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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think my neighbour is trying to poison my cat?

100 replies

zelda1982 · 20/07/2011 12:44

We have lived here 10 years, my neighbour was already here. He lives alone (in his mid 50's i think) Now up until this year i've never noticed him having a problem with my cat who goes in his garden (which is basically overgrown grass and a few weedy trees at the bottom). A few weeks ago i caught him squirting my cat with a water pistol...this i'm totally not bothered about. But the past few weeks he has been putting a bowl of water on his steps, but surely if he wants to discourage the cat coming in he shouldn't do this? I dont think its for the birds (its just a pyrex mixing bowl) as if it was it'd be better off in the middle of the garden.
Let me state that my cat does not use his garden as a toilet as she does this in our garden

OP posts:
DogsBestFriend · 20/07/2011 14:16

"I think if you get caught trespassing saying 'He put a bowl of water on his steps' is not really going to fly."

Morloth, it might not be the greatest of known excuses but he'd have to be mad to prosecute for trespass though. It's a civil offence, isn't it, and lawyers don't come cheap.

I'd rather check the liquid out, sod that I was trespassing, than look back and wish I'd followed my instincts.

Happy to climb over the fence if you're down my way zelda and I really couldn't give a toss if he tried to sue me for trespass. :o

Morloth · 20/07/2011 14:21

It is crazy to go onto someone else's property to see what they have in a bowl on their steps.

It is none of the OPs business what is in the bowl. If she believes her cat is annoying her neighbour she should keep it inside.

If I found someone wandering around my property uninvited I would consider prosecuting for trespass.

Rumplestiltskine · 20/07/2011 14:23

My grandad used to put sealed bottles of water in his garden to discourage cats because he'd been told that the sight of their own distorted reflection in the bottle scares them. Maybe that's what this man is trying to do, but has misunderstood or decided that a bowl of water would work as well? (Obviously a bit lacking in common sense - how would cats ever drink if they were scared of water? - but I'm just trying to think of alternatives to the anti-freeze scenario!)

Sandalwood · 20/07/2011 14:24

I'm going to have to reread this thread. I think I'm missing something.
I'd be assuming that he has hedghogs/fox cubs or something in his wildlife garden that he is trying to encourage/care for.
And that's why he's pistolling the cat away too.

AnneWiddecomesArse · 20/07/2011 14:25

Oh for God's sake.
After 10 years of living next door to you he's turned into a mad cat poisoner.
He's lived next door for 10 years. How about a little conversation ?
It's likely to be far more benign. He's got hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, ducklings or something in his garden that he's trying to encourage.
I have a pair of Blackbirds in the garden and a nest. The male blackbird is bold and atually attacks the cats (on the ground; makes a racket and chases the cats, wings outstretched).
I've put a bowl of water under the tree and easy food. I've not put anti freeze in the water and I am not a cat killer.
Your neighbour (who has not killed any of your cats in 10 years) is likely doing the same.
He probably knows about a nest and in the early days used the water pistol to protect them.

KilledBill · 20/07/2011 14:28

I dont see why you would discourage a cat but welcome foxes? They shit in peoples gardens and people mistake it for cats. As for birds, surely he would have a bird table or bird bath?

OP, you know this man, trust your instincts. Personally, Id check the water.

And if you are in the midlands, definitley do, because there has been a recent spate of cats being deliberatly poisened with anti freeze.

Original poster
zelda1982 · 20/07/2011 14:30

We get no badgers/foxes round here (north east) Dp did see a hedgehog the other night but again why put it on his steps where the hedgehogs couldn't reach it (remember its a pyrex bowl so quite high sides) Anyhow i'm going to keep an eye on my cat and try keep it out of his garden. Thanks for the replies.

OP posts:
Pootles2010 · 20/07/2011 14:41

She doesn't know the man killed bill she's never spoken to him in 10 yrs of living there.

Sandalwood · 20/07/2011 14:42

You might not get much wildlife. But his overgrown grass is ideal for it.
And maybe the drink is on the steps so he can see whatever it is in the evenings from his window.
I don't know. But I wouldn't be assuming it's poison.

flicktheswitch · 20/07/2011 15:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Samvet · 20/07/2011 15:09

just a point it is difficult to get water tested, not impossible but expensive so that may not be an option. I would ask him if the cat is bothering him and what you could do to help, you can lie and say you have seen your cat in his garden alot and are worried he is bothering him. Antifreeze is very toxic so even if you feel weird it is worth talking to me if it saves the cat (and hedgehogs etc which will also die).

