Neighbour argument

[Flowerlane]

Name changed🤪

Excuse the length of the post and also any errors as using my phone.

2 neighbours are currently having a argument over a incident that happened this morning.

Neighbour A let her children and her dog out to play this morning in to her own garden neighbour B’s cat was in their garden and got spooked by the kids and the dog. The cat has tried to climb the tree to get over the fence but somehow has managed to get caught. Cat stuck in tree with dog at the bottom barking madly at it. Neighbour A and B have both run out to garden as the noise from the cat and the dog were both very loud. B manages to get the cat untangled by leaning over fence on a chair. Cat obviously has injured its leg and was rushed to the emergency vets.

Now B has knocked on A’s door and said that the cats leg may be broken and its having x rays this afternoon etc she is waiting for a phone call from the vet she then said how would A be paying the bill? Would she pay her or go direct to the vet and pay the bill?
A has stated that she is sorry that the cat has injured itself but she will not be paying as it was a accident and she can not see how she is at fault and has to pay for it.

B has gone mad and said her cat was spooked by her children and dog thats why he got stuck and was struggling to get away from a mad dog so it’s obvious she needs to pay!!

B said she will be back once the vet has phoned to let her know the amount and that if she isn’t prepared to pay she will be taking it to small claims court as it’s A’s fault her cat is injured.

A has asked my opinion as we are friends and whether she is being unreasonable. I think she is in the right and is not being unreasonable at all.

So why I sit and curtain twitchWhat do Mumsnet think is A being unreasonable by not paying the bill?

B is deluded.

A does not have to pay a penny.

B for Bonkers I’m afraid.

Pets should be insured if you don’t have access to the necessary funds for vet fees, etc.

A keeps their hand in their pocket.
B puts their hand in theirs to do the necessary.

I’m a cat owner, my cat roams. If she comes in injured because she’s been somewhere other than my property then that’s on me.

Well, I agree B is deluded, and if she tries small claims she'll get laughed at.

Ridiculous to suggest A should pay.
And I say that as a cat owner myself

The only way this might even remotely be the fault of A is if they had been leaving out food for the cat or otherwise enticing it into the garden.

It’s not A’s fault - that family have the right to use their own garden freely, it’s not their fault that the cat was there without permission

As a cat owner, I agree with everyone else.

B should accept that it comes with the territory of being a cat owner. If she is worried about the cost of accidents she should keep it inside or confined to her own garden in some sort of pen, to minimise the likelihood that it will have one, or have pet insurance.

@Fifthtimelucky

As a cat owner, I agree with everyone else.

B should accept that it comes with the territory of being a cat owner. If she is worried about the cost of accidents she should keep it inside or confined to her own garden in some sort of pen, to minimise the likelihood that it will have one, or have pet insurance.

Me too. My three are insured for this reason. If B's cat is dumb enough to go in a garden that it knows has a dog then on its head be it, and the cat owner is liable for any injury. Both my immediate neighbours have dogs and all of my cats avoid their gardens, even my stupid one.

B sounds batshit tbh. She'll only embarass herself.

@HostessTrolley

The only way this might even remotely be the fault of A is if they had been leaving out food for the cat or otherwise enticing it into the garden.

It’s not A’s fault - that family have the right to use their own garden freely, it’s not their fault that the cat was there without permission

A definitely does not leave out any food for the cats, she doesn’t like them in her garden at all none of us do we are very much dog people. B is a cat person, as well as the injured cat she has 2 others so 3 in total.

What does B expect? That A should inspect her garden and gently remove any cats in it before B can let her dog or children into the garden. There’d be more of a case if the dog had jumped the fence and attacked or spooked the cat in B’s property.

Correction: *before A can let...

The cat owner is bonkers to think that their neighbour should pay. They will get laughed out of court.
Reminds me of a woman whose dog got out and was run over. She expected the driver to pay the vet bill and was quite shocked when it was pointed out to her that she was liable for the damage to his car.

B is bonkers for expecting A to pay. Cats roam and the risk of that is they get hurt. I’m a cat owner and take that risk.

Sounds like B maybe broke her own cats leg. She should have left it in the tree while A took the dog inside.

Maybe B needs to tell A to stop letting the cat trespass in her garden! The dog was doing nothing wrong. My dog is fairly cat friendly...but goes crazy if there’s a random cat in the garden.

Its the Circle of Life. Dogs chase cats. No way should A pay. Does B not have pet insurance?

Neighbour A is not liable in this case. Neighbour B has a duty to properly look after her cat; if she lets her cat outside then she either has to properly cat-proof her garden/build a "catio", or accept that the cat will wander and there is a risk of it getting injured. The cat was in neighbour A's garden.

People have a general duty of care to each other not to do anything that is negligent which could be reasonably foreseen to cause injury to another person or cause damage to property.

Neighbour A was not negligent or in any way breaching her duty of care to her neighbour or anyone else, in letting her child and her dog into her own private garden. She has therefore not caused the injury to the cat and she is not liable.

If Neighbour A was negligent in failing to ensure her garden was adequately secure and her dog escaped into B's garden and hurt the cat on B's property - then that would be a different matter.

Neighbour B is unfortunately the creator of her own misfortune. Neighbour A should tell B she is not paying. B's claim would go nowhere.

B is deluded.

Very deluded.

A hasn't insured her cat, has she?

B should not pay, no way. If I walk my dog and a cat sees her and scarpers, and then gets hurt, how the feck is that my fault?

B should have had insurance , or kept it as an indoor cat

she will be taking it to small claims court
Good luck with that. She'd get nowhere and it would probably cost more than the original vet bill.

@MyOtherLifeIsAFairytale

A hasn't insured her cat, has she?

B should not pay, no way. If I walk my dog and a cat sees her and scarpers, and then gets hurt, how the feck is that my fault?

Other way around on the As and Bs but dog lady should not pay cat lady who should have insured her cat. Had dog bolted, attacked and hurt cat, the dog lady is liable. But that’s not what happened

Cats are usually very familiar with their surroundings and how to navigate them safely... so with that in mind, I'm wondering whether some conclusions might have been leapt to a bit too quickly.

I think it would actually be unlikely (though not impossible) for a cat to break a leg climbing up a tree. I'm wondering (if it does turn out to be a break) whether the cat injured its leg before the incident, ran up the tree while fueled by adrenaline and then couldn't get down due to the previously sustained injury...

In any case... I own 3 cats. I wouldn't expect someone to pay for this injury. Cats roam, things happen.

As a cat owner, A is definitely not liable. Cats roam, that’s what they do. B could technically argue that the cat was trespassing and took it’s life into its own hands by visiting a garden it knows has a resident dog!

B is just upset about her cat, and looking for someone to blame, but A should stand her ground, not her responsibility to pay.

I am a cat owner but I would not expect A to pay for my vet bill.

Tell A to tell B she should claim on her pet insurance. If she doesn’t have any A should then ask why. A responsible pet owner should have cover for this type of event or they risk having to pay a big bill.

I would say cat lady is BU. I have a cat and they do go in to other people's garden to play. You can't control them.

This reminds me of when I was a child and we had a pet dog. The NDN had just gotten a new kitten and it used to come in to our garden sometimes.
One day I let my dog in to the garden without realising the kitten was in the garden. Our dog killed it! :( I still feel guilty about it and it was over 20 years ago.

The cat owner is being unreasonable! I own cats and dogs and keep my cats inside because they would potentially get injured, cats also fight, if this was me I’d not blame the dog because it would be my own fault for letting the cat roam