I have some semi-feral cats that I feed in the garage. They can come and go thru a pet door. Last evening I heard a cat fight in the garage and I went to check it out. Two cats were fighting and scrambling to get out the pet door. One was a semi-feral intact male and the other was a feral cat. Due to the size I'm assuming he is a male also. I noticed that the garage floor was splattered in feces and urine. Not sure which cat this came from. It looked like one cat was getting the s**t knocked out of him literally. The semi feral has been around here since he was a kitten. Not sure where the other one came from. Is this normal behavior? This is the first year that I've been feeding the cats inside.
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Seeing a behavior that I'm not sure is normal
- Thread starter gleason
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Sounds territorial to me or a show of dominance. Maybe feed some inside and some outside where there is more escape routes if needed.
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Unfortunately feeding outside does not work. The skunks and raccoons come. I go to bed at 8PM which is a little early to go and pick up the food dish. I have not had a problem with this until now. Hopefully this stray feral will move on.
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I go to bed at 8pm too so I understand completely.
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What keeps you from getting him fixed?
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I agree, in all likelihood it’s territorial.
Some cats lose control of their bladder and/or bowel movements during stress or fights. We have a (pet) cat who pees and poops and passes gas anytime she’s stressed, depending on the degree of stress.
And we’ve had the scenario several times where she’s been in a fight and let it all loose and both cats just keep fighting and rolling around in it all about the house
Not fun for anyone!
What is your normal feeding routine? Do the cats have access to food in the garage 24/7?
Do you have more than one food and water bowl set up? If not, having more than one set up and placing them as far away from each other in the garage as possible can help ease tensions. We have three mini stations like this set up in our garage for the same exact reason.
If you can, you might consider installing an additional pet door in the garage, as far away from the other door as you can get. That way there are two exits, and no one is getting trapped or risking hurting themselves and furthering tension from trying to fight another cat out the door.
I would definitely consider things you can do to ease conflict since you’re unable to get them neutered right now.
Don’t bank on them moving on. They know where food is now, and one or both of them will be back despite the fight. They may move on eventually, but usually not at first and not after more fighting with each other and/or your cats. So try to reduce the risk of someone being seriously hurt in the meantime if possible.
Trail cams can be great for keeping an eye on a situation like this. Since a garage is a protected area, we actually just use a Netvue nanny cam which allows us to view footage live from our phones and notifies us when someone is in the garage. It’s also cheaper than most trail cameras too - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WZY8DXH/?tag=thecatsite
Some cats lose control of their bladder and/or bowel movements during stress or fights. We have a (pet) cat who pees and poops and passes gas anytime she’s stressed, depending on the degree of stress.
And we’ve had the scenario several times where she’s been in a fight and let it all loose and both cats just keep fighting and rolling around in it all about the house
Not fun for anyone!What is your normal feeding routine? Do the cats have access to food in the garage 24/7?
Do you have more than one food and water bowl set up? If not, having more than one set up and placing them as far away from each other in the garage as possible can help ease tensions. We have three mini stations like this set up in our garage for the same exact reason.
If you can, you might consider installing an additional pet door in the garage, as far away from the other door as you can get. That way there are two exits, and no one is getting trapped or risking hurting themselves and furthering tension from trying to fight another cat out the door.
I would definitely consider things you can do to ease conflict since you’re unable to get them neutered right now.
Don’t bank on them moving on. They know where food is now, and one or both of them will be back despite the fight. They may move on eventually, but usually not at first and not after more fighting with each other and/or your cats. So try to reduce the risk of someone being seriously hurt in the meantime if possible.
Trail cams can be great for keeping an eye on a situation like this. Since a garage is a protected area, we actually just use a Netvue nanny cam which allows us to view footage live from our phones and notifies us when someone is in the garage. It’s also cheaper than most trail cameras too - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WZY8DXH/?tag=thecatsite
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One of the cats is one that has been around here from a kitten on up. He's a semi-feral. The other one is new around here. There have been no additional conflicts since that last time. At least not in the garage. He may have moved on as I haven't even seen him in the yard. There is dry food out basically 24/7 in 2 different bowls in the garage. I have one water bowl inside and one outside.
I have a couple of trail cams that are not being used right now. Now that the temps are falling at night I'm going to put one out in the garage and see if the strange cat is showing up. I also have an extra wireless security camera that I could possible set up out there.
I'll have to see if I can talk my husband into installing another pet door. That will take some doing I'm sure.
I have a couple of trail cams that are not being used right now. Now that the temps are falling at night I'm going to put one out in the garage and see if the strange cat is showing up. I also have an extra wireless security camera that I could possible set up out there.
I'll have to see if I can talk my husband into installing another pet door. That will take some doing I'm sure.
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Definitely set up a camera! You’d be amazed at what often goes on and who shows up when we aren’t watching!One of the cats is one that has been around here from a kitten on up. He's a semi-feral. The other one is new around here. There have been no additional conflicts since that last time. At least not in the garage. He may have moved on as I haven't even seen him in the yard. There is dry food out basically 24/7 in 2 different bowls in the garage. I have one water bowl inside and one outside.
I have a couple of trail cams that are not being used right now. Now that the temps are falling at night I'm going to put one out in the garage and see if the strange cat is showing up. I also have an extra wireless security camera that I could possible set up out there.
I'll have to see if I can talk my husband into installing another pet door. That will take some doing I'm sure.
