mistaken id? or possesed cat?

I'm new to this site, but I could really use some feedback... I have 2 cats: a 2-1/2 year old male (ginger tabby/tiger) and a 2 year old female (all white), both are fixed....they get along fine and are very loving & playful with each other, and very friendly towards people (even strangers, though my little girl is somewhat more shy)... we moved into a larger unit in our apt. complex a little over a month ago and have had some problems with a neighbors cat... he keeps coming into our patio and is somewhat of a bully... I know that he and Henry have gotten into it because I've treated Henry's scratches on a few occasions.... so far it's been nothing too serious, but today things took a disturbing turn. a neighbor of mine who just moved in about a month ago has two cats, also a male and female pair, both fixed... they have one of those pet doors that fits into the sliding glass door, and it seems that they are in the habit of keeping it open... they have found a "very aggressive" cat in their home harassing their cats at least twice now... and on friday morning at 6am their female cat was mauled by the intruder (she's ok, stitches and some antibiotics...but scared and battered nonetheless)... I discovered this because my cat turned up missing this morning... it turns out that the neighbors put out a trap... Henry got caught and is now sitting at the city shelter where I will have to go and bail him out in the morning.... she is pretty convinced that the cat she caught in the trap is the offender, but the vet told her that her cat's injuries looked like the work of a whole tom.... and the cat that has been bullying Henry is also an orange tabby, he's just a little bigger and with more white... and he's been known to claim that area as his turf too.....I've seen Henry hanging out around that general area, but I'm almost positive that Henry was not out at 6am on Friday (they sleep with me, and only rarely manage to spend an entire night outdoors), but I can't rule out the possibility either.... I'm pretty certain that this other cat is the culprit and that Henry just managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (he's curious and active and a complete doofus with a nack for mischief).... but am I just being niave? Is it possible for a neutered male who cohabitates peacefully with another cat and does not exhibit aggressive behavior in general to wreak this kind of havoc? (she said the cat was spraying and everything and that they couldn't get close enough to even try and read a tag)....the cat I've been having problems with wears a collar and tag, but I have never gotten close enough to know if it's neutered or not.... sorry this is soooo long, but I'm at my wits end.... is this mistaken identity or is my cat possessed? am I looking at a future of paying other people's vet bills? (they have put chicken wire around their patio, so hopefully whoever the psycho kitty is will not be able to harass them again).... help! any thoughts? words of wisdom? Again, sorry this is sooo long!!!

Poor Henry! And poor you worrying about your babes. It certainly sounds like it could be a mistake in identity, given the fact that your babes have also suffered at the hands of this territorial intruder. Changes are so stressful for our cats, so I would keep a close eye on them. Sounds to me like the neighborhood has had several changes with new kitties and the older territorial one doesn't like it much!

BTW - welcome to TCS - please stay around and post often. You will get lots of good advice here and input.

Although it is true that mostly Toms will fight, if there is a Tom in the neighborhood, he could get the other males who have been neutered stirred up enough to fight. The Tom could be spraying around your house and riling up Henry enough for Henry to do battle with anything that moves. The truth is you will probably never know, and if it were me, I would trap the Tom and until he is successfully trapped, I would leave Henry in the house. Toms can do some major damage to other males and especially as this is kitten season, the Tom is really, shall I just say......activated right now.

Poor Henry having to spend the night in jail. I hope this works out, but as I said, keep Henry indoors until you or someone else traps the Tom. Good luck!

Also if Henry starts getting agitated at being in the house, just shut the blinds so he cannot really see the outside world until the Tom is captured. Tell whoever is trying to trap Mr. Tom that sardines make the best bait, and to dribble the juice all up and down the inside of the trap to entice the kitty. He sounds like he is pretty smart and cagey and will not be easy to trap any way you look at it.

". . . as this is kitten season, the Tom is really, shall I just say......activated right now. . . "

heehee Hissy, thanks for the great euphemism!

Thanks so much for all the good advice!!!! I think you all are right, Henry is going to have to be indoors until further notice...(and thanks for the tip about the blinds!) hopefully we will catch the culprit which could be difficult given how many of the people in our complex have cats, and the size of our feral population out here (we live near the river)... the neighbors who have been having problems with bullying/aggression are going to have a meeting this evening after work to see what we can come up with to solve the problem; none of us want to have to keep our kitties confined to the house on a permanent basis.
This is a great site, I never knew how many great cat people there were out there! Thanks again!!!!!

Can you get any info from the people at the shelter where Henry was taken? It might help if they saw that Henry looked fine - no fresh wounds, no tufts of fur from the neighbor's cat in his claws, no broken claws, etc. that would rule him out as the offender.

I did talk to the people at the shelter and they said that he did not fit their profile of a "vicious animal"....simply a scared and slightly anxious/stressed one.... (which is understandable under the circumstances).... they were able to remove his collar without any problems (which is how the i.d. him) and that in general he was friendly with the handlers....they did say that they had received a couple of complaints from this people about a nuisance cat in the last week or so (about how long they've lived there) and that the cat that attacked their cat turned on them when they tried to break it up... they suggested that I keep Henry indoors until the situation is straightened out (which would at the very least help rule him out as a "suspect").... I was not given a fine of any kind which they normally do for allowing animals to "run loose", especially "vicious" ones... I really don't think he's the culprit, there's not a mark on him...(no scratches, scabs, tufts of hair missing or tufts of hair in his claws)... today, or Friday (the day of the "attack") or Saturday.... and it seems highly unlikely to me that he is enough of a bad-ass to be in (or instigate) the kind of fight (or do the amount of damage) they say they witnessed without some battle wounds of his own to show for it....
The neighbors are very nice people and were very concerned when they realized that it was Henry that they'd trapped (I don't think they want him to turn out to be the real culprit anymore than I do)...I'm hoping that things will quite down here soon cuz it's stressful for the kitties too..... Henry hasn't let me out of his site since he got home, except to sleep...and even then he's right on top of me.... poor baby, he's tuckered out. Thanks again all for the great advice and support for us newbies here on the site!!