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Post by tonib on Apr 2, 2013 15:15:18 GMT
Just now, with 3 out of 4 cats in - Roman was out - I heard the cat flap go & Lexie went to investigate. I heard a bit of a vocal kerfuffle kitchenwards. I went to look and all I could see was Lexie back arched looking towards the utility.
She charged, there was a bit of cat vocals followed by a great crash through the cat flap. I thought it was her finally having a real go at Roman & ran out & there was Lexie all fluffed advancing on a ginger cat partially hidden by some plants. Suspicions confirmed & I shouted to her.
The ginger then moved & I saw it was a strange ginger. Similar body colouring to Roman but no white and longer hair!! Lexie stalked & chased it out of the garden.
This could be explanation for the recent jumpiness of Osiris & Roman. Also the last 3 nights all the overnight food in the kitchen has been eaten & had wondered. Last night I put out a bit extra dried for Roman (end of a bag) & there was some left so I though everything was OK but I'm now thinking that we may have been having a visitor.
Looks like I'm going to have to get that replacement cat flap at long last - Osiris damaged our current one & it doesn't lock properly so we've been using it without the sensors & permanently open. We've been looking at the microchip ones. I'd like the PetPorte one but unfortunately it doesn't read the microchips implanted by the rescue. the Sureflap one is smaller than our current one which is only just big enough for Roman & Osiris. Luckily they have now brought out a large cat/small dog one this year so it'll have to be that. Oh well better a new cat flap than more upset cats & one very full stranger!
It looks healthy enough so may well just be an opportunistic local cat rather than a stray. However if I do see it again I'll try & see if it has a collar and keep an eye on whether it staying healthy.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 2, 2013 19:21:08 GMT
what a cheek lol
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Post by cia on Apr 2, 2013 21:07:51 GMT
Its a bit like Gordon green grass - he now has a imposter double. I have to say i admire your abilty to solve any problem that comes at you and lets be honest where the cats are concerned its been pretty much tested. I never knew all that business about certain micro chips only fitting certain flaps - it could only happen to you Toni. I hope it you resolve it - no i know you will.
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Post by tonib on Apr 2, 2013 22:32:22 GMT
Thank you Cia for the vote of confidence. The double isn't as close a one as Gordon's - no white legs or bib & is marbled rather than striped. I started looking at microchip cat flaps when Penny started getting a rubbed neck from her collar (which was soft & not over tight). This was in the early days of the PetPorte when it was going to be developed to be all singing & dancing. They published a warning about reading most but not all chips, so I checked ours & guess what the rescue ones didn't work with it. When the Sureflap one appeared on the market, although I felt it wasn't as good in other areas of design, did read them & all the ones the PetPorte did but was too small for our larger cats. Now they've brought out their Pet Door version (slightly larger) size isn't a problem & they've also upgraded it & it now has most of the features of the PetPorte. The only real difference in features is the curfew mode which is timed based in the Sureflap & light based in the PetPorte - which mean that you wouldn't have to alter times for summer & winter. It's only been available since January this year so haven't panicked about getting one until now!
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Post by tonib on Apr 2, 2013 22:36:38 GMT
I also think Osiris was guarding the house last night as I found him sleeping in the hall against the wall by the kitchen door early this morning. We'll have to see what happens tonight as Lexie chased it away today. its either that or lock them all in which stresses Osiris in particular.
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Post by broken04 on Apr 2, 2013 22:52:31 GMT
I wonder who he belongs too? He'll soon stop coming around if they all gang up on him.
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Post by tonib on Apr 2, 2013 23:03:36 GMT
I wonder who he belongs too? He'll soon stop coming around if they all gang up on him. I'm really surprised it's around our house as Roman & Osiris would normally chase another cat out of the garden. It could just be that they haven't seen it, just scented it. It's definitely not one from our close but there are several closes around us but I haven't seen it before, although a couple of weeks ago we did see a flash of ginger in the back garden but when we went out front we saw Tango (from 4 doors down) coming from 2 doors down's back garden before going down the road to his home so thought it was him, although wasn't sure.
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Post by Ajax on Apr 3, 2013 7:35:33 GMT
I did post a few weeks ago that at this time of year new cats appeared as they seem to test out the territory and set new boundaries. In my experience I always see cat/s from further afield turning up in out garden early in the year. I'm sure it's a general cat occurrence and not just in my neighbourhood.
