I have two lovely ginger boys (2 in July), in the last couple of months, during the night there has been cat fight noises (has happened about 3 times)then something flies out of the cat flap.  I presumed it was my two fighting over a mouse or something, then a couple of days ago I'd just gone to bed when I heard cat fight noises again, Alex was already upstairs, something flew out of the cat flap, Tango bashed into my bedroom door, which was shut.  I opened the door Tango flew in, I then noticed wee all the way up the stairs and several nuggets of poo!  Tango was absoloutly terrified.
Last night similar thing happened, but didn't hear any noise, Alex flew in through the cat flap (Tango already inside) and Alex weed all the way up the stairs.
Poor things are really scared and I'm worried my house is going to stink!  Any ideas what could be stalking my cats?  We live in the country, have never seen any cats around, but it could be a cat, maybe my boys are just a bit soft!  Have seen foxes, but I'm sure they wouldn't come in a house.  Anyway just wondered if anyone had any ideas?
Sam

Well if another cat is coming in at night it may be worth keeping the cat flap shut and keeping your cats indoors.
I remember one time a similar thing happened to our cats, so we set the cat flap to in only because we didn't want them to go out again - we ended up catching the culprit (another cat) stuck in the kitchen, it was so unnerved by being unable to get out that it never came back!

We've had ferrets, mice and rats walk into our house as we also live in the country.

I would for the time being block the cat flap if possible, maybe stick a piece of furniture in the way at night times if its not lockable.

when we had that it was a neighbours cat comming in and beating up my two-and large weimaraner.

solved it with a magnetic cat flap. cats wear magnets on collars that act like a key only allowing in cats with the magnet on-not other peoples cats/ferrets etc.

Thanks for replies.  Would they really be that scared of another cat though? :-o
I was thinking of one of them magnetic cat flaps. 
OH is away at the moment, but he said he would set up the video camera when he gets back!

>Would they really be that scared of another cat though?

Yes! Especially if the said cat is feral ;-)

I have a stray cat living in my unlockable shed at the moment. I thought it was my neighbours cat but she is kept in at the times I see this one. It seems friendly enough. At least it doesn't hiss, or try to run away. I haven't managed to get near it though. It does seem to like my cats' food :-D

> Would they really be that scared of another cat though? :-o
>

Yes, it could be an entire tom or a particularly aggressive cat.  Are you sure none of your neighbours could be scaring them?  Loose dog?

I would recommend a Feliway diffuser and spraying the areas they are soiling with Feliway spray after you've scrubbed it throughly with bio-washing powder.

Hi Sam-jo
We had the same problem that you have now,our cats were terrified at night and fighting waking us up. The culprit was also weeing in my kitchen up the cupboard door,so we had to stop this very quickly. i waited in the kitchen a few nights to try to catch it,and one night standing in the dark something came in, i dont know who most scarred me or whatever it was coming in,as soon as it appeared i banged the work top really hard and it was a cat, i think it nearly died when i did it,my hubby came running out of the bedroom dogs in tow.
Ithink the cat took the flap with him.
I tried the magnetic cat flap but the cats couldnt work them very well. so now i keep them both in at night and sometimes one will ask to go out.
The other cat still comes to the cat flap and wees on it in disgust.

Are you sure none of your neighbours could be scaring them?  Loose dog?

Only got one close neighbour, who are wonderful, so not that.  My cats have been neutered and don't see any other cats, so it may be a scary Tom.

Also, might not have made myself clear, but it is my cats that weed/pooed in fright, when I picked them up they were very wet between the legs, poor things.
Lots of things to think of, so thanks.
Does anyone think a fox would come in a house?  They can obviously get in small spaces, but I would have thought cat/dog smells would put them off.  Just to add my two flatties sleep through it all! :-)

I would of thought if it was a fox then all hell would break loose with the dogs. I know ours would go mental.
I suppose if your dogs aren't hunters and don't care for chasing a wild animal then maybe it wouldn't bother them.. Who knows..
Its not wind blowing or anything like that with the flap, flapping about or whistling wind through it? I guess this would of happened long before if that were the case..

Any chance that you could sit up and wait? I would love to see what it is that is spooking the cats like this..

You dont stay near Bodmin do you? Could be a big big cat. It does sound really unusual for a cat to be so afraid it wees and poos while on the run. Mind you if it is too afraid to go out to the toilet perhaps it just couldnt hold it anymore. Im a member of a big cats research group and have seen one myself so I know they exist although i dont expect anyone to believe in them if they havnt seen one themselves. You should have a look for any paw prints or set a sand trap near the door to try and get some prints. This will be a sure way to know what has been visiting your door. For more info on big cats.... [url=] http://www.scottishbigcats.co.uk/index2.htm [/url]

Sand trap sounds a good idea, how exciting, but scary if there was some massive paw print!  The cats are in and out all the time, so not scared to go out to do their business, but whatevers out there scares the s**t out of them!  Sorry shouldn't joke, it is awful seeing them so scared.
I'm going to set up the video when OH gets back from work, but it has happened anytime between 11pm and about 4am, hopefully we'll see the culprit and then decide what to do.  They certainly wouldn't like been locked in at night, as they are out hunting at night.

Good luck with the video camera, if you do find some prints around there take a photo with something to give scale, a ruler is best, and send it in to that website to let the experts judge what they are. I have some photos of prints that came from my local area that appear to be puma tracks :) it is very exciting. Just incase you dont know, cat prints dont usually have claw marks so anything where you can see claw marks is usually a dog or fox etc where as a cat print will be just be pads, also a cat tends to have three distinctive lobes on the back of the large pad where as dogs prints tend to have a more of a smooth curve.

If you can hear cat fighting noises, I would suspect it is a cat.

I've seen my cats go for foxes, it is generally the fox making a noise as the cats charge at it, so wouldn't think you would hear that 'cat fight' noise, I would suspect if faced with a preditor you may hear hissing and spitting from a cat, but not that horrible screeching sound, I'm pretty sure that is what you would hear cat on cat.

To be honest if this were happening to me apart from the magnetic collars for the cat flap, I would want to see what was going on, could you possibly stay up this weekend (or when no work in the morning) sit in the dark by the window and see what is coming in or frightening your cats? I would need to know what I was up against.

Other cats can be real bullies, many years ago we had one in my old neighbourhood who was a nightmare went for any cat constant fights and noise on a night,  he even went for my 5 month kitten, bit him close to the throat (they got the vet bill for that one!) I was so glad that they moved shortly after, so it may not even be a ferral cat, just a very territorial male that has moved into the area.

Even so I would need to see what was causing the problem, so make up a coffee pot and sit and watch. :-)