New neighbours cat

And if they were that bothered about access to the woods, then maybe they should have snapped up your house first!

I've also got a cat and totally disagree with your neighbours request. Their cat, their problem.

these people are arseholes

A bit cheeky of them, really.
Maybe suggest they instal special fencing around their garden to keep their cat in their garden.
Especially if they are that worried about the cats safety.

Cat owner here and I voted YANBU.

If they are that concerned - keep the cat in.
If you let the cat out (which I do) you accept that you have no control over the plants, animals or people they come into contact with.

Pyracantha is great for security, and the berries are great for birds. Plant a row of them along the wood edge.
Just ignore the cat, and the neighbours!

I'm a cat owner and they are bonkers.

As a cat owner, they’re being utterly ridiculous. The very notion you can get your cat to follow your preferred route anywhere is genuinely funny, and that’s without commenting on how unreasonable they’re being expecting you to do anything about it!

You're absolutely not being unreasonable! Your new neighbors' requests are both impractical and entitled. Here’s why:
Their Cat, Their Responsibility: Cats are free-roaming animals by nature, but if they’re worried about their cat’s safety, it’s their job to manage that—not yours. Expecting you to survey your garden every time your dog goes out is a massive overstep.
Your Property, Your Rules: Your garden is your space. You’ve planted the pyracantha for your security and have every right to maintain it. The idea that you’d remove it or adjust your landscaping to suit their cat’s convenience is unreasonable.
Training Cats? Good Luck: Cats are notoriously independent. The idea that they can train their cat to roam in a specific direction is wishful thinking at best.
You Offered a Reasonable Solution: Offering to plant more pyracantha along their fence to keep the cat away from your dog was generous and practical. It shows you’re willing to accommodate in a way that works for both of you—but it’s on them to protect their cat.
It seems like they're trying to shift their responsibility onto you, which isn’t fair. If they think their cat's safety is at risk, they might need to explore other options like keeping it indoors or building a cat enclosure. You’re well within your rights to set boundaries.

They're batshit. And I doubt their cat will adhere to their demands either.

I can just imagine Tiddles deciding it doesn't like the woods anyway and other people's gardens are so much more interesting. I can picture it fence-walking like a pro, deciding which garden it will grace with its presence today.

You were absolutely right to say no to both pieces of batshittery. The cat will be quick enough to vacate your garden when the dog goes out (and may decide not to bother coming in at all), and they're effectively asking to treat your garden as a corridor for the Great God Tiddles. No, it's YOUR garden, fuck off!

God only knows what their next demand would have been if you'd said yes! Because they clearly think their wants should have precedence over everybody else's.

I’m a cat owner. Your neighbours are being completely unreasonable - they have no say in your behaviour, the pets you choose to have and the plants you grow (unless it’s of course going to damage their property - which your plant won’t). If they don’t want to live next door to a dog then they need to buy a detached house with no neighbours - even if you didn’t already have a dog you could at any point in the future and they get no say in that.

i understand their anxiety regarding their cat getting hurt - and id never want any animal to be hurt- but that is what you weigh up when you get an outdoors cat and choose where to live. You can’t expect people to change their behaviour/ property to facilitate that.

im a bit surprised that on your first interaction they’ve been so cheeky! You haven’t built up a relationship yet for them to be able to ask favours!

I was ready and prepared to be against you as a cat lover and not a fan of dogs - but YANBU, they are being ridiculous!

They are definitely being unreasonable, not you. And I say that as a cat owner who's not fond of dogs and often moans about dog owners :)

I have dogs and cats. They are being CFs. Ignore. It’s for them to sort.

Hahaha 🤣 your new neighbours are absolutely hilarious.

Very cheeky. Tiddles is going to have to learn how to manage the existence of dogs one way or another

PFB but for cats. They're nuts, so I'd be ignoring them.

^ This. Oh, and ask them if they'd like their cat's sh*t wrapped or unwrapped when you return it to their garden.

Give them an inch and they will take a mile!

I would not back down on this at all! Your home end off.

if they say again that they didn’t know they would be buying next to a home with a dog I would say ‘your upset as well as you didn’t realise you would have to deal with someone’s cat that may roam in to your property least your dog is contained on their own property.’ Maybe ask if she has considered either having a house cat or one of them cat cages/run things people seem to be building in Their gardens?

So they want their cat to be able to go into the woodland to kill birds and other small creatures? Well done on the pyracantha!

You wouldn't accommodate both those things because both those things were unreasonable.

That's the danger with moving anywhere, renting or buying, new or old. You might have not had a dog when they bought the house and then bought one later. They are idiots imagining that everyone and everything should be exactly to their liking, and others must change their lives to accommodate their mad ideas.

They are probably scared about it going out front in case it gets mowed down or stolen if it is a decent type of cat.

What it will probably do is climb up and walk along the top of the fence while your dog barks at it like crazy.

If you feel obliged to facilitate this (I wouldn't) then let them know and they will probably put a ramp up on their side to help their cat get up.

OTOH their cat might be clumsy and stupid and incapable of doing it.

Assuming even if people don’t use the woods to walk dogs there will be foxes ?
Not sure they have thought all the hazards through 😂😂

It's a fucking cat, not a lion on the savannah. It shouldn't be being encouraged to roam at all, let alone into woodland.

I would plant as many spiky plants as you can!

My neighbours cat jumped through my living room window last week, I wasn't even in the room. He saw it and came round and told me off for encouraging it in, now I feel I can't have the window open. I was gobsmacked.