WWYD? Neighbours and cats

[ohfourfoxache]

We have 3 cats, history of being destructive little buggers

Next door neighbour approached DH this morning saying that her kid’s paddling pool and rattan furniture have been scratched/ruined. I’ve not seen extent of damage

There are a lot of cats in the area (including a likely stray that has appeared in the last 2 weeks). No evidence to show that it was any of ours but equally no evidence to prove that it wasn’t

Good neighbours in general

WWYD? The thought of forking out hundreds for replacement furniture leaves me panicking

Grateful if replies weren’t too scathing - shit few weeks, my mum has been in ITU and very nearly didn’t come out, was due to go on holiday but this was obviously cancelled - I’m tired, overwhelmed, and emotional. This additional shit is the last thing I need

Well unless she can prove it was one of your cats I wouldn’t be worrying about it , and even if she has photographic proof I don’t think you are obliged to pay up as cats are allowed to roam . Moving forward you have 2 options - keep your cats on your property by cat proofing your garden so that your cats only have the opportunity to damage your property or do what apparently 90% of the mumsnet cat owners would do and say my cat has rights , he can do whatever he likes and I don’t care about the consequences. Hope your mum is getting better .

Why would a cat scratch a paddling pool? Rattan furniture, yes, that's just the sort of thing cats do like to scratch on to scent mark and sharpen their claws. But a paddling pool would be bizarre, cats wouldn't usually scratch at a floppy plastic surface.

If you leave stuff out in a garden then you are placing it at the whims of any passing through cats, foxes, birds, insects, all sorts as well as the weather. If you particularly want to keep garden furniture nice then you have to put covers on it on put it away when not in use. Otherwise stuff will happen to it. And I'd consider a damaged paddling pool to be much more likely down to a fox chewing on it than cats scratching it.

If they don't even have proof it was your cats then I definitely wouldn't be offering them any money, they've taken their chances! And legally cats are considered "free spirits" so you aren't responsible for their actions in the same way as if a dog damaged something.

Presumably your cats don’t have a history of causing this kind of damage though?

Without evidence, I wouldn’t do anything. As you say, lots of cats in the area and surely that kind of furniture should be covered and protected when not in use (and I can’t see a cat going after a paddling pool - we have three cats and they’ve never bothered with ours).

I'd second the post saying it's highly unlikely that the cat would have touched or damaged the paddling pool.
Do your cats like scratching a lot and do they scratch furniture? Mine have never scratched furniture and prefer scratching on the floor ie on the cardboard trays or doormats.
I don't think you are liable though either way. It's not necessarily your specific cats

Thanks both 🙏🏻

Unfortunately I’m not sure we’d be able to cat proof without pissing off the neighbours on the other side (we have an alley at the back so they would literally just go round the cat proofing). The boundary between us and ruined furniture NDNs also belongs to them, it’s in a poor state of repair and we need to keep adding supports to stop their dog from busting through it

Obviously I don’t want to inflame tensions, but I’ve bought a “scent off” spray as a peace offering…DH wants to go whole hog and offer to replace 🤦🏻‍♀️

• He can't prove it is your cat, unles he has security camera footage. I have my own cat but my garden is also used daily by one of my neighbour's cat and we have a stray cat as well in the area.

• Do you have foxes in the area? I have several 'resident foxes' that come in my garden at night and even during the day sometimes. They do make a right mess chewing garden furniture, cushions, knocking down pots and garden ornaments... basically the damage he describes could be caused by another type of animal.

Loads of foxes….was out the front the other night and saw 3 in the space of 5 minutes (not the same one 3 times over!)

I'd do nothing unless they could prove it was my cats.

Agree they need to prove it was your cats. A paddling pool is a very strange thing for a cat to scratch, I'd be suspicious of that one.
I also think if people leave furniture outside they are taking a risk with damage from wind and animals, rattan isn't exactly hard wearing.
If a cat scratched my furniture I wouldn't think it was the owner's responsibility, I would be cat proofing my own garden.

Well Foxes are massively destructive ! Especially now as there are lots of older cubs marauding around. So highly unlikely to be the cats then !

Well, if you have foxes your neighbour needs to understand that they are likely to cause damage to his garden furniture and paddling pool.

I made the mistake of leaving cushions on my garden chairs overnight recently and found them with bite marks/holes the following morning!

The foxes have also chewed and tossed around some of my vegetable garden growing trays, knocked off the bottom of the gutter that goes into my kitchen gully trap, pulled out plants, leave feathers all over the place from their kills...it is endless really :)

Basically anything left outside runs the risk of the foxes playing with it! so you neighbour is being massively unreasonable.

I don’t think a cat would damage a paddling pool.
foxes however are destructive. Are there badgers locally as they trash anything.

The OP says her cats are destructive so it's not a ridiculous suggestion by the Neighbour. They also might have seen the cats scratching. I think the OP needs to ask how sure they are that it's their cats before deciding what to do.
Maybe she could offer to put scratch posts in her garden and maybe offer to get one of those motion triggered water guns. Like THIS I had cats crapping in my garden and it worked brilliantly.

A quick Google search tells me it's more likely to be foxes damaging your neighbours paddling pool. She needs to set up a night vision outdoor camera really if she wants to find the true culprits 🤷‍♀️ We had an inflatable hot tub for years and my 2 cats never scratched it once. I've enclosed a large part of my garden so my cats (one is blind) can't escape. Did it myself so inexpensive and no escapees now for a year 👏

I have a video taken from my CCTV of a right prick of a bird going to town on the top ring of my 2 day old paddling pool. We’ve lost several pools to the beaky brigade.

Please do not pay to replace it! Sounds like your neighbor is a bit of a chancer, needs new furniture so let's see if the kind hearted neighbors will pay. It's ridiculous really lol unless they have proof of your cat sabotaging the pool 😂 then I'd just leave it. Sorry could of been anyone's cat or fox or maybe it was battered anyway! Just no to the neighbor's.

My cat popped out paddling pool so it does happen. He found out there was water in it and was balancing on the side holding on with his claws drinking from it. I watched him do it

I’ve lost 3 paddling pools to my own cat, so very possible but unlikely they can prove it was your cat.

Even if your cat does damage it, I don’t think you can be held legally responsible .
From RSPCA document. Cats are protected by law and are free to roam meaning they might go into other people's gardens or allotments

oh but they can report your cat to the Local Authority.

I still wouldn’t be paying for anything though, in these circumstances, there is no proof at the moment

I was going to say the same as another poster. Sounds like a fox to me. We had them end of our garden and they would chew things like paddling pool. Cats don’t usually do that (rattan yes though). No proof your cat did it. Could have been anything. Good luck with your mum x

I thought someone was letting their dog in my front garden for ages. Until a few mornings ago I went out to water my tomatoes and there were two foxes, one sleeping on my gladioli and one digging a hole in my lawn.
So I’d guess foxes!!

one of my cats would absolutely destroy a paddling pool. Do none of your cats like to swim? One of mine steals baths if we aren’t careful. A paddling pool would be fair game and the slippery surface would get poked by cat claws.

Unless you have at least some evidence it was your cats, I wouldn’t be inclined to pay for new furniture. You should cat proof though. It will be manageable, it just might have to be a subsection of your garden instead of the whole thing.

I suppose if I were your neighbour and you told me tough titties then I guess I’d set up a camera to see whose cat it was. I really think if it’s yours then you need to take some action. At a minimum keep your cat in your garden.