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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be pissed off at this cat for repeatedly attacking my dog?!

29 replies

squashedalmondcroissant · 08/08/2026 21:43

I have to just start by saying that technically DDog is not mine he is my DP’s dog but we’ve been living together for the last 5yrs and I look after him as if he’s my own.

So for the past 3 days DDog and I have gone out on our evening walk after work and gone our usual route. We live on an estate with lots of parked cars along the streets and obviously lots of houses and pets all around including multiple cats. DDog is an elderly greyhound and soft as a bag of marshmallows, never barks or growls, never attacks anything or acts remotely aggressively. He just walks right past any cat he sees and pays them no attention.

For some reason there is one particular cat that has taken exception to our walking along the pavement and has made it its mission to attack DDog every time we walk past. First day it hissed & swiped at him then actively chased us down the street and tried to claw at him again. Second day it was stalking us down the road from a distance and then today it jumped out from under a parked car and swiped at us again.

I’m starting to get really pissed off as DDog is quite distressed and makes no attempt to defend himself and I’m worried he is going to get hurt and I’ll feel so guilty explaining to DP. What can I do about this cat? All of our walking routes go past the same place out of the estate where we start seeing the cat so I can’t change our route! Aibu to be pissed off at this cat? The first time it chased us was genuinely scary as it was so aggressive and pursued us, and then today it jumped out from under a car so we couldn’t even see it to avoid it!

OP posts:
squashedalmondcroissant · 08/08/2026 22:47

@GrannyAchingsShepherdsHutoh god that sounds awful! I’m so sorry for your cat and you. I was thinking maybe I was being overprotective but maybe not. I’m not wholly surprised DDog hasn’t tried to defend himself, he is super gentle and his first and last instinct is always to run away rather than fight back 😞 I just really hope he isn’t put in a position where he has to make that choice.

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GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 08/08/2026 22:14

Absolutely take a water pistol if you think you'll actually be quick enough to be able to hit it with the water. I like the suggestion of a can of compressed air too, the noise would be a deterrent even if it doesn't feel the air.

I say this as a cat person who doesn't particularly like dogs btw. It's frankly lucky your greyhound hasn't taken matters into it's own paws (or indeed jaws!)

We've got an aggressive arsehole cat here that attacks other cats and I'm forever going out and chasing it off. It sent my previous cat to the vets 3 times with bites that became abscesses, and me to minor injuries on one occasion when it got hold of me so a cat attack is not an insignificant hazard.

squashedalmondcroissant · 08/08/2026 22:05

I am considering getting a water pistol to take out with us 😂 It makes me wonder what would happen if DDog did get injured, I guess nothing? I have no idea who the cat belongs to so no idea who to approach about it if it did happen.

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Wbeezer · 08/08/2026 21:50

Take a spray bottle of water and squirt it at the cat if it comes near. They also hate aerosols, I’ve used a can of compressed air ( DH uses them to clean dust out of his PC) to scare off a cat that was terrorising our elderly cat in our garden.
I’m obviously a cat lover but I don’t think it’s wrong to use methods that will might upset a violent cat to prevent harm to another animal.