Our 1 year old female cat is very happy & friendly, not at all scared, she's spayed and has use of a cat flap, and loves going outside.

Recently another cat - older, male - has been coming into our house, using her cat flap, and eating her food! It has a collar & name tag, so is obviously owned by someone, but still its a greedy git & nasty too - takes swipes at our poor little cat.

When we see him, we chase him out straight away, but he keeps coming back. We have since moved our own cats food upstairs, so the other cat can't eat it. Our cat is now skittish, and its upsetting her.

What can we do to stop him coming in?

Change your cat flap to one of the magnetic ones. There a few on the market but it does mean your cat has to wear a collar with a magnet on.

Who does your cat 'visit' whilst she is out? ;)

Set the flap to 'in only' and give the visiting cat a squirt with a water pistol. Avoid the ears though!
No harm done to the cat but it should put it off. He'll keep coming back until there's a reaosn not to. We had to do it with a tom who was spraying in our house.
If you don't have in/out settings, just tape it to work that way until you have persuaded your visitor to go elsewhere.

I've used a magnetic catflap in the past to prevent other cats coming into my house. Just make sure none of the neighbouring cats have got magnets on their collars that could access your flap.

Thanks for your replies, the magnetic cat flap sounds like a good idea. I'm a bit unsure tho - what happens if she loses her collar, then she won't be able to get in until we get home.

Goodness. Cats with their own key.. whatever next?

If you want to discourage unwanted Feline attention buy yourself a Springer Spaniel. They will scare the crap out of the neighbouring cats but in the nicest possible way.

Originally posted by Deavon
If you want to discourage unwanted Feline attention buy yourself a Springer Spaniel. They will scare the crap out of the neighbouring cats but in the nicest possible way.

Our beagle thinks the catflap at MrStrix's mum's house is so he can shove his head out and bark at anything that's out of order :hihi:

He fitted through it when he was a pup, so he was given his own 'key' - but his nose was alot longer than the cat's, so the key didn't get close enough to operate the lock. He could get out, but not in :D

whereabouts in meersbrook do you live, 'cos i'm worried about leaving the door open now!

The magnetic cat flaps are worth a try, if you want you can even get radio controlled ones that only work for your cat.

They aren't fool proof, though. A cat can "tailgate" yours to gain entry and a big tom will easily be able to smash it open if he feels like it.

My little cat can bash her way through if she loses her collar outside, so a tom could easily do it.

Better than nothing, but that's about it!

B

Thanks, I've had a search on the internet + google found me an infa-red cat flap - the collar has a special tag on it, and a unique code for your cat - so no other cat can get through.
Its costs about £45 quid tho, but i'll have a look round, see if i can buy it cheaper.

Blademan - we are on Rushdale road, where abouts are you? Do you have a cat?

im on upper valley, i don't have a cat but we've had many a problem recently with cats just strolling in!!!

Where did u find the cat flap design bunny? we get this horrible tom cat that has sprayed all over my mums new Tv unit lol.
She is not impressed.

£45 seems a lot for a cat flap!

the magnetic ones are ok, but the magnetic strip can come off the flap quite easily, we have a magnetic one but it doesn't have the magnetic strip anymore (that's how we obtained our third cat!) because Smudge broke it off.
This causes not only problems with other cats getting in, but it also lets in draughts of cold air and the cat flap will blow open easier because it doesn't fit right into the hole.

We get a male cat keep coming in and harrassing our Smitch. They often have fights and the last time it sat at the door calling for a mate, my dad opened the door and emptied a bucket of cold water on him! He didn't come back for a while, but has started to come back now, I think he needs another shower...

The infra red sounds like a good idea, as long as the collar doesn't get lost otherwise it seems a lot of money to lose!

Good luck.

Lottie

I must be a soft touch...
Any cat who comes through the flap gets a stroke and a tit-bit.
We have had cats all our lives and they have all been strays who 'adopted' us!!!

A bear trap wouldn't cost £45 and would permanently stop the cat problem :D

Seriously though, we had a problem with a neighbour's cat coming into our garden and dumping in the flower bed so we invested in a decent water gun and always kept a container of water handy too. After several soakings the cat finally got the message and never came back.

I had this problem a few ears ago, I set the cat flap to in only and ran at the enemy cat hissing when I found it in the house, it legged it for the cat flap and just bounced off then proceded to panic and run about and try th cat flap a few more times until it finally managed to force it's way out. It did not come back!

best idea so far was the water pistol one. lock the flap when u are out too...your little one wont be able to get in but, er, its just a cat, right?

Lovely as they are, having to wait until u get home wont be all that bad...its what cats who dont have a catflap have to endure, and they seem to do ok:)

I have a bike water bottle always handy. We're getting less and less cat visits now. I'm in Meersbrook too...loads of cats here. Quite like next doors, just don't want another 15 knocking about!!

As well as the squirty-water deterrent, try keeping a saucepan and rolling pin nearby, to bang together (not on the cat of course!) whenever you get an intruder. Cats hate it when you make a loud noise... and if you set the cat-flap to "trap" mode, you can give them a memorable mild scare before letting them out.

i used to live on valley road and the stray cat issue there was at epedemic proportions when i lived there, mainly due to gittish students abandoning them when they go back to mummy and daddy when term ends. I bought a super soaker from toys r us £14.99 as my rear garden was being used as a venue for feline amour and needless to say it rather dampened their ardour somewhat, after 6 days of super soakings they finally stopped coming round, well worth the investment i will tell you, my other half doesn't agree though i can get her with the super soaker right down the bottom of my new garden some 25 feet away, giving me ample time to leg it :hihi: hope this helps

RE:As well as the squirty-water deterrent, try keeping a saucepan and rolling pin nearby, to bang together (not on the cat of course!) whenever you get an intruder. Cats hate it when you make a loud noise... and if you set the cat-flap to "trap" mode, you can give them a memorable mild scare before letting them out.
I FOUND THAT AN AIR HORN DOES THE JOB SUPERBLY TOO !!!!!!:hihi:

Thanks for your replies, the magnetic cat flap sounds like a good idea. I'm a bit unsure tho - what happens if she loses her collar, then she won't be able to get in until we get home.

Beware! I have found that all the cats in my area have the exact same catflap as me (since that seems to be the only one local stores sell). So the magnetic catflap has made no difference! I'm now considering an infra-red one with a unique entry key, but it seems a bit OTT at the moment.... that may change.

I have a couple of cats (brother and sister). The male sprays because other cats come in to check the female.

He doesn't seem to be able to help himself when another male has been in the house :( He clearly knows it's wrong.... I can tell when he's sprayed indoors by his behavour... very shy and shady... aye aye methinks.... best have a look around.

Anyways, I've tried everything I can think of to stop him but it's not happening (he's spayed BTW). Anyone got any tips on that?

P.S Citrus scents do not work with regard to spraying, and the water pistol deterent for other cats only seems to last a week or so before they forget (though it is very satisfying).

A SuperSoaker is what you need. No cat will last long against its withering stream.

Aw, your poor little cat!

We sometimes have other cats coming into our house, but my cats don't seem to mind, as if they're friends or something!

Hope it gets sorted soon!

x

Aw, your poor little cat!

We sometimes have other cats coming into our house, but my cats don't seem to mind, as if they're friends or something!

Hope it gets sorted soon!

x

I think mine bring their friends home for tea:)

im on upper valley, i don't have a cat but we've had many a problem recently with cats just strolling in!!



Get a gun, that'll get rid of the things