Question regarding stray/feral cat behavior and...

Hello! I've been feeding a stray whom I decided to name Leo for about 2-3 months. I took him to the vet recently and got him shots and a clean bath, ear and trimmed nails. He's currently a very healthy male dsh b&w not neutered 3 year old baby (I wanted to get him fixed but my parents disagree on it..) I couldn't keep him indoors (again, parents) so i made him a comfy bed, toys and bought dry/wet cat food for him. I am head over heels in love with this baby.

Maybe it's just odd or unusual to me (never have any pets before) but he has this habit of roaming and not returning for a few days then would stay everyday outside our house and waiting for me. I never see him poo or pee outside our house, he probably does it elsewhere, I've confirm and checked he's a stray. could this behavior be related to seeking mates?

also recently there has been another orange tabby cat that loves to sneak pass our gate and "destroy" my Leo's sleeping area a.k.a his bed or blanket (anything that's on that area) i love cats and i don't mind caring for more but this orange one frustrated me so much because i literally spend the whole night making the bed for Leo and he loved it so much but now he won't even use it anymore and i suspect it's because of the orange's scent. whenever Leo's bed is messed up I'll walk over to tidy it up, I notice a lot of bite marks/holes on it and wet.. possible saliva? is this orange tabby displaying jealousy behavior towards Leo??? or anger? revenge? I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I'm sounding very ridiculous right now but this has been going on for nearly a week and its driving me nuts!

there was actually 2 encounters Leo had with the orange tabby. the very first time was the first night that Leo decided to sleep/stay over at our place and marking it his home, that very first night i heard growling and hissing and I went out to check and saw those two, there was some leftover fish on Leo's bowl so I'm guessing the orange one wanted it. The second time was the first night that I took Leo back from the vet, he was resting on his bed and I saw the orange tabby standing near him and growling loudly. Leo didn't attack or anything but sit on his bed while I opened the door; the orange tabby saw me and walked away. I then went out to pet Leo and he purred, headbutted me and he seems okay. 

at first i suspect its the catnip scent since I've made a tiny pouch of it for Leo to play with, he would put it on his bed and sleep or chill. it might had spilled a bit onto his bed but that was about a month ago, and he would still sleep there and not have any reaction towards it anymore, I eventually threw away the catnip pouch. Could it be the scent that the orange tabby was attracted to or was it something deeper like a hate thing going on between those two? I have no idea if they ever cross path or found before outside. 

so I went on to do a little experiment the other day I placed Leo's bed on another area and an old rug near Leo's bed area. few hours later I notice it was messed up and wet again. I'm pretty sure its not Leo since he was over at the neighbors driveway area the whole time and I was able to see him throw the window... has anyone encountered something like this before? please give me some advice. 

Thank you in advance If there's ever anything else you'll want to know, please don't hesitate to ask me!

and with that I leave you photos of Leo and also as an apology for this long post. 







I loveeeee his little tail and chubby cheek area.   

Qnie said:

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• qnie
• Oct 9, 2015

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• qnie
• Oct 9, 2015

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• qnie
• Oct 9, 2015

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• qnie
• Oct 9, 2015

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• qnie
• Oct 9, 2015

I loveeeee his little tail and chubby cheek area. 

 

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Pity you couldnt neuter him while at the vet.  It should be done.  You can still do it!   If he isnt allowed to be inside kitty, your parents cant know he is neutered no?  So its just the question of money, which you must rally up.  The vet is perhaps willing to make up a payment plan?  If you promise to make some chores for himher...

Or ask your grandparents...

Beying neutered, he wont wander so much about, he will sta nearby.  He wont get in so many fight either.   And fights, are not only unpleasant in themselves.  Its also the mayor danger of getting infected by unpleasant contagions, like Felv...  He is healthy at this moment, God was merciful - and he is apparently a peaceful guy.  Cut down the risks into almost nil, and neuter him!  Neutered, he will make OK as outside kitty having good help from you.

Yes the orange wetting down his bed is marking, He is peeing on it, literally.   Im not sure what to do.  You an either try and  scare away this orange, or best, you neuter him too, and make his own bed and feeing place more aside.  So he wont be forced to try and compete, and the may coexist peacefull - both neutered, both having access to its own food source and own sleeping place...

StefanZ said:

 
Pity you couldnt neuter him while at the vet.  It should be done.  You can still do it!   If he isnt allowed to be inside kitty, your parents cant know he is neutered no?  So its just the question of money, which you must rally up.  The vet is perhaps willing to make up a payment plan?  If you promise to make some chores for himher...

Or ask your grandparents...

Beying neutered, he wont wander so much about, he will sta nearby.  He wont get in so many fight either.   And fights, are not only unpleasant in themselves.  Its also the mayor danger of getting infected by unpleasant contagions, like Felv...  He is healthy at this moment, God was merciful - and he is apparently a peaceful guy.  Cut down the risks into almost nil, and neuter him!  Neutered, he will make OK as outside kitty having good help from you.

