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Our part time cat I mentioned a while back has been coming and going very erratically. Disappeared for a week then just walks in asking for Dreamies

She does stay for several days and then goes. Comes in very dirty so my OH brushes her.

Did have a big tom cat follow her in few weeks back ( he only just got in through the cat flap. A full size unneutered Tom) and had to get him out as she didn't like him there.

She came in this morning very agitated ate and then went into our courtyard and looked over the wall. She had taken a swipe at me and my OH despite us feeding her. I looked over wall and there was a fox there which she was looking at.

I got feeling she took swipe as she is feeling very anxious. I did look it up and cats do get anxiety.

The alleyway and railway arches at back have foxes and now a couple of tom cats who fight. I suppose for a small cat like her its a jungle.

She obviously likes visiting us and she is welcome to stay. If she does stay she calms down after a day. But likes to sleep behind sofa or under bed recently.

She is not feral but get feeling she has not been socialized as a kitten that well. And is thus a bit disturbed.

Any thoughts?
 
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Sounds like a fairly normal aloof type cat to me, the fact she lets your OH brush her would suggest she is socialised fine, or your OH would be needing skin grafts and antibiotics just attempting to groom her :D

I agree with your assessment that she is stressed - sounds like territorial issues if she scuttles into yours in an agitated state then finds somewhere quiet to have a snooze. Could be the multitude of foxes, or other cats in the area. Could also be that tom pestering her, do you know if she's been spayed? Not sure that would put a tom off anyway, cats do not have to wait for a female to be in heat to mate and conceive, being in heat just makes the female more likely to want to - even if your timeshare kitty has been spayed she might still be getting unwanted attention, especially this time of year. Or if she doesn't smell like a receptive female to the tom, he might be chasing her off his turf.

Good that she feels safe at yours and has somewhere to hang out :)
 
Gramsci said:
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

broadly, agree with Epona here

cats protection have some advice on what to do when the cat distribution network delivers you a kitteh

she might have an unhappy relationship with another set of hoomans - they might go out and leave her outside, they might have a child / other animal that she doesn't get on with. or she may be the sort of cat who actively seeks out timeshare arrangements - some cats do (think i've mentioned friend in plymouth who has a part time cat, and one of the mogs i used to live with often used to have weekends away)

short of asking the cat/s involved, nobody's quite sure why some cats do this - one theory is it's a variation on wild feline behaviour, where they will move on from a particular food source rather than exterminate a particular herd / colony of prey.

the ethics of dealing with a kitty who turns up and says they are a poor hungry stray is difficult - some are more obviously taking the piss than others.

some people who consider themselves 'cat owners' can get upset if they visit other people, some don't (friend has managed to trace the 'owners' of part time cat, they said he's been doing all his life, and offered to pay something towards his board and lodging)

may be worth some attempt at a 'found' advert - local vets / pet shops may do this, don't know if you're on any local things like local farcebook / nextdoor (i avoid anything like that), next step would be to see if she has a microchip.

microchip law comes in 10 june, but i've not seen anything that explains how that's supposed to apply to timeshare cats.
 
She may have a home base but perhaps doesn’t get much peace and quiet there. Dogs, other cats, kids, small place without much room to retreat. She’s found a place she can come to when things get too much elsewhere.

Cats are more like housemates or lodgers than they are like pets.




Cat is a lazy sod. I got up and went out this morning, it wasn’t even very early. He didn’t get up with me, he was still sleeping when I left, and he was still asleep when I came home. I put his breakfast biscuits down for him as I left and it was untouched when I got home. Even after I was home it took him 20 minutes to get stirred and come to get some food.

I’m delighted about this. Having had many interrupted nights being poked up the nose by a cat’s claw, I was determined that this time, the cat would not associate me getting out of bed, with him getting fed. That’s a hard line. I a.ways do something else between getting up ,and putting food down.

House/cat sitters are given very strict instructions about this. One of them spoils him rotten with treats, but she’s good about not feeding him first thing. However, after I was way over Easter he has been cross at me ever since for not obediently proffering treats every time he asks. He gets neck ruffles instead. The disdain though! I can almost hear him kissing his teeth as he pulls away.
 
story said:
She may have a home base but perhaps doesn’t get much peace and quiet there. Dogs, other cats, kids, small place without much room to retreat. She’s found a place she can come to when things get too much elsewhere.

Cats are more like housemates or lodgers than they are like pets.
Click to expand...

That would fit with her behaviour. She calms down after a while when she stays. Sleeps regular hours if stays a while

She otherwise sometimes turns up at midnight then is in and out most of night.

My OH calls her the Queen. She will only eat Dreamies. And like your cat sitter does gets spoilt at our place.
 
This is the back cushion of a leather armchair, carefully carved into a resting nook. I no longer have access rights to this chair.

It’s his preferred warm weather spot. When the weather turns cooler he finds a different spot. The fact that he’s now using this spot is a sure sign that winter is over.

IMG_0109.jpeg



IMG_0108.jpeg
 
story said:
This is the back cushion of a leather armchair, carefully carved into a resting nook. I no longer have access rights to this chair.

It’s his preferred warm weather spot. When the weather turns cooler he finds a different spot. The fact that he’s now using this spot is a sure sign that winter is over.

View attachment 420031



View attachment 420034
Click to expand...

He's so handsome!
And his face is clearly saying "back off, this is my spot" :D
 
Yaaaawning.

6:30 is his getting up for getting going time.

He’ll relax a little longer, mooch about for a bit, maybe have a wash, then ask to have the door opened for him (he has a cat flap), come back for a bit to eat, then off out for the boundaries and the roundaries.
Back to eat proper supper about 1:30, then bed for a few hours, then out again for dawn.IMG_0111.jpeg
 
story said:
Yaaaawning.

6:30 is his getting up for getting going time.

He’ll relax a little longer, mooch about for a bit, maybe have a wash, then ask to have the door opened for him (he has a cat flap), come back for a bit to eat, then off out for the boundaries and the roundaries.
Back to eat proper supper about 1:30, then bed for a few hours, then out again for dawn.View attachment 420058
Click to expand...
He looks like Felix! Handsome lad.
 
story said:
Yaaaawning.

6:30 is his getting up for getting going time.

He’ll relax a little longer, mooch about for a bit, maybe have a wash, then ask to have the door opened for him (he has a cat flap), come back for a bit to eat, then off out for the boundaries and the roundaries.
Back to eat proper supper about 1:30, then bed for a few hours, then out again for dawn.View attachment 420058
Click to expand...

he looks tired. did he only get 15 hours' sleep yesterday?

:p
 
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