Cat keeps coming home with injuries

[OnlyOneAdda]

We have four cats - the younger two (brother and sister) were 2.5yrs in April. They were rescues - born in the rescue centre and adopted by us at 7months.

They are all outdoor cats - we are fortunate to have a very large garden, surrounded by fields, and are at the very end of a private road behind a gate so traffic is a very low risk.

For the past ~ 2 months the boy cat has been coming home with really horrendous injuries. Before that nothing. Early on he got very freaked out by us spraying the wounds with (cat specific) antiseptic and wouldn't come anywhere near any of us which made inspecting his wounds and taking him to the vet an impossibility and we have been very worried about him.

Lately he has been more trusting and coming to snuggle with me in bed so I can get a better look. They are healing but then he comes back with fresh ones 😢

We've extended the window that the cat flap is locked overnight which has improved things but not stopped it altogether.

We're not really sure if it's another cat, foxes (we have several very bold foxes that come into the garden and close up to the house) or something else.

Yesterday evening we heard a noise and went to investigate - he came in shortly afterwards with a new wound.

Apart from locking him in all the time, which I don't think would be kind as he loves to be outside, any suggestions what we can do to protect him/deter the predator?

I would try to get him to go out in the day time and back by evening and see if the problem stops. If it is an animal such as a fox, they come out at dusk so it shouldn't happen during the day. But it's more likely to be another cat - but if that other cat is usually out at night changing the times of your cat going out still might help. If you really want to discover what is happening you could get a collar with a camera on.

Is he neutered?

Get him into a routine of having dinner at dusk and then being locked in over night. Ours all have a treat when it gets dark and then they get locked in until morning.

We have four outdoor cats and a family of foxes close by. In my experience foxes don’t attack cats and they coexist pretty happily. Is your boy neutered? If not he’s likely fighting over females. That said all ours are neutered and there is another cat who persistently visits our garden and fights with one of ours. I’m not a fan of keeping outdoor cats in at night as it goes against their nature. That’s the time they want to be outside. But if he’s getting badly hurt it might be your only option to keep him safe.

We've always had outdoor cats but they are not allowed out at night, on the rare occasions one has stayed out it has never ended happily. I'd keep them in from dusk. It might be another cat that has appeared on the territory and won't leave him alone?

Also, watch out for hidden abscesses if a wound gets infected - we had a tiny unseen bite underneath a leg suddenly bubble up into a tennis ball sized abscess that had clearly been building up for a week or so. We felt terrible obviously!

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes he is neutered, all our cats are.

We've never had collars on them so I don't think he'd tolerate a camera.

Because of the severe reaction to the spray we are focussing on rebuilding his trust and loathe to do anything that will freak him out more. He's still very skittish when we approach him for a stroke or to feed etc - literally the only place he chills out is when he comes to my bed on his own terms. I use this opportunity to have a really good look and feel and check everything is healing - checking if he flinches when I touch the wounds and if they feel hot.

We have them inside at nighttime, but dusk is very early...we might keen inching out the window. I'm wary of preventing him coming in full stop because he knows he won't be able to get out again.

😬 it is such a worry

I'd be giving him a few Dreamies every time they came in. It lures them back in. Put a bit of cat nip on his bed. I shut my outdoor cats in at 8.30pm and allow put at 8am. As the nights get darker I'll shut the cat flap a bit earlier.

We have them inside at nighttime, but dusk is very early...we might keen inching out the window. I'm wary of preventing him coming in full stop because he knows he won't be able to get out again.

Dusk seems early but cats are crepuscular, so dusk and dawn are when they're at their most active, and when they're most likely to get themselves injured or in a fight. It's pretty easy to condition them into coming in for a treat and then shutting them inside.

All three of ours come when called to the dreamies - they know when we call them in they always get a treat. We also make sure that being called in doesn't always mean getting shut in - sometimes they just get a treat or dinner then are free to go back out.