Attacked By Outside Cat

[blumarine916]

Yesterday, an outside cat managed to get into my house at attacked my two indoor cats. I was shocked to see my front door wide open and no cats around to greet me! When I entered, I saw the outside cat run out of my house. I got even more panicked when I found one of my girls, Meimey, clinging on top of my window grill, screaming at me and Meffy nowhere to be found. I ran out to search for Meffy, fearing the worst that she might have died, fell to her death (it was an apartment building) or brutally injured. To my relief, I found her huddled at the stairway 3 floors above, terrified but calm with no visible injuries.

As for Meimey, she was still screaming and wouldn’t let me come near. I also noticed some blood stains near the bed which I think could be hers. I believe Meffy ran out when the evil cat came in but Meimey didn’t get to escape and was attacked. That evil cat even pooped on my kitchen counter!!

It was my fault for not closing the door properly. I can’t stop feeling bad about this. Now the problem is, Meimey is still screaming and Meffy now wants to attack her too making everything worse. I have separated them this morning when I left to work.

Will Meimey eventually calm down? She’s the most loving, gentle cats ever and never gave me problems. It’s hard to be a small house when cats are not getting along. I’m also worried she might be injured since she won’t let me near now. As for the evil cat, I’m not sure if she has an owner or is a stray. But she was always staking out at my front door a few times a day, hissing at my cats from outside.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[verna davies]

The first thing you need to do is to check Meimey for any wounds. She might need to see a vet if they become infected but hopefully you can treat them at home if they are mild, if indeed she has any at all. She is frightened at the moment and feels threatened in her own home. You need to spend time with her, sitting or talking quietly and reassuring her. Once she lets you touch her, check her out. She will calm down but it might take a little time and patience. Check your hpne for any speaying the cat might have done and remove all smells of him.
Can you get some cat deterrent, place it in a tray and put outside your door as you leave. This will stop the stray cat from coming near, he will soon get fed up and move on. I use this and it works well but anything simikar will do the trick. Let us know how Meimey us doing.

 

[blumarine916]

I did a quick check but since she was so nervous (and angry) I didn’t get to check further. I’m worried the outside cat may also carry diseases Looks like I have to give it a few days.

Yes I will get a cat deterrent and put up a net fence on the grill door. So upset about this. Sigh.

 

[verna davies]

Try not to worry. Is Meimey eating, using the litter tray? Just keep offering her reassurances and she'll settle down. Have you found any spray areas from the other cat, although I would imagine you would smell it easily if there were any.

 

[blumarine916]

I left some food for her this morning but I’ll have to check when I get home from work. She was so freaked out she leaked urine here and there. Not sure about her litter business though. My girls share a big box. I’ll get another spare one today.

Aside from the poop the cat left in my kitchen, I don’t smell or see traces of urine.

 

[verna davies]

I hope she will get back to her usual self quickly. Let us know how she is tonight

 

[blumarine916]

My boyfriend got home first so he let her out of the room to walk around the house. At first Meffy didn’t notice her but once she did, she attacked Meimey. The poor thing ran back into her room then my bf shut the door to prevent Meffy from going at her. I saw her in there, still huddled in the corner under the bed. She hissed at me but the second time I came in she didn’t.

I guess she’s still unstable. I put in a litter tray for her but didn’t approach. She didn’t eat much either.

I also don’t see any visible wounds on Meffy so I’m also not sure if she was attacked or not. Why is she being aggressive towards Meimey? Is it because Meimey is terrified?

How do your cats act right after an attack like this? Do you know if they are injured or will symptoms only appear later?

 

[verna davies]

Maybe the smell of the strange cat is still on her and that is why Meffy attacked her. It might help if you could wipe her fur with a warm damp cloth . or rub a used item of your clothing over her. Does she appear to be hurt in any way?

 

[Kflowers]

Be of good heart, this is fixable. They don't really hate each other or you.

There is a good chance that your Meffy is attacking Meimy due to redirected aggression. This means Meffy is so freaked out about the strange cat that she's terrified of Meimy.
Re-directed Aggression In Cats

you'll probably need to do a reintroduction, as you would introduced cats that don't know each other. Yes, Meffy and Meimy know each other but the shock of the strange cat getting in the house has created a fear chaos in their minds. Once you go through the re-introduction, or in your case the first introduction since they knew each other before, they should be friends again. Remind Bf that this process takes a little time and every time you rush you take several steps back.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Once you can touch Meimy, you really ought to think of taking her to the vet. He will be able to 'see' things you might miss, like a small puncture wound and get her on antibiotics before an infection gets going. The fact that Meimy went high and Meffy ran out and neight had bleeding wounds around their necks makes it likely that they didn't get a deep bite. I would also take Meffy to the vet. Might as well take them in together as this could be the re-introduction they need. Separate carriers. don't try to put them in the same carrier.

If you can't touch Meimy in your usual way, throw a large towel over her, scoop it around her including her head and, leaving her wrapped up, stuff her in her carrier. She'll work her way out of the towel in the carrier. When you get to the vet tell them that she's been traumatized and is a little dangerous, BEFORE they open her carrier. They should be able to give her something to help her calm down.

Keep a good heart. This is fixable.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Oh no! Poor babies
Yes Maybe the smell of the intruder cat still lingers.
I pray it gets back to what it used to be between the two.

