Violent Feral attacking infant, Impossible to trap

I recently moved and there is a feral cat that has been attacking through my screen door and windows. It's attacked my indoors cat several times, attacked my infant leaving a gash on his nose, and attacked my legs from underneath my car as I was putting baby in his car seat. It hisses at us and jumps at my baby when we walk outside. I'm afraid for my son's safety and feel imprisoned in my house having to keep the windows and doors closed in the high heat.

I've had a trap set up for over a month now, and I've tried different places, covered and uncovered, different bait (tuna, mackerel, kibble, fancy feast), camouflage, etc. Animal control tells me I've done everything right and that they have no ideas for me.

The issue is that someone two units down (live in a triplex) is feeding the feral cat, so it will not go for the bait. She refuses to stop feeding the feral cat even though I pleaded with her because it is hurting my infant and cat.

I am at my wits end and don't know what to do.

If it was me, honestly I would call animal control. This cat unfortunatly has become a safty issue

I'm all for TNR and trying to help strays and what not UNLESS...that animal is dangerous and I fear for my childrens/mine safty

The trap I got was from Animal Control. They seem reluctant or unable to do anything else for me except to extend the time that I can borrow the trap. I don't think they would have much luck with catch polls or anything else, it's very skiddish. And I doubt they can do anything about the lady feeding it.

Sigh......That sucks

Who owns the triplex? Could you appeal to the owner?
Also, the feral cat may be seriously ill--are there racoons or other wildlife around that could have bitten the cat. I'm thinking rabies--certainly THAT would get the AC's attention. (You can exaggerate the truth here, I think.)

I've accidentally caught a possum in the trap. There may be raccoons.
I'm trying to appeal to the landlord. I've read some news stories online of people being evicted for feeding feral cats that are a nuisance to other residents. Somehow I don't think my landlords understand the severity of the situation.

I agree.
And, yeah, this sucks.

Depending on what your goal is, what about using a repellant like blood meal or coffee grounds? You could use it near your unit if you just want to try and keep it away. Or if you're trying to trap it, put your trap out with some really good smelling food in it, wait until your uncooperative neighbor goes away, and spread the repellant all over the area where they're feeding it to drive it away from their food and towards yours.

Or alternatively, what about going higher up the chain of command where you live? Since you said its a tri-plex, complain to your landlord or condo association about the neighbor feeding it. Or even the police, in most (all?) cities there are laws about animals at large that they can warn or cite her for to get her to stop so it can be trapped. Its not just a stray cat if its physically attacking you..

Show the landlord some new articles about tenants suing their landlords for ignoring known hazards and the damages caused thereon. [some what tongue in cheek]

And I see you've tried some of what I suggested.. I'm a real slow typer somedays

I've spread repellant on the feeding area (sidewalk), but haven't tried coffee grounds or blood meal (I don't know what that is!). Repellants I've used is onion infused water, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper. The cat is still eating there. I've even gone as far as to grind up my cats "leavings" (cat poop sprinkles). The smell had me gagging for days. My theory was that cats hate to eat where they go to the bathroom, I guess it doesn't affect this one.

UPDATE: Landlord doesn't think they can do anything (they can, they just don't want to), but Animal Control put in a call to have a control officer come over sometime this week to assess what they can do. In the dispatcher's own words: "this cat is ridiculous!"

Thanks for the input! I'm still open to other ideas, I'm not quiet sure what the officer will be able to do. But I'll try and update if anything changes.

Amanda, I contacted someone who's been working with feral cats for many years. My first reaction reading your initial post was - there is something wrong with this cat. Feral cats do NOT approach people to attack them unless there is something wrong with them. In fact, this struck me as a kitty that was likely abused and now has neurological damage. Either that, or perhaps a brain tumor or something.

This is what she had to say:

I suspect this trap savvy cat is quite dangerous and this is a situation that really needs to be reported to animal control. (I know you have). Report it as a possible infectious animal (gets the powers to be out there quicker). Let the Animal Control deal with it- which means they dart it, net it and haul it away. If the Animal Control refuses to act- then she needs to call a pest control company and pick their brain.

She could also try taking a small mirror that fits right at the end of the trap and adhere it with duct tape to the outside of the trap with the mirror image pointing inside the trap. This aggressive of a cat will want to attack the stranger it "sees" trying to get to the food and should rush into the trap. Make sure the food inside the trap is put on a paper plate, or a piece of cardboard and the mirror is taped OUTSIDE the trap. Otherwise, kitty will hurt himself with any hard objects inside the trap. Use KFC chicken and break it apart. Ask the chicken clerk to give her some pieces that aren’t fully cooked- the rare meat will attract this cat quicker.

Sounds like kitty is in a PTSD state of mind, very ill or infected with something that left neurological damage- including any abuse. She needs to act fast and get the cat out of there before he really hurts someone. Call a local vet and talk with them about the situation- perhaps they can provide a sedative for the cat to calm him down once he's in the trap. Whatever she does, when the cat is trapped- disengage the mirror immediately and throw a dark cloth over the cage and get the cat to the pound or the vets office. Sounds like the kindest act for this cat is to put him out of his misery.

Tell her if none of this works for her, put her in touch with me and I will help her privately to the best of my ability. I have unfortunately run into these types of cats and there is little hope for socialization as the damage done to them either before or after birth was too extensive. Some things you just can’t fix, no matter how much you love cats.



