Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
We're being terrorised by a cat called Beowulf in Chesterfield Gardens - very handsome large, slightly fluffy black and white cat with name tag - does anyone know his owners??
For quite some weeks we've had a large, very handsome, obviously extremely well looked after, quite young black and white, slightly fluffy very very confident cat called Beowulf increasingly trying to take over my cats home.
I can see his name tag as he is so persistent in trying to get into my house and bangs on windows with his paws, sits in my garden watching us, staring through the glass backdoor, takes over the garden table and refuses to move off it even if someone goes outside .. he also hangs out on my windowsills - every back-facing room in the house and staring down for a good half hour at a time through the glass kitchen roof at us, climbs into the house the moment a window is left open for my cats to come in and out and he has beaten up/fought with my elderly black and white cat on a couple of occasions and reduced my small tortoiseshell (also late middle aged) female cat to shaking fear and spitting terror as when she is indoors he is constantly staring at her through windows from a few inches away. I'm having to keep my cats in or only let them out when I'm with them to keep an eye on them as he is so bold and persistent and nothing puts him off and he will box them into corners which leads to spitting fights if they try to get around him to come in.
Even turning a large water pistol on him doesn't seem to do much to put him off or make him back off more than a few feet - but he has now gone for me twice in my own home drawing blood - once leaping up and biting me very hard when I tried to shoo him away from lying across our back door blocking us coming in and out (hand swollen for several days and drew blood but I wondered if I'd scared him so decided it was a one off) and now (a couple of days ago) leaping up and putting his claws hard into my legs - one each side drawing blood through tights on both legs - when I tried to shoo him out of the back door when found him in the kitchen - I had to get him out by using a cushion as a shield to stop him going for me again as he kept on growling at me as I flapped a tea-towel to point him towards the back door and reach over him to get it open so he could go out as he had apparently climbed in the upstairs bathroom window and marched boldly down the stairs into the kitchen before he saw me and my cats were hiding on the stairs watching him through the banisters looking scared...
He is back again this afternoon - presumably stays away when his people are home but often around in the later evenings too - and my cats are really freaked out. Even I don't want to go out in the garden to try to shoo him away in case he bites me or claws me again - he is pretty big...
Not only are my cats freaked out by him - and having panting anxiety attacks when he is trying to break in but I'm nervous of him now. Don't know what his owners can do - any recommendations from vets out there?? but please help or can his people get in touch with me by DM to try to discuss solutions and avoid hospital visits for me if bitten again or vets visits for us as drawn blood on my black and white neutered tom on a couple of occasions I've witnessed now - as my cats are now in a state of real anxiety about him and so increasingly am I...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Emma on
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Sounds like a real pain, I wonder if he is nutered?
Feliway is good for aggressive cats and for terrified cats. Worth a try
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Permalink Reply by kotkas on
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Sounds like a complete nightmare. Sorry to hear that. Sounds like the bastard is long overdue a close encounter with the sole of a reasonably heavy shoe. You must face him with no apprehension - animals sense this and you must demonstrate alpha behaviour or else he will troll continually. I do love cats but hate picking up their shit from our garden and know from experience that with well-timed hostility you can get rid of him in a matter of days.
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Permalink Reply by vaneska on
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My first thought also was that he is likely un-neutered. I wish there were laws about the neutering of male cats - they cause so much distress and damage - to themselves as much as to others.
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We're also on the gardens and that cat sounds familiar! There's also a bengal cross that hangs around our garden and has been known to pop in for an extra dinner. That said, our cats can also be a bit pest-y (but in a nice way) according to the neighbors.
As far as I can see, you've got a couple of options - I don't think it's realistic to expect any particular action from the owners. The first would be to get rid of the cat flap and keep yours as indoor cats - I'm personally not a fan but lots of people do it, with apparently no ill effects.
The second is to get a microchip cat flap- we got one called the "Sureflap microchip cat flap" which was easy to set up and works on your cat's existing chips (so no collars etc). It's not cheap, but this has worked really well for us since we installed it a few weeks ago.
Good luck with whatever you decide as it sounds like a bit of a nightmare.
