To not want next door’s cat’s ‘presents’?

[MayDayHelp]

I love my NDNs, they are great and we get on really well. However, their cat is a right bellend.

Over the last 2 weeks, it has killed and left on my doorstep 3 rats and two birds. The first rat was enormous, I’m not kidding when I say it was a foot long.

I’m a vegetarian and dead animals in general make me feel a bit ill, but as the only adult in my household it’s my job to pick up what dd now calls my ‘dead animal shovel’, scoop up the latest carcass, take it for a walk down the street and fling it into the hedge at the side of the road. I don’t want to put them in my wheely bin as they’ll stink.

It’s really getting to me. I feel like it would be a bit childish asking my NDNs to clear the bodies up, especially as I don’t have any actual evidence it is their cat (although their cat is the only one on the street and spends most of its life in my garden so I’ve got a pretty good idea). But I really hate dealing with the dead things and this is one of the main reasons I don’t have a cat of my own.

There’s not really an answer to this is there? Dreading opening my door in the mornings and discovering what carnage has been left 😭

Think of it as the cat is doing you a favour dealing with the rats. But you could mention to neighbour and ask them to remove the dead things!

In your situation I’d be setting up a motion activated camera and politely confronting the neighbours with the “evidence” if it is indeed their cat. They can then remove the dead animals.

MayDayHelp,
Hahahahaha
I’m lost for words .
We have 3 cats, all males and they stay out all night hunting for mice, rats and the odd frog .
On the positive side you will never have a mouse/rat in your house .
👍🤣🤣

Would that not be unreasonable to ask then, if I could prove it was their cat? I really don’t want to fall out with them but at the same time it was their choice to get the murderous little fucker , and they don’t get any presents at all!

If you have evidence it’s their cat then I’d have no qualms with expecting them to deal with it. So long as you broach the topic politely I see no reason for it to damage relations.

It sees you as the alpha and is seeking your approval with these offerings. You say that it spends most the day in your territory - chase it away with a sprinkler. The offerings will stop.
Speaking to your neighbours will achieve nothing but a falling out. What are they meant to do? Give the cat a good talking to?

Apparantly they're not presents.

The cat thinks you aren't able to hunt for yourself so is feeding you.

Mine do it if they're dishes are empty for more than 30 seconds.

You need Dreamies. Just to show the cat you are able to gather your own food.

Its obviously you he loves OP! It really could any cat as they walk miles each day. I would try to record to know that is their cat for sure. Love the dead animal shovel!

MayDayHelp,
This cat obviously likes you as they only leave their ( catch) little present with somebody they like/love .

Buy it a cat bib.

You should ask your neighbour to remove the offending cat prey, if you get on well with them, its no big deal really, just tell them that you have an issue removing stuff.. I have three cats, and just one of them is hunter cat, and he brings in mice through the cat flap, and leaves them on the kitchen mat if they are dead. an alive one could be anywhere in the house.

But another cat from years ago, used to hunt at night, and he would leave things just outside the back door, all in a row,if there were a few mice or whatever.

1forAll74,
My cats will chase a fly😬😬
But there is no chance of a mouse/ rat entering my house as the 3 of them are like a “security team( Cat Team ) haha.

You can't prove it's your neighbour's cat, but whoever this cat is is showing their affection for you. They think they are doing a good thing, and want to impress you with their prowess. In their mind, you should be flattered. You'll just have to deal with it until you figure out a way to thwart them leaving "gifts" at your door.

Clearly, he is "owner-shopping" and wants to woo you .

I'd try the sprinkler or something else motion-activated.
If that doesn't work, I'd approach the neighbor with something lighthearted like, "Is your cat a bit of a hunter? I'm getting a lot of presents." (I think it would be awkward to stand there showing them video footage).
And then either confess you are extremely squeamish or blame it on your DD and ask for some help...

I'd opt to spray a substance around the door to desist on the cat being so keen to bestow gifts. However, my 'ratter breed' terrier became hysterical and ran away screaming when a field mouse entered my house. My lardy dog then went to investigate and inadvertently trod on, and then sat on it to 'hide the evidence' 🙄... So it was fun not only disposing of squished mouse, but also washing squished mouse remains off the dog's bum 🐭

@Lalala205

That made me laugh.

OP

The cat thinks you need meat in your diet (or you are pregnant) and possibly wants to live with you.

Be thankful, I had a live pigeon in my bedroom as a 'present'. My cat is tiny, she looks like she is about 6 months old, the pigeon was as big as her.

@TheLightSideOfTheMoon

Apparantly they're not presents.

The cat thinks you aren't able to hunt for yourself so is feeding you.

Mine do it if they're dishes are empty for more than 30 seconds.

You need Dreamies. Just to show the cat you are able to gather your own food.

This explains the lack of spider gifts in this house.

New timetable for my 2 DDs, so they have stopped whining for snacks every 5 minutes. The cat has also stopped leaving dead spiders where they sit. I thought we'd just run out of spiders, but perhaps he's now convinced that I do actually feed them!

Could you wee on the step (when no one is around) I can't believe a cat would like the smell of humans so she might take her winnings elsewhere.

Sorry I know I shouldn't laugh, but I did. Bless you, she thinks she is taking care of you, as you obviously can't hunt for yourself 😁. I truly think there is nothing you or the neighbours can do about it really. I feel for you, I get really 🤢 seeing dead animals as well.

We think a neighbour's cat has had the two robins that were living in our hedge.

The robins used to be around all the time and we haven't seen them for over a week now. They were totally unafraid of humans and would come to within a couple of feet of us, I'm convinced with a little patience we could have hand fed them.

The Bad Cat comes through our garden a lot and twice I've spotted him running though our garden with a sparrow in his mouth, and my NDN has seen him lurking near the hedge where the nest is.

I love cats, and this one is a gorgeous, elegant ginger and white beast, but I could happily throttle him if he's had those birds. I'm vaguely hoping that they might have fledged their young and set up home elsewhere, but I guess that's wishful thinking.

Definitely not BU to ask the neighbours to remove his "gifts", OP.

Shame it’s unwanted presents, my old cat used to bring us flowers. Big light pink peonies. No idea where they came from. We only had a few dead mice over the years.

We have cats and if ours was the only cat around (and frankly even if it wasn’t) then I’d be more than happy to dispose of gifts given to our NDN. Just say something that asks them to do so but makes clear it isn’t a big deal.

That's really unusual. Our cat always brings his presents home (I think he steals them from next doors cat actually as he's getting a bit old for hunting).
If my neighbours didn't have a cat or had seen my cat leaving presents on their step I'd move it. If you get on okay with them I'd just say would they mind leaving the present their cat left you. Or use some sort of cat repellent in the garden.
Why should you have to? It's not your cat. Don't give it dreamies though, you'll never get rid of it.

My 2 cats must really love us, and my parents next door. They had left 12 voles in our garden, and 3 next door 🙈

My instinct was to say awww, that's adorable but it's not happening to me so I won't. My DM has a bird that escaped her dcat dying under her really large fridge and is waiting for my DB to come and remove it because it's too heavy for her. She didn't appreciate my " awww, she's feeding you mum" at all.