PuffinCat's freakout

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

Have changed my name but have posted about PuffinCat before. This morning at three am we woke up to PuffinCat screaming and yowling like something else. She's a bit weird normally but the only time I've heard her yowl like that is when one of us has accidentally stepped on her. It went on for one or two minutes and sounded really unpleasant. My first thought was that there was another cat in the house. We rushed downstairs and found her by the patio doors, all puffed up with a tail twice its normal size. She was very unsettled and stayed puffed up for about 15 minutes after. We saw a cat walk off in our garden and in the morning found (large) paw prints. Did PuffinCat just react to her territory being invaded or could there be more to it? She doesn't go outside much so I'm surprised she freaked out like this. Please share your experiences!

[TheSpottedZebra]

Yes, that's probably it. She wanted to defend her territory but couldnt/wouldn't get out to fight, so she made herself big and scary and yelled.

Cat fights have weird noises - growling, rumbling, yowling, screaming...

Can you cover up the window where the bad cat comes, at night?
Does she have an inside tray?

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

She likes sitting by the patio doors from time to time during the day. Can't really cover them up as they have floor length curtains she can sneak behind. Suppose we could close that room at night. I was just amazed at the ferocity of her reaction - she miaows a lot but is never angry. She's only hissed once at my laptop charger.

[TheSpottedZebra]

Poor thing - she must have felt under attack! Or maybe she was asleep, and then the other cat surprised her?

Maybe if it continues, you could put a card cover over the lower part of the window, at night?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Good grief how big was he cat? Ours has done the same. It scares us too!.

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

Not sure how big - only caught a glimpse as it was running off and wasn't wearing my glasses. PuffinCat is dinky at 3.5 kg and the paw prints we found were 1.5-2 times bigger than hers. I guess maybe a 6kg Tom or something? We hardly ever see cats in our garden so it is a bit odd.

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

PS I googled and the prints were definitely from a cat, not a fox (which I suspected at first)

[OutrageousFlavourLikeFreesias]

Funnily enough my littlest cat did exactly this two nights ago! Huge terrifying "someone's stepped on me" howls, DH and I went tearing downstairs in a panic to find a hunched fluffy StripeyCat sitting by the closed cat-flap shouting her head off. (Meanwhile, ShyCat, who is enormous but a total coward, was skulking in a different room.)

I'm assuming there was just another unexpected cat in their garden. If it was anything else, like a fox or something, I imagine we'd get the fluffed-up-ness but not the territorial howling.

[TheSpottedZebra]

Do you have a male partner, or a willing friend/relative? Could he wee a protective 'fence' to hopefully /maybe /possibly deter the BadCat from returning?

NB it always says male, but no idea if female wee would work. Or indeed if it works at all!

[NameSux]

My cat is fine with other cats but there's one he freaks out at. It's flea ridden (stray,afraid of humans -can't catch to treat) & infected my boy and his other friend. They both react like that to him.

[Puffinsareblackandwhite]

zebra DH replied that he'll leave that to Trump

Good to know other people have had similar experiences! I totally anthropomorphised it and got worried that it triggered bad memories from her time as a stray.

[Toddlerteaplease]

One of mine sounds like a soul in tourment if she sees another cat in her garden.

[Weedsnseeds1]

They kick off when there's another cat in their territory. Mine goes nuts when Will Feral, the neighbourhood ginger tom ambles into the garden. He will actually tree Will, but it sounds as if yours is being brave from a safe vantage point!

[NameSux]

Oh I'm stealing will feral for the next one! I currently have trudie for intruder cat and Vader for invader cat. Hes the one my kid cat and trudie got nuts at.

[RubbishMantra]

Will Feral

MCat (6) wanders about randomly yowling into corners like a Banshee if the mood takes him. Never worked out why.

Little M just skips about making the cat equivalent of "tra-lee-la-lee-la" noises to himself. Then randomly springs 4 foot into the air. Maybe our home is haunted?

Would love to see my cats' reaction to an elderly man wearing a two-tone suit, writhing around on the floor.

[Weedsnseeds1]

Will is rather portly and, I suspect, quite elderly, but he can shimmy up a tree like greased lightning when he has to!

[hollinhurst84]

Rubbish - MCat sounds so much like Ollie with that description. Last night he was on the bed, jumped off and went into the living room for his round of "owweeeeeee owewwww I so sad cat"
When I shouted him, he came in chirruping and went straight to sleep