# Mealtime Agression



## angelshelper81 (Mar 20, 2006)

When I feed the cats, I sit outside and watch them. For the past two days one of the cats has been getting agressive with the others. It started out as hissing, but it seems to be escalating, since tongiht he actually chased one of the others away. And I don't mean that he smacked him and the other one ran, I mean the other one was leaving the feeding area and the agressive one took off after him and chased him 'till I lost sight of both of them.

Is there anything I can do about this? I don't want them hurting each other. Will TNR stop this kind of thing, maybe? I haven't gotten there yet with these guys.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Yes, intact toms can be aggressive, especially if there is a female in heat. However, there are strays among the ferals who would be less aggressinve FErals are "wilder" because they have to kill to get food normally. In addition, some cats just don't get along with any others. They're just aggressive by nature. However, it would be a blessing if you had these cats altered. 

There are two stickies at the top of this forum with clinics and organizations that alter cats for a more reasonable price. Just check these lists. for your area.


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## angelshelper81 (Mar 20, 2006)

I've looked into TNR. My local Humaine Society will neuter them, but not for free - I have to contact another group and see if I can get a grant. I intend to email them in the next couple of days. I'm pretty sure I'll also need to get permission from the company that owns the apartments, which I'm procrastinating on, and it seems smart to me to send fliers or something to my neighbors to let them know to keep their cats in (or come get 'em back from me - it seems like every week or so I hear about someone losing their cat here) when I have the traps out. So it's still in the works.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Yes, I would notify the apartment dwellers right away. Some of them are probably broken hearted, thinking their pets are dead or have run away.


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## angelshelper81 (Mar 20, 2006)

I'm not trapping yet, so it *can* wait, and of course if anyone asks me about a cat that matches the description of any of my regulars they're more than welcome to come have a look.

I'm not really looking forward to publicly announcing that I'm feeding the strays here. So far my neighbors' reactions have been mixed, some think it's cool that I'm looking out for them and some have been giving me funny looks when they drive up and find me tossing pastrami to them like I was tossing popcorn to seagulls.  (No, I don't regularly feed them lunch meat, but the dry food is running low and my BF said he didn't like the stuff and wasn't going to eat it, so...)

I won't let that stop me, but it'll be closer to the last step than the first one. I think the next stage once I'm done my research is going to be calling up the apartment owners to get permission to set up a place to keep the trapped cats for a day or so durring the trapping. (They absolutely can't be inside, my BF would freak out. He's not an animal person.) Then I need to work on getting that grant, and make an appointment with the HS so I know when I should be trapping. Then I'll send out fliers with the dates on 'em. Yep, I've got it thought out.


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

In the meantime, you could clap your hands when you see them being aggressive and also space out more their dishes. Leave the dominant ones close to where they seem to like to be and the dominated a little further.
I hear you about the food. We used to buy 1 big bag + 8 big cans to last us 3 days, barely.. Now (unfortunately) after some of them passed/ disspeared and (fortunately) rescued kittens we have narrowed it down to 1 bag and 12 smaller cans every four days. It is better when I can afford to get the 21 lb one than the 18..and I am even happier when I can get Purina and not store brands.
Be sure to let me know if you need any input on TNRing. For example, if you will have it done in the summer -they will need to have a fan gently blowing on them, so they won't get too hot (because they cannot regulate their temperature right after the surgery. Plus although you cannot have them recover in your house it will have to be a protected, sheltered area. They will not only need quiet to recover but also the security that no-one will harm them if you are not around to watch them the night they recover in their cages. Females that had been pregnant and then spayed have to be supervised for 24 hours, therefore stay in the traps till later the next day. Males recover the quickest. I felt almost sure to let them go the night after having them neutered but postponed in most cases, just to be safe.
Let me know when you are planning to have this done!


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