Advice please re my "outside"cats

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

I have such a dilemma with the cats which live in my garden.

DILLY: - totally feral. Alpha male (has been TNRd). Has been here since I moved in. Is the dominant ALPHA male in the area, and is very aggressive towards other cats. Has calmed down slightly since being nettered (8 months ago) but is still very wild. Is not friendly with other cats at all, and has no human contact.

GINGER: - shy "outside cat approx 10 months old. Was trapped by me in a TNR program, but could not be released in the area he was captured as it was on a busy road. Has settled in well, and is friends with the 3rd cat, Kissy. Is very social and loves people.

KISSY: Was in the compound when we arrived. Has been spayed, is very friendly and overweight. She was a family pet who was abandoned, so is totally socialised. Has a warm bed, and rarely (if ever) leaves the garden.

Ginger and Kissy cuddle together and get on really well.

Now for the issues:

DILLY is very aggressive, and is always fighting with Kissy and Ginger, and making their lives miserable.

Both Kissy and Ginger have required vet care due to fighting with Dilly

Ginger is currently at the vet being treated for a huge ruptured abcess on his little face, and a gash on his front leg.

Almost every night I have to get up in the middle of the night to rescue Ginger or Kissy from being cornered by Dilly.



Everyone who has seen the cats interacting says that Dilly is a "nuisance", and is making the other cats miserable. So my choices are:

- Leave things as they are - and let nature take its course (although I can really not afford more vet bills at the moment)
- Remove Dilly from the area and allow the other two to enjoy their lives here

The problem is that I cannot just dump Dilly in another area and not know what becomes of him. If I take him to the shelter he will be PTS, as we do not re-home ferals. There are no protected feral colonies which he can be added to.

Do I take the nesessary (and horrible) action against Dilly in order that Kissy and Ginger can have good quality of life, or do I not "play God" and just leave things as they are??

Advice please!!! Thanks guys!

[moosmom]

Is there anyway you can bring Kissy and Ginger inside to live??? At least that would take care of both of them and keep them out of Dilly's way. You've got a real tough decision to make. I wish I had some better advice, but I don't. Maybe Jenluckenbach, QSA or someone else in rescue has some ideas.

Good luck. Just remember, whatever you decide will be in the BEST interest of all involved.

[catmandu]

Dilly,sadly,is a rouge Cat,turned aggressive,and mean,bu years,of neglect,and abuse.Scratchy,who swipes,at me,is a milquetoast,by comparison.If,you can catch,the milder Cats,and put them,in a safe place,like a garage,they would be safer.Dilly,sadly,sounds like a menace,and ,god forbid,he scratches a Child,as there would be Hell To Pay.WEe ,wish you luck,with this Poor Scared Cat.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Thanks Donna and Gary.

Donna - unfortunately there is no way I can have 2 more cats at the moment. Also given that Ally has still not fully accepter Connor (after 16 months) I think that bringing more cats into the house would have a very negative effect on her.

Gary - we don't have any garages or outbuildings where I can separate the outside cats unfortunately

[Laura's Babies]

First, let me commend you for doing the TNR for these cats.. I too, would say wait for QSL or other more experiences trappers to respond with their expert advice..

If he is a bully though, I think removing the ones he is picking on will only be replaced with another tatget for him to bully.. I would tend to go in the direction of catching him and keeping him caged until he learns that bullying is NOT acceptable..

I know this is a totally different situation.... but when I first got Samantha, there was a lot of bullying from her towards the others here. I tried letting them settle that themselves until I saw how it was affecting Amy so I tried a method to break it up.. Whenever she would bully, I would tell her a stern "NO!" pick her up and shut her in a room by herself for a "time out".. It only took about 3 days for her to catch on and she stopped...... Of coarse with a feral, you could not do that but I do think some caged time is in order if you can trap him... Who knows, it might work?

