Neighbours, cats and birds.

[Birdmurderer]

NC for this but regular.

We've lived in out house for a year, on a "hello" basis with next door. She's got a voice you can hear 3 streets away and her eldest daughter seems to have inherited it. A few issues but generally ok neighbours.

We have 3 cats - one who is old and never leaves the decking area of our garden, one who seems to have another family a few doors down (other side to neighbour in question), and one who likes to peep through their chain link fence at them but is too much of a mamas boy to leave our garden. (we've had a lot of time during lockdown to confirm our theories about where they go during the day). They made it clear from day one they don't like cats and will talk loudly about how awful our cats are when they know we're within earshot .

DP just went outside to get his bike and the woman is sobbing in the garden. Spots DP and starts shouting at him because apparently one of ours cats has eaten a bird that she was looking after (she has a feeding table in her garden).

DP apologised - for what I'm not sure - and sort of left it there and went off about his day. I was still in bed when all this happened.

He's gone out now and I can hear her sobbing and shouting in the garden about this bird.

There are 2 big cats the other side of her, one of which is horrible and has put my little cat in the vets twice. I think that's the culprit over my fat old one who sleeps 23 hours a day, the deserter, and the little one who can't catch his own tail.

AIBU to think she's massively overreacted? I have quite bad social anxiety and I am not good with confrontation so I'm hiding indoors now.

My first cat didn’t go for birds or kill anything

He was particularly friendly with a blackbird and the 2 of them would sit together on the patio
Sometimes the bird would sit on dcat.

He was a very special boy cat

I never needed carrying box when I went to the vets. He would walk in with me and sit on my knee in the waiting room.

Yes the sparrowhawk does make a mess.

Theres a balance to be had. I do think cat owners need to be considerate of the fact that they in effect impose their pet choice on neighbours. Runs are ideal....but impractical. So collars with bells are a good idea. Especially reflecting ones that help the cat be seen at night too.

And if you don't like cats in the garden you can take steps to.put them off. Mine have worked well enough.

It's cruel to force a cat to wear a bell round its neck. It's a form of noise-torture to the cat.

Print off the information from the RSPB and give it her. They acknowledge that cats are not responsible for the decline in bird numbers. The birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season and numbers those populations common to gardens are actually on the rise.

Plus it's a common myth that all birds are killed by cats its just as likely it was killed by a magpie for instance that's if it was killed at all and it didn't just die.

It's also worth noting:

Those bird species which have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines.

Only the other day we watched in horror at a magpie pecking at a young blackbird in the road opposite our house. The parents were flapping around helplessly, desperately trying to rescue their baby. The magpie flew off with the dying chick in its beak, leaving blood spattered on the road.

Usually young birds that are not able to fly the nest and survive immediately will not survive to a full adult life. They have to be 100% fit from that moment. They are the easy prey for cats and other predators. More birds die from fighting with their own species and natural causes than from cats.

I've never seen a cat raiding a nest. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it would be curiosity rather than the stalk/catch/kill/eat instinct that is in cats' natural instinct.

Wow, some people really hate cats, aye?

Yep, most of them will be crying over a cat-murdered bird whilst tucking into their chicken dinner with no sense of irony.

Op, I'd just leave it for now, but if the neighbour mentions it again then you may have to find your big-girl pants and tell her it was unlikely to be your cats for x,y, z reasons (unless she has proof). If your cats don't already do so, show willingness to compromise by getting them bell collars.

@Herpesfreesince03

That's just awful I'm so sorry.

I loathe bloody cats and the selfish dicks who own them and think it's acceptable to let them roam around killing things and shitting in peoples veg patches

We have a robin the garden that I feed, and if one of the neighbours bastard cats was to kill it I'd be beyond furious.

@MouthBreathingRage

Vegan here.

@LSTbi actually meant take responsibility for the damage they cause when they’re let out. But whatever, you kind of just proved my point about the selfish owners part

We have a robin the garden that I feed, and if one of the neighbours bastard cats was to kill it I'd be beyond furious.

