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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not actually know what te neighbour wants me to do about the cat??

123 replies

Confusedmartie999 · 18/06/2015 17:24

Long story short we moved in a few months ago.
We have a cat aged 3 who we rescued, he always has been a little ferrel and not the type of cat to come home every night etc.
we also have an elderly cat who lives indoors and very rarely ventures out.
We've never been allowed a cat flap before ( renting ) so if he wasn't home by the time we went to sleep he stayed out.
At this house we have one so it's left open all the time, on a latch so if he comes in he can't get back out at night.
Within a few weeks the neighbour knocked and complained the cat was going in their house at night, to sleep, eat and was upsetting their cats.
I apologised, bought them chocolates and have made every effort to ensure by evening he is locked in evening though he spends hours crying at the back door or by the cat flap, so loud it wakes the children from time to time to avoid any conflict with the neighbour.
I did explain in the day I would be letting him out so there isn't much I can do about him coming in during the day and they said it was the night time that was the problem.
No issues since as far as I knew but this morning I bumped into the neighbours outside and the man ( he was the one who initially knocked ) said it's getting ridiculous, that one night last week he found him alseep on his sofa ( this night we had tried and failed to get him to come home, we had tried until 1am with all sorts of treats etc but he just wouldn't come back ) and then went on to say that he also ate cooked sausages that were left on the side in the daytime yesterday.
I did ask why he doesn't lock his cat flap at night since he made it clear his cats don't go out at night but he replied that they aren't going back to litter trays and I should think of a suitable solution.
I said I'm not sure what else I can physically do and he replied that in all the years he has lived here he has never had this and he shouldn't have to fork out for an electronic cat flap to suit us and that our cat shouldn't be living in a cul de sac but on a farm.
I have a 5 year old son who loves the cat otherwise I would consider re homing but I don't know what to do :(

OP posts:

5madthings · 19/06/2015 13:12

He just needs to shut his cat flap if it bothers him.

We don't have pets as I am allergic but we have an outhouse with tumble dryer etc in, the neighbourhood cats shelter in there at times and when I have the patio doors open in Warm weather they will try and come in.the house, I just shoo them away. Have an old spray bottle with water in for if they are really cheeky and squirt that at them. It hadn't occurred to me to complain to anyone, they are cats and don't know the 'rules' re house ownership etc.

steppemum · 19/06/2015 13:14

yy to telling him that his cats come into your house, and eat all your cats food.

steppemum · 19/06/2015 13:16

just to say, that in law you have to control dogs, but cats are accepted to be 'wild' and not under the control of owner

Debs75 · 19/06/2015 13:47

why does he need a litter tray for nights? my cat often sleeps inside but she doesn't have a litter tray as she won't use one.
this reminds me of when a neighbour used to let my old ferral cat into her house. she then tried to bill me when it attacked her parrots which flew free in her living room. she didn't seem to get that its her job to keep her parrots safe. its not like i could see what the cat was doing in the next street

PuppyMonkey · 19/06/2015 14:04

We got a microchip cat flap fitted when the moggy at the back of out house kept coming in. We did not ask the neighbours to pay for it.

Did you see that documentary where they followed cats in a neighbourhood for a month with little cameras? About 90% of them regularly went into their neighbours' houses and ate any cat food lying about.

Your neighbour has a problem with his cat flap, your neighbour needs to fix the problem.

MythicalKings · 19/06/2015 14:19

It's very selfish of cat owners to suggest that the rest of us have to keep our doors and windows closed on hot sunny days to keep their animals out.

Maybe a change in the law is required.

kinkyfuckery · 19/06/2015 14:29

When he says he has nothing against the cat coming in during the day, that's the problem! The cat has obviously been encouraged or 'allowed' to come in during the day - of course it's going to bloody well want in at night.

Unless you think he'd harm your cat, ignore!

Original poster

Confusedmartie999 · 19/06/2015 14:30

And what would your new law say exactly? Cats to be kept on leads at all times?? How daft.

OP posts:

DragonWithAGirlTattoo · 19/06/2015 14:37

"It's very selfish of cat owners to suggest that the rest of us have to keep our doors and windows closed on hot sunny days to keep their animals out."

its simple to shoo a cat out

sprackenzyboiled · 19/06/2015 14:53

"It's very selfish of cat owners to suggest that the rest of us have to keep our doors and windows closed on hot sunny days to keep their animals out.

