Cat Territories

The key to life for cats that go outside their home is the territory. The extension of the territory varies with the sex of the cat (even sterilized males have bigger areas than do females) and of the density of the population of the zone. In areas with dense populations, the limits almost never go further than their owner's gardens and one or two gardens at both sides, but it is common for them to share them with other cats. On the country, the territory of a male can have the size of a small town, so, unless he really wants it, its difficult for him to ever know its limits.

It is common in the case of persons whose cats die and to receive condolences from far away neighbors to whom the cat used to visit.

A typical territory includes certain number of corners for resting and sleeping, as are garage roofs, brushes with nice shades, etc. Observation posts on tress or roofs; hunting grounds, as are the foundations of a shed that could have a nest of mice and also additional posts for feeding. As could be houses from other people.

Some roads near other cat's territories are also included, these are known as "No ones land".

Though there are some cats that never admit an intruder inside its territory, they do allow the pass of individuals without protesting.

On the country, territories are vast and can include rabbits, nest, corrals, fields and other farms around it.

To mark their territory, cats urinate (practice that not only non sterilized cats do), they leave odoriferous mark with the glands they have in the head and sides, and they scratch pillars with their claws.

The dimension is not only of space, but also temporal. An area may be guarded by one cat in the morning and by another in the afternoon. If one day the second goes outside earlier there can be a serious conflict with the first.

A New Home
When you move to another house, the bet is that for the first days the cat should stay inside the house until he has overcome the stress due to the change and has made to the idea that, although the surroundings are new, the family maintains the same habits of before.

Then, you can let him go outside to the street, verifying first that he is well identified with a collar and a microchip.

They tell stories of cats that, when they are let out, they return to their old houses, which suggests that places sometimes are more important for them than people. However these stories are almost always false.

When a cat feels secure and loved, he overcomes quickly the stress of moving and he maintain loyal to its owners, due that above all there is the comfort.

For it, it's unusual for a cat to escape running the first time they go out to the new garden.

Anyway, some people design preventive tactics that, although unnecessary, they are neither harmful.

One is to tie a rope to the cat's collar and to take him for a walk on the garden to make him know the limits.

Another false believe is that if you put butter in their paws it is easier for the cat to find its way back to the house, but the truth is that once they have walked around the garden, he will already have left its odorous marks that will suffice for guiding him back home.