I've Had Enough of the Neighbor's Cat!

[MamaBelle4]

The OP has no responsibility to anyone else in the neighborhood to go around door to door asking everyone if the found cat belongs to them.

I wasn't referring to the OP. I was referring to the PP who knew exactly where the cats came from. I just hope she said something to the neighbor first.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Outdoor cats are definitely a nuisance for people living in a suburban or urban neighborhood. If you're required to pick up after your dog during a walk, and keep your dog leashed, you should be required to do the same for a cat. Cats can't be fenced, and they will cause property damage by spraying houses and destroying screens to get to indoor cats that are in windows just doing what they're allowed to do. If you don't think that your outdoor cat is causing an issue, why not? Where do you think that cat is going to the bathroom? Why would you think that everyone is happy to see a strange cat running around their yard? While a cat isn't going to cause as much damage as a dog, a cat can scratch and bit a child pretty badly, and children can fear them as well, not everyone is happy seeing a stray cat around.

Here we don't have much of an issue, people who move here with outdoor cats find after the first few days that outdoor cats don't stand much of a chance against the coyotes.

 

[wenrob]

Well, as I've said, my cat is indoors, so I don't have a dog in this fight.

And, no, I would not be okay with a pack of dogs roaming the neighborhood, but I think that there is a huge difference. A non aggressive cat, by itself, will not do damage like an entire pack of dogs.

I actually hate to see dogs outside alone.

If you have an animal that is on your property and it is a nuisance to you, you have the right to humanely take care of the situation. To me, the first step would be talking to the owner, not trapping.

As I've said before, I've never seen anyone around here have an issue with outdoor cats. It is possible, even likely, the owner doesn't realize their animals are causing an issue if no one says anything.

The thing is if people are letting their cats roam freely how they know they're not aggressive to other people's property and animals? Animals don't "crap in their own bed" so to speak. They may not tear up their owners own garden, incite animals in their own home but that doesn't mean they're not doing it elsewhere. I don't think it's so far off from the dog analogy. My dog is the sweetest pup on the planet but I really have no idea how she might act if allowed to roam free. And not for nothing but there are leash laws that equally apply to cats and dogs. At least here.

 

[scrhsa]

Feel free to let your cats roam as long as they don't damage my property or torture my indoor cat. I have had to replace numerous screens because the outdoor cats would jump and cling to them trying to get to my cat. I can't even count the amount of money I have spent replacing rugs on my porch and in my mud room because outdoor cats peed on the outdoor rug which was promptly tracked into my house. When your cat becomes a nuisance, you (the collective you) either need to keep it on your own property or it needs to be trapped and brought to a shelter. I am required to keep my kids in line so they are not a nuisance to you. I am required to keep my dog in line so it is not a nuisance to you. Why should you not be required to keep your cat in line so it is not a nuisance to me?

If I had some one come to me and tell me my cat was causing problems I would definitely try to do something to fix the situation. If it meant having to keep it inside, well, I would considerate it. I would definitely offer to pay/fix any damage my cat/dog/turtle/bird/kids etc did to anyone's property!

I think this is one of those things that people are never going to agree on.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

If I had some one come to me and tell me my cat was causing problems I would definitely try to do something to fix the situation. If it meant having to keep it inside, well, I would considerate it. I would definitely offer to pay/fix any damage my cat/dog/turtle/bird/kids etc did to anyone's property!

I think this is one of those things that people are never going to agree on.

But why let your cat roam free in the first place? Dogs aren't allows to roam free, so why allow a cat to roam free? You KNOW that the cat is defecating in other people's yards, do you check the neighborhood for poo and clean it up? Cats will adjust to being inside, entertain them, play with them and they are happy animals. To say that their "nature" dictates they be allowed to roam means that you should live in the country where they can roam, or keep them inside.

