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Cat dilema

Bellatrix18

Warren Scout
I have found myself in quite a pickle with a cat who lives near me. Hes a friendly black and white tom who is apparently unwanted by his owners. they have 'kicked him out' of the house and don't feed him so he has to fend for himself poor baby :cry: Some people make me sick!!!

The problem is that he's started to try to fend for himself by eating the neighborhood pets! :? I have caught him in the garden a number of times watching my rabbits and the last time I saw him my buns ware free ranging and he chased my boy Mork around the garden!!!! :shock: :shock: I often sit by the french windows and work on the laptop whilst they're free ranging and I look up to see the cat bounding after my baby! Luckily Mork could easily out run him and I chased him away but it scared me so much.

Unfortunately, the neighbors keep two ducks down the road who free range around the garden. Mr. Cat found them and attacked them. The kids down the road chased the cat away and alerted me to the male duck who had been badly bitten. The other duck is nowhere to be seen, now presumed dead.

The ducks owners were out so i took the gorgeous duck to the vets but he has a badly punctured lung + possible paralysis (couldn't use back legs) and the vet said he had no chance of survival. He was put on oxygen and pain killers until the owners got back form work to make the decision for him to be euthanased :( :(

So... i really don't know what to do about this. Primarily I want to make sure my rabbits are safe. Mr Cat is obviously desparate for food and is hunting to stay alive. I am so worried that he may keep being persistant and eventually hurt one of them. I always keep an eye on my buns but I'm so worried that if one of them pops around the corner or behind a fence/bush out of sight Mr Cat will be waiting.

I'm also worried about Mr Cat. he's been basically abandoned and has nowhere to sleep and no food to eat. I'm going to get the cats owners address off the teenager who knows where he lives as she said he's been trying to 'get rid of it' and would appreciate someone who wanted to 'buy' him. Maybe I can offer him a tenner or something and find Mr Cat a nice home where he'll get food and also not be a risk to my bunnies or any of the other pets nearby.

Has anyone got any ideas???
 
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I will def try to get him for free first. I dont want to pay the 'person' :evil: for abusing his cat but if a few quid's what it takes to get this poor guy safe before winter really kicks in than I'm willing to pay.

we must remember he's just a poor creature who's desperate.
I completely agree with this. I feel almost as worried for Mr Cat as I do for my buns being in danger from him. He's got no home, we live quite near a busy road and its completely suburban around here so how he's managing to feed himself i just don't know. Plus it's getting colder and colder and he's got nowhere to sleep to get out of the rain...

I'm planning on setting out this evening to find the owner and try to have a word with him. Anyone got any idea what I can say! I don't want to sound overly pushy or condemnatory and make him angry with me!
 
In all honesty I would just put food out for the cat and offer to let him in your house. If he chooses you (which I'm sure he will with the cold weather drawing in) then it's not theft and you won't have to give the guy any money.

Then you can go about finding him a new home. I don't like cats but every animal deserves to be looked after.

Until then I'd personally keep the rabbits in an enclosed run rather than letting them free range. It only takes a second for a rabbit to come to harm and being chased around the garden is stressful enough in itself.
 
I am having the same with a black and white cat. Lovely little guy but he lets himself into my house, marks eats and chases away my cats. One of mine only comes in to eat now and then runs away she is getting quite ferral :cry:

I wonder if it's the same cat. :?
 
could the cat just be aplayful hunter and not actually hungry? and the information possibly not correct? i guess it depends on how well looked after he seems?) i would give him some food for a few days and then put a collar on him with a note? asking if he is owned and loved for them to give you a call as ou dont want to "steal" someones cat, in saying that if its true its awful. if he is not being cared for and fed then he is a stray and you can report to local cats protection leauge or rspca (
 
