Naughty stray tomcat

Hi, I was wondering if there was any behavior modification techniques for getting a stray Tom cat to behave more gentlemanly. Obviously he needs to be fixed (I am hoping to do that). I sometimes feed him. there are three tame strays who hang out on my porch and he chases them  and beats them up. So I yesterday I decided to watch my tame ones eat. The Bully cat will not come up to the food until I leave. I'm actually trying to get him to come up by me. That would make him easier to catch to get fixed. He does come up and I pet him on the back, and then he backs off. Can bad boys learn manners?

Getting him fixed will help a tremendous amount.  Not sure how much you can do until then because hormones are in charge.  Thanks for helping!

I think your best solution is going to be to trap this guy in a humane trap and get him fixed asap. He's exhibiting normal territorial behaviour, and there isn't a huge amout you can do about it without upsetting your guys. I know shadowsrescue is having similar issues, so maybe she can help more.

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Neutering will certainly help, but a stray cat often retains the need to guard and eat all he can. I have a male cat who came to me as a long-term stray 9 years ago, and he still eats far too much, gobbling his own food and then trying to eat from the other bowls, too, unless I feed him separately. Strays and ferals never forget the struggle for survival, and they still think that any meal might be the last for some time, so they eat all they can while it is available.

He isn't having bad manners on purpose.  He is doing what he needs to do to survive.  Neutering may calm him down some, but it takes a bit for the hormones to settle.  I would invest or borrow a humane trap.  It is the easiest and safest way for you both to catch him.  Hopefully the other strays are all spayed/neutered or you will soon have kittens on your hand.

As for the eating.  One of my ferals eats and eats and eats.  I have a separate feeding station for him.  He eats so fast and then tries to get the others.  For awhile I had to keep a watchful eye to keep him away from their food.  He has learned to wait until they leave their feeding station before he cleans up what was left.  He is the fastest eater.  I don't think this behavior will ever improve.  He has improved, but he will always eat fast and always want more and more and more.

Be sure when you get this boy neutered you also ask for a wormer.  He probably has worms too which could contribute. 

Thank you for caring for him and the other strays.  Hopefully you can get him neutered soon and he can begin a hormone free life!

I agree with Shadow, he very likely needs a de-wormer. If you want to give him a de-wormer before you're able to get him to a vet, you can purchase it online at this site without a prescription, or perhaps find it cheaper on Ebay. A single or double dose prescribed by a vet is less than 10 dollars, but he will have to be seen by a vet first (which is the ideal situation anyway). If you do purchase it online, you'll need to grind it into a fine powder and mix it into his wet food or something strong like tuna, because I think it has a bitter taste for cats. My experience with strays and ferals is that they almost always need to be de-wormed. Parasites make them ravenous, and no matter how much they eat, they're still hungry, and often still skinny, because the worms consume most of the nutrition. It's a horrible situation for them.      

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All of my rescued cats have experienced hunger and have had issues with food, so I have three separate food stations in my house with dry food that I keep out 24/7 for my five indoor cats, and in addition they get wet food at least twice a day. At first they were all anxious about food. One of them was jumping into my kitchen garbage can, and stealing sticks of butter, and getting into my bread. Now they know there is cat food always available, and have calmed down. But it has taken a while. I suspect your tom is the same way. He's not trying to be rude, he's very anxious about food.

I hope you're able to trap him soon. Also ask the vet to also give him a dose of Frontline Plus or some other topical flea medication.  Fleas also suck the nutrition out of cats, and when cats consume fleas, they can get worms.  

Many Humane Society and Animal Friends have special discount packages for strays and ferals, and range from 15.00 to 60.00 for spay/neuter, de-wormer, vaccinations, and flea treatment. See if you can get a discount for your stray.

Thanks for taking care of these cats, they're lucky to have found you.  

The problem is I really don't have enough money to feed all the strays. Is there any programs where I could apply for a grant or something to aid in buying the cat food? I just started TNR'ing the cats. I'm in a bad financial situation and can't really afford cat food for my own cats. I'm in Houston, Texas.

Is there a Humane Society near you? If so, explain your situation and ask if they can help provide you with cat food. Three years ago I lost my job and was caring for 5 outdoor feral cats. My local Humane Society offered to give me food. I also called the Purina company, and they sent me about 40 dollars in coupons. You can also purchase Meow Mix dry food, which is the least expensive dry cat food on the market. It is not a very good quality, but it does contain all of the necessary vitamins and protein for cats to survive. If there is a PetSmart or Petco nearby, perhaps you could ask the manager if he would be willing to donate any food that is about to expire. Thanks for helping out these cats.

Picking up donated food would be a pain in the butt, because I don't have a car. But I will start buying meow mix for the strays and using coupons. I have been feeding Purina One to the strays. I feed my personal cats Fancy Feast, which is expensive. One of them has to have wet food all the time, because she has a problem peeing, that acts up when I feed her dry food. It is kind of impossible to feed my four cats separately because my apartment is so small.,  But Fancy Feast for four cats is a major expense. Any suggestions for alternatives to Fancy Feast, but is still good quality?