Visiting cat attacks

Hi,

A couple of months ago I was visited by a strange cat who had walked into my house. He seemed quite at ease, had a look around and then left.

I saw him around the neighborhood a few times after that. Though he was a bit skinny, he didn't seem like a stray at first. But when a little girl fed him pieces of bread which he greedily ate, I concluded that he didn't really have a steady home.

After not seeing him for some time, he came back a few weeks ago. He walked straight into my house with me. I gave him some food and let him eat outside. The following days he came back for food a few more times.

When he came back yesterday, I decided to allow him inside a few minutes because it was cold and rainy. He rubbed against my leg and allowed me to pet him a little. But he had quickly had enough attention, which he indicated with his teeth and claws (perfectly normal) so I withdrew my hand.

After walking around the room for about 30 seconds, he walked toward me again. But this time with a very determined posture. I stood up just in time because he lunged at my face with paws and claws outstretched.

I wasn't going to accept this behavior, so I stepped toward him with the intention of maneuvering him out the door, but he wouldn't budge and prepared to jump at me again. In the end I managed to lure him out and close the door.

I've never seen such behavior. He didn't seem scared or angry. It was like this was a completely normal thing for him to do.

If anyone has any suggestions for dealing with this, I would love to hear them.

Thanks in advance,

Jerry.

I personally wouldn't let him in.... stray cats can get rabies and other diseases from raccoons or other wild animals. We have a stray cat in our apartment complex. He's extremely friendly and everyone leaves out food and water for him, but most of all he just wants someone to pet him. I gently pet him but I'm still wary because he looks like he could nip anytime. We don't let him in our place though because we already have two cats and don't want them getting any illnesses from him. We put up a baby gate so that our cats don't run out when we open our front door and it also prevents the stray from trying to run inside.

You can always put an add on craigslist.org for him to see if anyone lost their cat or if anyone would like to adopt him.

I'm guessing the behavior would probably be do to him playing with other animals like that - maybe he wants to set his dominance with you.

Thank you for your reply Keeba.

I think you're probably right about the dominance thing. Today he tried to stop me from leaving the house because I hadn't fed him yet. When I left anyway, he followed me all the way to the supermarket

I'm not too worried about diseases. Here in Holland there are very few wild animals he could catch any scary diseases from. There is no rabies in this area. The worst he could have is fleas.

But I won't let him into my house again -at least in the short term- because I'm afraid he will not be fooled into leaving like last time. I don't much feel like having a battle with him over who gets to stay in the house

Is that his picture? He is beautiful!!! He looks like a male version of my female RB kitty Mort. I would work with him and see what kind of friendship forms. You never know he could wind up being your special friend!

Is there any chance that you could get him to a vet for a good check, and then possibly work with him and maybe adopt him into your home? If you don't have any other cats and he checks out at the vet, it may be a great opportunity for you to rescue him. I love all cats and I think that rescues are grateful and make wonderful loving pets. Please keep updates coming.

@Abbycats: Yes. That's him. He is like a smaller version of the cat I used to have.

I'm thinking of putting a collar on him with a message asking a potential existing owner to call me. I don't want to steal anyone else's cat

Maybe I'll try letting him into the hallway a couple of times while I'm there as well. As long as he accepts my presence there, he can stay inside. As soon as he becomes agressive again, he'll have to go outside. The hallway is small enough to be able to send him out without a huge struggle.

Hopefully he will learn to accept my presence that way.

The only problem is that there is a good chance that I'll be emigrating soon and I can't take him with me If I can teach him to be nicer to me, do you think he will be nicer to a new owner as well?

Originally Posted by Lister

The only problem is that there is a good chance that I'll be emigrating soon and I can't take him with me

If I can teach him to be nicer to me, do you think he will be nicer to a new owner as well?

Click to expand...

That might work. Sort of an informal fostering.

Originally Posted by Lister

@Abbycats: Yes. That's him. He is like a smaller version of the cat I used to have.

I'm thinking of putting a collar on him with a message asking a potential existing owner to call me. I don't want to steal anyone else's cat

Maybe I'll try letting him into the hallway a couple of times while I'm there as well. As long as he accepts my presence there, he can stay inside. As soon as he becomes agressive again, he'll have to go outside. The hallway is small enough to be able to send him out without a huge struggle.

Hopefully he will learn to accept my presence that way.

The only problem is that there is a good chance that I'll be emigrating soon and I can't take him with me

If I can teach him to be nicer to me, do you think he will be nicer to a new owner as well?

Click to expand...

I would try to foster him and give him lots of love while looking for a new owner for him. He is a very beautiful boy!!! If he isn't neutered I would get him fixed.