Stray cat terrorizing us and my other cats

[Blondie]

Here's an update:

Thank you everyone for your opinion. I called my vet, & they said to bring her to Animal Control. So I called Animal Control, explained the situation and they said to bring her in.

They were very nice and once the decision was made to take her there, I wasn't so distraught anymore.

Since she was old and not sociable, they said they would probably just put her down. *sigh*

I just let my own 2 cats outside and they are walking around very carefully, looking around every corner and under the decks. They'll figure it out.

 

[joanm]

you did the right thing!!! good for you!

 

[mudhen]

Blondie, absolutely listen to what chickbea says:

Quote:
And please do not drive and drop it off anywhere. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Bailey]

PLEASE PLEASE!!! do not take her and just dump her!! I have people in my town that dump their animals and I have to deal with them. It's more humane to take them to the shelter rather than them starving to death!!!!

Same situation here... I live in the country, have my own animals - ones I choose to provide a home, food and medical care for. I accept responsibility for their welfare, this includes protecting them from feral, sick and dangerous animals.
The most humane thing is to kill the animal in a quick, painless manner. If you can't do it, have a friend come over some evening, put out a bowl of food under a light, let her eat , relax and place a .22mag through her forehead. That may seem cold blooded but, it doesn't get more humane than that.- no fear, no pain, they never know what happened.
We kill the animals we eat the same way- They deserve the consideration.

Dumping an animal instead of dealing with it is shirking your responsibility. The animal is bonded to a place. Your place. If you send the animal to a shelter and if it's adopted out there isa chance it will still return.

Think through how humane it is to catch and have a vet "humanely euthanize" a stray. Consider the terror of being captured, locked up- big animals who have hurt you before, threatening you and you can't get away- then, banged around and taken to some place that smells of fear and death.... and waiting. I believe they can sense what's going to happen. That's not humane. When we do that to humans it's called "Capital Punishment"

I understand your reluctance to kill the animal. But, short of actually contacting the previous owner

We even drove a couple miles away and dropped her off near the former owner-of-this-house thinking she belonged there and would go "home". She found her way back!

That's not her home- she may stay if she's bonded to her people and they keep her in for a while or she may not.
It's a tough choice. I'd contact the people first.
Please don't take this as a personal attack. I don't mean it as such. But all too often I have to deal with road injured or starving aggressive animals someone decided to "set free"​

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Ok, just had to give another side to this. I agree it was a sad decision, and a good choice to bring her to the shelter.

But I am sad that so many people think she just should have been killed. While on a move from Virginia my very beloved 12yo cat got out of the vehicle. For a year I called animal shelters between here and there, hoping someone would have found him. I was absolutely heart sick. And, to tell the truth, that was 8 years ago. And I still miss him. He was a terrific cat. I like to think he is somewhere living a great life, but really he would be 20 now.. so it's doubtful. He was SO special to me. When I was in jr high we moved, and I had no friends for three years.. I just had my cat. My parents were going through a long, drawn out divorce. Chester went with me everywhere. I used to walk him on a leash.

My point is that this cat my have been very special to someone. I understand that she was harassing you, so the situation was a super tough call. I just hope that if someone found Chester, they either gave him a good home or called Animal Control. It was not his fault he got lost, and he was not some random stray. I still miss him so much.

We did have a strange cat show up at our house after a move. We contacted a neighbor, who called the previous owner. They came and got their cat, and she didn't come back. If you know who owned the kitty, that might be an option next time, too.

Glad this worked out for you. It was a tough call.

 

[boilerjoe_96]

I had a similiar situation. Stray cat coming in and tearing into my barn cats. This cat would see me pull in the driveway and would take off for the hills.

I took a couple shots with a .22, but he usually wouldn't let me get close enough to have a decent shot of hitting him. This goes on for about 18 months.

So I decide to buy a brand new .17HMR with scope. Out to 150 yards the path of the bullet only goes up or down a max 1.5 inches if zero'd correctly. Got it on a saturday, put the scope on Sunday night about 11pm. Tried to 'bore sight' it in the house. 11:30 guess who shows up? I loaded and fired, missing yet again. When I got it sighted in(next night) I was shooting 6 inches high so I know I missed.

Anyway(for you animal lovers out there), He never came back. I will say this was one smart cat. I have been waiting almost a year for him to return so my .17HMR can do its job. So smart kitty, still alive kitty(I assume) and I have happy cats....