AnneWiddecomesArse · 20/07/2011 15:31

"We get no badgers/foxes around here North East"
I think you do; but you haven't noticed them.
??? Hedgehogs can climb steps.

Or at least I think they can. They seem to cope well with steep ditches and I once saw an Hedgehog on the escalator at the Maybird Centre.

That last bit was a lie.

Howdoesjuliancope · 20/07/2011 15:36

Maybe the water pistol has proven ineffective and he's just going to chuck a bowl of water at it next time.

hiddenhome · 20/07/2011 15:48

I live in the northeast. Whereabouts are you? I'll come round and nick his water to find out if it's innocent.

Dakiara · 20/07/2011 15:55

Yeah, I'd get the police involved for sure if my neighbour started climbing into my garden for whatever reason. O_o

As far as it being antifreeze, he'd be far more likely to not mix it with water and also not put it in full view of the cat owner, do you not think? Sounds more than a little bit of an overreaction imo. Besides, if he was after getting rid of cats permanently you'd have surely noticed other methods by which he was trying to deter them over the last ten years.

I'd go with a nice sensible chat, saying that you'd noticed that your cat was starting to go into his garden and was it bothering him/is there anything you could do to help discourage it.

hiddenhome · 20/07/2011 15:57

You could say that you were climbing into the garden in order to retrieve your cat before it's assaulted with water.

Pootles2010 · 20/07/2011 16:03

You really can't go into another person's garden like that hidden. It would terrify me if i randomly saw a strange person in my garden!

Pootles2010 · 20/07/2011 16:03

Oh thought you were being serious. Ignore me.

Pandemoniaa · 20/07/2011 16:10

Unless you speak to the neighbour, you can't really ease your fears, can you? But I'm not sure how you'd plan to tackle the situation without sounding like a complete loon. "Excuse me but are you poisoning my cat?" or "Would you mind not pouring anti-freeze in the bird bath?" is unlikely to have him do more than keep an increasingly suspicious eye on you.

Spraying a cat with water really isn't the forerunner to a chapter in "Lives of The Great Cat Poisoners". In any case, if he really did have nefarious designs on your pussy, he'd be far better off trying something tasty enough to overcome the average cat's discerning sense about things that don't taste right.

DooinMeCleanin · 20/07/2011 16:15

'We get no badgers/foxes round here (north east)' I see foxes all the time and I am in Teesside. My Dad spotted an injured Badger on the road a few years ago and phoned the animal rescue people. He his way to pick my mum up from work, so near Middlesbrough at the time. We also get hedgehogs.

Are you sure you don't get Badgers and Foxes?

But a few cats around my town have poisoned with anti freeze lately, so I'd be cautious at least, though saying that is anti freeze not usually brightly coloured? Surely you'd be able to see it in the water?

MumblingRagDoll · 20/07/2011 16:17

I have 2 cats but I alo squirt the neighbours cats. My cats use a tray to go to the toilet in...the neihgbours think it's ok to us my lawn and flower beds. As such I squirt themm and they have begun to stop.
Bowl of water could just hav been forgotten? If he's not a gardener then perhaps he has forgotten its there or is lazy?

Pootles2010 · 20/07/2011 16:18

'nefarious designs on your pussy'

pozzled · 20/07/2011 16:42

Either you are all mad or my view of human nature is wildly optimistic.

The man has sprayed cats with a water pistol. He now has a bowl of water in his garden. Therefore he is obviously a cat murderer and the OP would be justified in trespassing in order to check the water. WTF?

Is it not just possible that the man may have another reason for having the water out? There are all sorts of strange things left out in my garden at times.

Empusa · 20/07/2011 16:44

I should just point out, my previous post wasn't because I thought it was hugely likely, just pointing out that cat's are likely to drink anti-freeze rather than drinking from puddles.

COCKadoodledooo · 20/07/2011 17:24

YABU to be unable to have a simple conversation with a neighbour you've lived next to for 10 years. Imho.