Neighbour very ranty about our cat

[CaptainWarbeck]

Right I have just been accosted while putting the baby into the car by our neighbour who is a (generally) lovely elderly woman. She is very garden-proud and not at all happy about our cat.

We have a ginger cat who is outside during the day and in at night. There are lots of other cats in the area. Our cat is digging occasionally in her flowerbeds, which I do get is frustrating for her as she loves to garden.

Her very cross suggestions: I should be watching the cat at all times he is outside so digging cannot happen (ffs sake I have a 9m old and a job) OR we should be keeping him inside and never letting him back out again OR we should be madly erecting fences everywhere to prevent him getting anywhere near her (he's a cat, he would climb and jump them).

AIBU to think if you live in a communal area with cats around, the occasional bit of digging is annoying but kind of just one of those things?

I'm admittedly hormonal and grumpy (despite being very polite to her) and this has not been a good start to the day. Any practical suggestions on either the cat or ways to make her stop banging on about it?

Having looked it up it simply isn't true!
About 10% of UK cats are kept indoors all the time but is already higher in US where owners are encouraged to keep them indoors.
They are very popular as pets. In 2014 there were an estimated 7.9 million cats and 9million dogs. There are about 2 million videos of cats on YouTube and they are one of the most popular searches with about 26billion views- hardly the nation of cat haters shown on here!

Who says we are a nation of cat haters? I have a cat, he doesn't shit in people's gardens. I used to have two others that did some of the time but we tried to cut it down to avoid annoying our neighbours.

OP maybe you could make a part of your garden into a nice freshly dug earth where your cat could dig to his heart's content?

That's what I do with mine, as my boy cat just won't use a litter tray, although the 3 girl cats do.

I was pointing out that we were a nation of cat lovers!
(Apart from some people on this thread who think that they should never experience the weather or that a highly independent animal should be followed around or kept on a lead)

That's me then. We take turns in following each other around and I don't keep him on a lead.

Pet cats aren't highly independent. We give them food, shelter and medical attention according to their need. If we don't, we are guilty of neglect.

AnneElliott has a good suggestion.

@Minniemagoo@MidniteScribbler I think that you both sound like you've never owned cats, or have smoked a profuse amount of cannabis before writing your statements. I say that because it's completely unrealistic to 'lock down' a cat. I would love to know how you lock down a cat without being abusive to them.

I have two cats, and they have a tray. They also go outside and wander around my garden (which is full of flowers). My neighbours are not gardeners - but my cats still pee near their door. I am empathetic to them and have bought my neighbours potted lavender plants to deter my cats. That's the extent of my goodwill. I chose to have cats, and cats are free spirits. Other neighbours have dogs that bark all hours of the day - but I don't sit there and think "what a selfish dog owner" because dogs bark. That's what they do -they bark, they howl, they pee against tree stumps. BECAUSE THEY'RE DOGS.

Cats pee and crap, and they enjoy being outside. They climb and they kill rodents. CAUSE THEY'RE CATS.

Nearly posted a very long reply in defence of felines - then I realised its a zombie thread. Doh!

You decided to find a three year old thread to have a go at me on?

I think it might be somebody else on the wacky stuff!!! This is from three years ago!

Made me laugh,going to be tittering now whilst trying to get to sleep.