We have a small black cat called Sebastian. I must admit that I often refer to him as 'her'. This is probably because he is small and thin like a female. He is under two years old so I hope as he gets older he will fill out.
He was meowing at the back door this morning and so I picked him up for a cuddle before I put him outside. He immediately turned around and came back in the door. It is cold outside so I was not surprised he didn't want to go out. I picked him up again and he enjoyed another cuddle. (Apart from the rubbing around the legs when he is hungry this is the only contact he likes as he never comes on laps. When he is curled up he will bite a person who strokes him more than twice.)
When he wanted to go down I left him and he sat at the door meowing again. This time I opened the door and let him go out on his own. He sniffed the cold air and backed away from the door.
I picked him up and told him I could not change the weather, and if he wanted to go out he would have to brave the cold. The next time he meowed at the door, a few minutes later, I gently nudged him out with my foot. He hesitated then walked away.
About 5-10 minutes later I saw him being chased by another cat in the garden and a silent fight ensued. It was not vicious so I did not intervene.
I wonder now, that it may not have been the cold that caused him to not want to go out. If the other cat was already in the vicinity he would have smelled him.
Before Sebastian came to live with us there were several cats to be seen wandering about our garden so they probably think that Sebastian is intruding on their patch.
I did intervene once in a fight in the summer because it was vicious and noisy. I went out and shooed the other cat away but I'm not sure that was the correct thing to do for Sebastian's sake. Maybe he needs to establish his ownership of the space.
