Cat fight in the backyard!

I came home from vacation and looked around the fenced-in backyard and
then let the boys out. A neighbor comes by to say hello, comes into
the backyard, and Nipsy The Wuss runs into the house. So only Espy
should be in the yard but a friend suddenly notices that there are
still two cats in the yard. Uh oh.

I grab Espy and take him inside, and then try to get the other cat by
gentle coaxing and making nice noises. The fencing is designed to keep
my cats in but it's possible for another cat to get in, although
that's only happened once before.

I opened a hole in the fence and tried to get the other cat to use it
but he was panicking and trying to get out everywhere else. To no
avail of course. Then I open the door to go back into the house and
Espy runs out and chases this poor little cat around the yard, finally
cornering him/her under an azalea. I made a critical mistake here and
reached in and grabbed Espy. I should have grabbed the other cat.

So, Espy, no worse for the short battle, is back inside, and finally
the cat takes off through the hole in the fence. Damn, I missed my
chance to get the poor skinny thing. I've seen him (I'll assume it's a
him for now) around a few times and I'm sure he's a stray.

I should have grabbed him and put him into the Cat Introduction Room
where I could have fed him and then brought him to the vet. Maybe I
could have kept him. I wonder if he and Espy could be friends after
the fight. He is a very cute cat who looks like Espy, DSH, part white,
part brownish. Astonishingly beautiful eyes and he sure looked smart.
But so skinny. Would he be likely to adapt to a mostly indoor life?

I saw him outside the front of the house last night and left out some
food but it was still there in the morning.

Could a cat rescue lend you a trap? Re keeping the cat, take the rescue's
advice; cats don't naturally get on, and you'll need to check the stray cat's
FeLV and FIV status. I would argue however that a cat that has known his
freedom would find it very difficult to adapt to an indoor life.

http://www.lkegan.plus.com/Stray%20c...20magazine.pdf

http://wizz-catz.co.uk/inorout.html
http://wizz-catz.co.uk/introducing.html
http://www.fabcats.org/inorout.html

dgk wrote:
I came home from vacation and looked around the fenced-in backyard and
then let the boys out. A neighbor comes by to say hello, comes into
the backyard, and Nipsy The Wuss runs into the house. So only Espy
should be in the yard but a friend suddenly notices that there are
still two cats in the yard. Uh oh.

I grab Espy and take him inside, and then try to get the other cat by
gentle coaxing and making nice noises. The fencing is designed to keep
my cats in but it's possible for another cat to get in, although
that's only happened once before.

I opened a hole in the fence and tried to get the other cat to use it
but he was panicking and trying to get out everywhere else. To no
avail of course. Then I open the door to go back into the house and
Espy runs out and chases this poor little cat around the yard, finally
cornering him/her under an azalea. I made a critical mistake here and
reached in and grabbed Espy. I should have grabbed the other cat.

So, Espy, no worse for the short battle, is back inside, and finally
the cat takes off through the hole in the fence. Damn, I missed my
chance to get the poor skinny thing. I've seen him (I'll assume it's a
him for now) around a few times and I'm sure he's a stray.

I should have grabbed him and put him into the Cat Introduction Room
where I could have fed him and then brought him to the vet. Maybe I
could have kept him. I wonder if he and Espy could be friends after
the fight. He is a very cute cat who looks like Espy, DSH, part white,
part brownish. Astonishingly beautiful eyes and he sure looked smart.
But so skinny. Would he be likely to adapt to a mostly indoor life?

I saw him outside the front of the house last night and left out some
food but it was still there in the morning.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200608/1

"Catlover Medway via CatKB.com" u15343@uwe wrote in message
news:64df6b609193b@uwe...
Could a cat rescue lend you a trap? Re keeping the cat, take the rescue's
advice; cats don't naturally get on, and you'll need to check the stray
cat's
FeLV and FIV status. I would argue however that a cat that has known his
freedom would find it very difficult to adapt to an indoor life.

Depends on the cat. We adopted a stray that had a
litter in a neighbor's yard and was doing a good job
taking care of her kittens (hunting, etc.). We think
she is fairly young. We trapped her, got her tested,
vaccinated, spayed once the kittens were on their
own (and found homes by our neighbor). The
stray was kept inside for two days during a cold
snap post surgery and after that she refused to go
outside! That was in December. In the last month
or so I have managed to coax her outside to eat
grass, but she doesn't go far (maybe 3 cat lengths)
and dashes back inside after perhaps 2 minutes.

A stray we adopted 6 years ago was young enough
not to have had a litter yet, and was quite content
outside, following me around my rose garden while
I did chores. But once we adopted her and showed
her the great indoors, she resisted going out. She's
gotten braver lately, but mostly goes out for grass
and to lie on the patio.

By contrast, my pampered purebreds which spent
all their young lives indoors are more likely to dash
out and roam the yard, given any opportunity.

I think it has something to do with personality or
perhaps cats that are smart enough (former
strays) to know what a good thing it is being
inside with soft places to sleep, no predators,
good food, fresh water, toys and laps.

Gail F.
near San Antonio TX USA

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 02:42:50 GMT, "Gail Futoran"
wrote:

"Catlover Medway via CatKB.com" u15343@uwe wrote in message
news:64df6b609193b@uwe...
Could a cat rescue lend you a trap? Re keeping the cat, take the rescue's
advice; cats don't naturally get on, and you'll need to check the stray
cat's
FeLV and FIV status. I would argue however that a cat that has known his
freedom would find it very difficult to adapt to an indoor life.

Depends on the cat. We adopted a stray that had a
litter in a neighbor's yard and was doing a good job
taking care of her kittens (hunting, etc.). We think
she is fairly young. We trapped her, got her tested,
vaccinated, spayed once the kittens were on their
own (and found homes by our neighbor). The
stray was kept inside for two days during a cold
snap post surgery and after that she refused to go
outside! That was in December. In the last month
or so I have managed to coax her outside to eat
grass, but she doesn't go far (maybe 3 cat lengths)
and dashes back inside after perhaps 2 minutes.

A stray we adopted 6 years ago was young enough
not to have had a litter yet, and was quite content
outside, following me around my rose garden while
I did chores. But once we adopted her and showed
her the great indoors, she resisted going out. She's
gotten braver lately, but mostly goes out for grass
and to lie on the patio.

By contrast, my pampered purebreds which spent
all their young lives indoors are more likely to dash
out and roam the yard, given any opportunity.

I think it has something to do with personality or
perhaps cats that are smart enough (former
strays) to know what a good thing it is being
inside with soft places to sleep, no predators,
good food, fresh water, toys and laps.

Gail F.
near San Antonio TX USA


It would be difficult to trap the cat because it normally doesn't come
in my yard and certainly won't now. But I think that it's living under
the deck of one of my very elderly neighbors so perhaps I can get her
to put a trap in her yard. I'll probably end up trapping a different
cat but I suppose they all need fixing. If I ever get this one though
I'm going to see about giving it a home, even if my Significant Other
throws a fit. Two has been our limit for the most part but I really
liked this one.