Aggressive tom cat hurting ours - owner is recluse

[AnnoyedAtWork]

What to do?

When we first moved in a year ago the devil cat fought a lot with our cat to the point where it wasn't just the normal new cat in the neighbourhood establishing territory fighting but our cat had chunks taken out of his tail and ears, pretty regularly.

After a few vet trips we had enough and started to chase the other cat away, threw water over him when he was in our garden etc. the fighting stopped for a while.

Came home last night to my cat dripping blood all over the floor. Scratched eye. Bit of ear missing and swollen face. Heart going like the clappers.

The other cat belongs to an old lady who lives two doors down and never leaves the house or speaks to anyone. Won't answer the door (even when postman left her package with us).

She never goes in the garden and the cat flap is just a hole in the back door and you can see the rotten carpet inside. I am pretty convinced that her cat is not neutered and I am worried that my cat will get more seriously injured next time.

What should I do? Call the RSPCA? Write her a letter saying she has to get her cat neutered or I will report her to the RSPCA? Asking her to pay vet bills is just a temporary fix. I would take the bastard cat to the vet FOR her to get neutered if she would pay for it. But how can get a response?

[cozietoesie]

Difficult one. There's no law that says you have to get your cat neutered and to be honest, you have no real evidence that she's in such a state that Social Services would have to be brought in - although you clearly genuinely believe so.

Have you got a chip cat flap for your own door so that your boy has a safe place to run to if there's trouble? (Bear in mind that you have no evidence that it's her cat that was mean last night - cats usually learn to live with each other unless say a new female came onto the block so there may even be a new cat around.)

Are you sure she never comes out? She couldn't survive unless she either gets out to the shops or has groceries delivered by someone.