Is she BU or are we bad neighbours?

[TravellingSpoon]

We have a cat who is an outdoor cat and who likes to roam but normally within the proximity of our nearest neighbours.

She likes to hunt and is a prolific hunter. At one point we were getting a bird every other day or so. Neighbour mentioned she didnt like her round her bird table as she 'stalks about looking for little birds.' WE got her a collar with a bell, now neighbour is complaining that she can hear the bell tinkling as she runs round the garden, both hers and ours.

She has been round this evening to say that our cat is ruining her enjoyment of the garden and can we keep her in the house or in our garden.

I would say that the cat is out maybe 30% of the day, the rest she is being generally lazy laid out on the sofa.

Toxoplasmosis can also come from dog and fox poo. So unless you're prepared to get equally upset about the fox shit that's also all over your garden, focusing on cat poo is not really reasonable. The best way to deal is to teach your kids to take a stick and flick any poo that they find off into the bushes, be it cat, dog or fox or badger or anything else. If your child is too small to know not to put poo in their mouths then you really shouldn't be very far away from them, even in your own garden. A fox could well have crapped there in the night even if all the cats are shut indoors.

The NHS site states very clearly that Toxocariasis is very rare in the UK anyway.

I have 2 cats
Most of my neighbours also have cats so they tend to stay within their own territory
I am quite happy for anyone who doesn’t like cats to use a water spray or any other humane deterrents
We are quite rural so yes they do hunt - rodents, squirrels, smaller rabbits, birds and even frogs, but not that frequently
One is young and stupid and not that good at it
The other is older and lazy and prefers kitchen scraps to supplement her tinned offerings and cat biscuits

We had 3 cats (now all gone through the Celestial catflap, sadly) and I would say not all cats are prolific hunters. Some are, others are more occasional and some really can't be bothered/are rubbish at it. We had a mix of those! We are fortunate to live in an area where many people own cats and/or dogs so perhaps are more tolerant.

I don't think it's right to try to keep one's cats indoors if they're used to being outdoor cats (it's bordering on cruelty, really, imo) but placing a bell on a cat's collar is a good idea to warn wildlife, so I think the OP has taken the right steps.

I would dearly love to have a bird feeder now but there are many other felines who pass through this garden and there is literally no place to put the feeder where they couldn't get the birds (we have a terraced garden). The only concession is a birdbath on the garage roof, which although it's cat accessible, no bird would fail to see a cat there and could escape.

Without any cats that we own, our garden is now the territory of several other cats and they do leave their poos in annoying places (they love trying to dig my container plants, but strategically placed sticks have thwarted them recently!

When our bin collections went to fortnightly for black bags, we noticed far more rats walking about brazenly. That was at a time when the local cat population was at a low. Before that one of ours was very good at catching any rats. Now there are more neighbourhood moggies again, I expect the rat population will be kept in check.

As for water sprays, this is an ideal way to scare off unwanted cats. Also I would suggest rattling a large piece of foil, or rustling plastic bags. Our cats hated those sounds!

Wereallsquare that is your choice if your cat went out to build an enclosure i fully get that which is totally your right .But no the op is not being unreasonable, cats hunt where do you draw the line enclose every cat in the country so no bird ever get's killed ever again by a cat .I love having birds in my garden and there are birds even though i have cats .It's about being realistic. We will have to agree to differ.

It’s difficult, I can see it from both POVs. I think NDN is BU about it but I understand why they are frustrated but also how hard it is to stop cats from roaming where they want to. If it were me as NDN I’d just quietly grit my teeth through the annoyance and smile at the neighbours because I’m very British and avoid confrontation at all costs.

I’d buy them a water pistol with a good length of spray and tell them to spray the cat every time it goes in their garden. After a while I imagine the cat will give up going in to avoid getting wet. Then you’re showing willing to look for a solution to their cat moan but not spending a fortune on it.

She's BU, but I'm a cat lover any cat that comes in my garden usually gets showered with love lol
Honestly, I don't see what more you can do, it's not fair to suddenly stop a cat from going outdoors, mine are climbing the wall if they can't get out!

One of my cats regular comes running into the house wet because ndn has squirted her with a water pistol.
My cat likes to strut up and down the fence winding their dog up so I told them too. Win win. Their dog stops barking. My cat is taught a lesson and more importantly is not harmed at all.

We had a dog walker complain that our cat crouched under our hedge and jumped out, frightening her ball of fluff! Suggested that she walked on the other wide of the road if it was so neurotic.

The Downing Street cats roam free. Just saying

OP you can buy cat proof fencing in your garden. But as I suspect, cat owners never want to incur the expense.

I don’t hate cats but I don’t want one in my garden or house either. There are six bloody cats within my immediate neighbours and I’m never able to leave patio doors open if I’m not in immediate vicinity. Why is it so hard to understand that many people don’t want your pets in their property?

The Downing Street cats roam free. Just saying

They have official job titles of Chief Mouser etc so their job is to hunt.

God knows why MN thinks cats should be given carte blanche to roam, kill songbirds and shit in other people's gardens, but if a dog merely chases a grey squirrel in the park or has anything less than competition level obedience it's a disgrace They're both pets but the difference in attitudes is frequently astounding.

I love both🤗 just respect their differences.

No problem with dogs chasing squirrels - even had one chasing me when I went for a run - his owner was mortified. Helped me up my pace😂

Your neighbour is BU together with people professing the cats in my garden and I'll kill it,

@UnicornBrexit before giving out vile sadistic information you might want to check you're actually right?

Buy your neighbours a water pistol and remove the tinkering bell, tell neighbours to spray cat with water if she comes into garden and that’ll stop her going in there garden. Explain you got the bell to stop her chasing the birds at the bird table

The water won’t harm the cat and your neighbours are unlikely to actually ever hit the cat in time tbh

But it looks to your neighbour that your again trying to be helpful 🤔

Well it’s not very fair to inflict your pets on other people but on the other hand it’s par for the course that you will have cats coming through your garden if you live in a built up area.