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Outdoors House Cat Conduct.

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Category: General History
Forum Name: Natural History
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URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36034
Printed Date: 28-Mar-2024 at 07:34
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Topic: Outdoors House Cat Conduct.
Posted By: J.A.W.
Subject: Outdoors House Cat Conduct.
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 03:16
I have a pet cat, who prefers to spend much of his time outside.

He is a neutered male, an all-white shorthair with a blue eye/yellow-green eye combo, but he is not deaf.

I took him on from a hispanic family who'd  returned to the states, he is called 'Nigrito', & is not fat, but fairly large for a domestic cat at 7.5 Kg.

Although well socialized within a family situation - which included children, another cat & Jack Russell dog, Nig is fairly territorial, & likes to lie on the front driveway in the evening  - watching the passing parade.

He is also a good hunter, especially keen on rodents, from mice to large rats..

Being all-white he is readily seen by birds, & generally ignores them, in fact the only bird I've seen him catch was a magpie crow, who would not stop harrassing him, until he grabbed it, & promptly despatched it.

Nig has caught feral rabbits, & even even killed a large ring-tail possum ( a bit naughty I know), & 
chases off most other  intruders, even feral foxes, ( he literally tore a strip off one, the scream it made was incredible).

While he seems to enjoy feuding with other cats, he gives tomcats real respect, & will mew/scratch at the front door to be let in, rather than risk being beaten &/or raped by a brutal tomcat..

Although he generally ignores the plentiful skink lizards scurrying about ( up to & including large - 40cm long -  blue-tongue skinks ) he cannot resist snakes, even to the extent of proudly bringing inside a 
yellow-bellied black snake he'd killed, which is a tad disconcerting, since they are highly venomous..

I saw him catching one, he was employing an odd leaping pouncing routine I hadn't seen him do before, 
& I reached down & grabbed the semi-stunned ~metre long snake by the tail & with one quick movement flicked it away down a nearby drainage culvert.

This was before my neighbour advised me of the potential danger of this species, so I have since been
a tad more circumspect.

This same neighbour operates a bird feeding station, which attracts rats after dark, & Nig likes to intercept them,
I have to say I was a bit surprised by how vicious he was in killing/devouring these rodents, for a housecat who is a fussy careful dainty eater of pet food in a domestic bowl.

Interestingly, I have observed a large owl that appears to be also attracted by the rodents, & sits on my
outdoors clothesline. The owl sits about as tall as the cat, but patiently waits for him to do his patrol.

The cat & the bird are aware of each other, but do not get into conflict..

I live in Australia, one of the few places where no cats lived prior to being introduced by man, & they have since spread as feral creatures across the continent, even growing larger, to fill the role taken by lynxes & other small wildcats elsewhere..

I guess it it obvious that Nig is a pet though, since I doubt all-white cats would fare well in the wild,
or be mistaken by hunters for a feral. He does have an ID  chip, if he is picked up & impounded..








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Be Modest In Thyself..



Replies:
Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 04:28
Sounds like me...when I was 16.

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman


Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'



Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 14:58
I have 2 housecats, both male. Neither go out. The black and white was born here and has never been outside overnight. Neither cat is neutered.
They have instincts yes, but they don't have the skills to survive long outside.


Every cat I've seen that had been neutered usually turns that energy to hunting. Even if it's just chasing bugs in the backyard.

BTW- Your cat is a little more than you think. A bull rabbit has been known to kill a cat. If he ignores other cats, it's probably because it lacks challenge.



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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 18:31
Yeah, as you say - & just like with people - cats do have quite a range of personalities.

I was outside with Nig when a couple from a few houses up the street were walking by & they remarked,

"Oh he's yours is he? & went on to say they have a couple of indoors only cats, but that Nig had cleaned out the rodents around their property & left various rodent body parts as evidence, on their doorstep!

I thought he'd caught a frog a few nights ago, because he was grappling with a creature that was loudly croaking.. but it turned out to be a large katydid insect.

Nig won't stay inside unless he wants comfort, (food, grooming, warmth) one time I had to go away for a few days & left him inside with food, water, kitty litter box, but he wanted out so much that he forced his way past a 2nd storey window insect screen & jumped out! 

Since then when I've been away, he has stayed outside with a sheltered box to sleep in, & I get the neighbours to feed him on my behalf.

