To tell the neighbours the cat isn’t my problem

Cat owner here.
If your neighbours are worried about your dog hurting their cat, they need to keep their cat indoors.
Your dog is allowed in YOUR garden at any time you choose.

But if you have a dog that you think may kill another animal, it is your responsibility to supervise it outside and work on the issue

My cats have killed an awful lot of mice over the years. It's what they do.

I’m a cat owner - it’s really not your problem. Cats aren’t stupid, it’ll soon learn not to come in your garden and will crap in its own (as mine does). Your neighbours are being entirely unreasonable. Ignore them and enjoy your new best friend.

Honestly I wouldn't even entertain the conversation. Probably would have replied the first time to say that obviously my dog will be in the garden whenever I damn well please and their cat is solely their responsibility. After that l, I would have curtly declined to discuss further. Cheeky, entitled arseholes. Letting their pet use your garden as a toilet and now demanding that you tailor your behaviour and that of your pets in your own home! Absolutely not. Wouldn't even be a conversation.

Absolutely I totally agree with you. I wouldn’t get into a debate of words with them though. They’re being totally unreasonable. I would just say that it’s great that cats are so clever they’re allowed out on their own unlike dogs or some such twaddle. Maybe add if they’re worried about vet bills then good insurance is a must!

if they did come chasing payment for vet treatment, I would say that your dog is covered under your household insurance (it should be but you probably should check) for unlawful damage it causes (all dog owners should have this cover anyway incase their dog causes a traffic accident etc) . Then say that the insurance won’t pay out because the cat came into your property. I’m pretty sure that would be the legal situation.

Contact your local dog warden for advice. I have 2 sighthounds who would chase a cat in the garden (or anywhere else). Cats don't come into our garden. You could put a bell on your dog's collar as an 'early warning system' maybe?

I've voted yanbu but I'd add that if I were you, I wouldn't actually say anything to the neighbours, I'd just nod and make vague hmming noises. No point in dragging this out into an argument.

Look like you're agreeing and then carry on as normal. What are they going to do?

Obviously you can say what you like to your neighbours, but this wouldn't stand up in court. You're not going to be able to prove the cat did it unprovoked. What would be more likely to happen is that the neighbour would argue the cat did it in self defence around your dangerous dog, which could land you and your dog in hot water. As PPs have said, the cat isn't likely to be caught and will run away. But if you have a dog that you think may kill another animal, it is your responsibility to supervise it outside and work on the issue. If an elderly cat or other sick animal got into your garden, you need to make sure your dog doesn't kill it.

I was going to suggest rubber spikes. We have a young cat and our neighbour a large dog. The dog is gentle and the neighbours have trained him well (he follows commands) but it's only natural when he has seen our cat in past there has been a frantic chase which has upset our cat. The rubber spikes have deterred our cat from climbing over.

That is not true.

www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/getting-a-cat/cats-and-the-law

If your neighbours will worry about their cat's safety, the onus is on them to cat-proof their garden to keep their cat in - I don't see how they can think that's OP's responsibility?! Their cat, their problem. They can choose to contain their cat for their own peace of mind but that is their cost and effort to bear. Not anyone else's!

Nor is anyone else responsible for vet bills for their cat as they allow it free rein outside. If OP's dog got over the fence and attacked the cat in its own garden, then yes, but not when the dog is safely contained within her own property. Your neighbours ABVU.

Also, the cat will hear your back door opening, and that should be warning enough to vacate the premises in case it's the dog coming out. It might not have learned yet (some cats are not bright) but it will in time.

(I took my cat to the vets as she wasn't weight bearing on one leg. I couldn't go in with her (covid) so had to wait outside to hear what the vet thought. Her claws were scuffed and the vet's verdict was that she had been in exciting times and had no doubt had to make a very fast exit with full traction, causing muscle strain and superficial scratching. It's certainly a strong possibility that she had gone into a dog's garden and found that the resident dog had objected. That's her (and my) risk. One of those things!)

They sound a bit daft. We have a greyhound and cats. The greyhound will chase other cats, though she had had enough bops on the nose from our cats over the years to know they can be rather sharp if she gets too close. Though she has never wrestled with a cat on the lawn as one of my cats did the other day.

Next door they have often had lurchers who hunt rabbits and would kill a cat. My cats avoid that garden.

My dog doesn’t shit in the flower and vegetable beds like the neighbours’ cats do.

On the lawn, pick it up, simple.

Less fun to be preparing the bed for planting and need to poop scoop much more dangerous (toxoplasmosis) shit.

I wouldn’t. Cats can’t trespass in law. They have the right to roam.

Don't listen to the "garden checkers". Nobody is obliged to check their gardens at 7am or 10.30pm in the darkness of December.

We've always had dogs and cats together, and they got on fine. One of our dogs would pretend to chase other cats in the street, for fun. One day we were coming back from a walk (on a lead), and he went to chase a cat on the pavement-only to stop and look very sheepish when he realised it was ours!

Unfair? That sounds plain ridiculous! Do you have any evidence that that's the case? (I do know the law can sometimes seem daft.)

The cat will eventually stop coming in your garden with the dog being a permanent fixture. You can use a mixture of white vinegar and water sprayed around the garden which will repel cats, spray it round your fence/border. It's not your responsibility, would they be happy for you to let your dog in their garden to shit in it? And if their cat attacks your dog, are they going to pay your vet bill (I know highly unlikely but you could ask them the question)

Cat and dog owner here and your neighbours are being very unreasonable. One of my cats is a social little thing. He wears a tracker as he often camps out at pensioners houses!
He soon learns to avoid gardens with dogs in them. If he gets chased, well, so be it! I wouldn’t keep him indoors because it would significantly lessen his quality of life. I would rather he lived 10 years having fun, being a cat, hunting, than live 20 years sleeping all day indoors.

I really don’t think you need to worry about it. Your certainly don’t need to take cat chasing as a worry your dog is reactive to other dogs or humans. Our dog chases cats that aren’t our own and sometimes forgets himself and chases ours too in the garden! When our next door neighbours dog got a couple of our ducks, he just held onto them until our neighbour got him to drop them and popped them back into our chicken/duck enclosure. He did no harm. Dogs do kill cats but it’s rarely labs and usually if the dog catches the cat by surprise. The cat isn’t going to be surprised your dog is in your garden after 3 months! If you’d got your dog last week I would suggest what I did in previous post but after 3 months I would put it from your mind. cats are creature of habit and don’t like to change their territory once established but they’re also hugely adaptable. It might be that you usually let your dog out at set times so it’s gone for a “time share” (cats do this with territory between themselves all the time) but it will soon learn not to.

What an entitled pair of twats hour neighbours are. I am a cat owner of two and would never take this attitude. It's your garden they can piss off