Maybe a change in the law is required."

Yeah, let's ban cats from going where they want with a law.

itsmine · 19/06/2015 15:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

limitedperiodonly · 19/06/2015 15:08

Unless you think he'd harm your cat, ignore!

That's the only thing I'd be worried about. Some people are very cruel.

Your cat wouldn't annoy me by coming in. I'd just get one of those cat flaps that works on a chip and chase him away if I found him indoors. Or I might let him stay if he was no trouble and wasn't upsetting my cat.

What would annoy me was if he was shitting in the garden a lot. As long as you have a litter tray to deal with at least some of the mess, I'd be happy. I'm not a terribly keen gardener so I've never noticed a problem and quite a few neighbours have had cats over the years and now I have one.

I noticed your neighbour can't be arsed with a litter tray for his cats. That's outrageous. So everyone else has to put up with his cats but he feels free to complain about yours? I lost all sympathy for him as soon as you said that.

My cat and I are saints in this respect . Like I said, I have a litter tray and I know for sure that he doesn't go anywhere else because he never leaves the secure garden and he's never allowed in it unless someone is in. I work from home so he can go out almost whenever he wants.

But I realise that's unusual.

He's an adopted cat and was exclusively indoor until I got him. I don't think that was cruel at all. But he likes pottering and snoozing in the garden and likes going for walks with me.

I wouldn't put him on a lead, though. He'd regard that with contempt and wriggle out of it. Cats have no shoulders so they are like Houdini.

Plus, I look mad enough taking a free-range cat for a walk as it is .

MythicalKings · 19/06/2015 15:33

And what would your new law say exactly? Cats to be kept on leads at all times?? How daft.

It already happens in parts of Australia, so not that daft. Cats have to be kept under control in runs in owners' gardens.

SoupDragon · 19/06/2015 15:39

It's very selfish of cat owners to suggest that the rest of us have to keep our doors and windows closed on hot sunny days to keep their animals out.

I thought people were suggesting that a cat owner get a cat flap only his cats can use.

MythicalKings · 19/06/2015 15:45

Someone else mentioned cats coming in to their house and was told to shut the doors and windows then.

wannaBe · 19/06/2015 15:52

Did anyone read the "things that your cat has brought home" thread yet? It included such items as sausages, baguettes and joints of roast beef.

Cats roam - it's what they do. And the man has a means by which they can enter his house if they so wish. If he doesn't want them entering his house then he needs to shut off their entrance. Even more so given said entrance is an actual cat flap.

People suggesting that the cat needs to learn are being ridiculous.

SoupDragon · 19/06/2015 16:01

As far as I can see, one cat owner mentioned that the OPs neighbour should get a microchip cat flap and close his windows. "Cat owners" did not say that non cat owners should keep all their doors and windows shut.

A non cat owner said they solved the problem by closing windows.

This is stupid.

Yarp · 19/06/2015 16:11

speidey

Is your cat not on meds? My (very old) moggie takes a daily Vidalta tablet

Yarp · 19/06/2015 16:15

To clarify:

I have a cat

I like cats

I chase other people's cats away or shoot water at them so they don't poo in my garden

I have a microchip cat flap and suggest other cat owners also do

I don't leave my windows open in the evening or I accept next doors cat will come in

When he does I chase him out

I have a cat litter tray for mine and suggest others do too - but I also know that a cat may crap in my garden - hence the chasing them away

My own cat is too old to get overly fence, but if she did, I'd accept other people not allowing her into their house/chasing her away

Yarp · 19/06/2015 16:15

over the fence

VivaLeBeaver · 19/06/2015 16:23

Neighbour is BU.

I have cats. I can't be arsed to pay for a microchip cat flap. So the risk I take is that sometimes we have a random cat in the house. When it becomes too frequent I lie in wait with the dogs in the kitchen and then release the hounds when the random cat is in the dining room! Cat tends to not return for a few months.

pepperhead · 19/06/2015 16:47

Im not sure what you can do besides buy the electronic flap but I totally get where he is coming from too. We dont have a cat as we totally despise them not a cat flap [sorry!] but we are tortured with a neighbouring cat coming into our garden, wandering around & if the door is open coming into our kitchen. It gets my blood pressure going & one of these days we'll have to do something about it ourselves. Take it to a home maybe. Its rotten.

Yarp · 19/06/2015 18:05

pepperhead

Spray it with water. They really hate it, it does not hurt them though

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