"Stray" cats in the neighborhood

[sweetpea]

editing to update: thanks for the advice. I am concerned that the cat owner is off her rocker and do not wish to attempt to speak with her any further. (Don't poke the crazy!!!!)

In the future though, if dd does happen to be playing anywhere near her house without me I will ask my neighbors to let me know if they notice the woman acting vindictivly toward her.

[Radosti]

OK, I hate it when people let their animals roam. One of my old neighbors used to let their cat out and that cat had no common sense at all. The first time I met it, it had gotten into my yard and walked right up to Rocky, my rottweiler who was sunning himself. Now Rocky was a saint of a dog, but he took way too much interest in cats and tried to kill a few in his younger days. The only thing that saved the cat was that Rocky was wearing a muzzle (he had started eating leaves and rocks and sticks, so we used a muzzle to prevent it). So, I took the cat home (had a tag) and told the owner that it almost got eaten.

The next time it tried to walk under my tires. So, I took it home and told the owner that this cat should never be outdoors for it's own good. It wasn't allowed out again.

So, to me the right approach is to always take the animal to its home and tell then that I saw it almost get run over or something similar. Eventually, they start feeling like A) the animal will get run over and B) I'm going to continue being a pain in the rear to them until they stop letting it loose.

The neighbors across the street were convinced that their dog was on an electric fence, so couldn't come to my property. I eventually started putting the dog on a leash, picking up it's poo and walking both the dog and the poo over. After 5 tries, they got the point.

Now, having said that... I'd be put on a defensive if someone told me that they were going to start spraying my animal with water while it was out. Not that this would ever happen at my house (all my cats are indoor only), but it shows bad feelings toward the cat and makes my mind think - what's next? Pepper spray? Pellet Gun? I'm exagerrating, but you get my point.

If I were you, I'd go over to the lady's house, tell her that you two started off on the wrong foot, that you wouldn't harm the cat... but you are concerned that it bit your daughter (provoked or not). Then, both of you try to come up with a reasonable solution. She's your neighbor and you don't want that kind of ill feelings in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, it's too late to start bringing the cat home saying that it almost got hit by a car, but maybe some other solution can be found. I'm too tired to think of one.

[dcmom2b3]

By way of preface: I'm a cat owner and cat lover, and generally pretty easygoing about wandering animals, since I grew up in the country, and have a blissfully rodent free existence because of our neighborhood feral colony, from which my kitty was rescued. But (cue theme to "the Beverly Hillbillies") having grown up in the country, in my experience wandering, biting animals got shot. Or worse. Period. Zero tolerance. (Please don't flame, I recognize the implicit cruelty there and don't necessarily condone it, esp. when other less drastic measures are available.) So spraying kitty with water seems to me to be a really polite compromise, as does taking it to the humane society next time it's found trespassing.

And crazy threatening neighbors always warrant a call to the police, no matter how unlikely it seems that they'll follow through on the threat. Your neighbor's response was irrational, and would give me pause. There needs to be a record of it. Even though your town lacks a leash law for cats, I would think that there's some owners' liability for cats doing damage to humans and property. Perhaps the cops can impress that upon her.

MH

[nov04]

Eek, what a crappy situation.

I like taking back the cat to its owner idea, but not sure I'd like to be touching an animal I don't know. I also think spraying water is humane and one would be completely within their rights to do it with some animal using their yard as a toilet. Both good ideas in my eyes, but I can't decide what I'd do in the actual situation.

She's nuts to yelling what she did since anyone sane should realize that its reasonable for ppl to not like having some cat use their yard as a toilet. I'm not sure I would call the police but she did threaten your dd and it should be on record.

gl

[miki]

That woman is nutty. The last place we lived had a flower bed right beside the front door and it stank. I thought it was because the neighbor next door (this was a townhouse, so next door just a few feet away) kept their litter box nearby. Then I realized a different neighbor let her many cats roam outside and they used the flower bed as their litter box. I went to Home Depot and got a few bags of volcanic rock, lightweight but rough textured, and spread that on top of the flower bed. The cats stayed away because they didn't like the feel of the rocks.

[gatorsmom]

I'd let the police know what she said about your daughter. Just like road rage- I wouldnt' fool around with that. Get it on record.

I would be furious if one specific cat (don't get me wrong- I love cats) were pooping in my yard and bit my child. I would take it to the humane society and let them deal with her. If you can't allow your child to run free in your own yard without fear of injury, where can she feel safe? Besides, that woman is responsible for her pet and the pet's actions.

I realize this post is longer than necessary, but last summer there were 3 dogs that lived at this house on a busy street not far from our home. I used to walk near them every day with the stroller and 2 of them would follow me home very often. The dogs were very friendly, but it worried me because I knew they could get hit by a car on the walk back to their house. So, after one of them followed me up our driveway and tried to get in our house, I called the number on his tag. No one was home. The parents were both doctors and worked long hours and their teenage kids let the dog roam while they were in school. So, I chained him up in our yard until they called back. When the kids got home from school, they came over and got their dog. A week later the dog followed me home again. Same situation- I chained the poor dog up in our yard til the kids got home from school and came to get him. I warned them, however, that they needed to take better care of their dog or he'd be hit by a car. 2 days later, dog followed me home again and this time I called the town sheriff (there wasn't a local humane society so this is how the police told me to handle it). He paid a visit to this family later that night and had a talk with the parents about being responsible with their pets. The dog was always chained up after that.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!