AIBU to be annoyed neighbour put spikes on the fence?

This is what you need or rollers to keep your cat in.

However bad you think your cat is, I guarantee it’s worse. Neighbours have 3 cats and our garden basically can’t be used. They got into our greenhouse through a small hole we didn’t know was there, used it as a litter tray, all the plants destroyed. Dug up our veg patch (also a litter tray) and all our veg for the year, gone. Destroyed 2 fences with scratching. Poo everywhere so children can’t play outside without me poo-scooping first. Most recently one got into our house (hot so windows open) and it urinated all over our bedroom: windowsills, bed, floor, bedside lampshades. Hundreds of pounds worth of damage on top of the hundreds we’ve spent securing our garden (with mixed success). Until this experience I loved cats but I haven’t owned one and most I’d come across used a litter tray. We did have a few cats before but it was nothing more than a bit annnoying until they arrived. I’ve known mice do less damage, and at least you can trap them. Cats have more rights than dog, there’s literally nothing we can do except pray they move. But as it stands we’re thinking of putting our house on the market.

Regardless of who owns the fence it’s designed as a barrier, so u don’t see the problem. Your cat gets in her garden, she’s made sure the fence is fit for purpose.

I put small plastic spikes on my fence (mainly as some sort of security). I asked the council beforehand, and they said it’s fine (my email was forwarded to their highways dept and that department confirmed it was fine). I remember them saying that it’s large spikes that are tilted towards the pavement that are the problem. Perhaps the neighbour consulted the council too. As to why people sometimes become withdrawn - could be a myriad of reasons. The cat could be just one of the several reasons. Things can be happening in her family. Some trauma might have occured. Our brain chemistry can change, we can become paranoid or depressed, especially if we are genetically predisposed, but not only then - it can happen to all of us.

As someone who suffered from a cat pooing in my garden and my child not able to use the garden without being covered in cat poo
,.my husband every time he mowed the lawn has cat poo thrown up everywhere.. please keep your pet in your garden. Yabu. Your pet is her pest! Cats do not bury their poo despite what people think and it's not fox poo as I've seen the poo come out of my neighbour s cat bottom. So glad we moved away now. Awful awful experience.

Look at it from her perspective. She is an elderly woman living alone. Some older people were particularly affected by the pandemic just as a generation of young kids were. That is roughly when she started to become less friendly in your eyes.

If you are worried about a neighbour you have a husband to talk to and back you up. She doesn’t and that might create a level of worrying that would prevent her from discussing issues with you.

@SunnyLuny Is this outdoor cat of yours neutered?

@SunnyLuny

when you say the only thing that's changed, you mean the only thing that has changed from your perspective.

It may not apply but given what you say about her age and living alone, she may have had a significant bereavement - parents, siblings, close friend - affecting her behaviour.

I only say this because I am in that boat and I feel like I have become a different person. I want to avoid everyone.

Could be a straw in the wind but just something to consider.

After reading your later posts, she does sound rather odd, yes. It is amazing how conflict-shy some people can be. But I wouldn't let it get you down. She has taken steps that she wants, and if she had spoken to you the result would probably have been the same. You have tried to speak to her, there isn't anything else you can do. I would just shrug my shoulder if I were you and leave her to it.

Cat proof your garden. Your cat will be safe and your neighbour won’t be annoyed. Make sure you have a cat flap so your cat can be indoors when it wishes.

You didn't think to warn her that you were getting a cat that would encroach on her property, but are concerned about a shared fence. The spikes won't cause you any difficulty personally, but your cat will certainly cause her alot of bother. Often much more than just using the gsrden as a toilet which is bad enough.
My neighbour's cats come into our home through open windows. They persist even though they do not get a warm welcome. I am now unable to leave windows open in rooms unless someone is there. This is a massive inconvenience. One of them lies in the sun on our doorstep and hisses at us when we knock the window to scare it away before we try to exit our home. I detest cats yet there is nothing I can do about this.

This sounds like a great idea, if it works. I will look into it, if it means I can let my toddler son play in the garden without checking for cat shit every time. I don't feel any need to go to the various cat owners houses on our street and asking them to stop their cats shitting in my garden as I know they can't do that, and they didn't care about getting an anti social pet in the first place anyway, but were happy to let it go and shit in the neighbours gardens.

Nothing wrong? Acting like a sulky teenager when you are a grown adult rather than talking through things, is doing something wrong.

Furthermore, even if OP never had gotten a cat, every neighborhood has cats. So only putting on spikes now that one lives next door is being very dramatic indeed. Cats have already been getting into her garden since before she was living there, yet she never felt the need to to try to keep them out. it's only OP's cat she is having a problem with.

But it’s nature. Like any animal who preys on a smaller animal, it’s generally a survival instinct. I find it far more depressing the harm human beings do every day to animals or other humans. Which isn’t survival but for fun or because they’re evil. And I know some cats do kill for kicks, but would say that’s very much a minority.

Well I would be fuming if my neighbour did this, but luckily they are not crazy. My cats use their litter tray, so if my neighbours chucked poo over to me, it would not be from my cats. Do you have CcTv? Reading this thread makes me treasure my chilled neighbours.

It can be really uncomfortable, but many people eventually say something and do not play hide and seek. Even if they don't say anything about what's really bothering them, they still say hello and are polite to someone's face.

This woman is literally running away from OP and no longer says hello.

Maybe just accept that your neighbour doesn't want to reconcile? Nothing says you have to be best friends.
Also if they are a keen gardener then I'm assuming the spikes are to deter all neighbour cats and foxes from going in her garden....you keeping your cat confined might not change her mind at all.

(Also I'm going to assume that the spikes are those little plastic strips that cats find uncomfortable to walk on and not some kind of medieval torture device!).

But that’s not the point here. Asking a neighbour for permission to purchase a cat is not the same as someone not seeking permission to put spikes on a shared fence. If the fence belongs to the neighbour, fair enough, but OP has suggested it’s shared.

This!

OP you are getting a really hard time and I’m not sure why. Half the country has cats and they roam where they like. It’s life. I’ve ways had cats and no one has ever complained or put up spikes. Your neighbour sounds deranged.

be glad you’re not my neighbour, I chuck cat poo back over the fence ! (but the garden is unused 😊)

They could cat proof their garden and keep all the shit in their own garden.

Of course you’re not being unreasonable to have a friendly chat.

Give her a knock and say you’ve noticed she doesn’t seem to want to chat. Ask if everything’s OK. And you hope you haven’t offended her in any way. Ask about the spikes. Listen to her concerns openly and kindly. Show you want to be a considerate and friendly neighbour.

The best way to get along with neighbours is to talk openly about concerns and try to get along. But so many people don’t like to say anything and become passive aggressive or hold resentment.

I hope you get it sorted.

Isn't that the whole point being made? That the neighbour is no more obligated to ask for permission to install the spikes than OP was to ask for permission to get the cat in the first place. And that unless she sought permission for the cat, she's a hypocrite for expecting her neighbour to seek permission for the spikes.

@TheHerboriste
I understand the argument about small native mammals being killed by domestic cats. One way to prevent this to some degree is cats having bells on their collars. Regard the fact that cats dedicate that is in my view an act of nature and as cats are not like dogs then it's just the same as sea gulls, pigeon, squirrels etc dedicating. I think there is a difference between using natural methods to installing spikes on fences. Sadly some people do go further with their actions regarding cats.