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Old January 5th, 2006, 05:34 PM
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Another case for indoor cats

My husband and I are cordial but dont socialize with the residents on our quiet street - we keep to ourseves. Others visit back and forth frequently, and are very friendly. Or were.

Two of our direct neighbours are now apparently feuding - not a pet related dispute.
However, one guy has long complained to the other man about his two outdoor cats pooping in his garden - an unresolved issue.

Now that the battle is on... he has apparently decided to 'force" them to keep their cats in, and last night put out dixie cups of antifreeze around his yard - between 8-10.

The cat owners wife came to tell me this last evening. I was shocked that someone would be so callous, and as a neighbour - kind of wondering about the 'stability" of a person who could be so spiteful.

The police were called, the cups were pulled, the SPCA are supposedly going to come by today to talk to him about this incident. I imagine they will also advise the people to keep their cats indoors to solve the problem.. but the wife said they cant. They are outdoor cats.. and that is their lifestyle now.

Today, the cat owners made up and distributed warning flyers thoughout the street. Guess they wont be resolving their difficulties anytime soon.

I do understand the problem that many have with roaming cats on their property. The guy is very proud of his garden, puts a lot of work into it.
But this "solution" is appalling.

Apart from the many accidental hazards that unsupervised cats face, a rather chilling example of those who intentionally would harm animals who venture onto their property.
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Old January 5th, 2006, 08:15 PM
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Your neighbourhood sounds like mine. Thats horrid that someone could actually do something like that.

My neighbours too have a perfect garden, that they keep that way with a billion and one types pesticides, and herbicides. One day a neighbours cat went in their yard, the owner literally picked the cat up and hurled it over their fence.

As I know these people are so against animals, I purposely asked her one day to look after Joey for me when we went on our holidays. "She replied only if you want your dog dead when you get back" Of course I would never let her or her family within 50 feet of my dog.
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Old January 5th, 2006, 08:51 PM
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It's shocking and disgusting that someone could think of doing that to an innocent animal. I know cat poop in the flower beds is annoying, but it's not the cat's fault--it doesn't know any better! What next? Are these wackos going to start setting out poisoned cookies so that their neighbor's kids will eat them?

I know how hard it is to try to turn a dedicated outside cat into an indoor cat . . . My parents had to keep one of our first cats inside for three months for medical reasons and he HATED it. He was angry all the time and basically would spend all day crouched by the door or waiting around the corner, waiting for a chance to try to escape.

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Old January 5th, 2006, 10:45 PM
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Appalling !!! People are so calloused. Our neighbors up the street had a pit bull. He was the friendliest dog in the neighborhood. After a while though they weren't caring for him properly, in my opinion. They have a boxer now that is outdoors unleashed and full of boundless energy. He used to chase and scare Joey, and has run into the road on several occasions. They are entrusting the dogs care to their children who aren't responsible enough.

Anyway, the Pittie, was pampered and walked etc. Then the family situation became strained and he was tied up outside more and more, and became agitated. Or he would be unattended completely and unleashed.

We were away for a bit the summer before last and when we came home we found out that he had died. The circumstances sounded very odd. He was fine one day and then sick and bleeding the next. Dead the next. Funny thing is two other dogs in the neighborhood had identical symptoms but did recover.

Joey was fine but he was never off leash and the dog walker had taken him in the other direction that entire week. There is suspicion that someone set out poison. I don't know if they were afraid of the dogs, or annoyed by the dogs. I don't know for sure if it was poison or not but it seemed awfully strange. And there is a dog hater in that area of the neighborhood so I wouldn't be surprised.

I just can't imagine taking a creatures life like that.
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Old January 5th, 2006, 11:32 PM
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I have to admit I never heard of neighbours doing that till my parents moved to an upscale (my defintiion for want of a better word, I should say so called since the homes may well be upscale but some of the neighbours sure are not!!!) neighbourhood in Florida. One of the women - someone my mom had come to like and one who shared recipes, had the perfect garden and home, yadda yadda - did just that. Among other things which I forget - something that would kill or injure what she thought were feral cats. She was none too pleaseed that the next door neighbours had 4 children either, sighhhhhhhhhh!! (Or that the neighbour was a single parent) She told my parents like it was nothing and my folks were appalled and shocked and there went the freindship. My folks do not - as one might say around here - have theor tongues in their pocket - and told her in no uncertain terms they would not stand for that. My folks went to the local association and a policy that cruelty to animals was not allowed in the gated community. (Not to mention it is illegal to begin with but well you know how some ppl think they are above such minor interferances as laws!) I made sure she was long gone when YY and I went to visit but then YY is an indoor kitty anyway.