Take it to the vet, get it scanned. If no chip report found cat to police/vets etc put up a poster or two. If the owner has the chance to claim him back and doesn't keep him. If they do claim him then at least you can have contact with them to resolve his issues. Me being me would treat the cat like my own, and would give him a loving home. If he's been kicked out he's trying to survive. If you feed him, fuss him and look after him he will pose no risk to rabbits as he'll grow used to them, same with the ducks. If they have only been attacked since the poor cat got kicked out then he must have left them alone before this, and i'm sure with food he'll stop persuing them. Our neighbours cats-there are 5 cats that visit our garden as well as ours-don't harass the buns at all. From what i've seen and from keeping cats for 22 years, they only chase like this for food. Play is usually a short burst and then they move on to something else. Most cats playing will retreat if a rabbit or duck turned to face them square on. It would be lovely if you could give this lost soul a home :)
 
I really wish the info I've been given wasn't correct and that the little guy had a family who loved him but Mr Cat is looking very thin now unfortunately. The girl who told me about him said that the owner has been asking a couple of the other kids down the road if they want his cat. Now that he hasn't found him a home the poor cat's been locked out of the house as the guy is hoping eventually he'll leave of his own accord :evil:

I went round to ask the girl who the owner was today and found out where he lives. The plan is to knock on his door and ask him if he want me to take the cat off his hands so don't worry, there's no chance of me stealing him ;) He's been out all evening so I'm gonna pop round again tomorrow. i've noticed the guy around before as he lives across form me and he looks quite scary so wish me luck! im nervous! Lol :roll:

I think i'll keep my buns free range time to a minimum for now because he's clearly going to get hungrier with the cold weather coming in. i'll also put a bowl of cat food on the front step so he has something to munch on for now without eating the rabbits...

If they have only been attacked since the poor cat got kicked out then he must have left them alone before this, and i'm sure with food he'll stop persuing them
This is what I thought. I'd always worried about foxes rather than cats as I'd heard that generally cats would only go for small or young buns and my two are quite big buns, and the ducks weren't small either.

It would be lovely if you could give this lost soul a home
ooh don't tempt me!!! I've already been looking up cat food and care! :shock: but i really shouldn't as i have 12 other furry little people to look out for and don't really have the money for another but I find it far too easy to fall in love with any animal in need.
 
I really wish the info I've been given wasn't correct and that the little guy had a family who loved him but Mr Cat is looking very thin now unfortunately. The girl who told me about him said that the owner has been asking a couple of the other kids down the road if they want his cat. Now that he hasn't found him a home the poor cat's been locked out of the house as the guy is hoping eventually he'll leave of his own accord :evil:

I went round to ask the girl who the owner was today and found out where he lives. The plan is to knock on his door and ask him if he want me to take the cat off his hands so don't worry, there's no chance of me stealing him ;) He's been out all evening so I'm gonna pop round again tomorrow. i've noticed the guy around before as he lives across form me and he looks quite scary so wish me luck! im nervous! Lol :roll:

I think i'll keep my buns free range time to a minimum for now because he's clearly going to get hungrier with the cold weather coming in. i'll also put a bowl of cat food on the front step so he has something to munch on for now without eating the rabbits...


This is what I thought. I'd always worried about foxes rather than cats as I'd heard that generally cats would only go for small or young buns and my two are quite big buns, and the ducks weren't small either.

ooh don't tempt me!!! I've already been looking up cat food and care! :shock: but i really shouldn't as i have 12 other furry little people to look out for and don't really have the money for another but I find it far too easy to fall in love with any animal in need.

good luck how awful that its ture :( im so glad you are helping mr catz x
 
If it help our two cats cost us thirty five pounds a month Then jabs annually at fifty pounds. The monthly cost includes two lots of cat insurance at eight pounds each. Litter, food-whiskas meat, royal canin dry, frontline and worming. Neutering is about sixty now, but some vets do a microchip offer for 5 pounds if done with his op. He'd be so happy curled up on your lap on I winter night. And he will know what true love means then :) sorry to tempt you. Cats are clean, easily trained and affectionate. People say you don't own a cat-a cat owns you. But our house cats are no more ignorant than the buns can be at times :) good luck and warm cuddles for mr cat-it's cold and there are lots of fireworks here tonight. He needs some love-he'd be in my house by now if it was me so I know what you mean about falling for these poor creatures :)
 
I can so empathise with you wanting to help but knowing you already have lots of furry mouths to feed.

