Its A Tough Life Being A Tom Cat

Well here I am yet again feeding another stray cat. A big Ginger Tom who mews very loudly for food.

I'd heard about him from my landlady as the neighbours were not enjoying his behaviour, especially his habit of spraying around their houses and in their sheds and fighting with their cats. My landlady was threatening to catch him and release him far away.

According to my neighbour the veterinary nurse, who is always giving me some tit bits of information about cats:

Toms patrol territories which can be quite extensive and fight both for territory and for females. When a cat is neutered his strength diminishes and he has to live in between the corridors of the territories of the more dominant males. This is fine if he's a house cat, where he is well looked after and doesn't have to fend for himself. However, if he is neutered and then dumped somewhere strange, there is a big possibility that he will starve to death, as he will spend most of his time living in extreme anxiety trying to keep out of the way of the dominant males.

In the last few months both I and then a friend of mine, found emaciated Tom cats that had contracted FIV. On both counts the Veterinarian euthanized them. This is very sad and it led me to thinking yet again, what a tough life Tom cats can live. I suppose I will have to get this big Ginger one neutered and add him to my lot........

see my other cat blog: catsweloveyou.com/blog