Please Help

Hi, I am new to this site, but love it already. Although my username is sixcatslady, I only have four now, but like to remember all of my children. With me now are Smokey (male gray tabby), Chloe (female gray tabby), Cressida (Cressie for short, female black and white), and Caldonia (Callie for short, female calico); Jerry and Arizona are the names of my previous children.

Here is my problem, all of my kitties are indoor/outdoor cats and truly love being outside and climbing trees, chasing bugs, etc. However, Smokey gets into fights constantly with another cat in the neighborhood, and unfortunately always seems to get the worst of the battle. It seems almost daily that he comes in with bite wounds to his head. Rather than keep him inside, which would absolutely drive him crazy, and by extension, me as well, I was hoping that someone could steer me toward some sort of protective device for his head. I though of a lightweight helmet, but can't seem to find anything like this on the internet. Surely, someone must have devised something in this vein for cats.

Any advice you can offer will be much appreciated.

I really can't think of anything that a cat would allow to stay put on their head. Plus anything strapped to them has a potential of strangling them if it were to get caught.

I'd honestly recommend keeping them indoors. Then all the dangers outside, injury, death, disease, are eliminated. None of my cats go outside, and most of them were outside cats before they came to me. They cope just fine. If I could hypothetically "ask" them if they would like to go out, I'm sure they would say yes, but then again so would my dogs, and I wouldn't allow them to wander either. Too much risk, and I want my kids to be with me for as long as possible.

Is there anything you can do to make his time inside worthwhile for both of you? How about putting the Animal Planet on TV or buying one of those cat videos?
I strongly suggest keeping Smokey inside. My RIP Brownie was an outdoor cat who adopted me and keeping him inside was not an issue. But he was a BIG male cat and he won the battles.
Our Butzie sometimes wants to go out and I let her. She lately has not wanted to go out or strolls on our deck for about 5 minutes. She has established herself as Princess of the House, thank you, so why should she bother going out?

I don't know about head gear for cats, but is it possible to perhaps make an outdoor enclosure for them? I don't know if you have the space/money to do something like that, but we have several members here who have done so to provide a safe outdoor place for their cats to go. Or maybe supervised visits out, like on a harness and leash for a walk might be feasible?

Also, just to make sure, is Smokey neutered? If he's not, it might help him stay out of fights to curb some of his territorial instincts.

If none of this advice works out for you, I hope that someone can come along who can help! Best of luck to you, and welcome to TCS!

It sounds as if keeping him inside is the best thing to do for his health. I personally would be scared sick of letting my cat out if it was getting bitten. How do you know this other cat is UTD on all their shots??? *shudder*

If you can't keep inside, what about a cat proof outside enclosure?

You can make one out of a large dog crate/kennel or two. Take the bottom
"tray" part out and then place on the ground, wire together and open the
side doors so cages "connect".

Get some 2x4 pieces of lumber cut to the same length / width of the cage
just a little shorter though. Then get 2 screws and put 2 on each end of the 2.x4. Leave about .5 inches of screws out of the wood, screw the rest of the screws in (screws need to be about 1.5 inches long).

Then put those pieces of lumber up in the cages at different heights.

This works really really well. Put in some grass if the ground you have cages on has no grass - use a litter box and plant grass in it. Put drainage holes in the box first before using soil, h owever....

Use some towels to provide shade to parts in the summer. Let cats out summer fall spring and even for shorter periods in winter!

Cheap, effective and helpful solution. Cages cost about 65 each, might get some on ebay or craiglist for less....lumber can be scrounged free at the lumber yards usually...

Welcome to TCS!! I know there are cat fences to keep your kitties in your yard (and other kitties out). If you google cat fences, a couple of sites should come up. See you on the forums

Welcome to TCS!!!

It sounds like you might need to make a safe place for your kitty to go outside but not let other animals near. Cat fences, cat walks, cat "pens".... there are a lot of safe ways to let your kitty outside AND keep him safe.

BTW, is it a he, and is he fixed?

a cat enclosure sounds like a great compromise!

I think you should keep him inside. If you must let him outside maybe it should be supervised so that maybe he wont get into a confrontation outside and get hurt. I chose to keep kittys indoors. There are too many people outside that are cat haters and hurt them because they think it is fun. Cannot stomach the thought of putting my kitty into the situation where this could happen

Hola y bienvenido a TCS, ...Catulina

y Milky

te saludan!!!........

(Translate: Hi and Welcome to TCS, Catulina and Milky say hello to you!!!... )

See you on the forums!

Hi there!! Welcome to the site! I hope you figure out a way to keep your boy safe and happy

cat enclosures are likely going to be your best bet .... there are many types already mentioned...

Welcome to TCS.

If your boy is not neutered, then this, at a minimum, should be taken care of ASAP.

And rather than head gear, which could threaten his life, I would seriously consider an outdoor cat enclosure so they get the benefit of being outside, but are restricted from the potential exposure to SO many diseases and problems!

Here are links to different types of enclosures you might consider:

http://www.purrfectfence.com/
http://www.pawsupply.com/kittywalk.h...FRsRFQodkmFS0g
http://www.just4cats.com/
http://www.thecatsden.net/
http://bandobi.com/index.asp?gclid=C...FQMlHgodLTklQg
http://www.cats-on-line.com/

....and a list of links and ideas supplied by The Humane Society

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/ca...nce_me_in.html

Laurie

Just to add that Purrfect Fence is a long time supporter of TCS! They are the official sponsors of the behavior forum so give them some credit folks and spread the word -
http://www.purrfectfence.com/