The irony was that her husband made these wonderful cat caricatures- he made me one of a black cat. (this was before YY came along and I had a rabbit and a beagle). And they seemed so nice!!!! Gawd!
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Old January 6th, 2006, 09:51 AM
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this is a difficult situation for all involved. i am not a cat person and would be really p*ssed off if my carefully tende-for garden was pooped in and scratched up by the neighbor's cats, but i wouldn't resort to poisoning them... luckily when you have a dog (or two!), cats won't come near your property unless they are suicidal.

but what are non-pet owners to do? you can't build a chicken-coop around your back yard just to keep the cats out, who shouldn't be there in the first place (right to privacy and enjoyment of personal property, yada yada). I would be interested in hearing some practical solutions to resolving a situation like this - one does not involve killing the cats or feuding up a whole neighborhood...
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Old January 6th, 2006, 11:43 AM
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We've had a problem with an inconsiderate neighbour who lets her cat run at large. I've been told to "lighten up" and "what's the big deal?". It's not just the pooping and digging. It's the fighting with our indoor cats through the front screen (which hasn't been destroyed--yet), and the problem of our cat urinating in the house, marking territory. (Originally we thought it was a behaviour issue, as she always did it on the dog's mat. When we came home from two weeks vacation to Lake Kitty Pee Pee by the back door, where there was no mat, I made a connection. Daisy's mat was always by the windows, where this vagrant kitty would hang out. Since we moved her new mat, we haven't had a pee problem on the mat). Not to mention the horrid howls at 2 am, which set off the dog, and woke up our baby.

On the one hand, I agree, not the cat's fault the owners are inconsiderate of others in the neighbourhood. On the other, I shouldn't have to put up with these issues. But you don't intentionally hurt the cat. Daisy has chased the cat out of the yard on several occasions when we let her out to use the facilities. I've now taught her "get the cat!" No, I would never let her hurt it. But when I come home and the cat is on our window sill, or in our back yard, I ask Daisy, "Wanna get the cat??" She gets excited (she wants to try and play with it, actually. She does the same thing to our cats), and I open the door, and she chases it away. So far, it seems to have been working, I haven't seen it around for a while.

If it does keep coming back, though, I'll be borrowing my friend's live traps and taking the cat to the OSPCA. I know some people may be upset by that, but with the money we've spent on replacing mats, cleaning carpets, and the number of times we've had to try and calm Gracie down, I've pretty much had it.
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Old January 9th, 2006, 06:48 PM
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Outdoor cats

We had someone last summer who was upset by a neighbours cat messing in his yard and I believe he had tried to kill the cat, don't recall the exact details, but I had to shake my head when they showed this older fella's picture in the newspaper. He was standing by his front yard tree, where he had his pet bird in a cage hanging outside in the tree!!! I'm like - Hello Kitty - you're hanging dinner outside then getting mad when kitty comes calling??? Some people are so - well you know.
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Old January 9th, 2006, 08:03 PM
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Purposely poisoning cats has to be illegal. I would contact the SPCA every time they do that.

If the neighbour does want to get rid of cats he can as Schwinn said, trap them and turn them over to the Humane Society where the owners can pay and hopefully learn from the experience or hopefully the cats can be adopted out. Of course if they aren’t adopted that doesn’t leave anything other than being destroyed. Not a kind fate but far better than being poisoned.

Another option would be to use cat deterrents and approach the owners of the cat asking them to pay for those deterrents.

I have had it with loose cats also. I currently have three in a dog cage in the back room. All sick from upper respiratory (and being treated – the vet did give us a great deal). My partner at work believes they are the offspring of a neighbours barn cats. In the summer a kitten died in her child’s playhouse (most likely also upper respiratory infection). I suggested trapping the mother and having her spayed as these morons see it as nothing but 'nature playing our it's course'. This is the same idiot that shot a friendly dog that escaped and simply stepped onto her property. As she had livestock there was nothing the neighbours or the police could do, the law was on her side.

I also had an experience in the summer where I had to tell my neighbour that the box on the hood of my SUV contained the body of her outdoor cat who finally lost the game of chance it would play with the fast moving cars coming around the corner.

