# Can a neighbor cat just want to befriend my cat?



## MargeDad (Dec 4, 2010)

I have a petite female cat. About four years old.
And she is skittish. I'm the only person that can 
approach her. Good thing I live alone.

And I live on 5 acres, all wild, no lawn or anything.

Occasionally some new cat will start visiting the property.
They ALL seem to eventually want to beat up my cat.
That tends to result in her being happy staying inside
for days at a time until they seem to no longer come around.

(Note to the anti-outdoors crowd: My cat would DIE
if I confined her to the indoors. I have shaped my life
around her ability to go outside and hunt freely. Otherwise
I would have moved to the urban area and gotten a better
job a couple of years ago. So she has a RIGHT to go
outside. Okay, rant over. :smile: )

Anyway, there is a new cat. This cat is about twice the
size of my cat. And it is the orange tabby type, statistically
male, from what everyone tells me. This cat typically
sits calmly on its hind legs, not crouched, about 20 feet 
from my cat, so far. I have run it off a bunch of times. 
Strangely, my cat still wants to go outside
even when she has JUST seen this cat 20 minutes earlier.
Is it possible that two stranger cats, especially in the territory 
of the one, are OPEN to being friends? Or does that just
not happen? The main reason I want to get a clue about this
is I'm worried for my cat's health. I have been going outside
every half hour all day making sure she is not about to be
attacked. I have run the cat off about four times. I do not
understand why my cat is so willing to go outside when this
huge cat is out there. It isn't like her to be unafraid.

Thank you.


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

In my opinion, as long as your cat sees a vet regularly to have preventive treatment for stuff like worms, rabies, and other diseases they can get from being outside, go for it. Though be prepared for other dangers like foxes, coyotes, raccoons, and other physical threats like that.

Anyhoo!
Is your cat spayed? If so, the other cats may be mistaking her for another territory competitor, rather than a mate. Alternatively, if she is not spayed, maybe she just doesn't meet their fancy? LOL I really am just guessing here. Also, spayed means you will only have the occasional visitor, rather than ending up with a whole colony 

If you don't mind having another cat around, maybe give this orange guy a chance? Don't chase him off, unless you see him actually bother your cat. A lot of orange males seem to be rather friendly to other cats. Well...sometimes. There's two orange males in my colony, and they get along fine with everybody else _except each other_! There's also an orange cat at the shelter I volunteer for, and as all the cats are free/loose in two rooms, and Rudy never causes trouble if he switches sides (some cats have to be separated or they start fights in the room they're not supposed to be in).

That's just my opinion, I'm by no means an expert on cat behavior!


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

That was my first question too, is she spayed? Cats are very territorial, these kinds of spats are inevitable.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Considering that other cats always beat up your cat, whereupon she then wants to stay inside, it's possible that your cat doesn't view your entire property as her territory. For example, she might view her territory as comprising inside plus perhaps the immediate perimeter of your house. Alternatively, given her skittishness, it might be that her fear instinct predominates her territorial instinct, which is why she normally prefers to stay indoors when other cats are around -- she's more interested in remaining safe than in protecting her territory.

Either way, the difference here seems to be that the male cat is not interested in beating up your cat...he keeps his distance, which likely explains why she's still willing to go outside. All that said, you still have no way of knowing how she (or he) would react should the male decide not to keep his distance and start to approach her.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

In short: Yes, two random cats outside can become friends. I don't know what makes some cats become friendly outside, but there you have it. Likely, it starts out something like you're describing - instead of one or both of the cats establishing territorial rights, they are both a little more curious of the other cat(s) than anything else. 

I've had two outdoor cats in my life, one had an outdoor friend, and the current one I've seen on a few occasions outdoors with a likely feral cat. I found them at least five times this summer sitting about 5 feet apart. I don't know if that makes them friendly, but it was very different from the normal cat spat. I haven't seen that other cat around for some time now, though.

I'd not run off the cat if nothing bad is coming of it.


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## MargeDad (Dec 4, 2010)

Just wanted to offer a quick thanks to everyone trying to help. The weather has been a bit bad and Marge tends to sleep until late afternoon, so there have been few opportunities for Big Cat encounters these past few days. I guess I will wait for the next encounter as might a cat, just wait and wait to see if Big Cat gets aggressive before I try my normal preemptive running-off tactic. THANKS!


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## mimitabby (Apr 20, 2010)

my neutered female cat has a neutered male boyfriend who lives down the street, he's a huge black cat..


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