Boy cat being attacked by roaming Toms repeatedly!

Question
QUESTION: Hi.  I'm writing on behalf of my mother, who has a boy cat just under a year old. He hasn't been fixed yet but has an appt to do so. He stays outside, & since he turned 6 mos old stray Toms come up to the house & the attack him every few days, to the point that he has injuries that will not heal, by the time they start to look better one of them rips it open again. At one point you could even see what looked like a small bone in his neck. He doesn't wander off, he is terrified of these cats & you can tell by looking at him. When night starts to fall, he looks petrified & won't come off the porch rail, to the point he even uses the bathroom up there! He has a box w/ a blanket to sleep in up there, because he would no longer go under the porch out of fear they were there. Sometimes you can look out & see these mean Toms just waiting at the fence row. My mom runs them off & wakes up when the fights are occuring & runs them off, but they always come back. I've never seen anything like this, & growing up my mom & I had over 50 diff. cats! Why are they doing this to him? What can you do to stop it?  We also have no idea who, if anyone is the owner of these Toms.

ANSWER: Heather,

Neutering this kitty might reduce the number of attacks, although it doesn't sound like your cat is actively causing the fights, it sounds more like he's become the target of all the local tom cat bullies. Based on the information you provided it certainly sounds like your cat's been seriously injured during fights with the other cats on a number of occasions. It's quite common for cats to contract feline leukemia or FIV (viral infections similar to HIV/AIDS in people, don't worry they can't be passed on to people) through being bitten by an infected cat during a fight. Some cats will become very sick as a result of FIV or feline leukemia, others won't show any symptoms for most or all of their lives. Ultimately this cat sounds like a target for the other cats to pick on, for his safety he really should be kept indoors, it'll be safer for him and reduce his chances of getting quite sick as a result of abscesses or other infections caused by untreated wounds and hopefully prevent him from being exposed to potentially fatal viral infections. Chasing the toms off the property isn't going to work, they'll just come back shortly and your kitty will be in the same situation as he was before you sent the neighborhood toms away.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks so much for quick response. I will definitely make sure my mom lets the vet know to test for these viruses.  And unfortunately they've tried to bring him inside but they have an indoor little yappy dog that can not stand for him to be in there & she won't stop barking or running back & forth. So it this a common happening with tom cats? We thought maybe they're were all riled up over a female nearby in heat, but there is no evidence of one, or slacking off of the attacks. This happens at least twice a week.  Just last night, which is what inspired me to seek answers, they got him good. My mom got up this morning to find her porch a wreck, flowers turned over & his box he sleeps in was flipped & his blanket had blood & feces all over it. My mom also sits outside with him while he eats so she doesn't have to leave food out for anyone to eat.  He has quite a few wounds today of course. He usually has patches of hair missing on his back as well. Another thing, my mom seems to think he's a little uhh mentally challenged, she says because he doesn't do things that most cats will & his mother abandoned him at just a few days old, she took all the other kittens but left him behind, so my mom has pretty much been the one to raise him. So she wonders if that could be why they pick on him so badly?
Thanks sooo much for you input, we really appreciate it!

Answer
Heather,

The fact that your mother's cat was hand raised explains a lot, he's not "mentally challenged" he simply hasn't learned how to be a cat - that's something he would have learned from his mom if she hadn't rejected him. When kittens are raised by people it's quite common for them to make mistakes when they interact with other cats, for instance a hand raised cat may make eye contact because we normally do, in the cat world that's considered a challenge and can result in serious fights that can lead to injuries. Hand raised orphans just don't understand feline body language or how to appropriately react to it. The toms are likely singling him out because they interpret his behavior as an invitation for aggression. Toms that aren't neutered fight with other cats quite frequently, it's how they defend their territory, it's also how they determine who has the right to mate with intact female cats in season. I really think that the vet should evaluate this kitty after each fight so that minor wounds can be treated before they become painful abscesses that have to be drained under sedation.

Obviously if your mother's dog is noisy and miserable to the cat whenever he's indoors there are a couple of options to consider. It sounds to me like your mom's little dog is somewhat dominant, it's important to work on that because if the dog feels that she can dictate who/what comes into her territory and that her humans aren't the leaders this can certainly cause your mom serious problems later on. Just because the dog is small doesn't mean that she should be allowed to dictate what happens in your mother's home, the fact that she's a small dog doesn't mean that she won't bite someone or cause the neighbors to make complaints when she's barking excessively. I think it would be a good idea to consider seeking help from a behaviorist or dog trainer in your area. If the fees charged by local behaviorists or trainers are too expensive your mother can check out the Dog Whisperer series featuring Cesar Millan on the National Geographic channel. Cesar Millan has also written several books and it's been my experience that he provides down to earth, common sense ways of dealing with dogs with various issues and best of all his techniques are humane, they work with the dog's natural behaviors and they're normally quite effective. With appropriate training I think that the dog will settle down and allow the cat to live indoors.

If nobody's willing to work with the dog then it's time to consider alternate living arrangements for this severely bullied cat. To be honest I really don't think the cat's current quality of life is very good in his current situation - being beat up frequently by larger, stronger toms and always having fight wounds in various stages of healing isn't exactly providing this kitty with a happy, comfortable life. If you're mother isn't prepared to consider working with the dog, and bringing this little guy indoors (even if he's got to live in one room for a period of time while the dog's behavioral issues are being worked on) then it's really not fair to the cat to be forced to live in this stressful situation. It's not impossible for serious injuries to be inflicted during fights like the ones you've described. This cat's at risk of serious injuries during the fights and he may also get badly hurt while trying to escape from the neighborhood bullies.

If nobody has the time, patience, energy, etc to work with the dog then it's probably be best to find this kitty a new home with a forever family that will have him neutered and keep him indoors so that he doesn't continue being injured so frequently and he won't have to continue living under such high levels of stress. It's really not fair for this cat to suffer repeatedly when a simple solution like bringing him indoors can stop the bullies from going after him fairly frequently. If it's decided that the cat is going to placed for adoption then I'd recommend making sure that the adopters are aware of the fact that this kitty's been a target for all of the neighborhood's nastiest bullies. Knowing he's been hand raised, his new family can be prepared for some fairly common but relatively minor difficulties when he first starts interacting with other cats in his new home. If there are any questions from the new adoptive family about how to properly introduce a new kitty to a household that already has one or more resident cats I'd recommend that you refer potential adopters to my previous answers to questions about new cat/kitten introductions so that they can properly introduce him to his feline siblings and keep everyone safe at the same time.