I'm being stalked by a cat!

(Sorry, another long post.)

This is a ridiculous problem but one I've never experienced before. We
live in the kind of neighborhood where almost everyone who has cats
lets them out...a lot. Then we seem to also have a large stray and/or
feral population. Through the years I've had some neutered and others
not but we always have food out so, with the strays and the 'hood cats,
we have a lot of cat traffic.

About 6 months ago, a long-haired brownish, grayish, whitish sort of
tabby showed up but he was distinctly unfriendly. He came and went as
he pleased, usually showing up in the evening for dinner. He had no
interest in being petted or bonding with us. Plenty of others have
also been here during that time. In late March, he started showing up
with a young gray tabby, very cute, friendly, and female. She wanted
to be our friend, wanted constant attention, wanted to come inside.
But we have Marbles the aggressive cat who is already separated from
our other 2, Scottie the sporadic sprayer, and sweet little Abbey so
bringing her in was out of the question. But I was horrified having a
girl kitty around during kitty mating season. She looked to be about
10 months or so old, prime age for getting in the family way. The boy
cat seemed to take care of her, I assumed they were mating. Anyway,
much calling around and begging and promising of a decent donation,
finally on 4/9 got the little girl kitty into the rescue group we got
Marbles from, HALO, who does most of the Petsmart adoptions in the
Phoenix area. I was very relieved to have her off the streets.
Meanwhile, I felt sorry for her buddy but he adapted and continued to
hang around and come and go as he pleased. Of course, he got plenty to
eat here. We call him "Twin" because he looks like another cat that
used to come here to eat.

About 2 weeks ago, on a weekend, I went out and, all of a sudden, he
was Mr. Friendly. Wanted to be petted, brushed, everything, after
never wanting to be touched. I was then able to discern that he is a
neutered male, which is good. His fur is scruffy from neglect so I got
him his own brush and we've been brushing him a little everyday. He's
looking pretty good although he has some notches out of both his ears
and his white fur is still grubby. He's cute, chubby, but I don't
think HALO would probably take him at this time since I'm sure they're
swamped with kittens. All the other rescue and no-kill groups always
say no whenever I call them.

So...it would be fine with us if he just stayed our outdoor cat. We
have a low car traffic neighborhood and, like I said, there are tons of
other cats around. A cat down the street with a home, Pretty, loves to
come and harrass Twin, which is annoying but tolearble, I guess. Twin
is very mellow and doesn't fight back. Hence, the tattered ears, I
guess.

What isn't tolerable is that Twin never, ever leaves my carport. He
waits for me, morning, noon, and night. I don't think he even ventures
out into the yard unless I go into the yard. He's like a dog. Kinda
cute, one might think, but he is kind of odd and seems to have a little
mean streak. When I pet him, all is well, but when I stop to go in the
house, his tail starts swishing, his ears go back a little, he fixates
on my legs and feet, and reaches out and grabs me and attempts to claw
or bite me. I'm not amused. I have scratches all over my legs; I have
to think twice about going outside now, and put long pants on if I
don't want to be clawed and remember to not go out with stockings on.
Its a major PITA and, to be honest, I'm a little afraid of him. I
don't enjoy being attacked. The other night, we were going to go for
our walk, which is a 1.5 mile route, and he followed us. He would not
go back so I had to go back because I didn't really want him following
us a mile or so and then getting lost. I would have felt bad for him.

This cat is obsessed with me and I don't like it. I have to make sure
I have a broom with me when I go out so I can get it between him and me
when he starts to attack or to shoo him aside with it. I feel like a
prisoner in here.

To compound things, I had gotten in the habit of taking Marbles outside
in his walking jacket on weekends and we had a nice little routine
going. He enjoyed it and so did I. Now if I take him out, Twin
follows us, torments Marbles, Marbles gets vocal and aggressive. I
don't want them to have direct contact in case Twin has FIV or FeLV or
something and I sure don't want them to fight.

What can I do to get this cat to cool it? He's welcome to eat here and
hang out here and we don't mind brushing him and petting him some but
he tries to get in when I open the door and, just in general, is making
life unpleasant for the inside residents. I know the ideal thing is to
get him his own home but we all know how hard that can be and this is
an older, somewhat scruffy, antagonistic cat and this is the time of
year when baby kitties are abundant. No one will take him, not now
anyway, and never if he's gonna attack them. I seriously don't know
what to do about him. How can I get him to quit attacking me and
following me incessantly?

Candace

On Fri 03 Jun 2005 09:17:53p, Candace wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
oups.com):

snip

What can I do to get this cat to cool it? He's welcome to eat
here and hang out here and we don't mind brushing him and
petting him some but he tries to get in when I open the door
and, just in general, is making life unpleasant for the inside
residents. I know the ideal thing is to get him his own home
but we all know how hard that can be and this is an older,
somewhat scruffy, antagonistic cat and this is the time of year
when baby kitties are abundant. No one will take him, not now
anyway, and never if he's gonna attack them. I seriously don't
know what to do about him. How can I get him to quit attacking
me and following me incessantly?


