to want to frighten this cat to within an inch of his life

[littlemermaid80]

DH and I have two female cats (speyed and microchipped), one of them is very timid as she is a rescue cat, my other one is more confidant.

There's a tom cat in the neighbourhood, no idea who he belongs to. I've asked around but nobody seems to know. He doesn't have a collar but he's fat, well fed looking so not sure if he's a stray or belongs to someone.

For the past 2 months he's been waiting until we go to bed and then coming in through the cat flap, chasing our girls up and down the stairs, spraying all over our lounge, attacking them, obviously wants to have "relations" with them, or maybe just wants to harass them.
We wake up when we hear them fighting, our cats screaming, and DH and I get up and chase him out, but this is a pain in the backside, it's usually about 1am, sometimes later.

Sometimes we sleep through it and come down in the morning to a lounge stinking of cat spray, or his "stuff" or whatever the hell he does.
Last night we had literally switched off the bedroom light at 11.30 and snuggled down when we heard the cat flap go, DH scared him on the stairs and he raced outside, I was waiting at the bedroom window with a bottle of water and tipped it all over him sorry but it was very satisfying.
Didn't stop him coming back again in the early hours again though.

Magnetic cat flaps aren't really an option, we've had one before (expensive to install) and both cats have lost their special collars in about 20 minutes, leaving them unable to get in the door

At wits end. Anyone have any ideas?

He's not a bully. That's a human concept. He's just an animal - just not one that you like very much because he's hurting your cat.

The reason why I'm saying this is because some people won't like your beloved cats either and some of them will hurt them. There are lots of threads on MN where people boast about hurting cats.

So train them to use a litter tray - it can be done, cats are smart but fastidious, so a reason why they might not want to use the tray is that you don't clean it out enough - and keep them in in the hours of darkness if you live in a built up area and want to reduce the chances of them getting run over.

Mine are very outdoor cats ( both were strays for years) however we keep them in at night. We had no choice after a stray cat was continuously
Coming round and attacking them. Mine still think they are young toms
It was very hard the first few months! Lots of scratching and mowing!
I bought feliway spray to stop the scratching, a diffuser and some herbal drops to put in food to calm them down when stressed, which i mainly used at night ( you put it in their food 3 times a day).
One of them still plays up a bit however our diffuser ran out a month ago so i think that may be the problem! The other one is fantastic. He even comes in on his own at his 'bedtime'. Theyre given half a sachet of their favourite food and then both go to their 'beds' floor and me!

Squirt the cat with a water pistol. Supersoaker him if necessary.

But don't call him a bully. He's a dumb animal and it might be that someone somewhere hates your dumb animal enough to really hurt him.

AnotherTimeMaybe

Ok I got what 'spraying' is by last PP's post!!!

I'm honestly concerned that you've come to the unfprtunate conclusion that male cats ejaculate all over people's houses...

...it is weeing (marking territory). I don't know whether it contains any kind of 'special' blend, though. Female cats can also do it. One of my mum's seems incapable of weeing without squatting yet can spray like a male cat, standing up properly, just fine. So maybe just a different degree of pressure to the flow, then?

"to want to frighten this cat to within an inch of his life"

Well, aren't you the brave one. What a nasty thing to say ... no matter what he's doing ... he's a cat, for crying out loud. Just a cat.
The thought of someone setting out to terrify an animal that has no understanding of such behavior, for the reasons that you have given, is abhorrent.

Keep your cat flap locked at night, while you seek a more permanent solution. A chipped cat flap, a cat run, or some other solution that doesn't involve harm.

If you think this cat is a stray, please try and get him to the vets and get him scanned for a microchip. I'm saying this after my much loved cat went missing for 6 months! He was only found when he got ran over and died and someone took him to the vets. Somehow he had managed to get food over those months as he had not lost any weight and was in good condition, so that is some comfort. He might have been going into other cats' houses.

If you don't want to do that, then get a microchip cat flap or keep yours in at night. Please don't frighten him, you never know what his history is.

ADish

My comment was very much tongue in cheek whilst seeking advice as I would never harm/terrify an animal.

I have already mentioned the girls will be kept in with a litter tray while waiting for the chipped flap to arrive

Astrid Quite an "innovative" suggestion I think!

Tbh I can't see us doing that as we don't have a bird cage anyway, but it would probably petrify him and i don't want to do that.
Not only that but this tom cat is BIG and strong, I think he would break free somehow and probably trash our living room
Don't fancy being awoken in the early hours by a frustrated, angry almost feral male cat!!

Little mermaid - yes we only did it because a happened to have the cage lying about.
The first time we caught the cat in it he did look quite frightened. Bless him. St stuck his hand in the cage (very brave) and the cat actually started purring and nuzzeling him.
Turned out the the cat was a real people person. But just didn't like other cats.
We had been putting up with his visits regularly for almost a few by this point and not onyl were our cats terrified but the noise was disturbing the neighbours as well.
As we lived in a rented house we had to think of a solution that didn't require refitting a cat flap (it was a dig flap that was in the back door anyway).

That should have read that dh stuck his hand in.

OnceAnOwl

So sorry to hear that about your moggy
We have discussed taking him to the vet , it would be a good idea (if we manage to get hold of him!) He's a very handsome boy and looks like he could be a nice cat in another life. I would like to adopt him but our girls and DH have put their feet down

Thanks littlemermaid80. Yes see if you can take him to the vets or try a paper collar on him with your contact details, so that if he has a home they might contact you. Hope it all works out.

i could lend you my GSD, he hates to hear cats fighting and even if our two (littermates) start bristling at one another he is right in amongst it to break it up

He likes to intervene in the street fights too, especially if it is the local Bully Boy Timmy and he knows he is the trouble maker because he will intervene against Timmy even if it is one of the neighbour cats that Timmy is squaring up to.

He squeaks at the gate to be let out if he hears any cat fights. He is like Judge Judy for bad cats.

The sureflap saved my sanity! We had cats coming in and spraying and the smell was unbearable. Had the cat flap 4 years now and no problems!

We have this problem. Ours is a female intruder who comes in and terrorises our great big boys! (Who are pathetic and do nothing to stick up for themselves or protect their territory).

We installed a microchip cat flap which worked for a while but then the wily fucker worked out that she could hang around out there until one of our boys went out/came in, and would sneak straight in after them! (There's a window of a few seconds after the microchip 'clicks' it open).

So we just have to keep them locked in at night now

Hopefully the microchip flap should solve your problems. It's not a 100% fix as some very determined cats can break through the door (it is still just plastic) or "tailgate" in directly behind a chipped cat who lives there within the half a second or so before the lock re-engages! But it should work in most situations.

I blocked off our cat flap and set up a litter tray after a huge determined tomcat literally left it (the flap part) lying in pieces on the floor by forcing his way through. I tried everything (this was before invention of micro-chip flaps). He was an extremely hefty and muscular cat, though.

Cats. Aren't they lovely? Piss everywhere.