Yes the orange wetting down his bed is marking, He is peeing on it, literally.   Im not sure what to do.  You an either try and  scare away this orange, or best, you neuter him too, and make his own bed and feeing place more aside.  So he wont be forced to try and compete, and the may coexist peacefull - both neutered, both having access to its own food source and own sleeping place...

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Hello Stefanz! yes I was quite upset when they said no I couldn't get him neutered. They kept saying it feels horrible to cut away his "area" but from the very beginning since I started caring for Leo I've discussed and told my parents many times the good of after neutering but they just simply respond no, even at the vet the staffs asked us etc and that's the end of it, still a no my parent's aren't bad or anything like that but I'm guessing it's probably the money issue or that they feel it's kind of sudden or something. All the vet bills, pet food etc I actually paid on my own, I didn't want them to pay but I suppose I'll have to wait until I get my own place to get Leo neutered. I agree with you a whole lot, not only is it saver for the stray but also it could help save the unborn babies and diseases. 

Leo's such a gentle creature that he amazes me so much, he's so interesting to watch and be around with! He would let me rub his tummy over and over again and he'll never get mad about it but that's probably something that varies from each cat, but whenever he has had enough he would  use his paw to gentle push my hand away or look at me and softly meow for me to stop. Ugh, writing this now makes me miss him so much. He doesn't want to sleep on his bed anymore and lately he prefers to sleep at the neighbours yard which makes me very sad and miss his badly. 

As for the orange tabby... this might be gross but I went sniffing at the wet area, it doesn't stink (then again, I'm not even sure if cat *cough* semen have a smell) but it's just very wet with bite marks on them. I think it's from his mouth and saliva because there was another time, I saw the orange tabby attacking/biting leo's bed. 

ohdear, I can't figure out where the edit button is or if there is one, very new to this site but what I wanted to add is that I've tried scaring the orange tabby away but he just keeps returning and attacking the area where the bed is. Could the orange tabby be finishing up the fight that I interrupted on the night that Leo got back from the vet?  

P/s: I didn't throw anything at the orange cat to scare him away, usually a single "shoo" sound when he sees me he starts running off. 

There has been a few attempts made from me to try and get Leo back onto his bed. Sometimes I'll coax him onto it with treats or pick him up and gently place him on it or nearby but he would start sniffing the bed and I'm guessing it's because of the Orange tabby's scent that he would walk out or away from it.

I don't mind making Leo another bed but I just don't understand what's going on with that Orange tabby. I suppose I'll try a different sleeping area for leo and see what happens next. Sigh. But I still really want to find out what's going on with them. If anyone has went through this or know what's going on.

If Leo was neutered the other cat may not see him as such a threat and may leave him alone. Leo will wander, and get into huge fights that will hurt him badly if he isn't neutered, I've had this happen MANY times! As for the operation itself, the cat is put under, so doesn't feel anything, and believe me, I have never had one come home yet that acts like it hurts or acts any different, neutering is a lot less stressful on a cat then spaying is on the females! I don't understand their objection, I know it SOUNDS distasteful, but believe me, it's a lot better then having a male spraying all over your house and screaming to get out and disappear for a few days. Neutering is also a lot less expensive then spaying because it's not as complicated. I hope the orange cat gets tired of hanging around and leaves the area. Keep us posted!

Wild cats will often move their sleeping area for safety reasons.  The same reason why you really don't see him pee or poop near his bed.  Animals are very scent driven.  When you cat rubs up against you, she is putting her scent on you and claiming you as her own.  When they sleep someplace, laying there, leaving fur there, and body fluids, leaves a scent.  An animal in the wild will sleep different places to deter predators.  Like a mother will move her babies around to confuse predators...  The orange cat is attacking Leo's bed, in my opinion, out of jealousy / and as a matter of territory.  That Leo lets him makes me feel Leo is a more submissive cat, and he will just go over to the neighbors to keep the peace... Whether this is because the orange cat was there first and you just never saw him, or whether the orange cat is stronger, or Leo  just doesn't want to argue  its difficult to say.

I am not sure where you live, but do you have any TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) programs in your area?  Are there any animal rescue organizations that might be able to help you.  Someplaces have low cost spay and neuter programs to help control wild cat populations.  I am not sure how old you are and whether or not you can drive, but living in your parents home, I think it is great you want to respect their wishes - but if someone else decided to do it for you, it would not be a bad thing.  If you don't think it is a matter of money for you parents, and more that they feel it is "unnatural" to alter a kitty, you might see if you can talk them into vising a humane society with you just so they are able to get a better idea of how many homeless cats there are.  Many humans make a choice to take birthcontrol, or to have surgeries to prevent pregnancies because they are unable to care for and commit to numerous offspring.  Helping your parents understand that homeless kittens face terrible deaths, spread disease, wreak havoc on wildlife in the area and make more homeless cats might help them to see spaying as a positive thing.  If it helps, you can tell them it makes the cat happier in the long run because his actions are not guided by raging hormones... and keeps him safer because he is not constantly in search of satisfaction of an unquenchable thirst. 

Leo is lucky to have you looking out for him, and I think he will be your special buddy for a long time.  Best of luck to both of you.