There was a stray kitten hanging around where I live. She isn't chipped and despite me searching for an owner, no-one has come forward. Rescues have a waiting list and although I have eight (soon to be nine) buns and eight cats I just couldn't abandon the poor kitty so she now has her forever home with me.

Cats Protection (who were full up) have given me a voucher towards her neutering and although I will have to pay something towards it my vet is being very reasonable, as he knows the situation. He arranged the first month's insurance with Pet Plan and I will take it over so it is only routine bills I have to worry about. To be honest I don't really notice the extra food - although I certainly did before I took her to be wormed:shock:

I don't regret taking Pippa in - she is gorgeous and gives me so much love and affection. She clearly appreciates a home and rarely goes outside. Not that I am trying to persuade you at all:oops::oops:
 
I don't regret taking Pippa in - she is gorgeous and gives me so much love and affection. She clearly appreciates a home and rarely goes outside. Not that I am trying to persuade you at all:oops::oops:

I'm so sure animals know when they are safe and loved and are able to appreciate the difference you make to their once very unhappy lives. I went to our farm shop today to get pumpkins. There was a lovely cat sat behind a tray of pansies on a trolley. I have it a fuss, and could feel the scabs under it's fur-i'm presuming from fleas. It was thin, fur was awful and it has scabs round its anus-i didn't look specifically-but noticed as it put it's tail in the air. It was very affectionate and enjoyed the attention we gave it. Now this cat had one of those awful cheap flea collars on-clearly older than the month which they're active for, so is it owned, lost and stray loitering about the farm? I'm really wondering what to do now-after reading your stories. I tried to put it to the back of my mind-as i'm sure it's the farms cat, but it is scruffy. Thin, its coat was very thin patches and as I mentioned it's anus is very sore-worms I guess? Sorry to sabotage just wanted to share it with people who actually care about animals while I try and figure out what I should do!
 
Well i finally got in touch with the owner. From what I can tell he cares about the cat but his girlfirend had twins and doesn't want him near them so the poor guy's been locked out of the house. He seems unsure about giving him away and wants to 'think about it' but at the same time the poor little guy is outside with noone to look after him properly :cry:

The man seems to feel really guilty for what he's done to Mr Cat but his girlfriends feelings seem to come first and 'you can't have a cat around kids' apparently! He's also moving house soon and his girlfriend doesn't want the cat to come with him. I don't know how true this is but the kids seem to think he's mentioned leaving Alvin (Mr cats name) behind. I hope thats not true!

The owner said every time he goes outside Alvin comes running up, he doesn't even have to call his name. So he just walked outside and Alvin came running up to him and was purring his little nose off. It just broke my heart when the owner walked back inside and the little guy looked so disapointed and hurt. He just wanted to go inside with him. :(
He really is the sweetest thing I've ever seen. He has these huge amber eyes and seems to really crave human attention...

I have a couple of questions about cats and how well can they get on with small animals. I have the two buns, two dogs, three degus and five rats... My dogs are ok(ish) with cats and I'm hoping that they could get used to him... But I'm a bit worried about how he'll react to such small furries, especially the rats and degus. I really don't have the money to keep him no matter how much i want to (I'm struggling financially atm) but he'll definately be staying as a 'foster' for a bit before I can find him the perfect forever home. Also, Alvin seems really connected to his owner. If he lives here would it be better to keep him inside until his owner moves house as I'm sure he'll just try to go home...

God as i'm writing this I'm shocked by how some people are just awful. This poor cat is being so lovely to a man who's locked him out of the house and stopped feeding him. Thats heartbreakingly loyal, especially for a cat.

I've been putting cat food out for him and its been disappearing fast... I know he's eaten at least some of it so hopefully thats taking the edge off his hunger a bit.

