Should neighbours ask beforehand?

[TisforTucan]

Woke up today to our neighbour nailing spikes onto the top of the fence (i'm assuming it's to deter our cat from going on it). We've never had any bad words, sure we probably irratate each other but never argued or anything and we've talked before.

Im not offended by the spikes, cat annoys us half the time by pooping in the garden ect but I just feel like they could of knocked and said "hi were going to do this, as we don't really want cat in our garden". I would of appreciated it more to have been told and think I'm more offended that they couldn't come talk to us.

Would anyone else want to be told? Funny thing is, it's not going to work as cat can jump over other parts of the fence so it's just made things a bit awkward I feel now.

@it is possible to keep your animal on your property, why not research it, or keep the animal safe indoors?

I guess I'm not "most people". I also know how to keep a cat indoors, if you had read before, I said the cat spends its majority indoors, and I have another indoor cat. Have you ever tried to stop a cat from escaping? In hot weather with windows open and children, it's impossible.

Previous post was for @Electrical

In hot weather with windows open and children, it's impossible.

You can get mesh doors and screens to stop cats getting out - like the insect screens they have in Australia. I used to live in a flat with cats and we had them over the windows to keep the cats safe, and it meant we could still have the windows open. They were a god-send in summer!

I know that doesn't help the children issue but they are really useful things if you want to go down that road. They're not expensive either.

Putting something up that would hurt an animal is disgusting. They probably didn't discuss it because they didn't want to give you the chance to object. If you said you weren't happy and they did it anyway, that would be a direct conflict. They hope that by presenting you with a done deal, you will just seethe at home.
How I felt about the spikes and what I did next, would depend on whether they could actually hurt my cat or not. People who would hurt the cat are scummy.
But I do see that people who haven't chosen a pet shouldn't have to deal with the mess of other people's.

@mommybear1 Jesus christ, one way to tackle the problem! We have problem neighbours with teenagers who actually jump fences (and set them on fire) but they're too far down.

Never heard of folks putting up spikes on a fence to deter cats before.Nasty thing to do. And cats are clever, they can always find a way to get to their chosen destination. I always thought that people put spikes on walls and fences. to stop yobs and undesirable people getting over.

"I tried to have a reasonable conversation with the cat but she was having none of it"

Maybe the neighbour let the cat know about the plan and it didn't pass it on

YABU

Spikes don't deter cats!
I had a particularly odious tom cat that crapped and wouldn't bury his revolting clay coloured turds, and I tried those little spikes, they just don't work.
Almost impossible to keep cats out of a garden...even a Lurcher who can go from 0>60 in 2 seconds is only a deterrent when said dog is in garden....a clever cat knows the sound of back door opening and scarpers.

We put spikes, the little plastic strip ones, on our fences. We own the fences on all sides as we are on the end of a row of semis. We sisn't do it to deter cats, because it doesn't. We did it to deter the fox that had figured out how to get over them after I blocked the holes it was coming through. It worked for that. As a bonus, it also deters garden break ins as one side is against a through road.

I don't think that your neighbour should feel obliged to talk to you first, it's their fence, they can do what they like. I'm not sure why it would feel awkward for you, what your cat does or doesn't do doesn't reflect on you, it's a cat. So if your neighbours don't like it going in their garden, it doesn't mean they don't like you.

@vanillandhoney Yeah the big issue is kids leaving doors open, this is how the cat got the taste of outdoors. I can do the screens but with everything going on right now we are constantly in our garden and she's escaping. We kept her in all winter fine.

edit:Odious Tom cat belonged to feckless neighbour, not us.
We considered trapping him to take to a vet to get his nuts removed {a swift op} but weren't sure of legality of it.
His name was ''Alexander''...and his drunk owner would bawl
''ALEX-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN-DERRRRR!...PUSS-PUSS-PUSS POOOOSSSSSSSSSS!!!'' over and over at 1, or 2am.
He attacked people's neutered male cats. Horrid owner.

@TisforTucan yep, I know what you mean. Mine got out of the bathroom window the other day - I didn't even know he'd gone until the dog went out and scared him from under the shed!

Legally they need a weather proof sign to advise the fence has spikes

Can the cat read?

Can the cat read?

Cat is fluent in Spanish, however due to covid English tutor has been cancelled.

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously
Putting something up that would hurt an animal is disgusting.

The spikes are plastic, like little lego pyramids and meant to deter animals from walking along a fence, but they are ineffective.
They don't hurt a bare footed person, {like stepping on a bit of long flat lego} A complete waste of money.

YABU to be in a bit of a huff about it. Ignore it and carry on as normal. Make no reference to it and don’t change the way you interact with them. If they bring it up, smile and say, oh of course, I understand.

There you go. A reasonable response, ready made

I wouldn't worry about it if you don't think it's your cat doing it. You must have an idea what your cat does if you got an indoor litter tray. You could create a small area in your garden, with soft earth to encourage your cat to go there. Trouble is I'm not sure if that will then encourage other cats, but they might not go in the same place.

The Victorians and Georgians used to use terrifying broken glass bottles as wall-toppers, mortared into place to deter intruders....One used to see them years ago, but legally they have to be removed.
Roses and Pyracantha can be a better alternative...but are a pain to keep under control.
Razor wire is hideous.

OP are they plastic or metal?

Its illegal to put spikes up on a boundary fence if it has the potential to injure an animal or a person.

Our cat rarely went out of the garden but there are so many cat haters about that we cat proofed the garden. When new neighbours moved in next door they knocked and asked us what the netting was for (it's on our side but can obviously see it from theirs) and they seemed ok when we explained. Not that it would have made any difference if they had minded!

Put the cat on Skype. I'm a distance learning tutor who can teach it to read English for a reasonable fee.

What I did say however was I felt it was a bit more awkward now as they feel they can't come talk to us about doing it.

They probably can't see any point in talking to you about it. After all, how are you going to stop the cat? So they have simply done what they can to deter the cat.

Sounds sensible to me, I wouldn't worry about it. Doubt it will work, but there you go.

Good luck with that. Most cats I know could get into Fort Knox, so a few spikes won't stop them!