 

[mamacatnv]

I have an indoor/outdoor kitty, Wilson. I adopted him at 8 weeks of age and he has always always always spent a portion of his time outdoors. From the minute we brought him home he howled, yowled and became an escape artist. No doorway was safe. I knew his foster home, he had not been outside as a foster, it is just part of who he is. He is fixed, up to date on all his shots and chipped.
Sure, indoors is inherently safer but as many have said, cats are not necessarily predisposed to being indoor animals. I've had cats for my entire adult life and there have been a few in the mix that no matter what we did, they needed to go outside. My vet supports the need for kitties to go outside as well.

Wilson has a curfew(dark) and we really try to keep him in at night. I know he roams a large area of our neighborhood and I also know that most of my neighbors know him, talk to him, pet him and keep an eye on him. He does not wear a collar as he has managed to rid himself of about 10 of them, I finally gave up.
Where I live there are no leash laws for cats and if someone trapped a "known" domestic kitty that belonged to the neighbor there would be heck to pay when they showed up at animal control with a trapped cat.

My neighborhood has a feral colony as well that we all worked on trapping, spaying/neutering and returning to our neighborhood. We don't have rodent issues, still have lots of birds along with the usual assortment of critters for our area. It seems we have a nice balance and most of the neighbors support the kitties in our mix.

 

[DaisyJ]

Well, as I've said, my cat is indoors, so I don't have a dog in this fight.

And, no, I would not be okay with a pack of dogs roaming the neighborhood, but I think that there is a huge difference. A non aggressive cat, by itself, will not do damage like an entire pack of dogs.

I actually hate to see dogs outside alone.

If you have an animal that is on your property and it is a nuisance to you, you have the right to humanely take care of the situation. To me, the first step would be talking to the owner, not trapping.

As I've said before, I've never seen anyone around here have an issue with outdoor cats. It is possible, even likely, the owner doesn't realize their animals are causing an issue if no one says anything.

If your cat is outside, I guarantee it is causing an issue, for someone, somewhere. Digging up flowers, peeing/pooping in their landscaping, terrorizing birds or small animals or harassing indoor neighborhood pets.

 

[MamaBelle4]

If your cat is outside, I guarantee it is causing an issue, for someone, somewhere. Digging up flowers, peeing/pooping in their landscaping, terrorizing birds or small animals or harassing indoor neighborhood pets.

Okay, well, one more time. My cat is strictly indoors.

We had outdoor cats growing up, never had any complaints. They mostly stayed in our yard, except for one who would follow me to the bus stop then walk home with me after school.

They brought moles and mice and other small rodents to our doorstep, for which they were praised.

There are many outdoor cats here. 3 or 4 like to lie in our yard. They do not terrorize our indoor pets, dig up our garden and I've found no evidence of urine or poop. They most likely go in the woods, I presume.

Again, and again for the last time, I have never had an issue with an outdoor cat, nor have I ever heard anyone complain about outdoor cats. It must be a regional thing. Or because I live in a mostly rural area.

 

[scrhsa]

But why let your cat roam free in the first place? Dogs aren't allows to roam free, so why allow a cat to roam free? You KNOW that the cat is defecating in other people's yards, do you check the neighborhood for poo and clean it up? Cats will adjust to being inside, entertain them, play with them and they are happy animals. To say that their "nature" dictates they be allowed to roam means that you should live in the country where they can roam, or keep them inside.

Apparently, I live in a neighborhood that doesn't have a problem with it. And really, my cats do their business in my yard. They hang out in my yard. Yes, I know that not every cat is like that.

Like I said before, this is one of those things that people will never agree on. I firmly believe that you shouldn't ONLY keep cats inside. Yes, there are situations where it is warranted. But if you can let them outside.

 

[sonnyjane]

But why let your cat roam free in the first place? Dogs aren't allows to roam free, so why allow a cat to roam free? You KNOW that the cat is defecating in other people's yards, do you check the neighborhood for poo and clean it up? Cats will adjust to being inside, entertain them, play with them and they are happy animals. To say that their "nature" dictates they be allowed to roam means that you should live in the country where they can roam, or keep them inside.

