strange cat in back alley & now my 2 are spitting at each other???

[Ponders]

I have 2 young female cats, fairly timid in general; didn't want to go outside at all until they were nearly 1 year old, & when they did they jumped at any strange noises & scurried inside

they have become a bit bolder recently (though not much) but tonight I heard caterwauling & when I went out they were in full feather on top of our back yard wall, hissing at a strange cat in the back alley

I chased it away but they refused to come in then; later one did but the other wouldn't; eventually I had to pick up the refusenik & bring her in.

when last seen they were fluffed up & hissing at each other in the kitchen

is this normal cat behaviour? will they get over it? should I keep them in for a bit?

A new cat on the block can upset an established hierarchy for a little. Did you see whether it was likely to be a male or female, Ponders? (Appreciate that you may not have been close enough to tell for certain.)

How do they get in and out - catflap?

thanks, cozietoesie

I couldn't tell if it was male or female but it was light ginger so more likely to be a tom? I don't think it lives on our block, it ran across the street at the end.

we don't have a catflap yet - they didn't go out at all for ages, now I'm leaving the french windows open a bit for them during the day. I will be getting a flap, but it will be locked at night (they are still using litter tray, which I prefer over them pooing in neighbours' gardens) (or ours. it's bad enough that they seem to be sitting on my plants! )

More likely to be a tom, yes - though it could be a female. (It's about 75%/25% if I recall correctly.)

I think that the thing to do is to make sure that they have a completely safe place to retreat to so I'd be getting a microchip catflap for them as soon as you can - then if that cat - or any other cat comes calling, they'll be stopped dead at the gate and your girls will feel secure in the knowledge that they can't be got at.

Otherwise, I think you'll have to leave them to it for a bit. You'll get some stomping around behaviour because their environment has been altered (cats love routine and sameness in my experience) but hopefully they'll adjust and calm down.

Lots of TLC for them inside the house, eh? (Dreamies and those things.)

how do microchip flaps work? do you need to know the microchip number to program them? only I have no idea where the certificates are! (I suppose the vets could tell me?)

Yes- the vets could read them for you next time the cats are up there - which is useful if you have to change address, say, and notify the chip provider.

In any case, microchip cat flaps don't need you to know the number. They'll read them for you and clock them.

you are a mine of useful information thank you!