As for scrapping, I don't particularly want vet bills, but he really had a battle with that possum, there was plenty of fur around off the both of them, & he had some deep scratch wounds in his chest from its claws.

I leave a window partly open with a ramp to allow him come & go at night, & one night I accidentally stood on him when he was lying on the floor in the dark ( I expect he thought I could see him there) & so he hissed & reactively struck out , hitting me on the ankle with a forepaw.. it felt like being belted with a length of 4 X 2 lumber, came as a bit of a shock, & felt quite impressive, the force even a regular housecat can apply..

He likes to be patted fairly roughly & wrestled down sometimes, so you can feel the trembling fast twitch fibres in his his muscular haunches.. then I cant help thinking that as eating meat - they would go real good on the BBQ..  not that I would really do that though..









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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 21:33
Claw wounds are one thing, what you want to be careful with are bite wounds. A cat's mouth is nasty dirty. I tried to break up a fight and got nailed. Ended up in Hospital, and went through IV antibiotics for 14 days. And yes, the cat is still alive and still has a home.

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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.


Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 14-Feb-2016 at 22:39
Cat bite not scratch first aid.

1. 80 proof or better dousing.
2. slap some wet tobacco on it..best if ya just chomped hell out it and it's nice and juicy.

3. rub some clean 90 weight axle grease on it to cover the puncture. let the sun and wind do the rest.

amen.

-------------
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman


Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'



Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 05-Mar-2016 at 04:38
Oddly enough C.V. I'd heard of the high-test ETOH douche - being used as a method to deal with paralysis ticks..

I recently used a pair of forceps to carefully prise one from the left fore-leg of my furry friend..

He'd made himself scarce, & hadn't come in for his tucker, a rare event..
..so I thought, maybe I've seen the last of him, but I owe it to him to check..

& he'd previously been lost under the neighbour's house - hunting in their cellar,
when they shut the doors on him, & went out.. I heard him mewing plaintively when I 
went around calling him.. & had him released when my neighbours returned..

This time though, I found him curled up quietly in a corner of my under-house garage,
& drooling some, & lame in that leg.. with him being totally white it wasn't difficult to find the fat parasite.. & he trusted me enough to tolerate my tic-ectomy procedure, even if he complained a bit..

He recovered pretty well over the next few days, but still sits with that fore-leg set out straight,
lion like, with the other one curled back under as usual..








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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 05-Mar-2016 at 04:45
My  mother casted few of them from balcony when I was kid.I collected them from the street.Cause of animal protection I gave up from it.Smile


Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 05-Mar-2016 at 10:05
JAW, your dealing with a feral cat. He's smart enough to know he's got you as a safety net.

The 2 cats that I have are indoor only. The black and white was born here, the white was pulled from an Ivy bed at about 5 weeks.
The B&W has never been outside overnite. The behaviors differ with the white having more feral tendencies. Both of his parents hang around outside.

I've been feeding his mother for about 12 years, but she has only allowed me to touch her once, and that was when she had a serious leg wound.

I don't know where your located, but is Lyme disease present in your region?
You might consider getting him vaccinated or treated for Lyme if it is.

I realize it's an expense, but getting him his shots is a good idea. Some cat diseases can be transferred to other animals and also humans.

In our town we have a Vet service that makes house calls, it helps if transport is a problem. And it costs about the same as an office visit.






-------------
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.


Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 05-Mar-2016 at 17:28

Agree... shots will help....especially if the neighborhood anti cat patrol is on the loose waiting to have them arrested by the pound Lords. City fines for cats and dogs make revenue. Collar and tags should be evident...

Now out on the Llano or other such wide open spaces that probably isn't necessary cuz the pound Lords don't like leaving city limits.

You can also vaccinate your own animals ....been doing it for years. Ya get a disposable syringe, on line, thru a credible vac supply house and... boom.

There is nothing alcohol or nicotine won't fix as an exterior antiseptic assuming no massive loss of tissue. Interior is another fright night.

Empirical evidence as id' by years of personal experimentation and observation tells me so. When they sick make sure ya give em plenty of fresh clean water.

Cats like humans, have routines and once trained to social contact enjoy it...actually the little foikers demand it...

but only on their terms...

Very similar to retired US Cavalry Officers.

amen


   


-------------
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman


Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'



Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 06-Mar-2016 at 05:47
Thanks guys, but nah, he aint feral, he likes his comforts too much, as C.V. notes,
 & he is willing to trust/submit to authority with grudging good grace.

