Bastard Orange Tom - I swear I'll kill him next time!

[Allergictoironing]

It's hot, very hot. I live in a part of Kent that is regularly on the national weather report as the hottest place in the UK that day. Indoor only cats, and I can't afford to get tailor-made flatcats for the patio doors. That's OK, as my best friend & I rigged up cat netting between 2 poles so I can open the patio door & get a breeze. Cats spent a couple of days trying the boundaries & gave up.

But this evening I heard a commotion & banging from the living room, dropped everything & rushed in to see the bloody bully neighbourhood tom IN MY LIVING ROOM! He'd somehow forced himself under the netting hard enough to rip off the tape we'd attached it down with. As I came in he tried to escape & naturally got himself half caught up in the netting, I had to dislodge the poles to let him out.

Luckily my babies had sensibly fled upstairs (this tom has a reputation for beating up all the local cats big time) rather than running OUT of the patio doors, I found them both cowering in the back of the wardrobe with enormous frightened eyes. Girlcat came down quite quickly afterwards, but it took me ages to tempt poor Boycat down for his supper & he shot upstairs right after .

So now I have to either close the patio doors even if I just want to go for a wee or make a cuppa (I'd only been out of the room 2 minutes), or rethink how I'm going to fix the netting

I think you need flat cat window covers.

Is ginger Tom neutered?

I really can't afford Flatcat covers for the patio doors at the mo, though I do have them for some of the windows in the house already.

Don't know if bastard ginger tom is neutered but I suspect not, as he sprays all round my garden. He's aggressive enough so he sauntered in through my neighbour's back door, went upstairs & tried to kill her very small & quite timid little cat (spayed female) who was asleep on a bed. He's actually one of the (many) reasons why I wanted indoor cats in the first place, his local reputation is that bad for beating up other cats.

I feel for you!
There is a local cat in my neighbourhood (I'm presuming he is a Tom) who my cat is terrified of ( mine is a 2 year old neutered tom from a rehoming centre and had previously been a house cat but LOVES the outdoors) It started one night when my cat was chased in from the garden fence followed by this other cat who proceeded to attack him in my house 😡 Since then I've seen him in the garden a few times ( I've always chased him off) . On Friday I was in the kitchen with the patio door open- no cat flap- and this other cat ( he is now known as Bastard cat) tried to come in the house , I had to do a double take as they are both black cats but mine wears a collar and has a shorter coat. He scarpered as soon as he knew I had seen him. I later found mine cowering in some bushes in the corner of the garden - he is obviously scared of him. Then this morning I was woken up at 5am by the sound of a cat fight outside, mine is indoors at night, and looked out the window to see Bastard cat pinning another cat to the ground further up the road, they both walked off in the end......
I'm assuming Bastard cat may be a farm cat/ feral as his coat doesn't look in great condition. We are close to some farms and our houses are built on fields so he may think we are in 'his territory' ' . He is so aggressive however that I'm now uneasy when I leave my cat in the garden unattended and I can't leave the door open in case Bastard cat tries to get in again . I think I need to get a microchip cat flap but will this prevent fights in the garden? - my cat is a big wimp and I'm terrified of him getting hurt. Also I'm worried that the neighbours will think it's my cat that is causing the problems ....I'm speaking to everyone I see to let them know what has been going on 😬
I've only had my Dcat for 4 months and I never knew it could be this stressful 😂

I had posted about this a while ago and got some very sensible advice from people on here including trying to catch / neuter Bastard cat if he is a feral tom and to allow my cat to scent mark more ( which he has been doing) . Unfortunately Bastard will not come near humans and is very wily. He also seems to be thriving on whatever lifestyle he lives so I've got a feeling I will just have to get used to it.... hopefully he will eventually realise my garden is not a friendly place for him and my cat will be enough of a presence to deter him!

I'm pretty sure the tom is owned - he looks in good condition & tends to wear a collar which seems to be changed (different colours). I've not seen him since that evening, so chasing him off & him getting caught in the netting may have made him a bit more cautious of my house.

Fingers crossed !