When stray cats start hanging around I "scat" them and chase them away. If they are persistent and continue coming back for a couple weeks, I trap them, take them to the vet to be neutered, then release them back on my property. I now have 6 cats.
So, Charlie showed up here in January. I chased him off. He continued to come back. He hung around in the back yard where none of my cats have established territories. So I decided to start feeding him. Because he seemed so hungry I started out feeding him a full (tuna-sized) can of wet cat food, and placed a full dish of dry food in his little shelter. He came to me during a rain storm, and made his home in one of the tortoise shelters in the back yard. He felt thin, but he's a big cat, so it was hard to tell. He gobbled up the food, and ate the whole dish of dry (this dish would have lasted my cats at least 4 days). I was feeding him a can in the morning and a can in the evening. When I went out the back door he would be waiting on the other side of the chain link fence, at the gate, meowing at me.
Fast forward to current. I am trying to cut back on Charlie's food because he now has an obvious big belly. He's getting so fat that there's always a little smear of poop around his butt, he's too fat to be able to clean himself. I now give him about a quarter can of cat food in the a.m. and a quarter can in the evening, and it now takes him a couple days to empty the dry food dish.
The trouble is Charlie meows at the house. If I'm in the kitchen he meows at the back door. If I'm in my bedroom, he meows at my bedroom window. And these aren't little dainty kitty meows. These are BIG MEOWS!!!!
He's starting to drive me nutso. Well, more nutso than I already am. I'm not going to give in and feed him more. What can I do?
This is Charlie's little shelter:
And this is what greets me when I look out the back door window:
So, Charlie showed up here in January. I chased him off. He continued to come back. He hung around in the back yard where none of my cats have established territories. So I decided to start feeding him. Because he seemed so hungry I started out feeding him a full (tuna-sized) can of wet cat food, and placed a full dish of dry food in his little shelter. He came to me during a rain storm, and made his home in one of the tortoise shelters in the back yard. He felt thin, but he's a big cat, so it was hard to tell. He gobbled up the food, and ate the whole dish of dry (this dish would have lasted my cats at least 4 days). I was feeding him a can in the morning and a can in the evening. When I went out the back door he would be waiting on the other side of the chain link fence, at the gate, meowing at me.
Fast forward to current. I am trying to cut back on Charlie's food because he now has an obvious big belly. He's getting so fat that there's always a little smear of poop around his butt, he's too fat to be able to clean himself. I now give him about a quarter can of cat food in the a.m. and a quarter can in the evening, and it now takes him a couple days to empty the dry food dish.
The trouble is Charlie meows at the house. If I'm in the kitchen he meows at the back door. If I'm in my bedroom, he meows at my bedroom window. And these aren't little dainty kitty meows. These are BIG MEOWS!!!!
He's starting to drive me nutso. Well, more nutso than I already am. I'm not going to give in and feed him more. What can I do?
This is Charlie's little shelter:
And this is what greets me when I look out the back door window: