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m935

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The tom cat of the colony is protecting his food from the others. How can I stop this???? He will chase them and even attack. I have tried to swoosh him away and it works - but I cant do that all day.

It is very sweet in that he has taken over hte care of a smaller cat (whose mother I think is dead - shes been gone for about 5 months.)
The two of them walk together to the food every morning and eat next to each other. But when the others come around he will freak out - not sure if hes protecting hte "kitten" or not.

SO i started placing MORE food in another area. This morning he followed me from the woods where he was eating and started bothering the cats that were eating in the new area. I was really pissed. I care for them all - but he has to stop.

THis is why I think they are crossing the street now (which I posted about elsewhere)

THANKS
 

ldg

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Oh - that makes sense. BTW - did the neighbor ever mow his lawn? Obviously if he did it didn't help the situation.

Quick question - how far away did you put the new food source? It's still on the same side of the street in the woods?

This is going to sound nuts, but of the original litter of kitties that got us involved in rescue in the first place, one of the little guys was sooooo nasty it was unbelieavable. I mean - this little 5 - 6 week old kitten, hissing and spitty at my DH - we couldn't believe such a little thing had so much - spunk.
But it was more than that - as he grew and got older, he got more and more disruptive to the colony of ferals we were TNRing and feeding. Two kittens turned up around Thanksgiving - one of them he swatted, and sent her FLYING into the propane tank - and she needed stitches. Even after being neutered at six months, he would fight with any of them. One of our friendly ferals almost stopped coming around. We had to start feeding him separately.

We're in a woodsy rural area with a lot of possums and racoons and such. We fed the ferals up on a slatted wood table. It was large, and accommodated several bowls. But you'd usually see just one - maybe two - cats up there at a time. They all kind of got their own schedule going. But when it came to Tuxedo - basically we had to put his food out for him first. We put it about 40 feet away from the table. We put out way more food than he could possibly eat. We'd wait about five minutes - then put the food out on the table for the other cats. This seemed to work for the group here.

Other than feeding a nasty alpha away from the rest of the colony, I don't have any suggestions. If he's claimed the territory - I'm not sure there's a lot you can do about it.
 

ldg

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BTW - stupid question. He is a kitty you've TNR'd right? He's not an intact male? I didn't ask the first time around because I just assumed - but on second thought, I figured it's best just to make sure....
 

hissy

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Tall grass is where the mice hide, so the cats know this and will seek out their natural prey. You also have to be careful if you are feeding near a busy road, because mice will typically run out into the road when they are being pursued by cats.

If the cat is a tomcat, your best option is to get him trapped and neutered to help stop the aggression. It won't stop right away, it takes months, but it does stop.
Bottom line, finding another place for this cat is the only way you can protect the colony, but if you do this, invariably another alpha will show up and take over- that is just the cats' heirarchy. They live with it, allowing the alpha to have his/her fill before going to eat and then the pariahs eat last. If you want to shoot me a PM I can give you directions on how to make a feral feeder that the alpha can't run all the cats out of-
 
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m935

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Yes my neighbor mowed the lawn (thanks for remembering) Actually they started to move from the lawn before he even mowed it. IM SO CONFUSED!!!


I see them now in HIS neighbor's yard. So i did put on note on both of their mailboxes saying that if someone on that side of the road was feeding to PLEASE stop. Also the info of them being TNRed etc.

Anyway... yes this cat has been neutered. Actually hes the only one of 2 I caught twice - one week after the other. I dont know if that makes him a little dumb...
but he is mean for sure. Although, it really amazes me how he has taken to this small cat.

Is this normal??? Would he have taken the responsibility of hte mother? Its just odd that if he is teh alpha which I definitely believe he is and would be so mean to the others - that he would be so kind to this kitten. They walk side by side to the food every morning. Im glad he has another cat to be with though.

He is even sweet to me - he did at one time arch his back (which I wrote about because it scared me) but now he follows me in the woods every morning (even if he doesnt eat). When I have wet food - he will come close to the can and sniff it. I think its great that he trusts me to come that close.
 

ldg

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m935, I'd PM hissy for the info on the feeder. She's the most experienced rescuer on this site.


That is strange about the neighbors.... but nice to know the idea about mice was on the right track!

Good luck!
 
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