UK: Feral Cat Terrorises Pensioners For Two Days In Their Home

UK: Feral Cat Terrorises Pensioners For Two Days In Their Home

A calico stray cat, not a feral cat in my opinion, enters Mr & Mrs Gough's home in Canterbury, England. I'd say she - almost certainly a female - was looking for a titbit of food left over from the family cat (there is no family cat incidentally). That is what wandering outdoor cats often do but this cat was almost certainly domesticated despite being branded a vicious feral cat by the online newspapers.

This apparently is the "feral cat' who terrorised Mr & Mrs Gough
She looks more like a stray domestic calico cat cat to me. Photo: SWNS

The label of feral cat comes from her behavior when in a house that she had not entered before. She become aggressive towards Mr Bruce Gough, a 77 retired engineer. Cats always have a reason for being aggressive.

In this instance the reason is that Mr Gough didn't know how to handle the situation. He wanted the cat out of his house. Fair enough. Understandable, but you have to get a cat to do something in a much more subtle and clever way than sticking a broom in her face to try and flush her out from under the bed where she had hidden upstairs.

After the broom was poked towards her she apparently became aggressive and attacked Mr Gough. He suffered a nasty bite on his arm requiring a tetanus jab. Then the situation appears to have deteriorated even more when the cat climbed curtains (probably trying to escape what she perceived as a "hostile" animal - Mr Gough) and breaking a ornament.

Then, through what appears to have been fear, she defecates and urinates in the room. This is normal cat behavior when under huge amount of duress.

Having failed to eject this wandering, food-seeking calico cat from his home, Mr Gough telephoned the RSPCA for asssitance. They declined because it was a low priority case and they had more pressing work to get on with. Understandable because the problem was self-inflicted and the cat was OK. The RSPCA do rescues and there was nothing to rescue except perhaps Mr Gough and his wife from the terror being inflicted upon them by a calico cat!

There are better ways to remove a strange cat from your home. The essential ingredient is not to use any force, which only serves to exacerbate the situation because a cat presented with force will respond with the same thing - fight fire with fire is the cat's motto. But it is defensive aggression, no more.

Patience is a good quality under these circumstances too. Waiting for the cat to wander towards the exit helps and placing something enticing outside but near the exit will also encourage the cat to leave. It is more a game of wits rather than the use of force or a battle of wills. Cats will win unless you use your brains.