Neighbourhood cat

[Whatalife88]

Hi all. My neighbours but one have a big cat. This cat has started coming into our garden a lot more and sitting on the wall near the window since we got our new cat 2 weeks ago. Today my cat started making loud noises at it and the cat was hissing back, I managed to distract my cat with a toy and then went out and shooed the cat away. My cat is due to go out in a week or so for the first time, she's a tiny cat and I'm already worried she's going to get bullied. She clung to me after the encounter at the window today. Am I being a wuss? Will they sort it out themselves?🤣

Cats tend to have their own territory which may include your garden. A new cat in the area tends to upset the apple cart and there will probably be a few face offs.

As your cat is small I would suggest for a few weeks or so going into the garden with your cat so you can supervise. Many people suggest something that can squirt water that can put off another cat coming in your garden.

A neighbour of mine had three cats, I had one. When my dog died the neighbours cats incorporated my garden into their territory. My cat would get bullied by them. I could always tell because the next morning he would be hiding somewhere in the house and wouldn’t come out for food. I also had to then check him for bites.

It improved overtime, sometimes cats will share a territory but use it at different times. Dawn and dusk are a cat’s favourite roaming times, so it may be best to keep your cat in overnight (unless you know for a fact the other cat/s are kept in overnight).

Thank you for your message.

I will definitely be keeping her in overnight. She's also black so I'm worried about road traffic accidents. Will go out with her to start with. Thanks x

We found the best way of introducing cat to traffic was to take it out the front door, hold on tightly to the cat and let him see the traffic whizzing past. We stayed for a few minutes so he knew about lulls in the traffic, then took him indoors for treats. At no point did he exhibit traumatised behaviour, but he never went out the front again (as far as we know)

Don't underestimate the ferocity of small cats!

My cat has a curfew, flap is only open from breakfast to teatime. She was an adult rescue and has adapted really well to this. I didn't do it with previous cats as they were more sensible.