Ferals In My Garden?

[humanracer]

We have just moved house and recently saw two cats enter our garden. We are cat lovers so went out to greet them and they ran away very quickly. I thought therefore they might be ferals. Yet I saw the same cat in a neighbours garden a few days ago and again he/she looked scared. I haven't been able to talk to my neighbour yet to see if it is his cat.
Am I right in thinking if a cat runs from you it is feral?
Only other issue is that my new cat has see them from the window and froze solid when he saw them. How do I discourage the cats from coming near my cat?

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm no expert but I think just about any cat, --stray, feral or somebody's roaming housepet, will run from a stranger.
You could do a couple things, such as citrus peel - I don't have experience with this but I've heard it works. Or if you can, obtain a motion activated outdoor water sprinkler.
Also from the inside, maybe keep the shade down so your cat can't see. The problem with that is, they know when an interloper feline is in the area, that's my opinion anyway. If it comes to it that your cat becomes stressed out about it all, you could pick up a couple feliway diffusers and see if that kind of thing helps, or calming treats or even collars. Best of luck!

 

[trudy1]

Guess the larger question would be what is their condition? Are they thin and hungry? Might be candidates for tnr if neighbors says they are just hanging around.
The canned answer is if they are just neighborhood cats try your local rescue groups,if you have them, for some help.