Expert: Ali - 10/22/2008

Question
My situation is that the bully cat next door lives outside, so my cat now has to be an indoor cat, after ten years of being indoor/outdoor.  So, my cat is spraying in my house in rx to being kept in and the other cat coming on our property.  if i let my cat out at all, horrible fights with injury happen.  the neighbors will not bring their cat in, since he sprays..he lives outside all the time.  this has been going on for over a year..it is changed my lifestyle, cost a few thousand in carpet closet repair from spraying, and many scratches, even bites(lesson learned) from trying to rescue my cat.  my cat has even lost his small front teeth, in the fights..etc.  this bully is about 20 pounds, and a pure people lover cat.  he has huge front teeth..my cat has had his eye lids ripped..

i just purchased an outdoor enclosure so my cat can have some safe, sunshine, earth time each day.  at night i started keeping him in our bedroom, so he cannot spray on the front doors, etc. when he see the cat taunting him outside at night..

please advise anything i can learn to live a more easeful life with a bully cat right next door that runs free all the time..

i have been using bach flowers, calms forte(for children, homeopathy, 1/4 of a tablet, and a little catnip in his food, to try and calm him down at night.

thank you..

Answer
Kai,

I am assuming that you have made the other cat's human caregivers aware of the seriousness of the situation. Given that informing the neighbors of the damage that their cat has done to yours seems not to have gotten the message across I have a couple of suggestions. I would recommend that you consider speaking to animal control or the humane law enforcement in your area. If the neighbors aren't willing to neuter their cat and he is allowed to attack other neighborhood cats (I'm sure that your cat isn't the only one to have suffered at the paws of this kitty) without being kept under appropriate care and control it's possible that the human caregivers can be fined for not keeping their pet under control. I would strongly suggest that you speak with the humane law enforcement officials in your area in person so that you can bring along copies of the vet bills and maybe even a letter from your vet stating that the neighbor's cat has injured your cat on a number of occasions. Failing that I'm sure that there are legal avenues that you can pursue as pet parents are being held accountable for their pet's actions far more often today than ever before.

I would also suggest that if your cat hasn't been neutered that you have your vet perform this routine surgery. Spaying and neutering tends to have several medical and behavioral benefits. For instance pets that have been spayed or neutered are far less likely to use urine and feces to mark their territory, wander, fight, or howl and caterwaul to advertise their availability to mate. Medical benefits resulting from surgically sterilizing house pets include the cat not requiring medical treatment for abscesses and other injuries sustained during a fight, prevention of a painful and relatively common infection of the mammary glands called mastitis a decreased risk of cancer of the mammary glands, prevention of a life threatening uterine infection called pyometra (the only cure is to spay the cat ASAP and there is a risk that the pus filled uterus may rupture and spread pus throughout the abdomen which would ultimately mean that the cat would have a very poor chance of survival), cancer of the ovaries, testicles, uterus, and prostate.

Many pet parents are concerned for one reason or another about the potential for serious complications or risks associated with anesthetics, as well as the actual surgery. Veterinary medicine has made some key advancements over the last several years. Spaying or neutering a pet is a routine procedure that is generally fairly low risk. As with human beings there is always a small chance that something could go wrong under anesthesia, although my vet reassures me that it's pretty rare and usually attributable to some sort of defect that wasn't apparent upon physical exam. In most vet clinics the cat is first sedated with an injectable anesthetic, a special tube is inserted into the airway, just the same as it is in human patience (obviously a far smaller tube though), then a technician prepares the appropriate surgical site. Once the cat's surgery site is shaved and washed with iodine to kill any germs that might be on the skin he or she is placed on the operating table and his or her endotracheal tube is connected to the anesthetic machine. An experienced veterinary technician monitors the rate of anesthetic as well as the cat's vital signs like breathing and heart rate. The vet performs the actual surgery.

In male cats this involves a tiny incision into the scrotum and the testicles are removed. For female cats an incision is made in the abdomen, the vet will locate the uterine horns and ovaries and remove them. After the uterus and ovaries are removed the layers of skin and muscle are stitched back together. Some veterinarians use a tissue glue for the skin while others bury dissolvable sutures so that the cat can't lick or pick at the stitches and cause the wound to reopen. It has been my experience that most male cats don't realize that there is anything missing and because the vet tech usually administers a long acting pain medication either just prior to or shortly after the surgery there is a minimum of discomfort. In the male cats that I have had neutered, although the vet generally recommends that you keep the cat calm and quiet for a couple of days most cats ignore that, after all they don't read their hospital discharge sheets...The female cats that I've had spayed generally don't seem to be in any pain - the exception to this was a cat that required a substantial abdominal hernia (a birth defect that showed up as a hole in the abdominal wall that the intestines and other organs can fall into and cause serious medical complications or even death)to be repaired at the same time as she was spayed. In this case the hernia was extremely large - about 1/3 of the belly was affected. Under normal circumstances the female cats may be a bit tired after the surgery, they may even show some interest in tugging on their stitches if the vet's practice is to suture the final layer of skin closed with sutures that must be removed. The vast majority of the female cats that I have had spayed are generally more than ready for a snack and some cuddles. In the case of my youngest resident cat she was ready to play and a little unsteady on her feet, but otherwise absolutely fine...the only clue that she had been spayed beyond the tiny incision was the fact that she had a portion of bald belly....

Many people are concerned about surgical sterilization being unnatural. Sadly these same people forget about the countless healthy cats and kittens euthanized in shelter systems each year, simply because there just aren't enough homes, space or resources to keep them indefinitely until the right forever family comes along. In the case of intact cats that aren't allowed outside they can become quite anxious and frustrated because they aren't being allowed to do what they are hard wired to do - mate and reproduce. I wish wholeheartedly that every pet was born into a loving forever home, however this just isn't the case. Spaying and neutering saves so many lives and it helps to reduce serious health problems that occur quite commonly in pets that haven't been sterilized. Choosing to spay and neuter your pet is a kind and responsible choice, many animal shelters, cities and rescue organizations offer low/no cost spay/neuter services so that the hard working animal lovers at the shelter aren't forced to make heartbreaking life and death decisions...

If your cat is already neutered and you have spoken with your local humane law enforcement officials then you have a few other options to consider. You could try training your cat to accept a harness and leash and only allow him outside under your supervision while you have a spray bottle or the garden hose close by in case a fight breaks out. A holistic vet may be able to offer ideas that you may not be aware of in terms of non-pharmaceutical treatments. Holistic vets have been trained in conventional medicine as well as one or more alternative therapies such as homeopathy, acupuncture, or massage. A conventional vet can offer anti-anxiety/anti-depressant drugs although I urge you to consider this treatment as a last resort. Many of the medications commonly given to cats to treat anxiety or depression are actually small doses of powerful psychotropic drugs used to treat anxiety and depression in people. The use of these drugs isn't without risk or side effects so I urge to do your own thorough research if you are at this point prior to making the final decision. An animal behaviorist can also offer some great tips which will hopefully change your cat's behavior. Certified animal behaviorists often have university degrees in psychology and behavior as well as veterinary behaviorists. I would suggest that you shop around prior to agreeing to any drug treatment or behavioral programs, you can do research online or by speaking to a vet that you trust and getting a referral from him/her. A good animal behaviorist usually works closely with the cat's veterinarian to work through modifying behavior and ruling out medical issues along the way.