Cat aggression

[Frenchfries]

I have a 3 year old neutered tom cat.  We have been living in Singapore and returned to the UK last summer - we brought our cat back on the Passports for Pets scheme.  He is fully vaccinated and is a healthy cat.  Our problem is he is becoming increasingly aggressive.  He has always been 'feisty' but he is now regularly in fights with other cats in our area, and I have just received a phone call from a lady in our street saying that he is 'terrorising' her cat and her!  If he can, he goes into her house, sprays, attacks her cat and has attacked her, drawing blood.  I just don't know what to do, and why he is doing this.  We cannot keep him indoors as he is very much an outdoor cat and he will go crazy if he is shut in. Help!

[Morrisonker]

I don't think there is muc you can do, to be honest.  My mum and I had a neutered male cat for about 3 or 4 years and suddenly he changed into an aggessive monster.  He was an inside cat, so never got inot fights but he clawed my mum's foot twice, so badly she needed to get antibiotics to stop the swelling and he was constantly hissing and biting.

Take him to a vet and get him checked out, there's a chance the operation to neuter him didn't work 100%.  If he's being aggressive towards you or other people you may need to consider rehoming or having him put down. 

Hope you find the solution!

[natalie_1982]

My cat was also accused of being a bully, the woman over the road said that my cat not only harrasses her cats but also broke her cat flap (apparently he chased them and they ran so fast through the door the flap came off! - I'd loved to have seen it) but my cat is just a little boisterous.  Make sure he has plenty to do in the day, make a big fuss of him and play with him lots and lots (I'm not insinuating you're not, just maybe up the ante a bit) and he shouldn't need to be nasty to get attention.  He just wants to be loved!

Also, as mentioned before get him checked out by your vet, could also try cat nip I have never tried this but I have heard that it almost makes them stoned and very kitten like, it's an opium for cats (except it's safe and legal!) you can buy it from most rough neighbourhoods, hehe, I mean pet shops and it comes in food or toy form.  It might be worth a go though other people will know more than me havng tried it!

Hope that load of drivel made sense, it's Friday afternoon and I am very tired, apologies if it doesn't!

[Frenchfries]

Wow - thank you for the helpful advice and also understanding!  I am really upset about the whole situation and so it's good to know that I'm not on my own.  I will definitely get his neutering checked - that could be an issue.  Regarding how much territory he had in Singapore, he had loads - we lived in a very open area and had a big garden.  We are now in a London terraced house with a 'postage stamp' bit of concrete at the back.  This is obviously not ideal for him, but we do have another house in the country and we take him down there every other weekend where he has a lot of space.  As far as other cat friends he was friendly with our neighbour's cat.  The difference in weather is huge - Singapore is in the tropics - but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it and has been out in the snow alot recently!  We have cat nip in our garden in the country which he LOVES but he's not interested in the dried variety, or the spray.  But if anything it seems to make him more aggresive.  I do think we could pay him more attention - he's left on his own a bit more than before so maybe he's bored.  He has a ton of toys and I always leave the radio on when he's left on his own.  Does that feline pheramone spray calm cats down, as I'm thinking of getting some? I'm chucking balls round the room for him as I type this! Thank you again!

[LordyGeordie]

your cat's been through some major upheaval and is jsut trying to establsih himself in a new neighbour. once it's been established who's the top cat in the street it should settle down.

we once had a cat that lived down the road and kept coming into our garden and terrorising our cat. my mum kept a large jug of water by the door and when he came back she threw it over him. it did the trick and we never saw him again.

tell the lady down the road to do that next time your cat comes a-fighting. water pistols work as well

[Frenchfries]

Thank you ^.  I have spoken at length a few times with my neighbour now and I visited her house two days ago with a large bunch of flowers and a water pistol giving her full permission to cover our cat with water whenever he enters her garden.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.....