Territory issue.. maybe

[oz'smum]

Hi all, I'm a long lost member that finds her way back now and again. And I have a question that maybe someone here can help with.

Ozzy is a rescue cat, and he's lived with us for about 9 years now.

He's an indoor/outdoor cat. I live in the UK, and that is common practice. 

We have a wheely bin outside the living room window, and Oz normally spends time on there watching the world go by, and ignoring us, until he's ready, when we open the front door for him to come inside.

But, last week we noticed he was scent marking on it, rubbing his cheeks on it. And, for the past few days he's not been on it at all. He's squeezing himself onto a narrow window ledge when he's wanting to come in. Or sitting on another wheely bin that's away from the house. (we have a lot of bins here in the UK)  

Tonight I looked out to see if he was there wanting to come in, and saw a ginger cat on the bin. It looks like this cat has laid claim to out cats favourite perch. This might sound petit, but we don't have an enclosed front area, it's open to the street, and being our bin, I feel  our cat should be able to feel safe.

So, I was wondering if there is anything you'd suggest that I wash the bin with to remove this other cats scent. I know there are some things that strengthen the scents, so I don't want to touch anything till I do more research. 

This is his home, so, he should be able to feel safe, especially as he's had an uncertain past, and I'd like to help him to reclaim his territory if at all possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mani]

It's really hard to claim back outside territory, and I'm certainly no authority on the subject.  But I imagine cleaning with the enzyme cleaners, just as you do for inappropriate weeing inside, would be the way to go.  I have a ginger tom (what is it with ginger toms?!

) who wees at the back of my house and I have a spray to deter him.. It's an Australian made spray but there's plenty of options for these.  Of course your cat won't like it either, but maybe it could be a no-cat zone for a while until your usurper finds some new territory.

Someone with more experience of outside cats will hopefully be able to help you more.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I had similar issues outside on my deck.  My outside feral boy had been living on the deck and claimed his territory for 2 1/2 years.  Along came a orange colored tom cat.  At first he just came and went, but after a few months, he started marking the feeding stations, my sliding door, deck posts and anything he could find.  I would go out each day with an enzyme based cleaner and wipe it all down.  I would then try and put something with my scent on it.  May sound totally ridiculous, but I had read to mark your scent where the cat marks.  I would take a shirt I had worn the previous day and rub it all over.  The cat did stop marking, but still came and began fighting with my boy.  Cats don't see your yard space as belonging to you and your cat.  They claim territory wherever they can.  My feral boy was displaced for awhile.  He was forced off the deck and I had to set up a temporary residence on my front porch.  Since I knew this cat was a stray, I really wanted to move him to a shelter or rescue site.  That was not possible as they were all full.  The stray is now living in my house.  Possibly not my smartest move as after 4 months, the territory issues are now showing up inside. 

I hope you can find a remedy that works for you.

 

[katluver4life]

Cleaning with an enzyme cleaner will remove the other cats scent, but will not deter him from returning. Using something citrus based will deter the cat, but will also probably deter your own cat from the spot too.

It's rough when dealing with outside territories between cats. Unless you have a way to enclose your baby's space, I'm not sure there is much that can be done. As Shadow Rescue suggested, perhaps something with your scent laid in the bin would be enough to keep the stray away from it. You'd have to replace it often. Worth a try IMO.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I had to wash the scent off each day and apply my sent on top after it had dried.  It was a pain.  If I missed a day, there was the stray cat rubbing up against everything in site.  Hopefully you can find out if the cat is a stray or belongs to someone.  I so wish I had a nice enclosure to keep my outdoor cats safe, but it is just not possible.