Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Pets without Feathers => Topic started by: tode on November 20, 2009, 10:46
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I bought a catflap a while ago, but haven't installed it 'cos Iit occurred to me that if our cats can come in and out, so could all the toms of the neighbourhood.
Has anyone had the problem of uninvited guests ?
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Yes! A wandering ginger tom comes by every few months and nicks our cats food! Occasionally either he or one of our neutered ones will spray at the same time. Fortuneately never got past the porch :D
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Can you not get magnetic ??? or some such other type of collar to put on your cat/s to stop others using the flap?
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I used to find next door's cat asleep on my bed! The magnetic things work but they come off the collar quite easily and are expensive to replace.
My friend had an unprotected cat flap and he came home one day to find his quite fierce ex-feral ginger tom in a bit of distress. There was blood inside the cat flap and a trail of blood leading over the back wall. He concluded that someone had tried to put their hand in to open the back door and had encountered big ginger.
His cat recovered after consuming a huge meal - meat and veg, he didn't like cat food.
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We did acquire a stray like that :D- woke up to find a cat I didnt know asleep on my feet. He stayed with us to the end of his days. :happy:
The neighbour's (put the cat out at night people) soppy soft tabby used to slip in and under the sofa on wet nights. He just wanted somewhere dry to sleep. Provided our tabby didn't see him, he was fine. If she did, she threw him out. The other two were cool about it - he couldnt have been a threat if he tried.
But mostly no trouble with other cats and an open flap - the residents make it clear who's territory it is. More trouble when the kittens started keeping each other out/in! That got noisy!! :ohmy: :ohmy:
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We've never had problems with magnetic ones. I think it depends on your cats. Some seem to loose a collar a week where as ours always wore them out until they needed replacing. If you don't fancy magnetic then you can get ones keyed to your cats microchip (presuming you have your cats chipped).
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Our old cat seemed to know the whereabouts of every cat flap in the village. He was variously accused of licking a Sunday joint and terrifying a pair of rather nervous cats into incontinence in their own home. He certainly had a major fight with next door's cat in his own kitchen, which ended with both cats shooting out of the cat flap, demolishing it as they went.
However he was a great character and nobody stayed cross with him for long.
We first met him early one morning when he came into our bedroom through a rooflight. When his owners moved away he came back to us, through deep snow, and we were delighted when nobody came to claim him.
Cheers,
Gillie
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Ahhh ... our old lady did try to bring the remains of someone else's sunday joint in thro' the cat flap. Think she had got it from an open window .... No-one claimed that either!! :D
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Thanks for all the advice. Still not sure if I should install it or not.
Bad enough with toms marking the windows and doors (outside), but certainly don't want em inside. :ohmy:
It doesn't help when our siamese is on heat, either: I'm sure all the toms in a five-mile radius can hear her ! ::)
Oh, well . . . ..
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Do you need to keep the Siamese intact, tode? Do you breed from her?
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We used to do pedigree seal points, but gave it up (cost us too much money :ohmy: ).
I'd like to let her have one or two litters, if we can find a suitably handsome male who's not busy on a Saturday evening.
We had some lovely kittens with our first cat ( "accidents", although I'm sure she did it on purpose :D ).
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I'd like to let her have one or two litters, if we can find a suitably handsome male who's not busy on a Saturday evening.
:D
I understand that. We wanted to let our pretty little girl (dog) have some pups before she had her op. (just recently), but we decided against the idea being practical ::) and now she is without .
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We did acquire a stray like that :D- woke up to find a cat I didnt know asleep on my feet. He stayed with us to the end of his days. :happy:
The neighbour's (put the cat out at night people) soppy soft tabby used to slip in and under the sofa on wet nights. He just wanted somewhere dry to sleep. Provided our tabby didn't see him, he was fine. If she did, she threw him out. The other two were cool about it - he couldnt have been a threat if he tried.
But mostly no trouble with other cats and an open flap - the residents make it clear who's territory it is. More trouble when the kittens started keeping each other out/in! That got noisy!! :ohmy: :ohmy:
We got Bear that way too...He was left behind by these dreadful people who lived nearby when they moved... :mad:
He came to live with us until he died last year.. I still miss him now :(
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Aww, Bear what a lovely name! Are there any pics of him around here anywhere?
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Here he is..The people who left him had called him fluffy.. :mad: He was a huge ginger boy he needed an appropriate name...
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z81/weird_jacques/101-0111_IMG.jpg
We'd only had him three years ( he was about 14/ 15 when he died the vet reckons) He got Lymphoma, we treated him as best we could.