This. The "cats are meant to roam free" argument doesn't work if you wouldn't do the same thing with your dogs (and unless you live in the country, you probably don't). Any domesticated animal was technically "meant to roam free". Your tropical fish wasn't intended to be in a tank, your canary wasn't meant to live in a cage, etc.

If you want your cat to get outside time, they do make harnesses and leashes for cats, but because it's so much easier to just open the door and let the cat out, that's obviously what most people do. As mentioned by other posters, this is something that the two sides will never agree on, but I'm FIRMLY in the indoor cat camp.

 

[DaisyJ]

Okay, well, one more time. My cat is strictly indoors.

We had outdoor cats growing up, never had any complaints. They mostly stayed in our yard, except for one who would follow me to the bus stop then walk home with me after school.

They brought moles and mice and other small rodents to our doorstep, for which they were praised.

There are many outdoor cats here. 3 or 4 like to lie in our yard. They do not terrorize our indoor pets, dig up our garden and I've found no evidence of urine or poop. They most likely go in the woods, I presume.

Again, and again for the last time, I have never had an issue with an outdoor cat, nor have I ever heard anyone complain about outdoor cats. It must be a regional thing. Or because I live in a mostly rural area.

One more time, general you. I also live in a rural area and have issues with outdoor cats. Once they get soaked with our hose, they tend to stay away.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have no problem with cats being outside in theory. As others have said, they are animals. I have no problem with them hunting birds...that's what cats do. Yes, they get hit by cars, but if you let your cat out I guess that's the chance you take.

However, I do agree it's not smart to let a "non-fixed" cat outside, as Bob Barker always said "Help control the pet population...have your pet spayed or neutered".

Having it roam on other peoples' property is a nuisance, I totally agree. So in the end, while I don't have a theoretical problem with letting a cat out, I probably wouldn't let one out just for that reason. I don't own a cat now, but have had a few. We didn't let them out for fear they would run...one of them accidentally got out and did run away (or who knows what happened to it).

If someone elses' cat roams onto my property and isn't causing harm, I probably wouldn't like it but it wouldn't really bother me a ton. However, if it's attacking my theoretical cat (since I don't have one), as others have said I would make sure my cat was protected...I would not be so kind to the attacking cat.

Everytime I go to the vet they ask if my cat is let outdoors. The reason is they can give him shots to help protect him more if he was an indoor/outdoor cat. We don't let our cat outdoors though.

If you want an outdoor cat then fine but don't be mad when it is trapped and turned into the animal shelter. We had renters move in behind me with 3 cats that they let outdoors- one by one I trapped them in my yard and took them to the shelter. I keep mine in the house and I don't need other peoples coming and crapping and peeing in my flower beds. Cats should not be outside unless on a leash in your own yard.

There's a story going on where 2 nuns admit they trap cats around the neighborhood and dump them miles away. Part of the controversy is because people in the neighborhood have expressed concern that one of them might have been their pet since their cats have gone missing. The nuns state they only trapped and released elsewhere ones that didn't have a collar but I will say I don't remember them caring to check if they had an owner other than using the lack of collar to suggest they don't have one. At this time the police don't have a connection but they are looking into it for sure.

I would have talked with your renters first and reviewed if it was within my rights to trap cats that they say belong to them (just saying I've got no idea what laws you have in your area) but if I were take them to a shelter I would only take them to a no-kill (which by law still has the ability to kill animials but they have to be under a certain percentage per year to still be considered no-kill) shelter. It would be heartbreaking that the cats would be put down simply because the ones who call them theirs let them roam with what I am assuming no safety measures or microchip.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Did you talk to the renters first? Or did you just trap their pets and take them to the shelter? Did you let the renters know? Was it a no kill shelter?

I guess I'm just more easy going. To me, that reaction seems a bit extreme. Especially for renters. And I say that because outdoor cats notoriously will run away if they are unfamiliar with the location. If you didn't let them know, they may have just assumed their pets had run off and not called local shelters. I hope you had a word with them first before taking the cats to the shelter.

