Neighbour’s vicious cat

[Firsttimetrier]

Our neighbour bought a bengal cat which they started letting out this summer. It’s caused us and our other neighbours nothing but grief by attacking our cats resulting in vet visits due to bite wounds, coming into our houses, spraying urine everywhere in gardens and on back doors etc.

This afternoon, I had our backdoor ajar and our baby in the bouncer in the kitchen. Next thing I know, their cat comes flying into the kitchen trying to attack our cat right by our baby in the bouncer. I manage to break up the fight and their cat then goes towards the baby still in attack mode.

This has completely shaken me up and my husband has messaged the neighbour to discuss as their cat is starting to become nuisance.

We’ve offered them solutions in the past such as alternating days/times when each cat goes out, but they never hold their side.

Are we being unreasonable asking them to stick to a timetable?

Any tips welcome and greatly appreciated.

You shouldn’t have to do anything like that. It is your home and you and your family and your cat are u dear attack by this monster cat. I would go and see the neighbours again and point out very firmly that you are disappointed that on day 1 they have already not kept to their agreement, and that you will now take any action to protect your family from their vicious animal.
I would contact your local animal service and have a word with the councils animal warden, and the police. The cat is dangerous, and it’s only a matter of time before it attacks your baby.

🤣
And he who shall not be named is only reputedly part Bengal. He does share quite a few of the behaviours with OP's TC though.

Council won't do anything. They trapped our local menace of a Bengal who had been attacking the other cats, dogs (labradors) and humans of the neighbourhood. Sadly it was chipped and they had to return it to its owner, who shrugged and said he was unhappy inside. We and our neighbours ended up creating our own cages for our cats and blocking our cat flaps. Little fucker finally disappeared after a few years. I think he must have been killed on the big dual carriageway between our houses (his side was all woodland - why he came and sought out our residential street every day I don't know).

Sympathies OP. Our cat had a full on fight in our with our neighbourhood bengal the other day. Luckily our cat seemed to come out better off with the bengal losing a massive chunk of fur and his collar.

Our cat did lose the end of its tail a few months ago and we don't know how. There is a good chance that it happened during one of these scraps.

It's a real shame because with people he's a really lovely, friendly cat. He's just very, very protective of his territory.

There was an interesting TV programme a few years ago where they explained that cats that have overlapping territories do tend to sort out their own timetables. With the weather changing at the moment I know our cats' timetables have changed, so there's a risk of more conflict while they find their own place again.

If that was my baby, that cat would have never seen the light of day again. Sorry but if you’re going to have pets in a neighbourhood area they should be trained and sociable. If not they should be treated like the pests they are.

No, you can't kick a cat, even if if it's being incredibly annoying.

you can definitely use something 'wetter' than a water pistol. A super soaker, but one with a good soak but not too much pressure.

Bengals were regulated in the United Kingdom, however in 2007 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs removed the previous licensing requirements.

No, you can't kick a cat, even if if it's being incredibly annoying.

Yes, yes you can.

I wouldn't try a swift kick of any cat to send it on its way, as some posters have suggested.
I was attacked by a regular moggy that was tormenting my old cat, only clapped my hands to distract it and shoo it away and it turned it's aggression on me, it took chunks out of my leg and I had to go to hospital to get stiches and a tetanus. I dread to think what would happen if you tried to kick a Bengal.

Yes you can.
You can also hit it with a pool cue, throw a brick at it, thrown a net on it to trap it.

All are reasonable courses of action to defend your house and your baby.

If successful and targeted, it would know it was being challenged down.

And of I missed, I would do it again.

And if I missed again, I would wait for it to come back and make sure it got hit.

How can people defend this aggressive animal over someone trying to protect their baby.

The mind boggles.

Baby killing Bengals!!! Have a word with yourselves.

I can't believe some of the posts on here..

Kill it. Drive it somewhere far away. Throw a brick at it. Spray chili at it. Run it over.

I'm bloody scared to let my cat out now with potential nutters like you in my neighbourhood.

Cat goes into OPs house. Starts fight with OPs cat. Baby in proximity. Let's not over be over dramatic.