Candace, that reminds me so much of Jake from a couple of years ago
here. Though, he didn't attack me; I'm not sure what to tell you
about that. But Jake never left my deck, except to run around to
the front of the house when the windows were open. He tore all my
screens trying to come in. It was so sad! I never thought I'd find
him a home, either. But as it turned out, I found a home for him
and the other friendly stray here. A guy at work took them both and
they all lived happily ever after. What I did was make some
flyers with the help of Megan (she wrote the most heart-wrenching
story about how badly he needed a home, I put his picture on it)
and I hung the flyers in all the break rooms at work. A guy there
answered the ad and asked if he had a friend because he wanted to
adopt a pair.

I hope someone has some advice about the attacks, and that really
sucks about not being able to take Marbles out. On another note,
I'm so happy to read that Abbey is feeling better again and eating.
Purrs still coming for you and DH and her and Scottie and Marbles
to have a lot more time together.


--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited
breath."
- W.C. Fields

Candace wrote:
How can I get him to quit attacking me and
following me incessantly?

Candace

He's pigeon holed and doesn't even know it.

He wants you to bring him in the house, talk trash to him, let him
sleep with you and so on.

Why not let him follow you on the walks. This excersize will help him
blow off some of them carport blues. Maybe you are able to walk a path
where he has little to no chance to be in danger; this way you both get
the excersize. This could give him one more thing to look forward to.

I wonder how he would respond to a harness/leash rig? You might be
suprised. You could goto put it on him, and if he bucks, then run him
back to the house till he learns he's gonna wear it. (if your walking
path is just that dangerous).

That cat is crazy about you.

I wonder if getting him neutered would help. You are evidently "his". He
might get less territorial.

"Candace" wrote in message
ups.com...
(Sorry, another long post.)

This is a ridiculous problem but one I've never experienced before. We
live in the kind of neighborhood where almost everyone who has cats
lets them out...a lot. Then we seem to also have a large stray and/or
feral population. Through the years I've had some neutered and others
not but we always have food out so, with the strays and the 'hood cats,
we have a lot of cat traffic.

About 6 months ago, a long-haired brownish, grayish, whitish sort of
tabby showed up but he was distinctly unfriendly. He came and went as
he pleased, usually showing up in the evening for dinner. He had no
interest in being petted or bonding with us. Plenty of others have
also been here during that time. In late March, he started showing up
with a young gray tabby, very cute, friendly, and female. She wanted
to be our friend, wanted constant attention, wanted to come inside.
But we have Marbles the aggressive cat who is already separated from
our other 2, Scottie the sporadic sprayer, and sweet little Abbey so
bringing her in was out of the question. But I was horrified having a
girl kitty around during kitty mating season. She looked to be about
10 months or so old, prime age for getting in the family way. The boy
cat seemed to take care of her, I assumed they were mating. Anyway,
much calling around and begging and promising of a decent donation,
finally on 4/9 got the little girl kitty into the rescue group we got
Marbles from, HALO, who does most of the Petsmart adoptions in the
Phoenix area. I was very relieved to have her off the streets.
Meanwhile, I felt sorry for her buddy but he adapted and continued to
hang around and come and go as he pleased. Of course, he got plenty to
eat here. We call him "Twin" because he looks like another cat that
used to come here to eat.

About 2 weeks ago, on a weekend, I went out and, all of a sudden, he
was Mr. Friendly. Wanted to be petted, brushed, everything, after
never wanting to be touched. I was then able to discern that he is a
neutered male, which is good. His fur is scruffy from neglect so I got
him his own brush and we've been brushing him a little everyday. He's
looking pretty good although he has some notches out of both his ears
and his white fur is still grubby. He's cute, chubby, but I don't
think HALO would probably take him at this time since I'm sure they're
swamped with kittens. All the other rescue and no-kill groups always
say no whenever I call them.

So...it would be fine with us if he just stayed our outdoor cat. We
have a low car traffic neighborhood and, like I said, there are tons of
other cats around. A cat down the street with a home, Pretty, loves to
come and harrass Twin, which is annoying but tolearble, I guess. Twin
is very mellow and doesn't fight back. Hence, the tattered ears, I
guess.

What isn't tolerable is that Twin never, ever leaves my carport. He
waits for me, morning, noon, and night. I don't think he even ventures
out into the yard unless I go into the yard. He's like a dog. Kinda
cute, one might think, but he is kind of odd and seems to have a little
mean streak. When I pet him, all is well, but when I stop to go in the
house, his tail starts swishing, his ears go back a little, he fixates
on my legs and feet, and reaches out and grabs me and attempts to claw
or bite me. I'm not amused. I have scratches all over my legs; I have
to think twice about going outside now, and put long pants on if I
don't want to be clawed and remember to not go out with stockings on.
Its a major PITA and, to be honest, I'm a little afraid of him. I
don't enjoy being attacked. The other night, we were going to go for
our walk, which is a 1.5 mile route, and he followed us. He would not
go back so I had to go back because I didn't really want him following
us a mile or so and then getting lost. I would have felt bad for him.