He gets his shots as necessary, inc' FIV (cat 'aids' prevention vaccine), 
- I recall the 1st time I put a hypo-needle into a cat, & I thought it was a dud blunt one..
for an animal with such soft fur & loose fit skin, its still tough.. but since they have 20 needle
sharp claw points each themselves, it figures..

The question about Lyme disease is an interesting one R.C., 'officially' it does not exist here,
but humans have been recently been showing telltale signs & symptoms of it..

Cats have more active immune systems than dogs, & are less affected by venom & toxins,
& also as C.V. knows, they have certain brain structures analogous to humans, & can 'read'
people to an extent, - mine has even presented as more attentive/expressive/affectionate after
I was hospitalized with an accident injury, & came home with my fractured arm in a cast..

Usually he is very quiet, with a basic 'hi' chirp when he comes inside, but he can make an incredible
range of sounds/volume if feels the need, once in his carry-cage waiting at the vet clinic, he was literally crying like a human baby, even the receptionist asked me semi-jokingly, 'You haven't got a baby in there - have you?'.

Other times - when in conflict with his own kind,  he'll scream blood-curdlingly - like a mini-mountain lion..


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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 06-Mar-2016 at 10:46
The reason I mentioned it is because it's carried by Ticks. Originally here, it was only the "deer tick". Now, 70% of all ticks carry it.

Lyme isn't a venom or toxin. It's bacterial. It's caused by a Spirochete. It's not to be taken lightly.





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"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.


Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 06-Mar-2016 at 10:56
other notes...cats have a routine, as I said...usually learned thru their mothers however if they are taken away to soon or the mother is lost...they like humans use trial and error.

Watching them learn it as young ones can be funny or a major pain in the ass.

climbing curtains, chewing electrical cords...learning to duck when they see a 5 pound boot come flying as they chew the cords, chasing bugs, first climbing trees, attacking puppies for fun, climbing into drawers and getting stuck, etc etc etc.

What is later defined as 'normal' behavior is really not normal at all as faic. but it becomes routine. for the cat; hence normal I suppose for them.

My current feline is a fixed lady who does not purr and occasionally will still bite the hell out of me just for giggles. she does not like much physical contact either.

but...at night after she has annoyed the shit out of me by demanding to go outside every half hour on the hour, until sometimes as late as 2.00am. she finally will jump on to the bad and curl up behind my knees.
it is the only time she like be touched and even then there is a limit on that.

she lays there until I rise and then... bang off onto the routine of take a dump..eat some food...give herself a bath and begin patrolling outside again.

when she wants attention and signals it, she accepts a few cursory scratches behind her ear and the runs off to lie down under the chair. or back outside. or climbs up into a gawdamn drawer to get stuck again.

a routine.

she doesn't like it when I leave on business..she is not personable towards others initially...and in general is probably better suited for outdoors than in.

I often wonder if the silly little thing doesn't think I'm a bit odd as she lays there eyeballing me. for letting her be her that is.

personally...she reminds me of my ex wife.

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman


Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'



Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 13-Mar-2016 at 00:17
She's got you pegged, C.V., well, until you turn the tables & stretch her fine pelt, for the crime of being too claw happy..

My furry feline friend was well socialized with kids, & the only scratches he's given me were my fault,
for gamely testing my reaction times against his in a snatch-back contest -  & losing..

Even when I am forced to perform a painful therapeutic intervention on him, at worst - he'll only give me a warning nip with his teeth, but nothing nasty, or forceful.. & I've watched him crunch up turkey
leg bones to get the marrow, so I know he is capable of some bite force..




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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 04:27
I was the recipient of another present of a venomous snake today, left freshly killed on the back door step..
White-boy appears unharmed, himself..


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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 04:44
Cat killed snake?


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 04:48
Yes, the 4th so far - this season..

I think the smaller venomous snakes come around for even smaller lizards, & the larger ones for rodents..

Mind you, over here, big pythons will sneak up on outdoors sleeping pet cats & take them too..


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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: medenaywe
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 04:53
Where you are?Australia?India?S.A.R.?


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 15:27
Good guess, M! Right 1st time.. We're close to Cape Byron, the most easterly point of the mainland.
Australia does seem to have more than its fair share of venomous & bitey creatures..


