How do your resident cats behave when they see ferals or strays?

cc12

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I used to feed about 4 to 6 ferals every night.
Seldon and Cleo were fine with it but found watching them fascinating. They were born in a shelter and their mother died after giving birth. They have never known the streets.
Mary was 8 months old when she was found in a very rough part of town. She must have belonged to someone because she used the litterbox right away.
They told us that she was shy and she was for awhile. But now she is the one who sleeps on me every night. Literally on my back, or between my knees curled up.

Some time ago I started feeding the ferals and every night they would come by to get their dinner. Mary would sit at the window hissing deep in her throat clearly agitated by their presence. She would run from window to window following them.
I thought she had gotten over it when one day she darted outside and chased them away. She is all of 6 pounds soaking wet. She screamed at them and they ran away. It was horrible trying to catch her because she was freaked out.
She ended up scratching her pads on her paws and scraping her nails on the pavement. When I finally caught her she curled up on my bed and slept for 2 days only taking food breaks and litterbox breaks.
I never saw any of the cats again. I had been planning to catch them and take them to the no kill shelter for s/n and vaccinations but I only saw one once after I moved from afar.
I was wondering if anyone else had resident cats that reacted similarly? I want to continue at my new place to feed the ferals so that I can s/n them. I was making good progress with them. They were getting closer and closer to me. But I don't want to risk Mary getting annoyed and wanting to fight again.
 

keith p

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One of my cats will growl,hiss,spit, and slam his paws at our door if a cat is outside, and if he gets out he will run outside charging and hissing, but after only seconds he'll ignore them and they ignore him. My other cat just tries to avoid them at all times, but if she is inside, it doesnt bother her seeing them outside. The strays and my 2 cats know eachother well though, since we dont have many strays and they are all fixed.
 

gemlady

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We've had a couple of strays and Aristotle would meow at them in an agitated tone. Topaz, who was a stray, doesn't care.
 

pami

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Tino and Ducky have twice gotten into a really bad fight with each other, from redirected aggresion, both times seeing a cat/cats outside one of the windows.

They do the really low growl and hissing.

There was only one cat they didnt do that with. Im not sure why they never did it with that one cat and other cats they did.
 

laureen227

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Chip is the only one who does anything... he'll hiss at them when i open the back door to go out & feed... the others aren't the least bit interested!
Java will try to go outside, tho, if i don't shut the door behind me

of mine, Java & Chip were strays... i think Chip was a stray for a while, they said his paw pads [he's declawed!
how did they let him out to begin with! ] were quite hard & calloused when he was picked up.
 

wendyr

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Our kittens are funny - they have interest in the ferals/strays that hang out outside our house, but no hissing, growling or anything like that. It might be because they were feral themselves before we took them in! But there is this big ginger cat that hangs out on our windowsill, and Paddington and Steve will both sit there staring at him. The other night, I heard to tom cats being vocal, and I went downstairs to check on the kittens and they were all clustered on the stairs (far away from the window/door) looking very frightened!
 
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cc12

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I wonder if some are just more territorial.

Interesting reactions from your cats.
I wonder if the strays or ferals give off a scent that some cats don't like.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by CC12

I wonder if some are just more territorial.

Interesting reactions from your cats.
I wonder if the strays or ferals give off a scent that some cats don't like.
well, i know there are some neighborhood toms that will spray my back door
perhaps that's what Chip's reaction is!
 

mschauer

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I think it just depends on how territorial they are. Mine don't growl or hiss when they see a cat outside. They race from window to window trying to get as close to them as possible. Almost like they want to play! None of mine are territorial. They have all been fairly accepting of newcomers.
 

yayi

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How do my cats behave towards strays/ferals? Just like yours did. It's quite normal.
I do not mind though. My home would be overrun with cats if mine were not terrritorial. I leave food for the strays outside my property and out of sight from my cats.
 
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