Somethings beating up my cat!!

[Mumstudentbum]

A few weeks ago my cat came home with a nasty injury on her tail. All the fur was ripped off and it was bleeding. We took her to the vets who said it was so bad she may lose her tail, it was likely to have been a fox or something due to the extent of the injury, slowly it started to heal and her tails almost better.

Last week she came home with a chunk of skin missing from under her chin which was bleeding (like something had got hold of her and she was struggling) and again we took her to the vet who suggested we keep her in for a bit.

We tried keeping her in all the time but having another cat who loves to come in and out plus three kids In and out she kept escaping too because she hates being inside. We thought as the injuries were happening on a night we'd let her out through the day and keep her in at night time. She didn't like this. The past two nights she hasn't come back until morning and spent the whole time inside on the windowsill crying.

She came home this morning with 2 bald patches on her head. Somethings got her again. I feel so sorry for her and I don't know what else I can do! She spends most of her time outside hiding under a bush and when I go out to try get her she runs off as she knows I'm going to take her inside.

Any ideas? She's so so soft, I never have this problem with my other cat (hard as nails no other cat would dare start) I'm sure it's another cat on the street but what can I do?

[Mumstudentbum]

Btw she's spayed and is 4 years old x

[ElegantDream]

Well it's your responsibility. To keep her safe, so I would keep her in for now. She'll have to get used to it. You'll have to provide her with stimulation indoors.

In the meantime, you need to look into cat proofing your garden or building an outdoor pen.

we used Securacat

[ElegantDream]

Sorry, that link was wrong.

this is the correct link

[NameChange30]

Your poor cat! If I were you I'd persevere with keeping her in at night - she'll get the message and stop complaining eventually! If she's anything like ours you might have to lock her in a few hours before nightfall (if ours go out around 7-8pm they often stay out late).

Do you have a SureFlap or similar? You can programme them to let some cats out but not others.

[ElegantDream]

Ps in reading my post back, I'm sorry if I come across harsh. The anger was in reading about someone or something hurting your cat (it's close to home and why I cat proofed) I didn't intend my post to sound like I was attacking you. I realise you are doing what you can

[RubbishMantra]

Like Emma said, a Sureflap relies on their microchips, so you could programme it to let her out whilst you can supervise her, and your other more streetwise cat can have more hours out and about.

I'd recommend keeping both of them in at night. That's when these kind of injuries happen.

They do get used to staying in at night, on the odd occasion I've forgotten to lock the cat-flap , both my cats have elected to stay in.

[Mumstudentbum]

Thank you for your replies. She's started staying in at night I'm bring her in around 6.30pm then letting her back out in the morning and this seems to be going ok. She doesn't wonder far from the garden during the day so I can keep an eye on her then when I'm home and when I'm not she can go in the garage.
We have a cat flap on the garage for when it's cold/wet etc but it's just a regular cat flap as it was here when we moved in. They both have beds etc in there to sleep if they need. Il look into getting this changed so it only lets my cats in.

She's currently sleeping on the sofa and it breaks my heart that she's being picked on :( my other cat is normally so cold hearted and not affectionate at all and even she's been sitting with her and licking her. She must know she's sad.

Thanks for your advice.

[starsmurf]

If you get a Sureflap cat flap, make sure it's the DualScan one, as that's the one that can control what cats get out as well as in. It will allow a registered cat to get back into the house, even if they're not allowed out, if she were to escape another way.

Maybe you could call the RSPCA and report the attacks? If there is something out there attacking cats, they might check that it's not a vicious dog and could warn other cat owners. Have you heard of anyone else whose cat has been attacked?

I'd strongly recommend keeping both cats inside at night, especially if it's a fox that's the attacker, as your other cat might also be attacked. If you need to, keep both inside all the time, rather than allowing one outside but keeping the other in.