The other outdoor cat that used to cross the road to get INTO the path of my dogs also disappeared. Maybe it picked the wrong dog or car to play 'this is my street' with.

In my humble opinion cats belong inside unless they are barn cats. Allowing them to run loose in other people’s yards and the street is irresponsible.
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Old January 9th, 2006, 09:23 PM
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Schwinn, I do not blame you for being upset with this owner - and clearly, yolwing at 4 AM means this is a kitty in heat or a Tom intact so clearly the so called owner is very irresponisble. I have had similar probs. I trap the cats and bring them to the vet and have them s.n and find homes since the SPCA will amost cerrtainly euthenize a kitty you bring in. You are going to be telling them the cat is a bother, not your lovable family pet after all. So please, find a no kill rescue group if you are going to do this. I may be too sensitibe but this is going to bother me now - tinking of that cat!!
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Old January 9th, 2006, 09:26 PM
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Schwinn, I do not blame you for being upset with this owner - and clearly, yolwing at 4 AM means this is a kitty in heat or a Tom intact so clearly the so called owner is very irresponisble. I have had similar probs. I trap the cats and bring them to the vet and have them s.n and find homes since the SPCA will amost cerrtainly euthenize a kitty you bring in. You are going to be telling them the cat is a bother, not your lovable family pet after all. So please, find a no kill rescue group if you are going to do this. I may be too sensitibe but this is going to bother me now - tinking of that cat!!

I had to add too that some cats can take on a dog and the dodg will be the one at the vet so please don;t be too smug if you have a dog!! My own black kitty years ago sent a black lab to the vet!! The lab was in our yard and sent our cat up the tree but e did not get out of the yard unscathed. It is a common falacy by those who think dogs can injure any cat. NOT true even tho some dogs can surely kill a cat. I don't agree with chasing cats either unless it is in fun.
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Old January 9th, 2006, 10:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberKitten
I had to add too that some cats can take on a dog and the dodg will be the one at the vet so please don;t be too smug if you have a dog!!
Dalton has a scar on his nose from his first (and last) run in with a cat. Now all that cat has to do is hiss and Dalton hugs the wall as he passes. Sometimes though they share the sun spot.
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Old January 9th, 2006, 11:20 PM
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Our neighbour has a cat they is both indoor/outdoor and we haven't had any problems with it digging up our garden yet. However, it does like to sit at the end of the driveway and torment our little Phil who wants to play with it. She never barks at it, just crys and whines and wags her tail. I just worry that one day its going to run in front of my car! Its almost happened once in the few months we've lived here. It is also spayed which is alittle better I suppose than having an unspayed cat running loose.

I'm very up in the air about how to resolve the cat running on the loose issue. As I do know the neighbours love it very much they just don't know that having a cat running about is so dangerous.
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Old January 10th, 2006, 09:40 AM
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Similar to Schwinns cat,my Rocky goes frantic seeing a strange cat in his"yard",he will also mark his territory as if to make sure the stranger does not come in,but not only that,if the window is open...Rocky goes completely ballistic and I as a result needed emergency care on 2 occasions.
I too wish people would not let their cats out unsupervised,but other than shooing the cat away,I would never,ever hurt an animal..
Now I know where the 4 visiting cats live,but it's also difficult to know whether the cat is a stray or not and needs help.
I too have a very nice garden,but neither my own cat(supervised)or others have ever done damage to it.It's more than likely other critters,coons,squirrels etc..
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Old January 10th, 2006, 12:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberKitten

I had to add too that some cats can take on a dog and the dodg will be the one at the vet so please don;t be too smug if you have a dog!! My own black kitty years ago sent a black lab to the vet!! The lab was in our yard and sent our cat up the tree but e did not get out of the yard unscathed. It is a common falacy by those who think dogs can injure any cat. NOT true even tho some dogs can surely kill a cat. I don't agree with chasing cats either unless it is in fun.
Maybe I should clarify. I would never allow Daisy to hurt another animal. She's met this cat before, and like our own, she only wants to play. And, like our own, the cat does not want to play with her. As soon as it sees her, it takes off running, which is exactly what I want. I'm hoping at some point, the cat will decide that ours is not a yard she wants to be in (we've been seeing it around a lot less).
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Old January 10th, 2006, 12:59 PM
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a few weeks ago i took my dog for a pee break down one of the hundreds of alleys in our city neighborhood, it's the only place you can let your dog off-leash for a leg stretch besides the dog park.

