Terriorial dispute

If you see the aggressor cat, invest in a powerful water pistol and give the cat a well directed squirt every time you see it. It will soon get the message!

Ah ...we currently have this problem with our rescue cat ..she has been with us now for about 3 years or even 4 ! When she arrived (just strolled in during one night, through the cat flap) we had three other cats ...one aged about 23 who then died of old age ....a Spanish stray who unfortunately had a neurological disorder and had to be put to sleep, and another that joined us from the house opposite to avoid the three small children (the owner was only too happy for him to live with us and we had him neutered)...he sadly disappeared one night and despite a tattoo and posting ads all over the village he never returned ...NOW a cat belonging to another neighbour with two small children has arrived through the cat flap and seems to have decided to stay ....our stray cat HATES him and simply will not accept him ...I told her (like you do ) that she was lucky when she arrived our three accepted her !) she now pretends to be frightened of him (he is a lovely cat ...friendly, lovable ....whereas our cat is the neighbourhood bully ..she terrifies the little cat next door as well as their two Shi'tzus .....she is also extremely aggressive ...she does not like being touched unless it is her idea I have been sent to he Urgences for anti biotic injections following bites and scratches ...and even today I have a deep bite on my hand and a 5 inch long deep scar on my arm ...so far this time though no fever ..I keep bathing them with antiseptic !

My doc says this cat is dangerous and needs to be put down ...I agree, it is dangerous but my husband refuses to part with it (even though it attacks him a well ...) so what to do ? The other evening in the freezing cold (below zero) he was out going up and down the street calling it ...he is 84 and not in the best of health ...he refuses to listen when I say IT IS A CAT if it wants to go out it will doubtless come back when it wants ......his whole life is the cat ....he #can#t go out# because the cat might be frightened of he other one........etc etc ....looking out for this cat is now his whole life !

What to do ? as I said, I try to tell him it is a cat and is probably doing all this to make us feel guilty that we have allowed in the other cat ......someone suggested getting some Feliway (or something) to spray on the cat beds to keep them calm ....anyone tried this ? does it work !!!

Getting desperate !

Dare I suggest that your lovely cat is pottering around another pussycat's garden.

My own spoilt rotten Burmese will fight anything that comes into our garden and also anything else he sees on his travels. And they really do travel a fair distance from home.

Ours is literally a pussycat indoors but a fighting machine once he steps outside! Cats will be cats ?

We have a cat flap which is activated by our cat's identity chip so no other cat can get in. This has helped enormously when she has dived in to escape another cat. In addition I keep a water cannon water pistol by the back door - one squirt from that and they can't get away fast enough!

Dare I suggest that your lovely cat is pottering around another pussycat's garden

I did wonder just how far his territory extends!

I don't recognise any of the cats who use our garden as belonging to any of the neighbours.

You're assuming he's scared of another cat rather than of being shot? Maybe. My cat went very scared last year, we think after an altercation with a fox. Although the garden has been shared terrtitory with a family of foxes before, and an armed truce has always prevailed. He became happy to go out again after a couple of months, but now is very nervous INSIDE the house. He has a favourite lap, is warily tolerant of me but runs a mile (to outdoors if available) from a stranger. Psycho-analysis of cats is futile. I think he's just flipped!

I have my DD's cat, he was getting terrorised by the many cats in her area. So now I live nearer he's my cat, I had him neutered & micro-chipped. He does fight one particular cat who I believe belongs to a neighbour but so far no serious injuries (think my Stevie actually gets the better of said cat) I have caught this cat in my garden, mine would have seen it off if he hadn't been asleep on my bed

Thank you to everyone who posted helpful comments. The problem with Tigger is not in the garden, it happens when he goes further afield to his outside "territory" so it is very difficult to discover what is happening. There have been neighbouring cats in the garden and he ignores them or they just sit looking at one another.

I will have to let him out eventually and in the mean time I am trying to think of a product I can put on his fur that will deter other cats but not harm Tigger if he licks it off.
Not easy.

Thank you to everyone who posted. As more people get cats these problems increase,especially when irresponsible owners will not pay to get their cats neutered.

Any cat I have ever known can make a puppy respect him in two shakes of a lamb's tail, so a puppy might be the answer.

Your cat will be dreadfully offended for at least a week and probably refuse to allow you to cuddle him.

At present we have two cats, and none of the neighbouring cats dare tackle them both at once, so a kitten might be the long term answer - puss will be offended, but a kitten of the opposite sex will be more acceptable than one of the same sex.