I'll update as soon as anything changes. I'm not gonna give up on the little guy and I'm hoping that soon he'll be curled up keeping warm inside rather than left outside in the cold.
 
In all honesty I would just put food out for the cat and offer to let him in your house. If he chooses you (which I'm sure he will with the cold weather drawing in) then it's not theft and you won't have to give the guy any money.

Then you can go about finding him a new home. I don't like cats but every animal deserves to be looked after.

Until then I'd personally keep the rabbits in an enclosed run rather than letting them free range. It only takes a second for a rabbit to come to harm and being chased around the garden is stressful enough in itself.

I agree with all of this - I think it is what I'd do if I didn't think my own cats would leave home if they found a stranger in the kitchen!

I would definitely put a bit of food out for him. ETA - Sorry, just read your other post, you have been feeding him! Does he seem an elderly cat? I know when some of ours reached the ripe old age of 20 they started to become very scrawny, so much so a concerned neighbour called the RSPCA as they thought we were neglecting them.

As you've said, minimize the bunny's free range time until Mr. Cat is sorted. It would be terrible for all involved if anything happened to your buns just because the poor creature is hungry.

I find that generally cats are quite good at finding places to shelter when the weather is bad, but that does not excuse the way his owner is behaving.
Well done you for being so caring about the wee man - you are a true animal lover. Let us know what happens.
 
Oh poor Alvin - he must be so hurt and confused and wonder what he has done wrong.:(

I hope you can foster him and then find him a good home.

My cats are fine with my bunnies but when I had a hamster I kept them apart. Not sure about rats and degus as they are bigger than a hamster.

I wonder if the kitten I have taken on was dumped because of a new baby. She is so friendly she was obviously loved and handled a lot at some point. She follows me around as if she is terrified I will leave her. It breaks my heart how some people treat loyal and loving pets.

I really hope Alvin finds his forever home where he can receive the love he deserves.
 
I'm so glad you've got some answers from the owner. The guy can't love the cat as he wouldn't be able to resist his affection otherwise. Fostering sounds like A good idea. If your circumstances change you can always decide to hang on to him :) i'm sure he'll woo you once he gets his paws under the table lol. As for rats and degus it's best to keep the cat away from them whilst unsupervised and not leave him alone in a room with their cage-he could try to swipe them through the bars and scratches to such small animals can be dangerous. I can only go by my experience.
We have 3 guinea pigs who the cats treat the same as they do the buns. They'll sniff them, try and nick their food and run from them if they show the cats any interest. With hamsters and mice, again the cage and supervision rule offer to be followed. Also tails dangling through cages are irresistable to a cat! We used to let our single mouse out for a run round, going back about 7 years now-the cats were kittens. They would watch her-never got close or flinched enough to be able to do her any harm. Same when we had a hamster and a single guinea pig. They've also been around 4 week old baby buns before. I guess this sounds quite irresponsible reading it back. However our cats have grown up with rodents and buns, and don't see them as prey. Our cats have never bought us back any presents nor caught an animal or bird. They don't even kill spiders they play with them-i have to the spider then the cats try to eat it! I would never trust them alone with any small creature, but know that they would do more harm using them as toys rather than trying to kill them! I wouldn't trust mr cat for a good while with anything living as he's obviously a hunter. But as long as you control his access to rooms with other pets in and keep his personal territory to a minimum I think he'll fit in fine :) sorry for the long post :)
 
I've got house cats and an outdoor cat... the indoor cats could not be less interested in my rats, and if the rats go near them when they're out and about the cats jump up and run away :roll:

My outdoor cat does tend to bring gifts home sometimes, despite bells on her collar, but she isn't interested in my rats either. She quite likes watching their tails - its the front end she doesn't like! No idea why, as she's not been bitten.

If I were you, just don't leave him unsupervised with your small furries, and he should be ok. And it tends to be cats in charge of dogs, he'll soon sort that out, no problem :lol:

xxx
 
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