Cat keeps fighting and getting hurt.....

pinkteapot

We regularly see our neutered tom standing off with next door's cat (also a tom) in our garden. When we go out, next door's cat legs it. Our kitty is no angel - next door have found exactly the same thing happens in reverse in their garden - and they similarly break the pair up, with ours running back to our garden. We've also broken up fights before they've started with another cat who we sometimes see in our garden.

But ours keeps getting hurt. In February he had a cut on his leg that got infected. Yesterday, he came in with the back half of his tail hanging limply. :eek: We were worried it was broken but the vet doesn't think it is, and found bite wounds halfway along his tail, so thinks a nasty bite just means it's painful and he's not lifting it at the moment.

Next door moved in with their boy in February and we thought kitties would eventually work out their turf wars and come to an uneasy truce over territory, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

We don't want our boy to keep getting hurt. We've broken up so many near-fights that we feel lucky he's only been injured twice, but twice in a few months feels like a lot.

Has anyone had a fighty cat who has eventually learned to tolerate his enemies?

We're starting to give serious thought to just keeping ours in, but it seems so mean when he's used to being allowed out. We have a large house with lots of cat toys and furniture, and we have playtime twice a day. He stayed in for over six weeks when we rehomed him in October, and also had to stay in for a month earlier this year for medical reasons. He's not desperate to escape when we keep him in. He goes out when his door is open, but doesn't seem too fussed otherwise, and never goes out for more than an hour at a time anyway. So, he's not a very outdoor cat, if you see what I mean.

Vet says keeping a cat in doesn't work, but we could look at cat runs or a cat-proofed garden.

Not really sure what advice I'm looking for, have just found having kitty very stressful the last few months as I'm a worrier and I hate him getting hurt! We've been at the vets every month since February! Has anyone made an outdoor cat a house cat - is it a terrible thing to do if we give him lots of stimulation?

Although he's 'only' had two fight injuries, he's also had an illness this spring which the vet thought was a bug picked up from another cat.

FreeBear

pinkteapot wrote: »

Has anyone made an outdoor cat a house cat - is it a terrible thing to do if we give him lots of stimulation?

I got asked to rehome an adult cat a couple of years back. Got told "it is an outdoor cat, it won't be any trouble". I can count the number of times it has been outside on one finger - It spends most of its time hiding in a cupboard, under a chair, or spread out on a bed.

If your cat only goes out for short periods and spends most of the time indoors, it is probably at the stage where it wants to be an indoor cat. Perhaps keeping it in and taking it out on a leash would be a reasonable compromise.

pinkteapot

Thanks - we're going to seriously think about it. He'll be in this week anyway as we wouldn't let him out with an injury and, as I said, he hasn't really complained before when we've kept him in for one reason or another. We're probably confusing him horribly with the spells of being allowed out and then not!

I googled cat runs and OMG! Garden prisons. :eek: Though I suppose a house prison is no better!

fairy_lights

If he's happy to be indoors most of the time, maybe you could let him out for limited periods everyday when you can go out and keep an eye on him? My cat has an on-going turf war with the cats next door and there have been some very dramatic fights, but if I'm sat out in the garden they all act sweet and innocent and don't dare start anything.
Or possibly let him out at times of day when you know the neighbours cat is going to be indoors?

gettingready

Speak to neighbours and arrange "shifts" for the 2 to be out - say one am and they other m and then swap next week?

I am serious, upstairs from me people have 1 cat that gets into fights with my boys when they are all in the garden.

Or they all get into fights with visiting cats - all mine and upstairs one are neutered but no idea about the visiting ones.

We both run down to pick them up but often will call each other to check "is your cat out?" LOL

We are quite friendly so this is not an issue, if you are friendly with your neighbours perhaps this could be an option?

meritaten

vet is misinformed - I had a former 'scrapper' who managed to lose bits of his ear, had various infected bites and finally managed to lose the sight in one eye............from then on he was a 'house cat'. on the advice of our very sensible vet we kept him in - and he didn't seem to mind at all! He was twelve when he became a house cat - and lived another few years quite happily.

pinkteapot

Thanks, all. Sadly I don't think 'shifts' would work at the moment (though we're friendly with the neighbour). Firstly, we and they both work office hours and let the cats out after work - the evening is the only time either of us have, as we both keep them in when we're not home. Secondly, there are a couple of cats beside the known neighbour cat that ours is antagonistic with, and we don't know who they belong to (no collars).

meritaten - thank you! Ours is only three years old, so he may not be as happy to stay in as an older cat, but we might try it. A colleague at work said he moved to a flat and his former outdoor cat had to stay in for a few years and adapted with no stress or behavioural issues.

fairy lights - we were toying with him having short 'supervised' time in the garden, but it may not be possible for us to do it every single day. Knowing how cats like routine, I don't know if it's mean for him to have occasional time outside - ie some days and not others?

Though I was wondering if occasional time outside was OK as the downside of a house cat is having to be so careful with doors and windows. We very occasionally have things like family BBQs, and it'd be a nightmare getting guests (including lots of kids) to open doors carefully. The likelihood is he'd get out when we've got lots of people round, unless we shut him in a room which seems cruel too! So maybe he could mostly be indoor, but with supervised time out when possible, and for occasional events we just give up and let him roam (we only have these sorts of events a few times a year - not often at all)...

We're not letting him out for a few days due to his tail wound, as we need to keep an eye on it for signs of abscess and we don't want him running off if it becomes painful, so got a few days to ponder.

owlet

What about a cat run in the garden? Friends of mine had one & it was a great success. They had scratching posts & things the cat could climb on etc. He would get his outside time but be safe x

heartbreak_star

A friend of my mum's converted a big aviary into a cat run (and actually built an entry/exit into a house window ) . Could this be a possibility?

HBS x

gettingready

I don't know if it's mean for him to have occasional time outside - ie some days and not others?

Why not? This is what my cats have. When I work they only go out in the evenings and at the weekends in the summer and weekends only in the winter as I do not like them being out after dark.

pinkteapot

I've been looking at cat runs online the last couple of days. Intrigued by the idea. I think we'd only want one if it could be connected to the house, so kitty can come and go from it as he pleases. Otherwise it looks a bit like locking him in a shed for an hour a day!

We're trying to work it out - with our current garden layout we're not sure we can put one in where it could be connected to the house but my DIY/design brain is hard at work on the idea. I love a project.