Should Leash Laws Apply to Cats?

[hrhdhd]

Being a good neighbor involves keeping your animal off my property.

A woman in my 'hood has the open garage door to feed any number of feral cats, which then congregate in my yard, urinate in my plant beds, track through my yard and leave dead grass (now dirt) in their wake, fight in my driveway, and so on. Local law says if you feed an animal for more than 30 days, it's yours. So they're her cats. I wish she cared about neighborliness.

 

[SteveH]

@Lumpy1106 you keep assuming that I wasn't the good neighbor. Unlike your neighbor I talked with that neighbor over a dozen times, the last few times I was making clear I was going to do something. I even caged the one cat and let her take it out of the cage as my final "I really mean this" warning. I didn't like doing it but I was sick of it of cat cr*p in my back yard. That same house has turned over 4 times in my 21 years here, I have had good relationships all the other owners. It's not a cat thing either - we had 3 cats and 5 dogs in our family.

 

[SteveH]

@hrhdhd check out the Orbit 62100 Yard Enforcer Motion Activated Pest Deterrent Sprinkler.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

We had a family in next neighborhood that did walk their cat on a leash. While some folks snickered I thought how smart are they. Their cat gets to enjoy outside without the fear it will get hurt, eaten or do any damage.

This is us! Our cat is 10 now and has walked on a harness/leash since he was a kitten. We went through 3 harnesses until he was full grown. He gets walked twice a day. In the wintertime, it's just once a day. We love him way too much to let him roam free.

OP, I'm a huge cat lover, but I would be ticked if I was in your situation!! I wouldn't be happy to have a neighbor's cat pooping and peeing in my yard and eating the birds. Good luck to you.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Where I lived in California, cats roamed freely all the time, and disappeared too. Hawks, coyotes, mountain lions...I never understood why someone would let their cat out all day (and night). We had a problem with one particular neighbor. Their cat was always in our backyard and I'm sure others as well. Would always be after a bird. One day while doing yardwork/outside work to house, we'd have the garage door up. My husband had a 1969 convertible corvette completely restored. When done outside, closed the door and went out for dinner. When we got home, the cat as in our garage. Lucikly, an thankfully, it did no damage to the car. My husband was moving the cat along gently with his foot. Not kicking it or anything and the neighbors who own the cat just happen to be driving by. The husband yelled at my husband and words were exchanged. I ended up calling animal control to see what our rights were. The said that the cat is allowed to roam but we have the right that the cat stays off our property.

 

[Lumpy1106]

@Lumpy1106 you keep assuming that I wasn't the good neighbor. Unlike your neighbor I talked with that neighbor over a dozen times, the last few times I was making clear I was going to do something. I even caged the one cat and let her take it out of the cage as my final "I really mean this" warning. I didn't like doing it but I was sick of it of cat cr*p in my back yard. That same house has turned over 4 times in my 21 years here, I have had good relationships all the other owners. It's not a cat thing either - we had 3 cats and 5 dogs in our family.

Honest question, just trying to understand - what was your damage? Some cat poop in a planter? Why does this bother you so much? How is that any different than if a raccoon, squirrel, skunk or opossum pooped in your yard? Just trying to understand why you would go to so much trouble to escalate the matter. Every neighbors' (or feral) cat I've ever had in my yard has either been friendly or instantly runs away when they see me. It doesn't bother me in the least.

OTOH, you can see why the neighbor would be upset seeing their pet trapped in a cage, right?

 

[Lumpy1106]

Just a little reality check you may not have thought about. If you don't have cats in your yard, you DO have mice and rats. Absolutely, 100%, and it doesn't matter where you live. I would take the cats every day, but, rules are rules...

 

[Magical2017]

I don't want cat poop all over my yard, but I don't feel like cats need to be leashed.

Every day our dog goes nuts becuase there is a fox, rabbits, and deer that come in our yard each day. There is a black cat that roams around. We have a ton of squirrels and some chipmunks. There is a lot of poop in our fenced-in yard.

 

[lanejudy]

There are a few neighborhood cats who roam through our yard but it's never been a problem. Occasionally I find one sitting on the back deck or in the yard, but usually it will run before I even get out the door. I've never once run across cat poop in my yard; I always thought cats are generally tidy about where and how they go, unlike dogs who will stop to poop almost anywhere. We definitely have field mice so I'm sure having the cats around helps with that. The raccoon who was getting into my trash and compost this summer was much more of a concern for me than the cats. The darn squirrels leave nut/seed shells around every fall.

 

[mom2rtk]

Cats have been leash trained. But it's not a reasonable expectation for all cats.

I am a very firm believer in keeping your cats indoors. But sometimes it just doesn't work out. We did everything to get our calico to use a box. We finally had to compromise and let her become indoor/outdoor. It was that or take her to the pound. And who adopts a cat who won't use a box?

Thankfully the only time a neighbor trapped her was to shave the matted fur we had been struggling with on her neck. We still laugh at her coming home cleanly shaved in that one area.

I'm still grateful for her expert mole hunting skills. She was just a week shy of 20 when we lost her.

 

[mom2rtk]

Being a good neighbor involves keeping your animal off my property.