 

[blumarine916]

I’m still unable to touch her so I can’t be sure. She won’t come to me yet but at least she’s eating like normal. Also, Meffy is very suspicious and would try to get inside the room if I wanted to enter. I’ll just leave Meimey in the room for now.

Is it okay to give her baytril antibiotics in her food? Might help ward off any infections. I still have a few left from Meffy’s previous issue.

The mean cat came again just now, trying to push the door open. I threw a glass of water at her

Thanks again for your kind words. My old dad was diagnosed with cancer just 2 weeks ago so this thing happening is really hard on me right now.

 

[ArtNJ]

If there are bite wounds, they will get infected absent antibiotics. If scratches, they most likely won't, so ideally you would figure out how to check. If you can't check, but suspect bite wounds, put the carrier out, some food or treats in there, and hopefully she will mosey into it on her own and you can take to vet. If you don't specifically suspect bite wounds, I wouldnt worry about the antibiotics right now.

 

[verna davies]

I'm so sorry about your dad, this is a tough time for you right now and you could have done without the extra worry with your cat.
Keep an eye on her, see if she is scratching, licking the same area. I hope she will allow you to check her over soon.

 

[blumarine916]

I'm so sorry about your dad, this is a tough time for you right now and you could have done without the extra worry with your cat.
Keep an eye on her, see if she is scratching, licking the same area. I hope she will allow you to check her over soon.

Yeah...it’s tough because I have to go see my dad over the weekend and now I’m worried my cats killing one another while I’m away.

 

[blumarine916]

Well the situation just became more complicated. Meimey has calmed down enough to come to me but now Meffy is the one making things worse. She’s attacking the poor girl every chance she gets, thus aggravating Meimey even more. Then I’m back to zero I’m very sure Meimey would come out happily if Meffy hadn’t attacked her like that. It’s hissing, growling, screaming followed by full on physical attack. Meffy is just so mean to her. It’s as though she won’t leave Meimey alone.

I locked Meffy in the room and left Meimey out today. Ugh...this is just so frustrating and inconvenient! Maybe I should just keep one cat to make things easier for everyone.

 

[blumarine916]

If there are bite wounds, they will get infected absent antibiotics. If scratches, they most likely won't, so ideally you would figure out how to check. If you can't check, but suspect bite wounds, put the carrier out, some food or treats in there, and hopefully she will mosey into it on her own and you can take to vet. If you don't specifically suspect bite wounds, I wouldnt worry about the antibiotics right now.

There were bloodstains so it’s possible she was bitten. I hope to get her to the vet soon before it becomes worse. But I need her to calm down first. Meimey pisses herself when she’s scared or nervous. She did it once in the carrier on the way home from the vet. It spilled over into my car and my car stank of cat piss for nearly a month. It was really hard to rid of the smell.

 

[ArtNJ]

There were bloodstains so it’s possible she was bitten. I hope to get her to the vet soon before it becomes worse. But I need her to calm down first. Meimey pisses herself when she’s scared or nervous. She did it once in the carrier on the way home from the vet. It spilled over into my car and my car stank of cat piss for nearly a month. It was really hard to rid of the smell.

Unfortunately, many cats do this. Leave the carrier out open over night, then use a treat lure in the morning. Put a washable towel/blanket down to absorb any waste. Vets are all too used to helping you cleanup.

I paid $500 to get an abscess from an infected bite wound drained many years ago, (actually paid for two separate bite wounds, that much both times) so quite frankly I would find a way, one way or another, to check the cat or just get the cat to the vet. Thats a ton of money for something that is preventable -- not to mention that its unnecessary suffering for the cat. I'm not sure of the timing though -- you may have already waited too long for antibiotics to prevent an abscess. Certainly, I would get this done ASAP. I know its a stressful situation with the cat hostility, and this will absolutely not help -- but it needs to be done, and its best to just get it over with so you can proceed with a full reintroduction process after the stress is done.

Bites are not super common, but can occur when their is genuine intent to injure rather than defensive fighting. They tend to be invisible unless you part the fur and look, and even then it can be difficult to tell if only one fang penetrated, which happens sometimes. If you can't part the fur and check, the next thing you notice is that the cat is licking a bald spot, and something under the bald spot will feel hard to the touch -- that is the abscess.

I've always wondered whether there is another, cheaper, way to deal with an abscess safely, but I hope not to get to that point.

 

[blumarine916]

It’s the 3rd day now without me being able to get a good look at Meimey. There is no bald spot as I can see though it’s hard to tell since her fur is quite dense (normal short haired calico). Let’s hope things are looking better today so I can scoot her to the vet after work.

Ugh abcesses are bad. I hope it won’t turn to that so soon. Meffy had one last year which somehow spread into two and it recurred again after 3 months on the same spot. First vet stitched it up instead of letting it drain. It didn’t improve until I went to a different vet later. I don’t even know how she got the first one on her butt. Cats are strange

 

[blumarine916]

Ok still no luck getting Meimey to the vet. She’s hiding in the corner where I can’t reach and is still terrified/confused. I thought she would have calmed down by today since I kept Meffy in the room while she was left to roam about. Sigh...

 

[ArtNJ]

There is some risk that she is behaving this way because she is hurting badly. Its probably not too likely; it seems that cats sometimes can just get out of whack from something terrifying. But the problem is that there is some risk of serious injuries perhaps.