Cat

[john2189]

My cat is a 3 year old male that has been fixed. Still has claws. When we had him fixed, we bought him inside since it was November. We also have a 12 year old fixed female. Well they never got along, the female would growl when ever he got too close. Then he would back off. Well lately he has become more aggressive and Saturday he really attacked the female. If we wouldn’t have broken it up, I think he would have killed her. I’ve never seen him this way before. So we decided to put him outside. It was late but not dark in the evening. We have 3 other cats outside and of course they hissed at each other. Anyway the next morning I was expecting to see him, but I have not seen him since. I feel really bad that I didn’t do this differently like putting him in the garage and slowly get him used to being outside again. Will his instincts for survival kick in? Since he was a small kitten when brought inside? Will ever come back? We keep calling for him hoping he will hear us.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for listening
John

[Eugene]

Don't know if your cat will survive, most likely.

In town, we have several feral cats near the house. On drive to acrage often see feral cats. Any way, cats seem to survive.

Few years back had a neighbor who feed feral cats. Neighbor moved. Lots of feral cats in the area.

[john2189]

I can see that If they are born feral, but this one has had an easy 2-1/2 years, I hope he remembers what his mother taught him his first 6 months before we brought him in. This is in the country with lots of woods.

[tmays]

What’s your feeding procedure for the cats outside? Neighbors close by? Is he friendly with humans? If you have neighbors and he’s friendly, he will show up at neighbors house. Otherwise he’s close by. Leave some feed out for him somewhere

[john2189]

We feed the cats outside twice a day
We do have close neighbors they have not seen him
He has only had contact with me and my wife
I do leave food and water out, but who knows who eats it

I do walk the edge of the woods and call his name.

[tmays]

One thing he has going for him is it’s not a bad time of year for him to be out and about. Plenty of bugs and such for him to eat and he will start catching mice if there are any which I’m sure there are. Also, a lot of folks are good about putting out food for stray animals when they’re spotted. Even if they spot them while riding down the road. Some folks will go get food and leave where cat was spotted if they can’t catch him. Since he is a tame cat, he will approach someone if he gets hungry enough. Sounds like you’re doing all you can. And of course sometimes cats just disappear. I’ve had a couple disappear over the years. Whether run over, coyotes, or winding up at someone’s house who takes them in, who knows? They usually show up somewhere. I’ve had cats leave for two or three weeks at a time and show back up.

[john2189]

Thanks I know, I just feel bad as to how I did it. I know he had to be out of the house for the safety of the other two cats in the house. I suppose even if I did try to put him out gradually to get used to things, he still might have run away.

[phill_mi]

I have had to deal with cats not getting along lately also. I started with two unrelated female cats that the lady told me to keep indoors all the time. I let them out occasionally. One of them had four kittens a year ago last May, and I did not work on finding them new homes. I did get them all neutered early this year but just recently they have been getting more and more testy with each other, which then excites my Catahoula/Husky dog. For most of the summer I have been putting them out during the day and encouraging them to come in at night, but sometimes they stay out. When I look for them at night I call their name, but often they ignore my calls and sit out of site in the bushes near by. Sometimes I take a bowl of food and shake it as I walk along the driveway. Then I might set it down and walk away, then watch to see if they come out the bushes to investigate it. And if they do I can usually catch them. The one that was the most independent and kept staying out did not like to be held. So I have spent more time with her trying figure out what she likes so that now she comes to me wanting her special attention. A few nights ago the other adult female and some of the kittens got into a scrum on top of me, scratching and waking me up. So they got booted out into the dark. I wish you well as you look for your cat.

[john2189]

Thanks

[john2189]

Wife thought she saw him go under the porch this morning. By the time I got dressed and looked under the porch, he was gone. If it was him.
Maybe tomorrow

[tmays]

I feel pretty confident he’s hanging around since you do put feed out

[Don McCombs]

If you have a trail camera or can borrow one, setting it up over your food source will tell the tale.

[john2189]

I will have to get a camera

[john2189]

I feel pretty confident he’s hanging around since you do put feed out

I saw him tonight. He ran fast through the flowers then under the deck. I tried calling his name and shake the food dish to coax him out with no luck. I sat on the bench quietly but still no luck. I think the other cats hanging around keeps him scared. Plus he is still probably mad at me. At least I know he sorta ok.

[tmays]

Don’t know how you feel about live traps, but I would give one a try if it were me. No way of knowing how he will respond inside trap, but at least you could turn him loose in your garage until things turn out ok or back to starting over