To suspect my neighbour killed my cat

Don't be daft. If you open a thread about a pet dying, it's fairly obvious you are not going to get a feelgood bedtime story.

Gather what evidence you can and get a ring style camera for your home. I would be contacting the police if there is any indication at that he is responsible.

There’s a link between animal abuse and abuse of humans.

https://www.aftermathmag.org/PDFs/Animalcrueltypetabuseviolence2018.pdf

This is horrific and anyone who could do that is a genuine danger to society, I would absolutely get the footage from your neighbours to see if he was around that area at the time and report to the police if so. He's already admitted to doing it before, what a vile man.

If I saw evidence of anyone hurting one of my cats I'd be imprisoned for what I'd do and I wouldn't regret it.

So sorry about your cat OP. So sorry too that your post has attracted so many of the anti-cat nutters of the ‘I wouldn’t go as far as killing a cat but…’ type.

I am so sorry this has happened OP. If you can get some evidence together I would report to the police. As it says in the RSPB leaflet I’ve linked to above it’s an offence to harm a cat.

Links that should have been in post above:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/may/britain-has-lost-73-million-birds-over-the-last-50-years.html#:~:text=Recent%20data%20released%20by%20the,years%20between%202015%20and%202020.

https://community.rspb.org.uk/cfs-file/__key/communityserver-discussions-components-files/13609/6371.6012.1205.6332.Cats-and-garden-birds.pdf

Shirty response to a perfectly reasonable question given that the term “environmental damage” is very broad.

The RSPB themselves state that there is no good evidence that cats are harming bird populations and that cats usually take out the weak and sickly (as usually happens in nature…do you think the natural world doesn’t consist of animals constantly fighting and taking each other out and eating each other, nature is a harsh world, it’s not all happy families!).

The harm to boys populations his coming from changes to farming practices and land use:

“While these numbers are extremely concerning, we do at least know what is causing them. The destruction of habitats, be it hedgerows surrounding fields or flower rich meadows, the increase in the use of harmful pesticides and shift in agricultural practices that has resulted in a lower diversity of plants being grown, have all played a role.”

Very worrying, but if you are directing your ire at your neighbours‘ cats, you are looking in the wrong direction.

Well it sounds as though he very well might have done this.

Just ask the people with the ring door bells. Tell them you think someone killed your cat - don’t say it was the neighbour at this stage. Just say completely inconsistent with road accident. Most people would look and give you the footage. I would - and I am not a cat fan.

Being honest, I don’t like cats in built up areas because of the impact on neighbours. I’ve picked up heaps and heaps of cat poo over the years from my front and back garden. I actually paved over my front because I just didn’t want flower beds full of cat poo stinking, particularly when it rained. My kids were very small at the time and I had to train them never to go in our own front garden as it seemed to be the neighbourhood cat toilet. However, I do love animals, would never ever hurt one. So if he has done this, he is really pretty crazy and dangerous - I’m saying that as someone who has suffered with cat behaviour and had to shell out £££ because of it. I would never consider hurting a cat. It’s pure evil to hurt a cat.

On the other hand, let’s say you find film of him killing the cat. What then? Police? How will that go? He may still live next door but will then have a criminal record and a mega grudge. If he’ll kill a cat, what else will he do when he’s even angrier?

in the short term, take steps to protect your other cat. In the long term, I might consider moving away from this man. He was already showing signs of being very unreasonable when he asked you not to get a cat.

Seriously? I did not describe the injury in enough detail to make it graphic.

However, I will apologise if you were offended that I confirmed the manner of death. It was not intended to be shocking and therefore, I can confirm that I felt no enjoyment whatsoever.

I was simply illustrating that animals need to be kept safely within the confines of their home, or they are at risk of injury or worse.

I'm so sorry OP, I hope you get to the bottom of this. It's awful losing a pet but to think that they might have been killed by your neighbor is awful 😔

*because it wouldn't last that long.

You need to pluck up the courage and ask for that door bell footage. It'll hopefully give you your answer.