I took him in for Chemo every monday and he always purred no matter what they did to him.. :(
He loved us so much he followed where ever we went in the house and would tell us off for leaving him when we came in from being out :lol:
I'm filling up about him now, it still breaks my heart , but hey that's life... ::)
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he looked lovely (how can you call a handsome chap like that Fluffy?) and at least he had a caring home with you for his last few years, leaving you with lots of lovely memories to treasure :)
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Oh Snippy, I'm sorry to make you fill up :(, but what a handsome chap! :) Certainly not a Fluffy :dry:. Thanks for the picture.
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Oh Snippy he was absolutely gorgeous!!!
He sounded a most delightful chap to have known ;)
I hope when I get my ginger boy (shhhh - it's a secret! ;)) he's just as lovely as Bear (and that is a great name :))
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Beautiful, but I just love ginger boys! :D
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Oh Snippy, I'm sorry to make you fill up :(, but what a handsome chap! :) Certainly not a Fluffy :dry:. Thanks for the picture.
Oh don't be sorry... ;) I'm just soft.. ::)
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Oh Snippy, I'm sorry to make you fill up :(, but what a handsome chap! :) Certainly not a Fluffy :dry:. Thanks for the picture.
Oh don't be sorry... ;) I'm just soft.. ::)
So am I, it made me fill up a bit too.. :blush:
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I think there are quite a few of us softies here actually... :D
Snappy - for me my ginger boys have had the best characters. You won't regret! 8)
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We used to have trouble with the one-eyed cat from next-door coming in, as well as another cat. Changed to a magnetic flap, and all was well (although our cat did loose his magnet once, but we had a spare). But then the one-eyed cat started getting through the cat flap (he didn't have a magnet on his collar) and we couldn't see how he managed it. Then one day I heard the flap moving, next-door's was only lifting the flap up from the outside! After that we kept the flap locked and just let our cat out as and when required.
Wendy
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Ahhh ... our old lady did try to bring the remains of someone else's sunday joint in thro' the cat flap. Think she had got it from an open window .... No-one claimed that either!! :D
A friend of ours cat did that once - with a whole hot roast chicken - can you imagine the expression on the previous owners face "I'm sure I had a chicken there a moment ago ???!"
and no they never did find out where it came from :D
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Oh Snippy he was absolutely gorgeous!!!
He sounded a most delightful chap to have known ;)
I hope when I get my ginger boy (shhhh - it's a secret! ;)) he's just as lovely as Bear (and that is a great name :))
And shhh I wont tell you where he's coming from :tongue2: ;)
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When we came here 10years ago there was a catflap into the utility/boiler room which we left altho we didn't have a cat. Two years ago a poor starving little stray started using it. We called her Tattie and after making checks made her ours. She was followed by Fluff Ball and then Blackie. I dread going out there now in case any more have come in. ::) ;) :lol:
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If you already have a territory problem with spraying outside I would be reluctant to get a catflap without either chip or magnetic security. I have a normal cat flap, but have 7 cats who very much own the territory so no issues like that. I do get two of my neighbours cats coming in but they seem to be part of the "gang" and have caught them curled up with my guys on the sofa so it's not a problem. And even security cat flaps can be bashed through - as wendy mentioned some clever cats learn to open by pulling them up and big cats can just bash through the locking mechanism (my Arwen has managed this before to escape the dreaded cat basket). I wouldnt be without a flap with a multi-cat house, but if you have the time and just the one/two maybe the window and door opening may be best.
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Can always give it a go, I suppose. It's just that I don't want to cut a hole in the door if it causes more trouble than it's worth ::) :D
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Fatty once managed to nick a chicken drumstick and get it through the cat flap, even though he had it in his teeth crossways. Bearing in mind he was scared of almost everything (except moths) this was a big achievement. I'll try to find a photo of him. He was a lovely cat.
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We put in our cat flap, then had to get a bigger one, then husband had to claim on the warranty "yes a dog does use it but it's only a small dog" ::) and I have to re-insert the plastic door often :blink: but hey, the dogs keep other cats from coming in via the flap and our 3 cats are then safe from intruders!! :lol: Fortunately the main crash culprit has now realised that he can't get through it anymore and so just sticks his head through and whines.
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Fatty once managed to nick a chicken drumstick and get it through the cat flap, even though he had it in his teeth crossways. Bearing in mind he was scared of almost everything (except moths) this was a big achievement. I'll try to find a photo of him. He was a lovely cat.
He sounds great, Noshed! :)
We put in our cat flap, then had to get a bigger one, then husband had to claim on the warranty "yes a dog does use it but it's only a small dog" ::) and I have to re-insert the plastic door often :blink: but hey, the dogs keep other cats from coming in via the flap and our 3 cats are then safe from intruders!! :lol: Fortunately the main crash culprit has now realised that he can't get through it anymore and so just sticks his head through and whines.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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We've just changed our cat flap to an infra red key one as a feral tom was chasing Rosa and fighting Oliver (was woken up to a cat fight under our bed one morning). He hasn't got in since. We had a phone call from some people down the road asking if we had a ginger cat 'cos it was in their house eating their cats food. Funny how the expensive diet food hadn't been helping.... Pod even let them fuss him and read his collar details :)
He's the cat in my avatar
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Not sure that our cat would appreciate having a collar ???
Can be dangerous as well, can't it ?
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Aww..Bear. You make me want to cry :(
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Not sure that our cat would appreciate having a collar ???
Can be dangerous as well, can't it ?
We tried collars on ours when they were young but it got expensive replacing them and the ID disc every week!!! >:(
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"Small dog" and cat flap ::)
[url(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv91/Candlesnuff/DSC_0437.jpg)][/url]
Was intending to paint the door this summer but decided against it as caught the puppies chewing it :ohmy: but top of the list for next year (if it's still hanging on it's hinges) :lol:
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It's important you only use collars with a break point that will snap if caught so they can't be strangled.
It does mean some manage to loose them regularly. I think a chip is best then a collar backup for when people might want to get in touch without taking your cat for a scan eg when they find it under their bed :lol:
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"Small dog" and cat flap ::)
Awwww :wub:
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"Small dog" and cat flap ::)
[url(http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv91/Candlesnuff/DSC_0437.jpg)][/url]
Was intending to paint the door this summer but decided against it as caught the puppies chewing it :ohmy: but top of the list for next year (if it's still hanging on it's hinges) :lol:
that is such a cute picture :D
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Cute? Well, yes, for a dog, I suppose. ::)
Not half as cute as my cat, though :D :D
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sorry tode but I am definatly a doggy person rather than a cat person, and that dog is seriously cute :lol: :lol:
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Mmm, yes, the front half looks quite cute, for a dog . . . .
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Cute isn't actually a term you can apply to Bruce ::)
Clumsy and tank - like, maybe.
Now he can't get through the cat flap he has mastered the art of clearing the baby gates so we can't shut him in or out now :lol:
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well to me he's cute but then again I do have Olliepops the neapolitan mastiff who has a face that only her mum could love :lol: :lol:
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My friend has a catflap and has often had marauders invading in the night :ohmy: :ohmy:. Usually results in a big punch up, mass destruction and a pair of traumatised moggies!
Another side effect is the almost daily gathering up of body parts of their various victims. Not nice to step out of bed into mouse giblets :tongue2:
Our puss asks to go out as necessary and on winter nights is put out for half an hour at bedtime then returns to spend the night by the aga :) :)
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Oh dear - your friend isn' t a well trained human! :( Their cat is going to have to work harder on them. Tutt tut. :nowink:
My cats tell me that a well bred and brought up human gets up and appreciates the catch when and each time it is brought in, not squealing about it some hours later. Even the dancing to accompany the squealing doesn't help - they know that you are only over doing the enthusiasm because you feel guilty about being remiss in proper human behavior earlier. Oh dear ...... ::)
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We have to bring the mice to the cat's basket :( Doesn't bother running after em.
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Very good - you are clearly getting the right idea! :D
See Thrift - if you can train a Tode right, anything is possible ... :ohmy: ... from a feline point of view! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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It's just the way she flutters her eyelashes, while stretched out in her basket :D :D
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I remember the first time Arwen caught me a vole - she was obviously trying to impress as I opened the bedroom door to not one but 8 shredded voles at foot distances to the stairs and the the on the stairs :ohmy: I couldnt get out of my bedroom door without treading on mouse bits. In the end I made my friend come over as I refused to leave the bedroom and he had to come up the stairs collecting the mice and entrails for me :lol: ::) She's finally calmed down with the hunting 2 years later, but don't worry the young 'uns still bring me plenty to keep me busy :tongue2: I live by a stream and the field behind the house is full of wildlife - or at least it was until my terrors came along! I can now recognise the chirrup that goes with them having caught and can often run to the cat flap and lock it before they get in with their prey! Must admit the chickens love it as they clean up the bits - yuck yuck yuck!
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Oh Caralou :ohmy: you've just put me off eggs for life !!
I've heard of organic feed but that's going too far :tongue2:
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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
caralou, you are a wuzz!