Since I sent the message and received the reply, you updated with news that animal control will be stepping in. But thought I'd provide the information in case they're not going to be using a dart and trapping is still an issue.

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with something so traumatic.

The other "trap preparations" that will help:

1) Wash the trap. Remove the scent of fear and other cats from it.
2) Place cardboard down on the trap to cover the wires up to the trip plate OR pour dirt or litter over it so the cat doesn't have to walk on the wires. The trap will lift right up through dirt or litter.

Don't use the mirror method if you have to leave the trap with a cat in it for any length of time before you can get to it and get the mirror off of it.

This sounds terrible. My first thought was to carry a spray bottle of water with you when you go outside. If you see the cat, start squirting it with harmless water. At the very least, it may make it run away while you get the baby in the car until someone else can come get rid of it for you. I am so sorry!

Honestly speaking, I have never ever heard of a "feral" cat doing such things. That is just unheard of in all of my many, many years in rescuing/trapping feral cats. This cat must be very sick . There is no other explanation for this behavior. And if it is so skittish, I am so surprised to hear it attacking you, the baby and your cats through your screens. Hopefully animal control will come and talk with the lady feeding this cat and have her put out a trap since the cat is already feeding at her place on a regular schedule. I would not put food out or try to trap this cat yourself. If you just carry some type of aerosol animal deterent, the cat will never bother you again, unless it is truly rabid and ill. I am sorry to hear of these attacks and I don't blame you for being afraid. What a traumatic situation this is for you. This is the first time I have ever heard of a feral searching out and attacking humans and this cat needs to be taken away before it really seriously injures someone.

Wow, thanks for all the replies!! I like the mirror idea. I'm always home, so I would be able to act quickly if the cat does enter the trap with that method.

Some possible insight on the cat's behavior: I think it's mostly violent to other cats. I don't know if it's common for a cat to attack another through screen doors, but my indoors cat seems to be what set it off. My cat didn't do anything to provoke it, I started filming it because the cat walked up casually and rubbed against the screen, and I thought "how cute, my cat made a friend" and then WHAM it's claws start flying! I don't think the cat has rabies or anything like that, but the PTSD makes sense.

I think it scratched my son because he put his hands on the screen and patted on the screen, may have startled or upset the cat? Can't blame baby, he loves kitties and just wanted to pet it.

I don't know why it hisses at us or pounces out of bushes when I walk past with baby in stroller. I just chalked it up to scared cat behavior. I just assume it scratched my leg from under my van because I startled it.

I asked around my other neighbors. The people that live between me and the lady feed the cat say that the cat has never attacked them, just hissed at their dog and runs away. A man that lives in another building says that it's never attacked them either but it had hissed threateningly at their toddler and that it was just a nuisance. This cat must have a vendetta against other cats and small children.

I truly appreciate the help! Never thought I'd be consumed by fear from a cat.

There are extremely cat-aggressive cats. Strange, though, the aggression or "redirected" aggression is usually the other way around: indoor kitties see a cat outdoors, and then attack their person or another cat in the house. This kind of reaction requires no provocation, and the only solution is removing the outside cat or the inside cat's abilityt to see the outside cat.

But there's a first for everything, and this is the first I've heard of redirected aggression from an outside cat to an inside cat! Of course it makes sense it can happen.

I'm guessing he attacks you/the baby because he associates the scent with your cat - or he smells your cat on the stroller, and attacking your toddler through the screen was just... a small moving thing and he could smell the other cat.

But given he approached the house and even approaches you/the baby, he's definitely not feral. I don't know what attracted him to the door - could be any number of things.

So with that added information... it sounds like there are three potential solutions.

1) He gets neutered. Once the hormones cycle out of his system, the cat-aggression may subside. One of our indoor-only pets was one of the most cat-aggressive cats I've ever seen. He made an entire colony of cats disappear until we trapped him, and then it took them three days to come back for the food. But once those hormones were out of his system, he socialized quite well and became our 8th pet kitty LOL. If this cat were neutered and released... that might solve the problem.

2) He's a friendly kitty, so he may be an adoption candidate if adopted to a home where he'd be kept indoors - though it may have to be a home where there are no other cats. This would make it a really difficult adoption.

3) He gets put down. With the additional info, it seems it may not be that he's ill or has a neurological disorder or anything. But given his cat aggression, it may be the most humane solution in the end. It's just too difficult to say without a vet check up or knowing how he interacts with people without other cats around. Clearly, if he's cat aggressive, a shelter would be a horrible situation for him.

When the control officer comes over to talk about what can be done. I would ask him /her if they would have the right legal right, to be able to go and ask the person who is feeding the cat to STOP? I would think that legally they should have the power to make a request from the person. That might be enough to maker her stop.
I sure hope someone is able to catch the cat. Something isn't right with the cat. And you shouldn't have to live like this..

Sorry about the confusion on calling it feral, I now know this is a stray cat. I actually didn't know the difference, so I was going on this definition that doesn't really specify that feral cats are born in the wild (just says they usually are). This cat definitely doesn't fit the description for "stray" according to that link. My neighbors told me today that it did have a family that used to live here, but it's likely abused and traumatized which is why I confused it's behavior with the description this site gave for "feral".

No apologies necessary. He's skittish but clearly not completely uncomfortable around people. Most of us tend to just use "stray" generically for cats that were socialized with people at some point, so that's confusing too. Certainly cats that were once pets but get abandoned or lost can act feral.

But whatever the problem is, it's a problem for you and your family's safety.