Neighbour causing cat problem

jackieblack

My next door neighbour is lovely and an ideal neighbour in may ways. I would never want to fall out with her.

She always leaves at least one of her doors open and a number of cats have been 'visiting' her since the summer. She loves seeing them and happily feeds any cat that comes to visit. She has had a number of cats herself over many years, she had 4 when we moved here 11 years ago, sadly all gone now. I know she misses them and has almost adopted one of the cats she has been feeding, it seems to sleep there fairly regularly.

My problem is that one particular cat has started coming into my house, through my cat's catflap. My cat is quite old (not sure exactly how old as he came to us as a stray, but he has lived with us for 17 years) and a bit deaf. A few years ago he would have chased this other cat out, but these days he doesn't hear the catflap go and this other cat has been eating every scrap of the food I leave for my cat. (I only worked this out when my cat food bill tripled!) Also, my cat usually has the free run of the house when we are out but as I don't want this other cat to be running around the whole house so I have had to either shut my cat in the kitchen when I am out so if the other cat gets in it can't get anywhere else in the house (he has a bed in there, but it his least favourite place to sleep and he is often asleep in one of his other beds so I have to wake him up to move him into the kitchen and he gets very grumpy ), or lock the catflap when I go out (with my cat inside, he usually sleeps for most of the day anyway). The problem with this is that he won't use a litter tray and if I'm late getting home at lunchtime there is often a puddle to clear up.

When he was younger he had one of those catflaps with a magnet on his collar so he was the only cat that could get in, but he now has abald patch round his neck where the collar used to be and if I put a collar on him now he scratches at it until he gets it off, making his neck bleed and very sore in the process.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?

Fridaycat

Have you tried putting down a litter tray recently? You may find that puss is more happy to use it as he gets older especially as the weather gets colder. My preferred solution would be to lock the cat flap, and give puss free rein in the house, assuming you can get him to use the tray.

I am guessing he is not microchipped? If he is, you could consider a chip reading cat flap. A bit expensive though.

snozberry

microchip reading catflaps are pricey but worth every penny. I bought one a while ago as the local bully was frightening mine and stealing their food.

Tbh, as a side issue, I don't see how your neighbours habit is causing your problem. Cats with bottomless tummies are chancers who will push their luck at any given opportunity.

krlyr

Could he be allergic to something on the cat collar? Could be worth trying one in a different material.
One trick I've heard for difficult to littertrain cats it to put a bit of turf in a large littertray, so it's a surface they're used to toileting on. Could be worth a try. Alternatively, what about a rabbit run that attaches onto the back door so your cat has a small patch of garden it can toilet in but the other cat can't get in the house?
At the end of the day, if you have an unlocked catflap you can't really blame anyone else for a cat wandering into your house. Yes, your neighbour is encouraging them but you're the one providing the access.

jackieblack

Fridaycat wrote: »

Have you tried putting down a litter tray recently? You may find that puss is more happy to use it as he gets older especially as the weather gets colder. My preferred solution would be to lock the cat flap, and give puss free rein in the house, assuming you can get him to use the tray.

I am guessing he is not microchipped? If he is, you could consider a chip reading cat flap. A bit expensive though.

Yes, we've had a litter tray down since February when he had an op and wasn't allowed out for two weeks.
There have been several occasions in the 17 years he's lived with us that we've had to keep him in for various reasons (ops, house moves etc) and he has never been keen. He will sit and cry because he's desperate to 'go' outside. Unfortunately, I'm guessing because of his age, he can't 'wait' as long as used to be able to.

He's not micro-chipped - when we got him it wasn't available and our vet agrees it's probably not worth doing now.

snozberry wrote: »

Tbh, as a side issue, I don't see how your neighbours habit is causing your problem. Cats with bottomless tummies are chancers who will push their luck at any given opportunity.

I realise that, but we've lived here over 11 years and while our neighbour had her own cats and wasn't inviting all others in to feed it was never a problem. It seems a bit of a coincidence that the problem has only started since it's been 'open house' next door.

krlyr wrote: »

Could he be allergic to something on the cat collar? Could be worth trying one in a different material.
One trick I've heard for difficult to littertrain cats it to put a bit of turf in a large littertray, so it's a surface they're used to toileting on. Could be worth a try. Alternatively, what about a rabbit run that attaches onto the back door so your cat has a small patch of garden it can toilet in but the other cat can't get in the house?
At the end of the day, if you have an unlocked catflap you can't really blame anyone else for a cat wandering into your house. Yes, your neighbour is encouraging them but you're the one providing the access.

I've tried lots of different collars, he was scratching up his neck so badly that in the end the vet advised we didn't keep trying any more.

Haven't thought about turf in the litter tray - that could be worth a try.

Our back door leads out onto a large patio, we'd need an enormous rabbit run to get to the grass/earth part of the garden, I'll suggest it to my DH - could be just the thing to keep him busy at the weekend

krlyr

If your DH is a dab hand at DIY then look up "cat runs" online - you could even perhaps set up a permanent one from a kitchen window, save having to move one from the door all the time. Then you could lock the flap and just leave a gap in the window for your cat to get in and out from (or have a flap fitted in the window). There seems to be quite a few "how to build a cat run" guides online

Murtle

Are the cats she is feeding definitely strays or is there a family wondering why their cat isn't coming home so much?

If the later, it might be worth speaking to her about getting her own cat?

jackieblack

krlyr wrote: »

If your DH is a dab hand at DIY then look up "cat runs" online - you could even perhaps set up a permanent one from a kitchen window, save having to move one from the door all the time. Then you could lock the flap and just leave a gap in the window for your cat to get in and out from (or have a flap fitted in the window). There seems to be quite a few "how to build a cat run" guides online

The poor old boy is a bit past climbing in and out of the windows now I'm afraid... he needs a step to get up on the sofa

jackieblack

Murtle wrote: »

Are the cats she is feeding definitely strays or is there a family wondering why their cat isn't coming home so much?

If the later, it might be worth speaking to her about getting her own cat?

I think there are several families wondering why their cats are putting on weight or not eating so much at home anymore

She says she'll probably get another cat one day (I think she's still getting over losing her last one).

krlyr

jackieblack wrote: »

The poor old boy is a bit past climbing in and out of the windows now I'm afraid... he needs a step to get up on the sofa

Bless him. You could get your DH to knock up a mini cat-sized elevator :rotfl:

antw23uk

Its a difficult situation and personally i would not be impressed with someone feeding my cat, infact i would go out of my way to tell them off .... Anyway back to topic

You need to be very careful with your cats health if he doesnt like using the litter tray. We have a 3 yr old who wont use his tray and has cost a couple of thousand in vets bills with urinary track disease and crystal build up where he was holding it in ..... very painful

I would try adding a couple of litter trays with different litter in them, perhaps one with some outside dirt would be more apealing? Cats can be VERY fussy when it comes to litter so perhaps your using the wrong stuff for his lordship

Its a shame you cant scare the life out of this intruder to stop him coming in (scaring doesnt mean harming to those just about to jump on me!) because to make your home a scary and unpredictable place and therfore not worth going to would be better!

Have you thought about taking the food up? So give him ten minutes to eat his food and then put it away (he may be old but he will soon learn this little gem of a trick, lol) that way the intruder will have nothing to eat when he comes in and soon move on.

I sympathise with you and if you live in Aylesbury send me a private message with where you live so i can ensure your neighbour isnt feeding one of my little monsters :beer: