Leo the Cat - Hindmans Road

[Gloves]

Dear all, I am looking for some advice regarding our cat.

His name is Leo, he is a stripy brown short haired tabby, that used to, until recently sport an orange collar (it fell off)???.

We rescued Leo about two and a half years ago when he was just a kitten and he thrived living in our house and exploring all that Hindmans Road and the surrounding areas had to offer. He used our cat flap and slept in his bed each night.

He ate well and enjoyed stroking and spending some (albeit limited) interacting?????.

He is a healthy cat, is chipped, de-manned and fully vaccinated.

When we had our daughter, he started to come home less and spend more than a couple of days out of the house, only returning for food and treats, with less stroking.

This was still fine, as he had use of the cat flap.

Then???..we had some building works and he has stopped living with us full time and now is living rough on Hindmans Road.

The cat flap went and we used to let him at night and let him out?..

I see him from time to time and when I can I feed him and give him some strokes, sadly he will not come home and doesn?t really like to be held??.

He looks healthy and I understand from neighbours (2 that I know of??.) that they feed him.

This seemed okay. Especially with the warm weather we have been having, however now with the winter months approaching I am concerned where he will sleep, what he will eat and what if he decides never to come home?

Thoughts?

[Jules-and-Boo]

You know cats will do what they want.

We had a tom who decided he didn't want to live with girls so he moved out and lived feral. He was quite happy, I'm sure but we weren't.

He took a fancy to a neighbour and started going to his house. On day, he was shut in, taken to the vets, given the snip and now lives happily ever after with Tim and his cats.

We didn't like the idea of him fathering lots of litters when there are so many stray cats already.

Male cats roam when they are unneutered.

So, either do the same, or leave him to do his thing....

[Gloves]

I forgot to add, I have s/w Celia Hammond and there advise is for people to stop feeding him and as it gets colder, he will come home.

Anyone have any other advice or experiences ?

[Gaynor Hill]

Hi

Leo has had a lot of upset in his mind cats do not like change much I would go and get him give him lots of love get him some catnip it relaxes them you can also get plug in things to calm them from vets and keep him in for a few days I would never leave a cat out at night either

As soon as he knows he's well off with you like should be fine but do not let him live rough

Best of luck

[Gloves]

Leo is de-manned / neutered.

[Jules-and-Boo]

oh, in that case, I agree with Gaynor

[IlonaM]

Leo has had two major events in his life recently and also has lost easy access and exit from your home with the removal of the cat flap. Is there a way of restoring the cat flap so that he is free to come back in when and if he wants to? He might be returning home, but has no way to enter at times when you are not there/awake to let him in.

Also, can you make your home more cat-friendly post baby, so that he has places to retreat to when he needs to? I remember hearing a cat behaviorist talking about her preparations before the arrival of a baby which included creating some cat-friendly high perches so that her cats could retreat when they felt the need. She also was preparing the cats to new sounds of babies crying etc.

I hope you and Leo reach a happy outcome soon, but it might take some patience and a step by step approach.In the meantime keep persevering.

[yard]

It's cruel to put a cat out at night unless it has a covered place to go to. My advice would be to pick him up, take him back to your house and keep him in for at least a week. One good tip is to smear butter on his paws, he will lick it off and in the process this will remove all trace of where he has been when roaming, he will take on the smell of your house, all over again and this should keep him with you. Good luck.

[Mystic Mog]

Have you taken him to the vet to check there's not an underlying cause? Definitely put a cat flap back. I hope you manage to settle him back in, it's a hard life for cats on the street.

[Gloves]

Thank you for your advice.

I disagree that it is cruel to put a cat out at night.

Leo sleeps all day and parties all night. He screams if you keep him in.....

Cat flap is going back in, next week, so I will grab him, feed him catnip (he has his own plant!) and then butter up his paws.....

Fingers crossed and thank you for all the good advice.

[Siduhe]

Feliway diffusers can also help when you move him back in and try to keep him in. Not cheap but worked well when we resettled our two.

[Mystic Mog]

Really hope things work out for you and Leo, please keep us posted.☺

[singalto]

Feliway plug in might help if he is stressed..

[P.O.U.S.theWonderCat]

Agree on the above (new catflap, speaking to people feeding him, Feliway). Lots lots lots more attention when you do see him too. Cats are incredibly sensitive to life changes (one of ours took over a year to recover from a move) and he sounds as though more work is needed to reinforce the bonds between you too.

