Hello fellow redditors and pet lovers,
So, it is currently 1am as I type this and I have to be up at 5:30am for work, so why do you ask am I up? Because I have been woken up again by my cat, screaming like a banshee and attacking the glass in an attempt to “battle off” a feral cat that has been antagonizing him for a few weeks now. I’m looking for advice on how to safely get rid of the nightly visits from his enemy number one.
For context, I live on the second floor of a rented apartment complex in the master bedroom. In the master bedroom is a large sliding glass door that leads on to a private balcony. The glass door is floor to ceiling, and my cat can easily get behind the blinds and curtains for some pretty sweet bird watching...and stray cat watching.
For the past few weeks, there has been the same feral cat visiting our balcony. At first, it was every once in a while and he’d stay far enough away that my cat would do some tough guy growls and hissing, but leave it at that. Lately however, the stray cat has been getting more confident and creeping closer to the glass which has quickly escalated my cat to a rage where he is screaming bloody murder and attacking the glass. Nightly. Seriously, it’s so loud I’m worried my downstairs neighbor probably thinks I’m being murdered in my sleep or into some very very kinky things.
Here lies the problem, shooting the cat away nightly does nothing, he still shows up the next night. However, I am also unable to catch the cat before it runs away. I’ve considered plying it with treats and food in order to catch it and bring it to a no kill animal shelter in my city (Atlanta), however ultimately I do not want to do this as it will reinforce the idea that I am rewarding it for coming here and I think it would cause more stress to my cat as I do not believe I would be able to gain its trust enough to catch it within one night thus continuing the cycle.
Leaving my cat out of the bedroom is also a no go as well, we’ve slept together nightly for 10 years and I do not want to punish him for doing what he feels is “protecting and guarding” his territory and possessions (aka me). Plus, I need those cat cuddles ya feel? Also, there is a second balcony door off the sunroom that he would then also have access to.
One thing I was considering is using my own cat’s urine as a deterrent? I use the breeze litter box system. I was thinking I could remove the pee pad from the tray and collect enough urine to sprinkle it over the balcony (made of wood) in order to use my cats pheromones to deter the stray cat from making my balcony a nightly sleep/play zone?
I don’t know how affective this would be, and as I am renting an apartment not sure what other actions I could take. If anyone has any suggestions I would be extremely appreciative! I am at my wits end!
Tl;dr: stray cat keeps visiting my (rented) apartment balcony in the night and terrorizing my indoor cat. Asking for advice on how to shoo the cat away from using said balcony as a hang out spot in order to stop the nightly cat fights and sleepless nights.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/apdg04/feral_cat_driving_my_cat_and_myself_crazy/
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