This cat is obsessed with me and I don't like it. I have to make sure
I have a broom with me when I go out so I can get it between him and me
when he starts to attack or to shoo him aside with it. I feel like a
prisoner in here.

To compound things, I had gotten in the habit of taking Marbles outside
in his walking jacket on weekends and we had a nice little routine
going. He enjoyed it and so did I. Now if I take him out, Twin
follows us, torments Marbles, Marbles gets vocal and aggressive. I
don't want them to have direct contact in case Twin has FIV or FeLV or
something and I sure don't want them to fight.

What can I do to get this cat to cool it? He's welcome to eat here and
hang out here and we don't mind brushing him and petting him some but
he tries to get in when I open the door and, just in general, is making
life unpleasant for the inside residents. I know the ideal thing is to
get him his own home but we all know how hard that can be and this is
an older, somewhat scruffy, antagonistic cat and this is the time of
year when baby kitties are abundant. No one will take him, not now
anyway, and never if he's gonna attack them. I seriously don't know
what to do about him. How can I get him to quit attacking me and
following me incessantly?

Candace


**Candace,

It's obvious that Twin has a major crush on you! :-). Seriously, I think
Cheryl is totally on target. Find a home got him, now. Don't put it off.
Just do it. Follow Cheryl's advice. Also, often your local newspaper will
run an ad totally free, but you have to ask for it. Mention that you taking
care of a stray, can't keep him, and are trying to find a good home for him,
then ask if they would run a Free ad under the "cats" section for you.

It's very apparent that 'Twin' is causing a big disruption for you and your
other cats so I'd try to find him a home, ASAP. You'll never know if you can
unless you at least try to find him a home, and you can certainly screen and
interview all the people who show an interest in taking him. It will be
your* call to decide who you let him go to, and what the conditions and
rules will be with them.

Good luck, and may God bless you for taking good care of him and doing the
right and good thing(s) for him.

ML

Karen wrote:
I wonder if getting him neutered would help. You are evidently "his". He
might get less territorial.

He is neutered. I only found that out when he got friendly. It was
too hard to see through all the long fur until he became more docile.
My next door neighbor thinks he used to live in the house behind me,
aross an alley. She said she used to see him sitting on a sailboat in
that yard but now the sailboat is gone and there appear to be new
owners there. What scumbags for dumping the little guy. I think he
maybe had a crappy home of sorts until about 2 weeks ago when he began
spending every moment here.

Candace

in article , Candace at
wrote on 6/3/05 10:46 PM:

Karen wrote:
I wonder if getting him neutered would help. You are evidently "his". He
might get less territorial.

He is neutered. I only found that out when he got friendly. It was
too hard to see through all the long fur until he became more docile.
My next door neighbor thinks he used to live in the house behind me,
aross an alley. She said she used to see him sitting on a sailboat in
that yard but now the sailboat is gone and there appear to be new
owners there. What scumbags for dumping the little guy. I think he
maybe had a crappy home of sorts until about 2 weeks ago when he began
spending every moment here.

Candace

Poor guy. I really wish you could find him a home!

Innovo wrote:

It's obvious that Twin has a major crush on you! :-). Seriously, I think
Cheryl is totally on target. Find a home got him, now. Don't put it off.
Just do it. Follow Cheryl's advice. Also, often your local newspaper will
run an ad totally free, but you have to ask for it. Mention that you taking
care of a stray, can't keep him, and are trying to find a good home for him,
then ask if they would run a Free ad under the "cats" section for you.

I can try, yes, but I just went through trying to get a kitty a home
when the little baby kitty was here in April. I ran an ad for her,
too. The only positive response I got was the rescue group I
mentioned. I guess I can try them again, too, but I think they would
be more likely to say yes when the kitten crop has thinned out.

There are only 17 people in my office (not animal lovers) and we are
isolated from the rest of the corp. There is nowhere to hang an ad. I
can try but I have to concentrate my major efforts on my sickly kitty,
Abbey, right now.

Candace

Cheryl wrote:

I hope someone has some advice about the attacks, and that really
sucks about not being able to take Marbles out. On another note,
I'm so happy to read that Abbey is feeling better again and eating.
Purrs still coming for you and DH and her and Scottie and Marbles
to have a lot more time together.

Yes, it sucks about poor Marbles. I took him to a park about a mile
from here this afternoon but he didn't really enjoy himself. He
doesn't like riding in the car much either so he was fairly agitated
and panting on the way home. He prefers his own yard. At least all
the excitement wore him out, he's been sacked out for hours.

Candace

bigbadbarry wrote:

Why not let him follow you on the walks. This excersize will help him
blow off some of them carport blues. Maybe you are able to walk a path
where he has little to no chance to be in danger; this way you both get
the excersize. This could give him one more thing to look forward to.

I don't know, you never know when a dog is going to come dashing out of
someone's yard or someone could be walking their dog and a scuffle
could ensue. If he were to run off a mile away from here, he might not
find his way back. I would prefer that he stay closer but I wish he
would at least go out into the yard on his own, watch birdies, lay in
the grass, do some normal cat things so he had some enjoyment instead
of just waiting to catch a glimpse of me. No one ever found me quite
this fascinating.