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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To throw water at nextdoor's cat?

25 replies

MorocconOil · 29/10/2007 11:48

We have 2 young kittens(3 1/2 months old). We have just started letting them outside for very short periods. I just went outside to find nextdoor's big cat had cornered them both and was hissing at them. They were terrified, this being their first cat encounter since leaving their mummy .I ran inside and got a pan of water which I then threw at him. He still stood around menacingly so I got another pan. As I checked to see he had gone I saw my neighbour peering out of the window to see what was going on. I am sure she saw me pan in hand and probably the gush of water.

I quickly retreated into the house with my kittens and now wonder if I did the right thing. However he managed to dodge the water so didn't get wet.

How else I am I to protect the kittens and let him know our garden is not his anymore?? Any ideas welcome.

OP posts:
VioletBaudelaire · 29/10/2007 11:51

Water is a great idea.
We use the water squirter that we feed the household plants with.
Can be very accurate!

Our neighbours used to throw water at our cat. I would rather they did that than try to hurt her, or put down poison.

alkar · 29/10/2007 11:52

My dad has two 2litre fizzy drink bottles filled with water in his garden somehow they do the trick and next doors tomcat stays away!

sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 11:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

haychEebeeJeebees · 29/10/2007 11:53

I think the neighbour will probobly understand, if she is a cat lover she will feel for your tiny kittens and be ok with the water.

DumbledoresGirl · 29/10/2007 11:55

I think the pan of water was a bit OTT maybe, though understandable in the heat of the moment. Next time, try standing with your kittens and hissing back at the cat. That is what I tend to do.

Ultimately though, I am afraid it will have to come down to your kittens to do the scaring. I know it is hard. We have 2 cats - now 2 - but I remember when we first got them, how hard it was to see them being terrorised by the other cats in the neighbourhood. They now seem to have reached a compromise whereby they all tolerate each other (at least, I have not seen or heard any fights) but a few months ago one of our cats suffered several little injuries and if I had seen who was responsible, I would have been quite aggressive towards it.

Conversely, I have heard my neighbours shooing away my cats, and that made me feel quite angry towards the neighbours. I hope your neighbour isn't a good friend as she might not be one anymore!

sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 12:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MorocconOil · 29/10/2007 12:08

I feel really embaressed now. I should have just hissed and clapped my hands to shoo him away. I just thought a short sharp shock would do the trick. I think my neighbour will be very annoyed. She is a cat lover but obviously loves her cats more than mine IYKWIM.

I just wish I hadn't been caught in the act although she may have only seen him run away and not noticed the pan in my hand

OP posts:
sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 12:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EmsMum · 29/10/2007 12:17

YANBU. Wont have hurt the cat, may have given it the message. Water is totally appropriate.

Get yourself a SuperSoaker.

If your neighbour says anything by way of objection, just tell her you panicked a bit because you were worried about your kittens, and ask for her suggestions on how best to deal with her cat. If she's a real cat lover rather than a Mad Cat Lady, she may have some constructive ideas.

EffiePerine · 29/10/2007 12:19

My bet is on the woman being a Mad Cat Lady, but you were still right

AnAngelWithin · 29/10/2007 12:19

water is better than a boot or half a house brick which a lot of people round here tend to do

dinny · 29/10/2007 12:20

I remember squirting mean old cat that attacked ours with a hose - not unreasonable IMO!

GooseyLoosey · 29/10/2007 12:24

Not unreasonable at all. I'm afraid I am not a cat lover at all and hate the fact that they s*t and p*s in my garden and it kills my grass and more fundamentally my dcs might come across it when playing there.

Tbh, such is my hatred, I might have boiled the water first if I thought it might stay that long.

I hate them, I really do!!

EffiePerine · 29/10/2007 12:25

anyway it was lucky it wsn't two boots and an axe

books.google.com/books?id=jn1a4ru2mZQC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=kipling+throw+cats&source=web&ots=bIzytmY OjK&sig=tyQ7cVDbcQvX5gPvYZEAwfZn1dY

catsmother · 29/10/2007 12:26

Personally, I'd front foot the neighbour and explain why you reacted the way you did - to protect the kittens against the big cat - before she gets the hump. The last thing you want is to fall out - especially as your respective cats will be in and out of each others gardens for a long time to come. I'm sure she'll understand.