It seriously must be a regional thing. I have never met anyone who has had an issue with an outdoor cat, as long as they weren't aggressive.

There is some truth to that moreso when you consider the U.S. and other countries. It's a complicated issue for sure so it's not just a 'U.S. is against outdoor cats and the rest of the world is ok with outdoor cats' Pockets of places in the U.S. will be totally ok with outdoor cats.

England for example has a very different outlook on outdoor cats, in fact there are areas there where keeping cats indoors is seen as the issue rather than in the U.S. where keeping cats outdoors is the issue. I don't know how old the article was but it couldn't have been more than a few years old at the most but it was from Huffington Post. Anywho it said in there "Upwards of 90 percent of British cats are allowed outside". The aricle goes on to explain "We [the author of the article] were told that it’s much safer to let cats outside in England because there are no American predators like wolves, cougars, etc"

The article explains "In the UK, by contrast [to the U.S.], declawing was banned by the Animal Welfare Act of 2006. Under the Act, anyone convicted of declawing in the UK could face up to a year in prison and/or £20,000 fine. Across continental Europe the practice is verboten by the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals." The article does explain though that cats killed by cars is still an issue (about 1 in 4 they said) and that would be a big concern for me personally. I just cringe everytime on Nextdoor (social networking site for citizens of my city/area) when someone says their cat went missing.

The U.S. is different with different dangers, different congestion, etc so cultural we have the difference and outdoor cats may not work the same as other parts of the world as they do here. As a personal aside I believe if you let your cat outdoors at the very least do the vaccinations, spay/neuter, microchip them and keep that information up to date and don't declaw them (so they have the defensive mechanisms that may be needed in the outdoors).

*I'm going off from google and from watching documentaries and from reading other articles/blogs and whatnot..as far as what goes on outside of the U.S.
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If anyone is interested Netflix has a documentary called "The Lion in Your Living Room". It touches on outdoors cats but also goes on to explain cats behaviors, etc. I found it very cool and I learned new things.

 

[Klayfish]

Cat fight!!!!!!

Someone had to say it...

 

[wenrob]

Everytime I go to the vet they ask if my cat is let outdoors. The reason is they can give him shots to help protect him more if he was an indoor/outdoor cat. We don't let our cat outdoors though.

There's a story going on where 2 nuns admit they trap cats around the neighborhood and dump them miles away. Part of the controversy is because people in the neighborhood have expressed concern that one of them might have been their pet since their cats have gone missing. The nuns state they only trapped and released elsewhere ones that didn't have a collar but I will say I don't remember them caring to check if they had an owner other than using the lack of collar to suggest they don't have one. At this time the police don't have a connection but they are looking into it for sure.

I would have talked with your renters first and reviewed if it was within my rights to trap cats that they say belong to them (just saying I've got no idea what laws you have in your area) but if I were take them to a shelter I would only take them to a no-kill (which by law still has the ability to kill animials but they have to be under a certain percentage per year to still be considered no-kill) shelter. It would be heartbreaking that the cats would be put down simply because the ones who call them theirs let them roam with what I am assuming no safety measures or microchip.