[catcrazylady]

HI Julie!!! It's nice to see you posting. I wish it was for better reasons though.:(
Wow! you have a very serious problem there and I really don't know what the solution is. I can only relate this back to my personal experience with Magoo. Is there anyway you can medicate Mr. Nasty? Could you somehow slip him some canned food laced with some meds to calm him down? In Magoo's case it only took a few months of medication for him to relax. I don't know if that would work for this guy or not. I realize that this could not go on forever but it is possible that it could work as a temporary solution.
I think for Magoo it was an adjustment time but I also think he had been an intact male for so long that aggression was just the norm for him. A few months of meds made him change his ways and he found he could be friends with other kitties and it was ok. I wonder if that could happen for Dilly too?
I'm sorry but it is the only suggestion I have. With Ally there is no way you can bring in the other two, but it is also terrible for them to constantly be seriously hurt by Dilly.
I wish I had more advice to offer.
{{{HUGS}}} to you and I know you will do what is best for everyone involved. Good luck and keep us posted.

[catlover4ever]

Hi Julie I wanted to share this information with you. While I have not used it I found it interesting. Here is the link and I think maybe this could work......look for the Bully Formula.

http://www.spiritessence.com/?action=catalog&category=fec

(((hugs))) Meg

[moosmom]

other more experiences trappers to respond with their expert advice

:( :( :( :( :rolleyes:

[jazzcat]

Julie - I have no advice but I just want you to know that I'm sorry to hear about the situation and that you are having to make such a difficult decision. Good luck.

BTW, I was just thinking about you this morning. I hope all is well with you, Ally and Connor (besides this problem).

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by jazzcat
Julie - I have no advice but I just want you to know that I'm sorry to hear about the situation and that you are having to make such a difficult decision. Good luck.

BTW, I was just thinking about you this morning. I hope all is well with you, Ally and Connor (besides this problem).

Thanks:)

I have quite a lot to deal with at the moment, but I guess I must be feeling a bit better as I am posting again!;) The kitties are doing well. Connor has been selected for our shelter's 2006 fundraising calander with the theme "where are they now" - each page will have stories and pictures of successful adoptions - such a great idea, and I am so excited that he has been chosen!

[catcrazylady]

WOW Connor! What a wonderful honor!! YIPPEE! Connor is our new calendar boy!! WAHOO!!!:D :D :D

Julie, do you think any of the meds would work? Do they only have one water source? If so you could try the Rescue Remedy or other things that could be added to the water or food.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

CCL, I have been wondering about that for a while, but there is no way of ensuring that Dilly would get the medicine. I have two water dishes (the kind with bottles attached) and because of the evapouration here in the hot weather they are refilled daily (each holds a litre), so I would have to put in LOADS of medicine to make sure Dilly would get his dose. I have tried mixing medicine with food for him before (when he was on meds after he got an abcess from a fight), but he is VERY wiley and clever, so he didnt eat any of the "spiked"food :rolleyes:

[catcrazylady]

Darn! It's really rough when they are mean and SMART!:rolleyes:

[K & L]

Have you tried setting up separate feeding areas and bedding areas? This sounds like a territorial issue and maybe if he felt he had his own area it would help. Put them at opposite ends of the yard. It's worth a try!

[rg_girlca]

Poor Ginger & Kissy having to put up with this bully.
Unfortunately, I have no advice, but you have been given some great ideas from others.

I just want to wish you the best of luck with this terrible ordeal that you are going through.

I pray that it will be resolved very soon.

[AbbyMom]

I have a wild idea.... do Ginger and Kissy usually run from Dilly?

If so, you can build them a safe haven (an enclosed pen). You can put a cat door on it that opens only with an infrared signal from a special cat collar. You put these cat collars on Ginger and Kissy, so they can enter the haven and Ginger can't.

Or, in other words, they can come and go as they please.

They sell these collars at PetSmart --- just saw them this weekend.

Best of luck!

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

AbbyMom,

Ginger is still at the vet (don't even want to THINK what this is going to cost), but I put a break-away collar on Kissy today to see if she would tolerate it and she went CRAZY. I managed to corner her and take it off again, but I dont think they will take too well to collars'. Ginger is REALLY frisky and I don't even know if I could get a collar on him at all, and it would only work if the both had collars on.

K&L - I have two different feading areas set up as far as possible from each other - but it doesn't help :(