I’d like to keep him on dried stuff (less stinky)
I don’t think it is. I am mistrustful of that artificial stuff. And never buy Iams, it’s like smack for cats, they go mental demanding tons of it from you and you have no choice but to give it to them, and then they get fat.
We left a bowl of Purina out for ours all the time, he just grazed through the day. Tried Iams and he wolfed the lot as soon as we put it down.
Don’t buy beds and toys. The cat will ignore whatever you spend money on, usually 🙂
There are two ways to stop them killing local beasties – one is keep them inside at night, the other is to never let them out hungry. Although this doesn’t work with some bloodthirsty cats, it works with most.
And poo isn’t a problem – your own cat should bury its own and it’ll keep other cats away too.