anyways, he's really curious about cats but got too close to the wrong one, stupid cat didn't run from the huge dog, it latched onto his head like one of those Alien facehuggers! i had to kick it off and still it just crouched there howling and hissing at me, poor dog had a bite on his nose but *thankfully* no serious scratches and his eyes were ok (that always scares the crap outta me: eye injury!) - i was SO mad i punted the cat one last time before walking away, took alot of self-control not to pick it up and break its neck (was wearing snowsuit and gloves, not scared of scratches).

never done anything like that before, in retrospect i feel bad but in the heat of the moment my only thought was You Do NOT Hurt My Dog!!

stupid alley cats!
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Old January 10th, 2006, 01:23 PM
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We had an outdoor male cat surrendered to us by my wife's brother a number of years ago. There really wasn't a huge problem converting him into an indoor cat.

We have two feral cats, Daisy and Maude, who are also indoor cats now.

Our two-footed cat, Polly, gets to go out once in a while under constant supervision but is now basically an indoor cat after spending her first few years outdoors.

I think statistics show that an outdoor cat lives an average of 2 years while an indoor cat has a lifespan of something like 11 years.

I'm not an expert, but saying a cat can't be converted into an indoor one doesn't sound like much of an excuse if they really wanted to do it.

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Old January 10th, 2006, 02:54 PM
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Jail time for atempted posioning

Anti-freeze in cups!!!

What about unsuspecting Children? Have some Koolaid. What kind of monster is this person?

Anti-freeze is poison for cats dogs and children.

This person needs to go to jail!!
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Old January 10th, 2006, 05:17 PM
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its a diffcult issue

Any cat owner knows full well the dangers of the outdoors. Some believe the benefits outweigh the risks, others feel they cannot change the cats will and desire to explore, and are left with no choice but to allow outdoor access.
As long as this is workable where you live, its an individual choice to make.

But if it's "not"..... you have a problem.
There can be no denying that those those who keep their own cats indoors may resent yours encroaching on their space, causing them distress.
Others dislike cats in general. The dont want their own.. and they certainly dont want yours bothering them.

When you know your cat is aggravating others with any of its assorted outdoor activities, "some" solution must be reached - and as owner of the cat, the onus is on you - not them.

If you negate this with a "deal with it" attitude.. frustration will lead to exasperation. Eventually, they may decide to address the problem you've been ignoring by having the cat removed - as Schwinn is contemplating.
Fluffy will be gone one day.
Not something either of you want - but not really a "suprise if it does.

If faced with a clash - your cats feedom vs. neighbourly rights and harmony - the "only" solution left is to retrain the cat, and keep it indoors - and I believe it can be done.

As for the instance I mentioned, it's reckless beyond words, illustrates a cruel and vindictive nature to me.
Aside from his former friend's two - the cats he was apparently trying to kill -there are other neighbourhood cats that roam freely around here.. There's many squirrels, and a couple of beautful raccoons currently patrolllng this area - I've seen them on my deck twice in the last week.
I really dont know if they would consume antifreeze - but endangering all these animals to "make a point" is repehrensible, and surely illegal
The fact that he thought this was somehow justified is disturbing.
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Old January 17th, 2006, 09:47 PM
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understand not wanting cats in yard

Having only ever had cats as pets, I still completely understand why people dont want cats in their yard. I had a problem with a neighbors dog pooping in my yard. That got my blood boiling especially after I went to them letting them know of the dogs habits and they didnt do anything about it. This dog would literally back up against my fence and poop standing up, so the poop would get stuck to the chain link. He also would poop on the grass. I dont have dog for few reasons and the #1 reason is I didnt want the responsibility to clean up its poop from the yard. So, now I had to clean up someone else's dogs poop! Plus do a daily inspection on the yard before I let my kids out. There are leash laws for a reason! I think the same principles apply to cats. If its illegal for dogs to roam off leash, why not cats? When I let my cats out, I would go out with them and make sure they stayed in my yard, and I cleaned up after them. I even got one cat used to a cat leash. A fence up in the yard helps keep my cats in too. So, even tho I love cats (and dogs, but not ready for that responsibility yet) I understand why these people expect to have a poop free yard/garden... If I expect it, why not them!
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