Marauding Moggies

Here's what responsible cat owners are doing to prevent their cats from roaming

When cats roam, I get scared! As a cat owner, you know what cats are like. They are their own boss, a free spirit and masters of their own destiny. Being curious creatures, cats will roam wherever they please and if you were to ask the cat, they would tell you they are very happy to roam free. But, the roaming of cats is one trait that can certainly cause problems for the owners of the cat, the neighbours of the cat, and certainly for the cat itself.

Roaming cats cause community disharmony. They are at risk themselves from injury, both accidental and malicious, and from diseases that they can catch and spread. They can also harm wildlife such as marsupials, birds and reptiles. On the other hand, they do help to control rodents.

Why do Cats Roam?

Cats roam because they can. What's happening in their neck of the woods is discovered during their reconnaissance missions and they find out what other cats are up to as well. Cats that are not desexed do roam more than their responsibly desexed cousins. The romance-deprived hormones of 'entire' male and female cats will make the moody moggies roam for kilometres looking for a 'like-minded' suitor.

If your cat roams, then having it desexed will keep it at home more.

Cats use their territories is a special way too. They have what is best described as a 'time-sharing' arrangement for their overlapping territories. If an overlapping territory is in your back yard, then brawls, noisy caterwauling and the acrid odour of cat urine sprayed around the garden are likely to be common and annoying problems.

What Can Happen if a Cat Roams?

When cats are claiming their land rights, they will fight. This is where injuries and the spread of disease occur.

Due to the stiletto-like shape of a cat's canine teeth and the dangerous bacteria that live in and around the cat's teeth and gums, a bite wound will often result in a Cat Fight Abscess. As they bite, they force bacteria from their teeth under the skin. Pus is produced in the wound and this usually erupts from the bite wound like a volcano when the wound has 'matured' for a few days.

Cat Fight Abscesses are painful for the cat and when they burst, the smell is awful.

Veterinary treatment is essential. A course of antibiotics will usually clear the infection quickly but your can may need an anaesthetic or surgery.

When it fights, an infected cat will also spread Feline AIDS, an auto-immune disease similar in many ways to human AIDS. Feline AIDS is only transmitted by saliva and, therefore, by the bite of a cat. It is not spread by sexual contact. Because they are more aggressive, entire male cats are much more likely to carry the Feline AIDS virus. The virus is also often found in desexed cats allowed to roam extensively. Vaccinations for Feline AIDS are now available and for information about that you should contact your veterinarian.

If your cat is the victim of another that is roaming, the injuries and the visits to the vet have probably frustrated you. The danger of disease is another worry and the visiting cat is likely to spray urine around your house in its attempts to declare your house as its territory. Even your own cat may be house-soiling or spraying. By soiling inside the house, your cat is attempting to declare your house as its own territory. This makes it feel better and we presume your cat is hoping that the smell will frighten off the other cat.

Non-cat owners get justifiably angry about their garden being used as a 'no-man's-land' - an arena used by the neighbourhood moggies for their calamitous clashes. The noise, the odour around the garden beds that the cats may be using as a latrine and the stench of urine spray are intolerable for most non-cat owners.

What can be Done to Prevent a Cat Roaming?

Nowadays, responsible cat owners are doing all they can to control their cat's roaming. Desexing cats when they are young is important but, in addition, many cat owners are deciding to confine their cats inside their homes, either at night or continuously, to prevent roaming.

Some are successful in confining their cats to a room or two inside the house while others choose to allow their cats to roam the whole house but do not allow them outside. However, most cats will be happier if their housing includes a Fun Park on an enclosed balcony or veranda, or a purpose built enclosure in the back yard.

What your cat really wants is a semi-outside area where, via a cat door, it can come inside for kisses, cuddles and food and go outside to satisfy its need for exploration and exercise.

New products on the market make the construction of such an enclosure even easier. One product I have seen is a soft, pre-stretched polyethylene netting (The Cat Max System) that is flexible enough to enclose anything from verandas to whole garden areas, including the trees! The netting is such that it is almost invisible when installed and therefore it doesn't make the house and yard look like a prison.

Don't let your cats be a risk. Confine your cats for their own safety and for neighbourhood peace and harmony.