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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 16:14
Never did care much for snakes other than to eat em. Good for the cat.

And my grannie's barn cats used to kill em all the time. Competition to steal newborn chicks in the hen house.

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

S. T. Friedman


Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'



Posted By: Mosquito
Date Posted: 20-Mar-2016 at 16:33
My familly is use to have cats for about 25 years. My parents got 4 in their house and I got one (I had two but one got sick and died after being with me for 14 years). So far I have observed that female cats are way more intelligent than males and also are use to hunt much more than males. Now most of our cats is quite old and became lazy but in the past they were quite effective hunters.

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"I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood" - Friedrich Nietzsche


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 21-Mar-2016 at 03:15
I doubt it "...that female cats are way more intelligent than males..." 

Certainly intact tom-cats are seriously single-minded, but so are females when in season..

Neutered males, - if allowed to develop properly before gelding - do grow larger & make good verminators too.. especially if actively raised to hunt by their mothers.

Research on feline brains show a certain structural commonality with humans, which likely accounts for
the way they choose to associate with us..

While I tolerate a certain level of pushy conduct, its gotta be a 2-way street.. a bit like all decent society..

An inability to show the proper response to fairly given corrective inputs is reason for cessation of contract.. 

& credit goes to cats for choosing this option for themselves - if they think it needful, too..




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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: Mosquito
Date Posted: 21-Mar-2016 at 09:34
Originally posted by J.A.W.

I doubt it "...that female cats are way more intelligent than males..."


My statement is based on my experiences. I have been never teaching my cats any tricks but females just learned them by watching us - people at home. So they were using human toilet, turning on the lights in house, opening doors. While my male cats have never did anything like that.

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"I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood" - Friedrich Nietzsche


Posted By: red clay
Date Posted: 21-Mar-2016 at 14:44
I have a male black and white shorthair. He uses the toilet and opens doors, he also sometimes "edits" my posts.

I also know what eff u sounds like in cat language.

-------------
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2017 at 06:24
OK, I'm back with a couple of updates..

Being of all-white fur, ol' puss is otherwise pink ( or white, when cold) skinned..

& I had to take him to the vet surgery for an operation to remove a skin cancer,
from his face, it was steadily growing between his eye & ear..

Poor fella came out looking like Dr Frankenstein had done the cutting/suturing..
& he absolutely hated having the plastic funnel-like protective collar in situ.

I was supposed to ensure he stayed inside, but as a dedicated outside cat, he
let me know he wasn't going to stay indoors for long..
( & he has never been destructive to furniture, but quickly got my attention - by clawing it)

He tried hard, to shake the plastic collar off, & by levering it against fence posts, to no avail,
but after about a week, I busted him rubbing his face up against an outside tap/fawcett..
..so I removed both the collar & huckery looking sutures..

The affected side is healing remarkably rapidly, & with the shaved down fur growing back,
he just has a quizzical expression/Siamese cat slanted eye look, which seems even stranger,
since he has one blue eye, & one yellow/green eye..

I had a report about him from the neighbour - who habitual gets up at dawn for a brisk walk..
he reckoned he'd seen ol' puss in the grounds of the local hospital, about a kilometre away,
hunting rodents..

& a couple of days ago the cat showed up with a slash cut right across the top of his shoulders..
..he didn't seem too bothered about it,


 


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Be Modest In Thyself..


Posted By: J.A.W.
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2017 at 06:40
But the same neighbour then claimed the cat had had a fight with an owl..
& showed me the large flight feathers left in evidence..

I expect the owl tried to grab the feline by the neck, but the cat ducked,
& with only one talon hooked, & a 15lb, very feisty cat all riled up.. had to let go..

Later the next day ol' puss was still feeling ornery, so when the neighbour from
across the road & up a ways was exercising her dog with a tennis ball & it rolled
into my driveway, pursued by a 30lb or so black 'n' tan dog, white boy took
umbrage, & intercepted the hound with a belt over her ear.. & chasing her out..

I saw it happen, & felt a bit sorry for the bitch.. she was still wanting to retrieve
her ball but whined/baulked at re-entry to collect it with a puffed up combative
cat - who was fully ready to administer further chastisement for any trespass..

So,  I collected the well-slobbered tennis ball & tossed it back over the road,
for which the dog & her owner - were both grateful..



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Be Modest In Thyself..



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