Cat Behaviour

Our neighbour's cat, Spooky, has a habit in the evening of coming into our house and sleeping on our bed. I can go past him numerous times during the evening on the way to the loo and he doesn't budge, but as soon as I come upstairs when we're about to go to bed, he immediately vacates the bed and rushes downstairs to exit the house.

I was scratching my head as to what it is that triggers him to know when I'm about to go to bed, as opposed to going to the loo once more. I thought for a while that he may be psychic, but last night I twigged - he smells the candles being put out, of which we have some half dozen burning throughout the evening, and associates that with being hoofed off the bed and chucked out within a minute.

Our neighbour's other cat, Gingey, is a bit autistic, having had an accident a year or two ago, following which there was a marked change in his behaviour - he went a bit simpleminded. He's a lovely, docile chap, but always has a bemused look on his face, a bit like you see on the face of Roman Abramovich in magazine photos of him.

Both are attracted to our house because of the underfloor heating and, turf them out as much as we do, they simply keep coming back. No-one own cats - they choose which houses to inhabit.

Our own cat, Kitty, who is a permanent lodger, is constantly traumatised by these interlopers and seeks solace in cupboards, but will viciously swipe and hiss at either of the other cats if they come too close. She doesn't mind Gingey too much, as he isn't threatening and quite docile, but Spooky will try to steal Kitty's dinner, which leads to some noisy confrontations. Spooky is a bit like a persistent teenager.

If we throw Spooky and Gingey out, they then trek over to Hay's dad's house, as he has a log fire burning most evenings, and curl up in front of it, in preference to going to their own house.

All the cats hate Railway, the feral cat that comes to our back door every morning and evening for a meal. But he's really feral and will fight anything, as his battle scars will attest. The closest we can approach him is a couple of feet when feeding him.