous, her food would get eaten and she was too scared to leave the bedroom.
The cat flap i have now works on her microchip and only she can enter. Its brilliant. I chose this option because i like my cat to have as much freedom as possible.

Furny

Thanks for replies so far to answer a few questions....
The catfood isn't near the catflap they are at opposite ends of the house. The cat comes through the flap straight in to a living room & through a hall way in to the kitchen (where food is).One night my DH was sat on the sofa watching TV heard the catflap opening & thought nothing of it (thinking it was ours) then out the corner of his eye he realised it wasn't our cat & he said how it was just confidently strolling straight through the living room & hall in the direction of the kitchen like he knew his way & had done it many times.
Our cat is a grazer with foods (eats little bits at at time) & a few times I have come down in the morning to a complete empty bowl & him meowing at me for more food which I found strange & now I'm wondering if ours has eaten any of it at all:eek:.
I think we may have to invest in a micro chip flap though as
locking a flap isn't really a option as ours always has a free reign in & out through day/night & if we have locked it before(if he has captured a bird/mouse & don't want him to bring it in) he bats at it loudly continuously to be let in which isn't good through the night!.
My DH has caught the cat in our house three times on a night time normally quite late but I caught it once in the morning half way through the flap!.

Person_one

Tom? Does that mean your cat isn't neutered or is that a generic for all males? Is it a male or female cat coming in?

Money_maker

We have one but not a microchip? Basically it's magnetic and there's a magnet the cat wears on her collar which allows her access only. Not very expensive (ebay or amazon). Only problem is, her bell wont work (sticks to it!)...

Fridaycat

Person_one wrote: »

Tom? Does that mean your cat isn't neutered or is that a generic for all males? Is it a male or female cat coming in?

"Tom" is often used as a generic term for all male cats, though technically it should only apply to an entire male. A castrated male should be referred to as a gib or a neuter if we are being strictly correct about it.

Furny

Yes our cat is neutered(so is a gib or a neuter) .
I'm not sure the sex of the other cat we haven't let it hang around long enough to find out as we normally just shout at it & it scarpers out!.
We shall just have to get our cat used to wearing a collar now I think if we take the magnet/microchip access option as he has managed to loose every collar we have ever bought him he's like Houdini with them:( & we have tried all different fastenings of them on advice from the petshop) but it's got to be worth a try.:)

emlou2009

We're having this issue with next doors cat, very annoying. Not an option to replace our flap though as we're renting, and unless we start keeping the cat food in the bathroom or living room under our noses not a lot we can do there either. We have three cats who all pick at the bowl throughout the day, its costing a small fortune with this one keep coming in! When we moved in the flap was gaffa taped up, so I assume the cat has been trying its luck for some time now.

rising_from_the_ashes

I would strongly urge a microchip flap rather than a magnetic one that requires the cat to wear a collar.

As you say, your cat has often lost collars in the past - you could well be back to the "flap banging" if he can't get in.

However, my main reason for suggesting this is that cats who are out and about a lot, especially hunters (which your's obviously is!) can easily get caught on things with collars on. I have had the unfortunate experience of seeing a cat hung by it's collar (which wasn't nice) and really hate to see cats with collars on for this reason.