Would you be equally furious if a fox killed it or another bird or a feral cat looking foe a meal?

Are you just as furious when your robin kills and eats insects?

We have a robin the garden that I feed, and if one of the neighbours bastard cats was to kill it I'd be beyond furious.

We have a worm in the garden that I feed, and if a bastard robin was to kill it I'd be beyond furious.*

*We don't, but do you see what I'm trying to say?

Vegan here

Well done you .

That's why I said most, not all.

@CaptinButtock wondered when cat shit was going to be mentioned 🤣👍🏻

What has being vegan got to do with cats killing birds?!

Looks like I forgot about the MN cat haters!

Thanks to all those who actually replied to my AIBU, instead of insinuating I'm a "selfish dick" 🙄

Your neighbours unreasonable. My cat has a bell on her collar and she still catches things.

suggest they apply to zoo to get lion poo apparently it scares cats (disclaimer I haven't tried this & have read about other people using it (might be a great way for zoo to make money selling it!) mind, I have no idea how bad it smells!

I'd be interested to know if the OP's neighbour is a vegan, because if she isn't, she can add hypocrisy to ridiculousness.

This.

Also you’re neighbour clearly has some major issues if she’s sobbing and shouting over a bird. I’d just ignore her OP and get on with my day.

Looks like I forgot about the MN cat haters!

I’m waiting for one to say they put poison out or shoot cats with bb guns then I’ll have cat hater bingo!

@CaptainButtock that’s not the half of it. I only mentioned the birds as it was relative to the thread. Other incidents include bringing my 6 day baby home from the hospital, placing the car seat on the floor to open the back door as the house was stuffy, I went into the hallway to hang my coat up and I heard the baby scream. The cat had come in and sprayed piss all over my newborn baby. I’ve had to rehome my little girls guinea pigs. My oh is badly allergic to anything with hair but agreed we could have a pet to keep outside. We couldn’t keep the cat away from them, we reinforced the cage but the cat kept trying to get at them, we chased it away one day but discovered an unconscious guinea pig that had gone into shock. We couldn’t bring them into the house so they had to go before it killed them.
Oh yeh, it also fucked up our Xmas after I cooked and put the goose on the side to rest before opening the back door to let the steam out. I heard a bang, went into the kitchen to find the cat dragging the goose through the garden.
It shouldn’t have to be an option of keeping your cats in or out. It should be a decision of getting one of the other dozens of pets available that doesn’t make other people’s lives a misery

I think people's reaction to cats is because domesticated cats aren't killing to survive. All the analogies with birds killing worms or other magpies eating fledgling are false. It's the animal equivalent of fox hunting, I suppose - except they don't just kill vermin.

Obviously they're amoral beings working from instinct which is why it's owners who bear the responsibility.

What has being vegan got to do with cats killing birds?!

I think they were replying to my post where I remarked that most people moaning about cats killing birds are big old hypocrites. It does tend to draw the 'I'm vegan' klaxon.

From my window just now I witnessed a huge wood pigeon sexually harass and then hold down and mount a female. Maybe those who think animals can be responsible for actual crimes could put out some posters on sexual consent next to their bird feeders. No means no! If she’s repeatedly flying away from you then she isn’t interested. Raping bastard!

I have a "bird" that I look after (obviously, I have no idea if it is the same bird all the time but I'm quite taken to feeding him) and I'd be gutted if he was found dead in my garden, but no way would I start ranting and raving at my cat owning neighbours. Sadly, animals kill other animals, it's nature.

We had a wren that lived in our hedge, singing beautifully. We found its remains after a cat had ripped it to pieces. It didn't eat the bird of course, just killed it for fun.
Domestic cats are entirely artificial. They are totally different to the original wildcats that were never kept in human habitation, and there were never millions of them.
I'd be all in favour of original wildcats being reintroduced to their wild places, in exchange for the artificial domestic breeds being removed from towns.

@Pelleas, cats don’t kill their prey quickly. They play with them before killing them.