My DH isn't keen on cats shitting in our front garden, but he'd never hurt one of them. I can't process why anyone would - fucking deranged?

I don't have cats, but if I did and I found concrete evidence that my neighbour had killed the cat, then i'd become deranged and their life wouldn't be worth living. It wouldn't be a 'neighbour's from hell' type scenario, but it wouldn't last that long.

Maybe speak to the police- yes you won’t have evidence but they can chat to him and put the fear of god into him

That's not going to happen. The OP has no evidence whatsoever that her cats death was a crime let alone carried out by the neighbour.

I’d move couldn’t live next to someone like that. You have to be serious unhinged to kill someone’s pet.

quite a few people kill cats, they see them as vermin. Disgusting People

This. Also, years and years ago I remember I heard a cat screaming outside. It sounded horrific (and as you said in your opening post, not normal sounding at all) I absolutely adore animals and to this day I still wonder what happened. (Your post just triggered that memory) If I could have gone out to check I would have done but the noise was coming from neighbourhood gardens. Please take care of your other cat and yourselves. This person sounds dangerous.

@Jackolanterny

Did you enjoy being that graphic? Absolutely no need.

I understand that you think that may have happened, but by the sounds of it, your cat has been in multiple gardens harassing birds, not just this neighbours, and was found down the street? They could have been hit by a car. Maybe get the fence sorted so the other kitten can't get out, and then you'll know it's safe if you keep it in your own garden. It's horrible when you lose a pet.

I hate cats. I try really hard to attract wildlife and particularly enjoying watching the birds, so I find it quite upsetting when cats come into my garden to kill them.

I am also tired of them pooing in my flower bed, noisily fighting at night and sometimes shredding bin bags.

Surely they are the only pet where it is ok to let them roam and be destructive in other people's gardens.

Owners get very upset if their pet cat is lost or hurt, and that is how some of us feel when we find dead birds.

But I'd never kill one and know I have no right to ask neighbours not to buy them. Therefore, based on what you've said, YANBU to suspect your neighbour. But I doubt you'll be able to prove anything.

@Rhaidimiddim

Is it too much for you to have some compassion?

Cats are entitled to be free roaming, I get that not everyone likes cats & some get quite uptight about their pooing in their garden or chasing/killing wildlife, I'm not keen on that aspect myself. But they are entitled to be as free roaming as foxes, so it is, what it is.

Crazy how many ppl here are skirting over the fact this man has previously 'accidentally' killed a cat & very much looks like he did, indeed, kill this one cos..it was irritating him? We just ignore what he's likely done cos cats can be a PITA?

It is NOT NORMAL to kill things just cos you don't like them. It's psychotic ffs. And he (possibly...) did it himself, physically interacted with & slaughtered a cat. Not poisoned, not from a distance. He killed it with his hands/a tool.

Arguments about indoor vs outdoor are one thing but to excusing an adult man for killing a cat?!

Jfc

OP - if you move (I would) then get your cat a harness & a long lead you can anchor. That way it can't leave your garden. It's 100% not worth the risk.

Get the ring doorbell footage asap. Get a tracker for your other cat. Don't use an airtag as it'll only show you where your cat is now. You need one that shows the history too so if anything happens you can confirm if the cat was in the neighbours garden recently or not. Cctv around your house too. You can get inexpensive cameras from amazon now that you sit on the window sill and point outwards. Ring doorbell or similar. Those are the things I'd start with.

nah, it’s not crazy to ask about the ring doorbells, and in my opinion, not overthinking. If he did it he’s committed a crime. Of course, you can’t prove it but his behaviour sounds fishy and he admitted he’d already killed a cat which indicates to me he is an absolute arsehole. How do you unintentionally kill a cat? I’d be thinking about keeping my cat in (and weed-killing CUNT into his grass)

You aren’t unreasonable to suspect it, but to be fair, it’s also quite possible the cat was hit by a car when running into the road.

I live in a quiet little area and I’ve had to break to avoid cats plenty of times.