Hey all, I am looking for a bit of advice on how to handle a stray cat. We moved to a new house about a month ago. We have an indoor cat and an outdoor cat, and they both took the move fine. (To avoid any discussion about why we have an outdoor cat, we know all the risks of having him outdoors. We have tried to keep him inside. But he was a stray for the first year of his life, and while he loves us and is very people-oriented, he just refuses to be an inside cat. He's living his best life outside, even with all the risks associated with that.)
But about a week after we moved in, a stray cat started hanging out in our back yard. He would yowl all night for food. We tried to keep him away from our outdoor cat's bowl, but it was really hard. They got into a few very loud fights. For a week, it seemed like our outdoor cat was dominant over the stray, but he must have lost another fight, because they switched roles after a few days.
The stray has now been hanging around our yard for about three weeks. He never seems to leave; he sleeps in our backyard and spends his days on our front porch. He yowls constantly and hisses at us and our toddler whenever we go outside. He has a collar on, so he must have belonged to someone at some point. I've posted on NextDoor looking for his owner, but no one claimed him. Our neighbors have no idea whose cat he is.
The worst part is that our outdoor cat is now missing. He used to hardly leave our yard, but last week, I started to only see him every other day. Now, we haven't seen him since Friday night, and I am worried the stray cat has driven him off for good. I have tried to catch the stray cat in a carrier so I can have him scanned for a chip, but he won't let me near him. He just hisses and strikes. I feel bad for the guy because he's clearly hungry, but my priority is making a safe home for my outdoor cat and, frankly, my toddler. I want this stray gone so we can go back to our normal life. Does anyone have any advice on how to either drive him away humanely or catch him?
But about a week after we moved in, a stray cat started hanging out in our back yard. He would yowl all night for food. We tried to keep him away from our outdoor cat's bowl, but it was really hard. They got into a few very loud fights. For a week, it seemed like our outdoor cat was dominant over the stray, but he must have lost another fight, because they switched roles after a few days.
The stray has now been hanging around our yard for about three weeks. He never seems to leave; he sleeps in our backyard and spends his days on our front porch. He yowls constantly and hisses at us and our toddler whenever we go outside. He has a collar on, so he must have belonged to someone at some point. I've posted on NextDoor looking for his owner, but no one claimed him. Our neighbors have no idea whose cat he is.
The worst part is that our outdoor cat is now missing. He used to hardly leave our yard, but last week, I started to only see him every other day. Now, we haven't seen him since Friday night, and I am worried the stray cat has driven him off for good. I have tried to catch the stray cat in a carrier so I can have him scanned for a chip, but he won't let me near him. He just hisses and strikes. I feel bad for the guy because he's clearly hungry, but my priority is making a safe home for my outdoor cat and, frankly, my toddler. I want this stray gone so we can go back to our normal life. Does anyone have any advice on how to either drive him away humanely or catch him?