Years ago we had a feral mama kitty have kittens in my backyard. (clearly my lab was a pushover) By the time we discovered them they were several weeks old and feral themselves. I called the ASPCA and every no kill shelter in my county. NONE of them would come get these cats. ALL of them wanted me to bring them into my home to try and domesticate them and provide for them for weeks if not months. I understand they're overwhelmed by these types of calls but really? That's an awful lot to ask of someone who was at least trying to do the kind thing. I have no doubt Mama Kitty was a cat allowed to roam that never went home. At that point I felt I had no choice but to trap and have them picked up. I know it's not the same scenario but my point is it's not as easy as calling a no kill shelter. It shouldn't be the neighborhood's responsibility to deal with animals that don't belong to them IMO.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Years ago we had a feral mama kitty have kittens in my backyard. (clearly my lab was a pushover) By the time we discovered them they were several weeks old and feral themselves. I called the ASPCA and every no kill shelter in my county. NONE of them would come get these cats. ALL of them wanted me to bring them into my home to try and domesticate them and provide for them for weeks if not months. I understand they're overwhelmed by these types of calls but really? That's an awful lot to ask of someone who was at least trying to do the kind thing. I have no doubt Mama Kitty was a cat allowed to roam that never went home. At that point I felt I had no choice but to trap and have them picked up. I know it's not the same scenario but my point is it's not as easy as calling a no kill shelter. It shouldn't be the neighborhood's responsibility to deal with animals that don't belong to them IMO.

Your issue seems to be one that happens during a certain time of year. I don't know what time of year it was for you though but here kitten season is usually May through parts of summer. Shelters are absolutely overloaded with the sheer amount of animals they get. They do turn down taking cats (and other animals) in because they have no more resources to give. It happens nearly every year. One well-known shelter though got $ (approved by voters) just a few months ago to build a bigger and better shelter so that will help some.

I don't agree with their approach of trying to domesticate them just like that. Feral cats can be tricky and the NTR (Neuter/or Spay Trap Release and they clip one ear to signify the cat has been neutered/spayed) tends to work better as a general thing (obviously some feral cats work out in a home with little to no issues). We actually had a kitten when we lived at our rental house that we found. We called the local shelters who said that in our city we needed to call animal control to come pick up the kitten. The kitten did get pick up but before we allowed that to happen we made sure it would go to a no-kill shelter (of which there are multiple in our area). The animal control person felt the kitten wasn't truly feral (and we agreed as it seemed ok with human touch) and really wanted to see if we would keep the kitten. We couldn't though not with our own cat we had but they did try. I don't think they would have suggested it had the kitten not seemed ok with human touch and was more feral.

And I didn't say it should be the neighbor's responsibilty did I? My comments were to the poster and the poster alone not to the OP situation. The poster explained what they did and I make a comment regarding that. I didn't say "oh you should have just left the cats to do damage to your property" or anything like that.

 

[wenrob]

Your issue seems to be one that happens during a certain time of year. I don't know what time of year it was for you though but here kitten season is usually May through parts of summer. Shelters are absolutely overloaded with the sheer amount of animals they get. They do turn down taking cats (and other animals) in because they have no more resources to give. It happens nearly every year. One well-known shelter though got $ (approved by voters) just a few months ago to build a bigger and better shelter so that will help some.

I don't agree with their approach of trying to domesticate them just like that. Feral cats can be tricky and the NTR (Neuter/or Spay Trap Release and they clip one ear to signify the cat has been neutered/spayed) tends to work better as a general thing (obviously some feral cats work out in a home with little to no issues). We actually had a kitten when we lived at our rental house that we found. We called the local shelters who said that in our city we needed to call animal control to come pick up the kitten. The kitten did get pick up but before we allowed that to happen we made sure it would go to a no-kill shelter (of which there are multiple in our area). The animal control person felt the kitten wasn't truly feral (and we agreed as it seemed ok with human touch) and really wanted to see if we would keep the kitten. We couldn't though not with our own cat we had but they did try. I don't think they would have suggested it had the kitten not seemed ok with human touch and was more feral.

And I didn't say it should be the neighbor's responsibilty did I? My comments were to the poster and the poster alone not to the OP situation. The poster explained what they did and I make a comment regarding that. I didn't say "oh you should have just left the cats to do damage to your property" or anything like that.

The last was an in general comment not directed specifically at you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The last was an in general comment not directed specifically at you.

Sorry apologies

I couldn't distinguish that aspect from the rest of the comments.

 

[wenrob]

Sorry apologies

I couldn't distinguish that aspect from the rest of the comments.

Should have dropped down a line.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Should have dropped down a line.

No worries it's all good, I understand what you meant now