Hello Di and Bob & MollyBlue! Thank you both so much for your opinions and responses! I really do hope Orange gives up. It's so frustrating and to top it off, as much as I want to get Leo neutered, its a no for now... it actually took nearly a month for me to convince them to let Leo stay around our house. My bf and I spotted him back on May and he reappear again on July with a very bad wound on his head that eventually healed overtime. I did discuss with my parents again just now after reading both your posts and show them what you guys said and tried explaining again to them but things got a bit heated up and they also said something along the lines of maybe in the future when i got a place of my own and get a new cat, a kitten. I have nothing against little fluff balls but Leo's special..

Regarding that, I don't think I can do it soon with the plans I have ahead for now, I'm actually 23 years old and from the east msia, I'm not certain where I'll want to get a job yet, either here or elsewhere from the east. Moving out alone doesn't seem like a good option for now and I know my parents will be against it but I do hope and want to get Leo to live and be with me someday. I don't know exactly how to feel about it, I want a good place for him to live, have him neutered, be all that he can be and more but I can't give him these at the moment and also the thought of having him be adopted by other people makes me very down. at the same time, am I being selfish and stopping him from having what he could have?

I'm more of a worry-wart of the family, every single night Leo makes me worry because I couldn't be there with him. He did get into a few fights and thankfully, -for now- it's not something very serious, whenever this happens, I'll use the ointment that I've purchased and got from the Vet. Leo actually went to the vet two times, the first was for the bath, trim and checkup. The veterinarian then told me to bring him back another week for the shots, after the shots Leo's personality changed and that was when he started to stay out more and away from me (probably angry at me?) but he does come back during meal time and would headbutt me. It was roughly about then onward that the bed attack starts from Orange. The first encounter of Orange was back on August, the second was just recently. During those days, Orange never appear and Leo was always sleeping on his bed from night until morning or noon. (I went checking on his every few hours at night, heh... creepy person T_T) It's just odd how through those weeks, none and just recently its every single day.

Just a few minutes ago I heard some sound outside the house and went to take a look and saw Orange attacking his bed again in a different area; I decided to just put away the bed. Leo won't sleep on it, orange keeps attacking it, I don't even know if Orange would want it. I've left some dry food out in hopes for Orange to eat it but he didn't and instead attacked the bed. I felt that Orange is more of a feral than a stray because I've never seen him in the morning anywhere before and he's very skittish around humans or sounds and would run away. I've tried coaxing him to come near me or at least not run away but it doesn't work. I think what you've said about the submissive behavior fits Leo a lot. I did some googling around on that and it made me realize/recall Leo's body position and see more clearly during the first and second encounter of those two. On both scenario Leo was laying low while the other was standing tall. I guess Orange is more dominant. 

and yes! I've heard of the TNR program a few times before but it didn't cross my mind to ring them. I will definitely have a look and ask if they could trap the cats around here and also get my parents to follow me and visit a humane society. Hopefully that'll change their mind and I can do it sooner rather than later. The best option is neutering... but sigh, would putting extra food out for Orange any good? maybe those citrus scented repellent around the area where Orange likes to be at to keep him away? 

again, thank you for your time in responding me and reading my silly rants.

Also, is it seen as normal/that happens for a submissive cat chase after the dominant one right after the dominant one was spooked out and ran away? o.o (reference to the first encounter between those two) Sorry if I ask too much nonsense, just curious.

I don't think a scent that repels cats would keep the orange cat away and attract Leo... In the cat world, just as in the human one, their is a pecking order. In order for peace to occur, the cats have to accept their roles. In the work place, we can't all be boss... someone has to give orders, and the others have to take them.  Its too bad the orange cat has to attack the bed and tear up Leo's stuff.  I am not sure that extra food would help.  We sometimes put out food for the ferals and excess food just attracts more animals, whether cat, mice, squirrel, possum, even birds will eat cat/dog food.  Making the orange cat at home might make it stick around there more, but would not necessarily make it more tolerant of Leo.  We took in one feral, and it did not take her long to warm up to humans, but she cannot tolerate our resident cats.  She still growls the whole time she is eating, even though she has had more than enough food for months now.  When a kitten is starving as a baby, they get very protective of food sources. Not even sure they have to be starving as babies, some animals are just food aggressive.  With neutering out of the question, I honestly think your best hope is that the orange cat doesn't stick around.  It doesn't sound like Leo goes far though so I feel like there is some arrangement worked out between the two.  As for the fighting, thats just the nature of cats who are driven by hormones.  Even indoor cats who live together will sometimes have fights, like brothers and sister, but unnutered males trying to claim and maintain a territory, its more like gang wars.  Best of Luck to you on deciding your future plans and moving forward in them, and with Leo.  Cats, like people, come into our lives for a reason. Some stay and become life long friends, and other stay but a short while but have a really big impact.  I can't advise what is best for Leo.  I think a loving home is always good for a cat, and likewise, a cat is good for a loving home, but for a stray kitty, he has it pretty nice with you looking out for him.  In time, you will know what is best.