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Post by cia on Apr 3, 2013 8:26:02 GMT
Opportunist :)thats cats for you. I used to have everyone coming in and made a vow that the flap stays shut at night and the cat is in the house. I dont think there was one night when i didnt hear my cat protesting to go out. But piece of mind comes first, sleeping comes second. I dont understand - and i quote you - "Now they've brought out their Pet Door version (slightly larger) size isn't a problem & they've also upgraded it & it now has most of the features of the PetPorte. The only real difference in features is the curfew mode which is timed based in the Sureflap & light based in the PetPorte - which mean that you wouldn't have to alter times for summer & winter" Does it have a timer and how does this work for you and your cat?
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Post by dutchkitties on Apr 3, 2013 8:47:16 GMT
I'm glad my garden is safe and I can only use a simple flap. Only 2/3 of the garden is open to visitors, but since I have Tommie, my 3 neighbour cats don't come any longer, though he cannot reach them.
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Post by tonib on Apr 3, 2013 11:06:03 GMT
Opportunist :)thats cats for you. I used to have everyone coming in and made a vow that the flap stays shut at night and the cat is in the house. I dont think there was one night when i didnt hear my cat protesting to go out. But piece of mind comes first, sleeping comes second. I dont understand - and i quote you - "Now they've brought out their Pet Door version (slightly larger) size isn't a problem & they've also upgraded it & it now has most of the features of the PetPorte. The only real difference in features is the curfew mode which is timed based in the Sureflap & light based in the PetPorte - which mean that you wouldn't have to alter times for summer & winter" Does it have a timer and how does this work for you and your cat?
This is the first time we've ever had anyone come in the house so haven't had to think about it. Probably because we had a working sensor catflap & cats that would chase them out. Unfortunately Osiris has managed to damage the lock mechanism. We cope with that by shutting the door to the utility if we need to keep them in. Unfortunately Roman is a clever boy & when we started keeping him in he just went out earlier & stayed out until we'd gone to bed!!!! Osiris is the pain in the neck though as he now won't use a litter tray indoors unless it's absolutely pristine. He'd rather use the bath (at least cleanable) or a plastic bag (such as the one we get for recycling paper/card!) If kept in he can get really awkward with the others as well. Daft thing is he'll stay in without protest if he knows he can go out if he wants! Sorry to confuse you Cia - I'm unfortunately good at doing that to people as you know . The Petporte has a light sensor which (rather like a security light) you can set for the level of light at which the flap locks for going out & unlocks again, hence no need to change anything for changing dawn & dusk. The Sureflap Pet Door seems to have a clock & you can set when it locks & opens for going out, so is not light levels related but actual time based. The benefit of the PetPorte light sensor is the keeping cats in at dusk through dawn - prime hunting time. The down side is that if you wanted to work on a set time for cats to be allowed out then that wouldn't work unless you manually locked it each night & unlocked it in the morning - as per a normal catflap. he benefit of the Sureflap timer is the reverse - keeping the cats in at set times. its downside is that it would need changing for summer time & might not cover the early dusk in winter without changing the time. Of course there is still the manual approach as well. Hope that clarified it. For our cats at the moment it's not so much of an issue either way but as they can hunt & in Osiris's case bring in prey the function could be useful if we could educate them to stay in overnight. In which case the light sensor would be better rather than having to keep changing the time. But we could work with the timer version by ignoring dawn/dusk just setting it for when we were in bed.
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Post by tonib on Apr 3, 2013 11:09:43 GMT
I did post a few weeks ago that at this time of year new cats appeared as they seem to test out the territory and set new boundaries. In my experience I always see cat/s from further afield turning up in out garden early in the year. I'm sure it's a general cat occurrence and not just in my neighbourhood. I remember the post We've seen the odd cat pass through the garden on rare occasions at various times of the year but never one who came in the house.
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Post by cia on Apr 3, 2013 11:12:26 GMT
And they say having children is complex lol I understand now - what an invention - whatever next! How about getting a dog to keep the intruder out surely life couldnt get anymore complicated - could it!
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Post by tonib on Apr 3, 2013 11:26:51 GMT
How about getting a dog to keep the intruder out surely life couldnt get anymore complicated - could it! Don't jinx it! Osiris was very wary & prowling last night & we heard him being vocal after we'd gone to bed but didn't see anyone else but Roman's dried was down & Osiris's moist was finished. I wasn't sure whether Osiris had finished his & Roman had been in to eat some of his or we'd had a visitor although I would have expected more noise from Osiris if we had. I checked later on & he'd decided to guard the kitchen, he was laying right across the doorway into the hall. When I saw this I only hoped Roman could get in past him. Don't know precisely when but much later he was on our bed & Roman was on the spare bedroom windowsill so all OK.
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Post by lotsofcats on Apr 3, 2013 11:53:40 GMT
It just had to be a ginger cat - that's the sort of thing Toffee would do!
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