Expert: Karen Craft - 8/7/2008

Question
My cat bob and his brother jack are soft loveable and over friendly cats, they never fight with each other, they are brothers and we have had them from kittens.

We moved house 2 years ago and up until last month there were no problems. there has been one cat in the village prior to ours and they get on well with it. (10 houses vast country and forestry)about a month ago i heard an almighty racket outside and my cat bob was getting a right kicking by 3 cats i have witnessed this and shooed them away a few times, one of them looked feral and the others had collars. so far bob has had surgery on his eye due to a deep cut, stitches on his tummy and elbow all because he cant fend off three of them. when he runs in the cat flat he doesn't hide he stands there hissing at them from the other side of the door. because its an infrared collar it unlocks the cat flap, the three cats get inside and the fighting starts all over. I have asked the villagers if these cats belong to them and no one has come forward. besides shooting them as thats not an option how can i stop this. Its not fair on bob, he never wonders far, he doesn't even get upset with dogs. he may even be too timid but his territory is his.  

the feral cat has also attacked jack but not in a pack like when they go for bob. if i could catch the feral cat, would dropping it off miles away from anywhere stop this or is that cruel. (its feral, it has matted hair, a cloudy right eye, smells terrible and is big)

Answer
Hi Kevin,

There is only one answer for this problem. Whether you want to do it or not is up to you. But I would highly recommend it. Keep Bob and Jack in the house. Cats do not need to go out. And as you see, they can get really hurt bad. The next time they get out they can be killed. You as a responsible pet owner need to take care of them. I have 11 cats now and they all stay in. If you really want them out then build them a cat enclosure. The web has a lot of different sites that will show you what to do.

They will try to get out in the beginning but will settle down in a bit.  It will not hurt them to stay inside. You are taking a lot of variables out of their lives that can cause them great harm. You will be extending their lives. I hope you make the right decision for them. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen