To ask the people down the road to get their cat neutered?

[MycatsaPirate]

People moved in a few months ago, it's not in our street but is at the T junction with ours. Lots of cats and dogs here, everyone very friendly and amicable but never spoken to these people.

They have a ginger cat, it's a lovely little thing, very friendly and sweet natured but he's still intact and has sprayed in my porch twice, tried to fight with one of my cats and today I found him sitting in my living room!

Now I don't mind if he comes in the living room, if one of mine are around he will soon jump back out the window but I really don't want the house stinking from him spraying everywhere!

And no I can't leave the window shut, it's like a bloody sauna in here at the moment even with it open.

Should I go and speak to them? What do you suggest I say?

Oh God yes! They will probably be mortified. Well, you'd hope so.

Just tell them about the spraying bit. Hopefully they will put 2 and 2 together (and as responsible pet owners they should have him neutered anyway).

Would be very surprised if their vet has not suggested this, unless he is very young still?

Perfect weather for a super soaker. . . .
Deterrent is the key!! Canny cat or not he bloody stinks!
I wouldn't suggest anything to the neighbours unless you want to create a bad feeling. . . Their cat their decision, even if it's the wrong one!!
Obviously if they see you in an Arnie bandana chasing Ginger down the street feel free to justify your actions. . .

YANBU at all to ask. Why people let their pets wander around unneutered is beyond me

Yanbu. Marauding unneutered cats cause lots of unwanted pregnancies (so everyone should neuter / spay) but be advised that it might not solve the spraying issue I'm afraid!

Would neutering stop the cat spraying? I thought once they were 'in the habit' it's a learned behaviour which is why it's best to get them neutered when they're younger. I may be wrong though, I've only had girls myself.

YANBU to mention it to them though, responsible pet owners should make sure their animals are neutered.

Get one of those electrical zappers

Oh yes, definitely go and speak to the owner. If that falls through (they take no notice/don't care), and he continues to spray on your property, I'd fill up a spray bottle of water and keep spraying him. He might stop visiting. You shouldn't have to close your windows OP.

A microchip cat flap is your best bet... it solved the same problem for us.

Both my male cats were neutered as soon as the vet would do it and both used to spray around the garden.

Sorry I've not been back.

Ok, we don't have a cat flap, the interloper came in through the front window which was open due to the heat. Normally see this young boy around a few times a week and as I said, he is lovely, really friendly and sweet natured.

So I plucked up the courage and went to the house I thought he lived in. Lady was lovely, said yes, they have a ginger cat. I asked if they would mind getting him neutered and she said he IS neutered and is 12 years old. Turns out it's not the same cat but she has had the same young cat in her house nicking her boys food.

We now are both on the case of finding out where this boy lives. I may get a paper collar for him but failing that I may just stick him in a cat box and get him scanned for a chip. If he's not chipped I may report him as a stray and get him neutered myself.

But he is a very clean looking cat, obviously not a stray so I just hope that between us we track down where he's from.

Sounds like a plan Pirate - good luck!

In my experience, neighbours with unneutered pissycats are rarely pleasant or rational beings 😕

Quite why anyone would want to live with one is beyond me...I had to rip up my carpets less than six months after their laying because of other people's pissycats constantly breaking in and having a pissfest.
As far as I'm concerned, neutering should be mandatory, and I speak as a Mother Of Nearly Every Cat.

I hope you track down the owners, but I really wouldn't hold out any hope of them being reasonable about it 😐

Are you sure it hasn't been neutered?
One of ours sprayed and he had been neutered
No stopping him!

I'm pretty sure due to the big hairy balls hanging out between his back legs!!

Not seen him since the living room incident.

This is a very nice middle class area. I'm hoping that the owners are 'reasonable sorts'. If not then I am not adverse to boxing the cat and taking to be neutered myself.

Problem is un-neutered males will wander trying to get a female, get into fights and end up lost or run over. It's not fair on him really. At the moment he is such a sweet natured boy. Comes over for a head rub, then falls over and rolls about on your feet looking for a tummy rub.

We do seem to attract other cats. In our old house we had an nu-neutered male which was constantly coming in through the cat flap and making himself at home. Lovely boy, sweet natured but within a year he started to get aggressive and was looking a mess. I had spoken to the owners repeatedly about getting him done but they didn't. He was a pedigree cat too, no idea what happened to him in the end but he was roaming a long way from home. I took him home in my car several times.
Will keep an eye out for him today as I'm at home.

are you allowed to neuter someone elses cat?

what if its a cat bought for breeding? maybe they want kittens

You can I would have thought if it has no chip, you can then report as a stray and get it neutered

Oh right lol
Ffs don't freport it as a stray if you know it's not

If it's not chipped then I will get it neutered. Saying that I will try the paper collar option first. It will become a major issue later on as it matures with fighting otherwise.

As for wanting it for breeding, don't let it out then! It's bloody irresponsible.

There are 10 cats living in our street alone plus another four or five that I see from neighbouring streets. So far no major scraps but if you have a tom cat in the mix it could become a nightmare for the other cat owners. Personally I don't want the bills from the vet from infected cuts and bits.

If you do this op, the cat has to be kept in for a few days afterwards, what then?

Apparently, neutering someone else's cat is completely against the law.

As for if they're wanted for breeding, if I recall, they have to be complete house cats, no going out at all except in one of those cat aviary thingummibobs.

As OP says, being unneutered is not fair on the cat.

Cats Protection near me pick up stray cats, neuter them, then release them back to the same area. They’ll be able to check if the cat is chipped or not. They'll also keep the cat with them until it's ready to go back out. Don't think it's that long for male cats.

As per PP it wouldn't be allowed out if it was for breeding purposes.

My mum did it for un neutered cat near her and gave a donation of the cost of the operation to Cats Protection. It was slightly feral I think, we couldn't catch it ourselves.

If you can get near it you might want to try the paper collar first?