fighting with a stray

Question
I have a seven year old male tabby. He is an outdoor cat and my mom wants to keep him that way. Recently a black cat has been fighting with him and he keeps getting hurt. He won't go outside at night anymore or seems paranoid when he is. Punkin has been fixed and I don't know what else to do to keep him from fighting.

Answer
It's a fact of life that outdoor cats fight.  I would really consider finding Punkin a new home.  He's obviously tramatized by the fighting.  It's not fair to expect him to go through that day after day.  I think you are going to see serious behavioral problems if he's forced to face this bully all the time.  Worse, he will probably end up with serious bite wound infections which are life-threatening.  And he's also likely to become infected with feline leukemia and feline AIDS - two deadly viral infections passed through bites.

If you know the owner of the black cat, talk to them.  Chances are good he's not neutered.  Unneutered cats are the most likely to fight.  Maybe if the black cats gets neutered, he'll relax a little.