New neighbour has a cat

A question about : New neighbour has a cat

Advice from experienced cat owners needed...

Kitty has been with us since November but is 2.5 years old. For the last month he's been going out (we kept him in initially after rehoming him).

He was just starting to get confident in our area but at the weekend he came home with a few scratches and was very subdued for about 48 hours, so we suspect he got into his first scrap. We live on an estate with other cats.

A few weeks ago, new neighbours moved in behind us (we share the rear boundary of our garden with them). This morning, we noticed a cat we've never seen before sitting on the wall between our gardens. Hubby was home at lunchtime and saw this kitty again - looked at its collar tag and it belongs to the new neighbours.

We don't know if this is the cat ours had a scrap with (if it was even a scrap), but we're wondering as they're in close proximity.

Is there anything we can or should do?

I'm guessing the two cats will work out territories between themselves?

When we're home we can chase new cat out of our garden if he comes in but we're not there all the time so I'm guessing this won't achieve much.

New cat is cute and friendly enough (to us!) but quite a bit bigger than our poor chap.

p.s. Don't worry about the scratches - we have Vetfone with our insurance so called and spoke to a nurse who told us to salt water bathe them a few times over 24 hours and then to watch him for signs of infection, and told us what to watch for.

Best answers:

• There's not a lot you can do - cats will sort out their territories and who has rights of way where and when without you. Most cats don't actually want to fight - which is why the screeching and posturing goes on so long before a blow is thrown - you can if you wish, go out and see what is happening if things are noisy - this causes a distraction that enables both cats to scarper without "losing face".
  They may end up agreeing to disagree and will work out how to avoid each other, they could end up best of buddies who carve up the territory between them and take on all-comers together or they could live in a companionable fashion - sun bathing on the garage roof together. Or as our oldest cat (20+ years) now does, studiously pretends not to see any other cat even if it is stood just six inches away.
• They'll work it out eventually between themselves. Just part of having cats really. Our eldest cat was (and still is to an extent) a scrapper and is very territorial.
  However, don't discount chasing the cat out of your garden regularly. The less it feels comfortable there, the better.
  3rd option, get a dog Our two cats actively use the dogs as bodyguards around the neighbourhood and particularly in our garden.
• my cat is hilarious to watch when he's inside and next-doors cat is wandering along our shared fence - he jumps about at the window, breathing heavily and appearing like he can't wait to get outside and sort out this intruder - but when they are both outside they give each other a wide berth, mine occasionally chases next-door out of his garden, and thats about it.
  We have at least 8 cats who use our fences/garden as a walkthrough and at least half a dozen of them belong to the houses the fences border, so my cat has just had to get on with it, since he was old enough to go outside. One morning I went looking for him to find him sat inside my neighbour's living room, on their windowsill! He'd obviously just wandered in through their back door, found a warm spot and settled down!
• Cat central round here. They just have to get on with it. The most important thing is that kitty has a safe place at home. The way their territories work is a series of concentric circles with the tolerance of others increasing as the circles get larger.
  So a cat will need a safe place, usually a room in a house, or the house itself where no incomers will be accepted. Having another cat in this environment will be very stressful. Then it will have a territory of a hundred yards of so (garden, neighbours' gardens, street outside etc.) that will still be 'mine' but incomers will be tolerated (to a certain extent). Wider than that and anything goes
• Let him go out as much as possible while the new cat is settling in. This will help your cat keep most of "his" territory. Otherwise the new cat will assume the territory is vacant and fur will fly when your cat eventually goes out again.
  Two and a half is prime time adult cat btw. Your lad will work things out for himself. It would be worth getting one of the cat flaps where you can restrict access to just your own cat though, if you've not got one already.
• I have 4 cats in a street where most of us have cats. TBH one of my cats is pretty scabby at the moment and I suspect she has been fighting - my other cat has a lot of fur missing from his tail - again probably been fighting. But they are all happy cats and they just want to show whos boss.
  My baby cat likes to chase the bully cat and wonder why he gets a paw round the face - but he goes back for more. Theres just no stopping them.
• Does you cat use the litter tray in-doors? If so, scatter the contents along the boundary of your garden - to make a territorial area.
  Both cats seem to be males - who tend to acquire a bigger roaming area, the newcomer on the 'block' is testing the area - sounds like he's older and more confident.
  My current cat goes 'bonkers' with growling etc., when the neighbourhood Tom appears outside the bedroom window. But is more wary outside.
  Have you got a cat-flap yet, though expensive you can get one that will be activated off your cats microchip - so no others can gain entry.
  My previous cat (terrace house with many cats nearby) would chase others off even on the boundary wall. Some liked to use my garden - one of the few with soil - but if my cat caught outside !! Remember one - jumped up to the wall - front paws on top - but my cats front paws were in its back!
  PS all my cats have been females.
• Did you see the ITV programme recently 'The secret life of cats'? They fitted cameras on the cats so you could see them going out and interacting, and sorting out their territories. Once they had established the boundaries, they avoid getting into actual fights. If it was me I would discourage the other cat out of your garden if I see it, just to help reinforce your own cat's boundaries.
  The house opposite us has 15 cats, and I think they live more like farm cats using the house as a base and going off into nearby fields/gardens to hunt. One cat has decided it's too busy for her there, and has moved in with us - our back garden is her territory, and she will tolerate two of her own grown up kittens in it, but no others.
• they will establish their own boundaries. You can help make our cat more comfortable in your garden by ensuring that he has places to hide and places where he can see out over his territory, such as the top of a fence, or shelf.
  if you chase the other cat away when you see it it will not stop coming into your garden but it may make the garden less attractive, at least when you are around, which may help you cat both by giving him times when the garden is a safe space for him, and by reassuring him / supporting him so he can protect his own territory
• Thanks for all the tips and advice. We were hoping they'd work out in time - it wouldn't make evolutionary sense for cats to *want* to fight!
  That fight did end up costing us Ј50 as six days later, infection appeared. All healed up now though.
  We still haven't got round to getting a flap, but it'll be a chip one when we do. At the moment, when he goes out, a door is left open so he can wander in and out. It's always when we're at home of course so we're checking that neighbour-cat doesn't come in.
  We'll also shoo neighbour-cat out of the garden if need be but so far he's just been sitting on the wall, looking into our garden. This morning ours went out to stare back from below.
  They both like sitting on the wall between the gardens so who gets custody of that will be interesting...! We're making lots of Game of Thrones references at the moment.
• Thanks Slinky I'm allergic to cats so wouldn't try to pick one up in that situation anyway. I'd probably march as aggressively as I could towards them and hope they'd scatter. Maybe have a couple of harsh words if that didn't work