Expert: Ali - 6/10/2009

Question
We have two cats aged 14,both from the same litter, one male ,one female. They have never really got on. Over the past few years the male cat has spent more and more time out of the house, sometimes disappearing for a few days, but he would always come back. We found out that he has a tendency to visit other houses. He is well known in the neighbourhood and it became obvious, by the fact that he oftyen didn't come home that he was being fed elsewhere. Since last July, we have seen less of him than ever and we have noticed that he has become almost afraid of the female cat. We think that maybe in some way she is preventing him from coming into the house. She will sit near the door while he sits outside. He now will not come into the house at all. He doesn't look as well fed as he used to and we have had to put food outside for him practically on the pavement. If we are having a barbecue he will come into the garden quite happily. We would like to encourage him to come into the house again, as he seems to want to but is afraid,. If I pick him up and bring him in he can be quite vicious, biting and scrathcing. It is almost as thoug he doesn't yrust us anymopre. Allk we want is for him to realise that this is his home and he is welcome. Any ideas please?

Answer
Julie,

You may want to try borrowing a humane live trap from a rescue group or animal shelter, baiting it with something extra special like tuna, salmon or sardines and waiting out of sight for your male to walk into the trap. Once you've trapped your little guy you can place a heavy towel over the trap in order to minimize his stress at being caught. You'll need to bring your little man indoors and place him in a room of his own for at least 2-3 weeks. While your male kitty is isolated I'd suggest trying a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy to see if it helps his anxiety any. Rescue Remedy is a very safe remedy that I've been using for 10+ years and I've found it to be a very safe, effective way to help cats who are fearful, anxious or traumatized. I would suggest that you add 7-10 drops of Rescue Remedy to a fresh bowl of clean water for your male cat each morning, you may notice a surprising difference in his demeanor after several days. If the Rescue Remedy doesn't work you could try another Bach Flower essence called Mimulus - this is a remedy geared towards specific fears and anxiety where Rescue Remedy is a more general remedy that works well in many situations. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have your cats both in to see a holistic veterinarian - this is a vet trained in conventional medicine as well as one or more alternative therapies which may include homeopathy, acupuncture, massage or herbal medicine to name a few options. It's not a bad idea to have blood work and a physical exam performed on the male kitty since he hasn't been under your care much over the last while - you'll want to make sure there's no ill effects from his time away from home. My family vet is a holistic practitioner who uses homeopathy in her practice either instead of conventional medicine or in addition to it depending on what the situation dictates. I've seen some pretty amazing transformations with homeopathic remedies and in my opinion it's worthwhile trying them first to see what happens. In addition to bringing your little guy indoors it's probably a good idea to spend some time with him daily to get him more comfortable with you and other people in your family again. You can use the method that I use with abused/feral cats which is to come into the room, sit down without speaking, touching the cat or making eye contact with him and do something to distract you such as a crossword puzzle or reading a book. Over a relatively short period of non-confrontational time spent with this kitty I would expect him to start coming around and actually looking to be handled....If you'd like me to clarify anything in this answer or you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me again.