1/2 #Cat people, I need advice.
We’ve had a large, unneutered tom prowling round at night, aggressively chasing our young cats off their own deck. Thankfully the kittens aren’t fighters, they run, but I’m scared one might get caught.
We’ve tried trapping the beast, but it forced the sprung door open and escaped before we could get to it. I thought that might deter it, but it was back again last night.
We live in the countryside, these are likely farm cats travelling some distance.
#cats
2/2 We lost our wee Katu 😿 last year - she *was* feisty and defended her territory, and got her ear shredded just a few weeks before she vanished completely. its highly likely she was chased away, or worse, by a Tom.
I thought living in the country would be safer for our cats, but it seems more dangerous than town!
TNR might help, but in our experience once a tom’s mature, neutering just stops him breeding, he’ll still be aggressive.
Experienced feral colony managers state the huge difference it makes with aggression towards fellow cats to have the tomcats (of a colony) neutered:
"One of our previously posted clips shows the staggering difference neutering a cat can make -
you will see all 4 dominant males having positive (or at least neutral) interactions with each other.
Just a few months ago, these boys had massive gaping wounds and broken teeth from constant fighting, and required extensive surgeries and recovery care to heal.
The property owner said it's like a completely different barn with everyone getting along and no more spraying to mark territories. 🙂"
Quote from the Tinykittens HQ video "This is why we return feral cats", from the River Colony, URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd7BYkD4fQ
Orange Menace
Lo Jie