Stopping A Fight

[AIice]

My cat is so curious to go outside, I let him out for 1~3 hours everyday when he asks.
Whenever he sees stray cats, he runs towards them and slowly try to get closer.

Spoiler: Unnecessary details

He's friendly to stray cats so I'm assuming he just wanted to greet this new stray cat. But the world isn't this peaceful! I patiently watched them staring at each other for ~12 minutes. The two cats started walking toward each other(my cat first, yowling quietly)

I was going to wait for the first attack, but since my cat and the stray were under a car, I suspected the first attack would be a punch on the head, and it could be infectious or deadly!!! So I rushed to stop the potential fight(I don't remember the other cat making noise, just walked forward then >>) the moment my cat showed signs of submission/weakness.
However, without letting him experience fear, he won't advance, nor satisfy his curiosity. Next time he gets in a fight, I won't be there to save him.

Was stopping them the right decision?

 

[AIice]

From watching other owners, I learned that spoiling cats too much can get them killed VERY EASILY. Too much peace is no good, even for humans.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Spoiling cats, for the most part, is what keeps them alive - that is, for example, not letting them get into fights, keeping them indoors, checking up on them when something seems wrong, etc.

Since you let him go outdoors, you will just have to take your chances. Letting him fight or not isn't going to change the odds of something bad happening to him. If you are always outside with him, by all means continue to intervene - otherwise you might be making an emergency vet visit.

 

[AIice]

Spoiling cats, for the most part, is what keeps them alive - that is, for example, not letting them get into fights, keeping them indoors, checking up on them when something seems wrong, etc.

Since you let him go outdoors, you will just have to take your chances. Letting him fight or not isn't going to change the odds of something bad happening to him. If you are always outside with him, by all means continue to intervene - otherwise you might be making an emergency vet visit.

Today I refused to let him out but he escaped anyway, for ~3 hours. I can't do anything about this. Cats escaping at some point is inevitable, as I said, I've seen cat owners who found their cats killed after escaping only one time due to their lack of experience!! I'm satisfied with how things are right now, the cat makes decisions and learn by himself, I'm just his guardian spirit that doesn't know when and when not it's right to interfere...

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have had Feeby for over 12 years and she has never escaped, so it is not necessarily inevitable.

It is always right to interfere if it means saving your cat's life and/or well being. And, no amount of experience obtained by any cat is going to prevent them from being hurt - or worse, killed. No one on this site is going to give you some rule of thumb as to when it is OK or not OK to intervene in a street fight between two cats. Most all here will tell you to do what you can to prevent such encounters. But, if you are not watching him the entire time he is outside, you can't prevent anything.

Since you look at yourself as only his guardian that doesn't know when and when not to intervene, I guess you will have to let him make his own decisions and let fate play out as it will. Good luck!

 

[danteshuman]

I always worry about cars more than other cats!!!! I would get fencing or train your cat to stay inside your backyard (with supervision) OR take your cat out in a harness.

 

[Diana Faye]

My old man was street smart, confident enough to hold his own, and mellow enough to not start a fight. When he was an outdoor cat, I took precautions to limit his time, UTD on shots, etc., and I generally didn't have to worry about him. Despite that, he got into it with a stray. He was seemingly unscathed but all it took was once scratch for him to get an abscess that was expensive for me at the time and painful (for the both of us) to treat. We ended up transitioning to indoors only after that, but when he had his heart set on an adventure, he would find a way.

I really don't know if you should let your cat test his limits, or avoid as much as possible. I trusted my old man, but I'm super paranoid about the 2 kittens I have now. Maybe if he was still around to show them the ropes, I'd be less guarded but I'm just not comfortable with that. Applying the hindsight of my experiences to your current situation, I'd advise that you try to save up an emergency fund just in case. That's generally just good advice for anyone for any situation, though. You can try harness training as well, but if he's already learned to escape you should up your diligence and have a plan if/when that fails.

Can you try to set up some deterrents to keep the strays away? He may be more persistent to get outside if he feels the need to defend his territory and/or want to make friends. An odd cat here and there may not be too great of a risk, but nearby colonies can pose a problem.

 

[danteshuman]

I think you should microchip him. I also think chasing strays off your yard should help. If you google it you can find ways to make your yard less appealing to cats. Personally I like the motion sensor activated sprinkler best.

I like the emergency fund idea.

My mom has a street smart reformed feral that knows to avoid cars. How he learned that? God knows! Did he watch his sibling get squished? However to many cats get to close and it only takes one time! I think your best choice is to secure your house from him escaping and give him a catio or install something like purfect fence .... which attaches to the top of your fence and because of the angle of the fence topper, prevents cats from jumping out or in your fence.

 

[Diana Faye]

My mom has a street smart reformed feral that knows to avoid cars. How he learned that? God knows!

LOL Irving had learned that, too. Generally didn't leave the yard, although he knew how to safely cross a road. Once I discovered that he had used a culvert as an underground tunnel to get to the yard across the street. Was very impressed, but kitties going into dark holes was a hard NO for me.

 

[Kflowers]

Two sets of friends lost their cats on small roads when the police went roaring through. They don't stop for cats.

My mother insisted on cats being outside until we lost one to dogs. She knew there was a dog pack (nice enough to people) in the neighborhood, but she was sure the cat would be able to get away. Wrong. I was working on bringing one in - about 5 years old, in his prime, big cat about 15 lbs - he was thinking about coming in when the dog pack got him.

One of the cats I rescued had been shot. Are you sure no one will shoot your cat? Even if you're standing there they can take your cat out and you'll never know where they were when they made the shot. The police won't care if it's a BB gun and your cat may well live. Of course there's a good chance the shot will leave him paralyzed.

I've had 28 cats only one tried to escape and that was the one my mother kept putting out doors. If you really want to train your cat to stay inside you can. If you don't, you can't.

 

[jen]

If you are going to let him go outside just make sure he has his vaccines, all of them, up to date, on flea/tick/heartworm/parasite prevention and if they fight you get him tested because they can transfer Feline Leukemia and Feline AIDS that way, not to mention various other diseases and infections. Also he is neutered right?

 

[jen]

Most cats don't just readily greet new cats inside or out. I would be cautious. There is a difference between spoiling your cat and putting their life in danger.