I discovered with my big tabby boy that if I didn't appreciate the first offering properly, he'd go and get another one. So I learnt - for my sake and that of the wildlife - to actively admire catches if they were mice :nowink:, so he would eat them and stop catching anything else. Birds, shrews, voles, I would get cross about - no approval. >:( Bless him, he wasn't bright but he got the message and taught the kitten who in her turn taught her successor kittens the rules.
On the very rare occasions that a bird is caught, it is quietly eaten under a chair in the corner of the bedroom. Mice are shouted about from the middle of the hall! :D
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Whilst reading this Sparky has just come in meowwing like he has a gag in! Followed by loud crunching noise - half a very blooming vole on the carpet :tongue2: Yuk
Given that he always eats the head end, how come he's no brainier???
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Boy cats!!! Start with the obvious and then remember they don't taste good!
Oh - is that species - ist????? ??? ??? ??? :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Our cat is partial to bringing bunnies in through the catflap, he usually starts with the head as well but as they are often the same size as him he tends to leave the back legs - too full you see.
Catflap good though as the cats organise themselves and the remains of a mouse on the floor mean one less live one to move into the house. ;)
Eli xx
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Unless they bring in a live, unharmed mouse & then release it for a bit of sport, only to have it escape....... :ohmy:
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Unless they bring in a live, unharmed mouse & then release it for a bit of sport, only to have it escape....... :ohmy:
Yes quite frequently but we do have 3 cats (well 2, Monstie is too old and refined a ladee to do that chasing stuff) to share the load.
Eli xx
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I'm not a wuss anymore - totally hardened to waking up to mice being dropped on my head at night, honest ::) It was just the first time I'd ever had a cat (Dad always dealt with the offerings before) and the amount of them that shocked me :ohmy:
I dont get birds either, since the cats learnt not to kill even the chicks they seem to ignore birds - I have seen Caesar look in the opposite direction as if to pretend a bird didnt exist before!!! And they also think rabbits and big eared cats due to my house bunnies so thankfully dont get any of those brought in.
It does bother me that they bring in voles, but I'm grateful for the mice and rats being culled by them so cant be too annoyed with them, they are just doing what comes naturally to them I suppose ;) Oh, they never eat them, may play with them a bit but that's it. And the chickens do so love to eat them - they run after each other with mice bits hanging out of their beaks - yucky creatures!
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you lot should think yourselves lucky, i get a steady stream of headless rabbits, rats and whatever else they can get their paws on dragged through my bedroom window on a regular basis (sometimes i can't see out of my window for mud and blood and bits of vermin stuck to the glass) Casper my dog is particularly fond of leaving me presents burried in my bed and under my pillows ::)
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hmm, so the slugs attached to Ted's fur as he strolls in from sleeping in the borders really are pathetically innocuous in comparison to you lot. :lol: I don't have a cat-flap. I am Ted's personal door slave.
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Casper my dog is particularly fond of leaving me presents burried in my bed and under my pillows ::)
In your bed???? :blink: :ohmy: :( Eeeyuk! I thought I could cope but eeeyuk! Respect woman! No, no, no.......... :wacko:
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We used to have a dog, and he certainly wouldn't have done that twice >:(
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We used to have a dog, and he certainly wouldn't have done that twice >:(
:ohmy: what did you do with the dog TODE? That sounds ominous, the way you said that..... :ohmy:
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Nothing ominous, Plum, but dogs must know what's what.
Wooster died of old age while sleeping in the sun outside the kitchen door.
He was allowed just a little bit of naughtiness: once a month he would run off cross-country to go and see his Mum for the afternoon. :D :D
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Casper my dog is particularly fond of leaving me presents burried in my bed and under my pillows ::)
In your bed???? :blink: :ohmy: :( Eeeyuk! I thought I could cope but eeeyuk! Respect woman! No, no, no.......... :wacko:
i think he was hiding his catch from the cats, it's seriously not funny when he turns his back for a nano second and it's gone :lol:
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Nothing ominous, Plum, but dogs must know what's what.
Wooster died of old age while sleeping in the sun outside the kitchen door.
He was allowed just a little bit of naughtiness: once a month he would run off cross-country to go and see his Mum for the afternoon. :D :D
I think that would be a good way to go.
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Casper my dog is particularly fond of leaving me presents burried in my bed and under my pillows ::)
In your bed???? :blink: :ohmy: :( Eeeyuk! I thought I could cope but eeeyuk! Respect woman! No, no, no.......... :wacko:
i think he was hiding his catch from the cats, it's seriously not funny when he turns his back for a nano second and it's gone :lol:
I suppose I can see his point - ??? - but still.... I'm usually so near asleep on my feet when I crawl in, it really would be the last straw. You are a tolerant & kind lady!