A woman in my 'hood has the open garage door to feed any number of feral cats, which then congregate in my yard, urinate in my plant beds, track through my yard and leave dead grass (now dirt) in their wake, fight in my driveway, and so on. Local law says if you feed an animal for more than 30 days, it's yours. So they're her cats. I wish she cared about neighborliness.

Attracting feral cats by feeding is completely wrong.

 

[china mom]

Indoor cats do typically have a longer life expectancy but this is not a hard and fast rule. Chester (indoor outdoor) died of old age at at least 17 (not sure how old he was when I adopted him as he was full grown). Sebastian and Matilda (both indoor/outdoor) are at least 12 and healthy as can be. Matilda is at a greater risk of becoming coyote food as she likes to hunt the woods way in the back but she is very worldly and has outsmarted predators so far..

But we live in an area where even dogs are often out and about. When our dog was still around, I can't tell you how many times I would open the front door and say "go find someone to play with"

I think it does depend on how densely populated an area is and how neighbors fell about it. But, I also think that the cat poop/pee is a non issue. Even when I did live in a dense suburban community, I never ran across feces or discolored grass. Cats don't typically do their business out in the open like dogs to. It is their survival method to do their business under cover and to bury it to hide the smell.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I think leash laws for dogs are about protecting people from bites, not protecting outdoor property from animals.


That said, my own two cats do only go out on leashes, but that's my choice for their safety - knowing I have the luxury of time to sit outside with them, which not everyone does.

 

[mistysue]

I really don't get letting cats roam completely free.

I have three cats who are afraid to go outside in large part due to free roaming cats in the area. In the past we had to get rid of our sandbox because random cats kept crapping on our stuff. I see dead cats on the road, or know they are harmed by other animals all the time. I always feel shocked people would want their cats to be put at risk that way. I've been worried that if our cats got out they might get FIV or something.

I was planning a catio until I realized it had to be very secure or risk outdoor cats getting to them. (seriously, I feel like such a jerk because it seems like I'm judging those other cats as "less than" my cats but the local shelters deal with FIV a lot)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've been worried that if our cats got out they might get FIV or something.

Our vet did advise if you were going to have an indoor/outdoor or outdoor cat there are additional vaccinations they would recommend be done.

I see dead cats on the road, or know they are harmed by other animals all the time.

In my area it's largely cats that got out by mistake or it's feral cats and trust me the owners are devastated when it's their cat that got out by mistake. It's one of the reasons people harp on about microchipping and keeping the information up to date.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Page 3 and still no mention of catios? These are fairly common in the PNW - not entirely sure why.
https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/Pa...peg?odnHeight=2000&odnWidth=2000&odnBg=FFFFFF
They put one of these in our local animal shelter, attached to a communal indoor area for the more social cats that were up for adoption. Cats were mostly using the indoor area. Just a small sampling.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Page 3 and still no mention of catios? These are fairly common in the PNW - not entirely sure why.
https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/Pa...peg?odnHeight=2000&odnWidth=2000&odnBg=FFFFFF
They put one of these in our local animal shelter, attached to a communal indoor area for the more social cats that were up for adoption. Cats were mostly using the indoor area. Just a small sampling.

That looks good, a nice compromise. Outside but not roaming free.

 

[china mom]

Page 3 and still no mention of catios? These are fairly common in the PNW - not entirely sure why.
https://i5.walmartimages.com/seo/Pa...peg?odnHeight=2000&odnWidth=2000&odnBg=FFFFFF
They put one of these in our local animal shelter, attached to a communal indoor area for the more social cats that were up for adoption. Cats were mostly using the indoor area. Just a small sampling.

A couple of posters here have mentioned them, they just didn't use the term catio.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We have two cats - both females, both from the same litter. DD wanted to take one to college, we said no. We thought the cat would hate it. She has run of a full house and her sister with us, she'd be confined to a dorm room and no company from her sister there. DD was insistent, set up everything on her side, cat started having medical issues. We sorted the medical issues, DD came home for a week and was a huge help. We relented. Both cats have never been happier.

Just goes to show, you never know about cats.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

A woman in my 'hood has the open garage door to feed any number of feral cats, which then congregate in my yard, urinate in my plant beds, track through my yard and leave dead grass (now dirt) in their wake, fight in my driveway, and so on. Local law says if you feed an animal for more than 30 days, it's yours. So they're her cats. I wish she cared about neighborliness.

We used to have a neighbor kind of like this. We already had issues with the guy, but the feral cats were just too much. They lived in his yard and a rotted out portion of his house (an HOA fight with the guy), but they always ended up in our yard. They'd claw up our screens, fencing, porch columns, doors, etc. They were LOUD whenever the females were in heat. They'd urinate and defecate all over the place. A few of them were also aggressive and would try and claim my front porch as their territory..."growling" and going after me as I tried to get to my front door.

So, we bought a trap and some cheap food. Yes, it meant having to handle the trap and transport the animals to a shelter. Still after a few months, there were no cats. There were weeks when we caught as many as 5 of them. The shelter would evaluate the animals for health and temperament. Some were suitable for adoption or fostering to adoption, while others (like that evil orange one that kept charging me) were not. The neighbor was so angry but he had done nothing to control this and we were done dealing with his negligence. It was bad enough he bought the house next door (he actually lived in the one two doors down) and let it fall apart because his parents refused to move next door to him, but the cat invasion in our yard meant we needed to take action.