How to keep cat away from my neighbour?

IwasSTUPID

I know vinegar keeps my cat away from our Christmas tree. maybe she could try wiping some around her window frames?? it only takes a couple hours before it stops smelling like a chip shop lol.. but it works.

Pont

The 'cat' row arises again! Time and time again we can read posts here (and many other places) which usually start with, 'How can I stop next door's cat........'.

Quite simply it's time the law was changed. Either a cat is a pet and the 'owner' takes responsibility for their pet. Or a cat is considered to be a wild animal without ownership and a householder can take any means necessary to rid their property of such animals. It beggars belief to me the total lack of responsibility exhibited by many, not all, cat 'owners'.

It is MY responsibility to ensure that no nuisance is caused to my neighbours from my household, be it human or animal. This is merely common courtesy. I would fully expect my neighbours to complain big time if my children, my dog etc pooped all over their garden, dug up planting, entered their house and so on.

Person_one

Will people have to start walking their cats on leads then? Bit of a nightmare for dog owners!

Cats aren't too keen either judging by this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=lcmHecvpojY&feature=endscreen

Honestly, I think people massively exaggerate the 'problems' caused by cats. In the scheme of things they're hardly a big deal.

krlyr

Person_one wrote: »

Honestly, I think people massively exaggerate the 'problems' caused by cats. In the scheme of things they're hardly a big deal.

In the scheme of things, is it a big deal for cat owners to keep them under control? You choose to get a pet, you have to accept that it comes with some responsibilities. Why should someone who chose not to get a cat have limitations forced on them such as how wide they can open their windows in summer, or have to clean up after someone else's pet? I don't think those problems are exaggerated, all the threads cropping up on the issue time and time again show that it is a problem for people.

Person_one

krlyr wrote: »

In the scheme of things, is it a big deal for cat owners to keep them under control? You choose to get a pet, you have to accept that it comes with some responsibilities. Why should someone who chose not to get a cat have limitations forced on them such as how wide they can open their windows in summer, or have to clean up after someone else's pet? I don't think those problems are exaggerated, all the threads cropping up on the issue time and time again show that it is a problem for people.

Its a bigger deal than keeping a dog under control, definitely.

We all have limitations placed on us by things outside our control, that's life, but if they want the windows wide open they can just make sure they scare the cat off effectively so it doesn't want to come back.

ninjaryder

Cats are pretty much pointless pets. Buy a dog instead ?

SUESMITH_2

McKneff wrote: »

You cant control cats, the problem is hers, not yours

sorry, don't agree with this. i like cats but unfortunately i am very allergic. came home one day to find next doors cat sat on my bedroom window ledge, somehow it had sneaked in when we were going to work in the morning and been in our house all day which then made me ill. it also poos all over or lawn, really not happy. we don't have windows open where it can get in.

why should i pick up their cat sh*t? or is that my problem too?

krlyr

Person_one wrote: »

Its a bigger deal than keeping a dog under control, definitely.

We all have limitations placed on us by things outside our control, that's life, but if they want the windows wide open they can just make sure they scare the cat off effectively so it doesn't want to come back.

Maybe we should go back to the days of latchkey dogs then, and my neighbours will have to take it upon themselves to shoo my dogs off if they're in their garden. If they've got there too late and their lawn is dug up and covered in dog poo - well, tough, according to some views it's easier/a better example for them to grab some poo bags and fill in the holes themselves than to come ranting to me about it. And should they have entered the house through an open patio door and coated their carpet in mud and sofa in dog hairs, that's their fault for leaving their door open!

Presumably cat owners would be pretty peeved if dog owners let dogs wander and one was to enter their garden and chase their cat - or worse, injure or even kill it. But what if a cat was to wander into someone's house and chase or kill someone's pet houserabbit, hamster or bird? Should the houseowner have to go to the expense of catproofing their house, despite not owning a cat?

Do you really think that it is a fair attitude to say those with a cat fur allergy should accept the risk of having their house/furniture covered in cat hair in the summer? In their own home?
Would you say it was acceptable to have their new leather sofa scratched, or their carpet peed on? Food left defrosting on the side eaten, diaorreah all over the floor if a poorly cat wandered in? Are all these acceptable for someone who's chosen not to own a cat, and who had only commited the "crime" of leaving their window ajar for some fresh air?

I know my views aren't backed up by the law, unfortunately, but I can only keep hoping that cat owners will not only want to protect their cats from the dangers they're exposed to as free-ranging cats, but to have some consideration for the fact that they can be a nuisance.

Person_one

Honestly krylr, I think you're getting way too upset over what is really a very trivial matter. Have you ever personally come to any actual harm or suffering because of an outdoor cat, I know I haven't, and I am allergic to them, neither has anybody else I know in real life.

Latchkey dogs were completely different, and dogs are much easier to keep under constant control. Its apples and oranges.

krlyr

I've never claimed to. Fortunately cats give my garden a wide berth, with my two dogs, though it was a bit of a popular toilet ground before the dogs moved in (we left them with family while sorting out the furniture etc). You may not come to actual harm from picking up dog poo from your garden if I let my dogs use it as their personal toilet, but it's still not a very polite thing for me to do, and I didn't appreciate having to pick up after them (especially as my dogs are raw-fed so picking up after them is a much easier task that sloppy cat poo).

Something doesn't have to cause physical harm to be a nuisance. Loud music at 2am isn't going to make your ears bleed, but it's a nuisance - and there are rules/procedures to deal with that nuisance. Someone blocking your driveway when you get up in the morning isn't going to kill you, but you can have them removed for blocking you in. I certainly would love to see the day that cat owners are held responsible for preventing their cats being a nuisance, and I say that as someone who likes, and would own, a cat myself.

Cats can be kept under control, like I said, places like Australia and the US where it's pretty much the norm (and sometimes even required by law), they manage just fine. Yeah, it's not as easy as cutting a hole in your door for a catflap, but I had to fork out for fencing, leads and so on for my dogs - you choose to get a cat, you choose the expense to keep it under control IMO.

It may be trivial to you, but it's obviously not trivial to the OP's neighbour who's got a big issue with it. It's not trivial to those who come on here from OP's neighbour's POV asking how to deal with their neighbour's nuisance cats. Triviality is a matter of perspective. My neighbour's dogs barking is trivial to me - I can ignore it quite happily. I know my other neighbour isn't half as accomodating and I can understand his POV too - and he'd be well within his rights to have EH do something about it if he wanted, that's why I worked so hard to deal with my dog's barking issues.
I don't think cats and dogs are apples and oranges. They're both pets, they're both a choice rather than a necessity, and they both can be nuisances if allowed to be. They can both be controlled, even if it's in slightly different ways. And while, as a dog owner, I'm required to control my dogs by law, given the effectiveness of the Dog Warden at times, I could let mine wander and cause my neighbours problems, but I don't, because I don't see that as fair at all.