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Permalink Reply by tulips on
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Poor you! When this happens, it is stressful! You’re doing the right thing by trying to speak to the owner. The cat’s behaviour indicates that he may not be neutered. So if you can help the cat/contact owner, this will in turn help your cats and reduce vet bills. (If you are able to get him in a confined area, you can check his bottom to see if not neutered, maybe there is a tel number on collar or you could try to put a note on collar asking owner to call you, or get him scanned by a vet to see if microchipped). If none of that is possible, try to get a close up photo of him and post on here as a neighbour who lives near him might recognise him from photo. Plus try putting flyers in your road and also the road with gardens backing on to your garden.
If you find the owner, then you’ll be able to ask if he’s neutered. If not neutered, it’s vital for them to get it done. It’s such an easy procedure and as you know, is not only good for the health of the cat, but also helps to prevent cat fight injuries, kittens etc. Their vet will also be able to check if the cat has residual fight injuries or anything else which might be causing him pain and affecting his behaviour, or sore teeth, and a claw trim is useful and hope he's microchipped. Another thing to ask the owner is does he have a catflap - as that’s important too. If he is already neutered, but doesn’t have a catflap, he’s more likely to wander if he can’t get into his own home when he wants for food and shelter. Rescue places also advise keeping cats inside at night. If he is neutered, health checked and has a catflap, and is inside at night, this should all help to get his routine more based around his own home and garden. If all of the above is already fine or sorted, his routine will gradually change if he can no longer get into your home and access food. Hopefully he has a catflap in his own home and easy access to his own food and bed, and if he can’t get into your home, peace will be restored. (Also if he also has some extra relax stuff products mentioned below in his own home, that helps to change his routine back to his own home).
For your home - you and your cats have been having a hard time! First thing is to make them feel safe in their own home - they will only feel that if they know that Beowulf or other cats can’t get inside. It’s good advice to get a Sureflap microchip catflap fitted so that only your cats can get in and out. Catflapman can fit one. It’s also a good idea to keep cats inside at night as more trouble happens at night. As you know, cats enjoy going in and out when they want during the day to their nice back garden, and the right catflap will let your own cats enter, but not other cats. Our rescue cats are microchipped and neutered and our old catflap works by magnets and collars, but the Sureflap microchip catflap means you don’t have to bother with magnets etc as it’s activated by your cats’ microchip, so is better. I haven’t changed mine yet, but will if my catflap ever breaks. Other things to help your cats relax, after all this stress, are Yeowww catnip bananas, Feliway Friends and Snugglesafe heat pads.
It’s all guesswork at this point and hopefully you’ll hear from someone and find out more. It’s the holiday season, so maybe owners are away at the moment. It’s good that he has a home and is well looked after as there are also stray unneutered cats needing help. Good luck and hope things improve for you and your cats before there are any more injuries/stress! Beowulf sounds like a character and he has an impressive name!
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Hi everyone and thanks for the comments/suggestions - I'm replying to everyone in one go as had a number of responses for which many thanks.
I must admit hadn't even thought to check if he was neutered (Vaneska, Emma and Justine) as something we've always done - and my parents before me - automatically when cats get to a certain age so that might indeed be an issue and if his people see/hear about this chain of messages might want to get him done if he's not been neutered yet. Also thanks Justine for suggestion about picture/notices etc to attract their attention...I've not got near enough his nether parts to check his status yet -and to be honest wouldn't want to try to get him into a corner or confined space really to try to check in case he goes for me again as he is very fast and hurts a lot when bites/claws me!
That said I don't want to give the impression Beowulf is a deliberately vicious cat - we've decided (family think the same) that he is just totally unused to not being able to do whatever he wants and lashes out like an angry toddler if someone tries to stop him - so if he wants to bang on windows, or come into the house, or back my cats into a corner and stare at them he seems to think he has the right and fights/violence break out when one of them tries to get past him, or I try to get him to move - otherwise he will simply sit and watch and stare, or parade through the house quite happily not going for anyone until we try to stop him doing what he feels he has an absolute right to do... it's all most odd..
We have also wondered if he might be lonely the way he is always staring at us and watching and trying to get in, and I've actually been worried about him being out at night (for all the reasons you mention Justine, as ours are always in after dark but he is sometimes out on the glass kitchen roof about 10 pm which we're alerted to by our cats crying and yowling as he sits on the table or roof watching us indoors or tapping on the glass to get their/my attention). So Justine thanks for these suggestions re speaking to his owners about how he can get into his own house/feel more comfortable there as it might indeed be that he is locked out at certain times..