I've got 5 cats and have always said to neighbours that if they become a nuisance they have my permission to turn the hose on them. I've also said that if fouling becomes a problem, to tell me so I can buy anti-cat pellets etc. I don't expect other people to have to put up with them.

I wouldn't worry too much though ..... the kittens will soon learn to stand their ground and IME it's extremely rare for an adult cat to actually physically attack a kitten - cornering them and hissing was more about showing them who's boss.

Bouncingturtleskulls · 29/10/2007 12:43

As a cat lover, YANBU. I can recommend a water pistol. Squirting water at them does not hurt them. I have a neutered tom cat who is a big girl's blouse and at our last house I had to regularly defend him from a stray unneutered tom, usually by squirting him with water!

Original poster
MorocconOil · 29/10/2007 12:58

Aww thanks all. I don't feel as though I'll be lynched by members of the Animal Right's Movement now. I like the story Effie. Goosey you made me feel alot better as it was just cold water.

I think I'll get a water squirter ready although the DC will just use it on each other if I leave it out ready for action.

My neighbour can be a bit holier than thou at times, which is why I won't go out of my way to explain this morning's incident. I'll probably tell her when I next see her in the street and hope she can see the funny side of it

OP posts:
GooseyLoosey · 29/10/2007 13:42

Only joking mimizan (at least I think I am, as I know they move faster than I do, I have never practically had the opportunity!)

NotMellow · 29/10/2007 13:44

Oh I thought this was going to be a cat-hater.

No, thats fine [throwing water over neighbours cat]. You were protecting your own.

DumbledoresGirl · 29/10/2007 14:08

sKerryMum, no logical reason, I admit. I suppose I don't like to see an animal being potentially harmed or unnecessarily frightened, but I do admit that I might shoo a cat away from my garden if they were terrorising my cats. I suppose my objection to the neighbour is that he was shooing my cats away when they were not terrorising his cat. Also, my children said they saw him throw something at my cats. That is hardly the act of a cat lover. IMO, that is unnecessary.

I have just watched my 2 cats stare down another cat and seen him slink away. That is how it should be done - the natural way, between cats - not by people with buckets of water (sorry mimizan - I do understand the desire to protect your little kittens).

Original poster
MorocconOil · 29/10/2007 14:16

DG your cats are much older though, and I think my neighbour's cat could actually harm mine as they are still very small. I do accept they will have to learn how to stand up to him. However ATM I just want to get them used to being outside.

OP posts:
Piffle · 29/10/2007 14:18

buy a water pistol
i have used this method to keep our own cat from stalking the fish

DumbledoresGirl · 29/10/2007 14:22

Yes mine are older now though the incident with the neighbour occurred when they were still kittens. I do agree with you that you want to protect your kittens now, and I would still wade in and shoo strange cats away if I saw them dominating my cats in our garden, even though they are now 2 yo. But most of the time, I let them sort out the pecking order themselves. For instance, I just saw my two with a strange cat in our garden (well, one of my cats was doing the confronting and the other was watching from the bushes, the coward! ) and I had to hold my children back because they wanted to run out and interfere. Assuming you are eventually going to allow your cats out on their own, you will not always be able to fight their battles and in time you will have to let them deal with other cats themselves. But I am sure you appreciate that already.

cutekids · 29/10/2007 14:24

I'm a cat-lover and i'd definately prefer someone to throw COLD water at mine rather than hurt them. i think neighbour will understand if he/she is cat-lover themselves.

NotMellow · 29/10/2007 14:35

I would be angry if anyone done this to my cats but this sounds like it was more done in the heat of the moment iykwim.

I am unsure what I would do if my kitten was attacked, this is why I keep him in [over-protective owner]. My other cat goes out but she is a big-cat and can look after herself fine.

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