Cats are crepuscular rather than nocturnal, so why he may appear to be more active during the whole night to you, you are actually cutting him off from his territory by not allowing him access in at night. A cat would read this as being pushed out.

[mancity68]

Similar thing happened to a cat I used to have. He ended up choosing to live round the corner with a woman who thought he was the reincarnation if her recently deceased dog. It was spooky. My cat had identical markings to her dead dog and , apparently, used to like sleeping in same places and so on. Very weird. he really wouldn't come home to me, the new owner loved him and so I gave them my blessing....

[siousxiesue]

Gloves Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I forgot to add, I have s/w Celia Hammond and

> there advise is for people to stop feeding him and

> as it gets colder, he will come home.

>

> Anyone have any other advice or experiences ?

Do you have a garden? My mum regularly is adopted by cats (Won't call them strays) who live a life of riley in her lean-to. Bedding and warmth provided, and food/treats but not in the house. They had one for years who passed last winter.

[Jenny1]

When you butter his paws do make sure to do the tops, not the pads. My Mum made that mistake once and we ended up with three cats skating round the kitchen floor.

[jaywalker]

if you have a small suitcase open it and put a towel in bottom (I also have rubber foam under towel), then put the suitcase under the bed so that it is dark (ensure bed cover down to floor). after butter treatment (as described above) show cat his new safe retreat. (wash towel every week).

i'd also just carry him home and keep him in a few days. Worth giving him a special meal on return: e.g. m & s wafer thin turkey cut up and some crab (m & s usually have some half-price near its sell by date). b t w I found that m & s human tuna in spring water is a third of the price of Sainsbury's tuna steak for cats!

vary his food by giving him webbox treats.

the best catnip is Kong naturals (on amazon) - pretty much class A drug for cats (about 20% of cats refuse to become druggies though).

be sure to get a catflap that only lets your cat in (via chip).

[Jules-and-Boo]

why on earth would you put butter on the tops of their feet - the idea is they can smell their way back home...???

Also - get cat micro-chipped

[Jenny1]

The idea is that you butter their paws in the house (usually a new house after you've moved home - therefore a house in which the cats don't feel they 'belong'). They - being fastidious - immediately sit down to carefully lick the butter off. This takes some effort and time and is distracting. The act of washing themselves is calming and makes them feel 'at home' once more. It's a time honoured method.

[P.O.U.S.theWonderCat]

What Jenny said. Most vets do not recommend it.

Feliway has just released a new diffuser called Feliway Friends which is supposed to release similar scents to the pheromones queens produce btw.

[Zarazara]

Any updates on your cat gloves? We have a similar problem with our cat Bootsie - no idea where he goes at night (lots of roaming space around us and cat friendly neighbours), hoping it finds a nice warm spot or just parties all night, but it worries me! Was wondering about putting a note on his collar in case he's visiting other houses (read this online - think via cats protection league)Might be worth a try?

[Delainie]

Agree with advice from IlonaM, and Celia hammonds. Put cat flap back, make sure Leo has somewhere high and quiet to retreat to. Get him checked at vets as sometimes if cats feel unwell, they move house. I would bring him home and keep him in and give him as much attention as you can, I certainly don't agree to cats being out at night, they are more likely to get run over or worse still, taken by nasty people who take them as bait for dog fighting and keeping in mind that the sick person is still taking cats at night time. The so called Croydon cat killer, it isn't just Croydon, check it out on snarl Facebook page. I really hope you get it sorted out as it must be horrible for you and Leo. Keep us updated. Good luck.

[jaywalker]

I forgot to mention warmth. This is a real issue with cats (they are descendants of desert cats, hence the Cheshire weird orange look of some). You can tell exactly when they have 1 degree warmth too much because they ruffle their fur like opening a ventilation window.

On this basis, the optimum temperature for my cat is 21.5C. This does raise a problem: after a Spartan boarding school youth (cold showers, no curtains or carpets, the lot) my optimum temp is 18.5C (if I want to sleep). So we sleep in different rooms ...

[Gloves]

Leo update.

So, Leo the Cat has clearly found some new digs.

I see him almost daily and he has no interest in coming over for a stroke or a headbutt.

He pops into our garden once of twice a week, where we feed him treats or a full (3 course) meal. He has no interest in coming into our house, despite the underfloor heating (bragging!)...........

He looks chubby and healthy, so in view of Celia Hammonds..........I am inclined to let this continue!

There doesn't seem much point in getting him re-homed or captured?

He is chipped to me, so if he needs medical help, I will sort that............

Not sure what else to do?

all the best,

James.