Meanwhile for everyone who suggested catflaps etc - we've double glazed glass doors so don't have a catflat at present, as neither will tolerate collars and didn't want to have a open access catflap cut in the door any cat could use. As such they get in and out of the small upstairs bathroom window - which they can easily guard against intruders if not too intimidated, and which is too high for a fox to attempt to get in, too small + over the glass roof so doesn't allow access to burglars or alternatively through an an open ground back window/or the door when one of us in the house. However now we know it's possible to get a catflat which opens with their microchips will definitely look into it. One problem is that Beowulf has consistently blocked their way back into the house via the door - and until very recently he didn't like walking over the glass roof which allowed them safe passage through the bathroom window- but if he lies in front of the door we're going to have the same problem ven with a catflap until he can be 'convinced' to stay away....
Maybe I'm soft by Kotkas but despite my frustration/upset I really couldn't for one moment remotely contemplating hurting him but I do wish the pump action star-wars type water pistol - which we bought to chase off the Bengal type cat mentioned in Amit's post - the other year - with success - would work on Beowulf!! If I spray him with it (obviously avoiding his eyes/face so don't hurt him), he just jumps back a bit then stops and watches us.. however your point about not being scared of him and exhibiting alpha behaviours is worth a try but I'm decidedly nervous of him ow and staring him out doesn't seem to work as he can stare at me unblinkingly longer than I can him(!)
Thanks for suggestion Emma / Justine of Feliway, heat pads, catnip bananas etc. to try to calm mine. Our rather spoilt cats already have warm heated blankets/sleep next to radiators in their beds etc and catnip toys of various types, but the feliway is definitely worth trying as they are really quite anxious about him and now won't go into the garden unless I'm with them and then stay very close to me - although we've not seen him today - adding weight to our thoughts that when his people are in he stays close to them...
Amit - thanks for suggestions - I agree couldn't contemplate keeping them as house cats as they've had ten years of going out in the garden and in the summer are outside most of the day sleeping on the compost bin, table or sunny pathway, although thankfully not out much anyway at this time of year so life not overly curtailed in the drizzle and cold... in fact usually only our tom has been bothered about going over the fence for a stroll or to sit on shed roofs, and he only tends to go a couple of doors up and down whilst his sister (also spayed) doesn't leave the garden at all usually, so their being limited in access to their own garden is/will be pretty serious as is the being 'trolled'/stalked - great use of term thanks Kotkas I hadn't thought of that useage but very apt!.. in terms of peace of mind and enjoyment of their space..
Meanwhile I'll work on these suggestions and hopefully his people will see/hear about these messages and think actively about neutering etc if he isn't done and/or encouraging him to stay at home more by changing routine or inserting a catflap etc. if he can't get in on his own, or doesn't have a companion and is simply looking for friends but doesn't know how to play nicely...
Happy New Year everyone to you and your respective cats..
Margaret
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What a horrible suggestion - hopefully a bad joke - I'd rather be bitten and scratched daily than see a firework thrown at any animal .. but thanks for suggestion re recording of barking although I think would also scare mine.... hopefully nobody thinks the firework idea is a genuinely sensible idea!
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Permalink Reply by Tessa on
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I’d be really interested to know which Star Wars type water pistol you have and where you got it - we have a similar situation but far less extreme and more intermittent than yours. I sympathise!
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Beowulf is actually the leader of a group of cats that play a game of hiding a pink cat bowl in a house and then one of them has to get it back. I wonder if perhaps you might have thrown it out, wondering where it came from. I suggest buying a pink cat plastic cat bowl, perhaps chewing it a bit for effect and leaving it outside your back door.
You wouldn't believe how seriously these cats take their game.
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hhhmmm yes.... I'm now very embarrassed at starting this thread and hope his people (and Beowulf) aren't completely mortified by my public shaming of him as we've not seen him for a couple of days now and I wonder if his highly embarrassed people are keeping him in and hiding under the duvet (or under the pink catbowl...). If he just played nicely and wasn't so intimidating.. we wouldn't mind him visiting and sitting around at all! Happy New Year everyone
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Margaret - you shouldn't be embarrassed. In the nearly 12 years I've lived in Crouch End I've probably spent around £1500 at the vet just on injuries to my cats caused by aggressive un-neutered toms, including £170 just before Xmas right now. It is a good thing to report behaviour that causes your household unreasonable stress.
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