Mom has an indoor/outdoor cat. Recently a hungry stray has been hanging around and we have left food out for him. Now, he comes by all the time and that would be OK, but he started to attack mom's cat when she's outside. She won't go out when she sees that he is out there. Should I stop feeding him so he goes back across the street where I think he came from?
By Terry O.
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First of all, don't feed strays. Everybody thinks you should because you're cruel if you don't. But as you can see he is big, so plenty of other people are feeding him. You should not feed cats unless you intend them hanging around all the time. You already have a female so it wasn't a good idea.
But now you know better. Unfortunately, just not feeding him anymore will not solve the problem. He now considers your house and yard part of his territory, and will come around to scent mark it and look for other animals such as the female.
In the future, defend your female cat and her property. After all, you wouldn't like it if your mom invited a stranger over with a promise of a meal and a date with her daughter! Don't feel surprised that the girl cat is feeling totally creeped out.
Great advice from Abigail. She is spot on. One thing you can try to make the intruder feel less comfortable is to use a squirt gun or a squirt bottle with a strong stream. It won't hurt the cat but they do hate being squirted.
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