They didn’t keep to the agreed timetable on day 1?! Wow. I’d be very upset at that.

This situation isn’t going to get better unless the owners build a catio/rehome. I’d direct your energies towards making one of those things happen. I’d write them a legal sounding letter holding them liable for any further damage caused to your cat or property and emphasising in writing that their cat attempted to attack your baby and that as they haven’t kept to the proposed schedule you’re now reporting the problem to the local council. Keep a copy of that letter. You’re creating a paper trail which may be useful later. Then write to the local council saying that this animal is dangerous and requesting thet the council issue an abatement notice to your neighbour.

Do some googling re the law eg I found this for you.

Q: “When a person lives next door to an aggressive cat, who is liable for any aggressive cat attacks and what options does a person have…”

A: “This question has been raised in relation to what seems to be the systematic behaviour of some Bengal cats that attack other cats, sometimes even entering into the neighbour’s home to do so. But it also applies to other territorial cats that are unusually defensively aggressive towards other cats in the area. Extreme cat behaviour could be dealt with as nuisance behaviour, although for simple keeping of animals to be classed as a nuisance some ‘extraordinary, nonnatural or unreasonable action’ is required. As mentioned earlier in this guide the law specifies nuisance as being ‘the unacceptable interference with the personal comfort or amenity of neighbours or the nearby community’. A civil trespass action would be unlikely to succeed for cats entering into property and causing damage, but abnormally aggressive cat behaviour that results in property damage (including damage to the resident cat) or harm to children could be the subject of enforcement action. The local authority could serve an abatement notice forcing the owners to take steps to prevent the nuisance being caused by their cat. Failure to comply with this notice is a criminal offence. There would also be the potential to take legal action for negligence against the cat’s owner, who owes a duty of care to his neighbour not to cause harm which is foreseeable. This applies to any harm which the owner knew or ought to have known his cat would be likely to cause. Additionally, if the owner knew that his cat was inclined to cause damage and had done so in the past then potentially he is responsible for the cat’s damage whether or not it could be predicted in these circumstances. It would be advisable, therefore, to inform the owner of an abnormally aggressive cat as the law, in this instance, requires prior knowledge on the part of the cat owner. (Separate from the legal issues and subject to appropriate cover being in place, there may also be potential to pursue a claim against a cat owner via their cat insurance. The parties involved would need to seek advice on this possibility.)”

Good luck!

Ive had bengals. They don’t have to act like this. They do need a lot of stimulation and company.
This does not sound like a well-tempered Bengal cat bought from a reputable breeder.
it also does not sound like the owners know what they are doing if they are leaving it alone for hours on end let alone going on holiday with a cat sitter coming to feed it. Are they out of their minds?

Your poor baby (and cat). If they were my neighbours I’d tell them the cat had to be permanently kept in their house or it would go “missing”.

If successful and targeted, it would know it was being challenged down.

And of I missed, I would do it again.

And if I missed again, I would wait for it to come back and make sure it got hit.

How can people defend this aggressive animal over someone trying to protect their baby.

The mind boggles.

I'm guessing you've never actually done this in RL.
Trying to contain an animal that is in full fight mode is not a good idea, would you suggest it for a vicious snarling dog.
Cats have claws and big teeth too.

They need to contain him in a catio. Kicking him is cruel and won't help.

Did you read at all?
It wasn’t trying to attack a baby

I manage to break up the fight and their cat then goes towards the baby still in attack mode.
From the OP. How close to you want it to get to the baby before this is defined as trying to attack the baby? Feet? Inches?

I wouldn't want to use anything messy like water IN MY OWN HOME ... a well calculated kick is far more effective in those circumstances.

Or do you think any cat owners will come and clean moggies mess up?

I'd lock it in the shed!

Not read all the posts so sorry if someone else suggested but you could try something like orange juice or cooking oil in the water pistol. I don't think cats like being sticky or oily even if they're not bothered about getting wet... Bonus if you can make it taste nasty (internet can prob tell you something that's not toxic but tastes horrible to cats) so it'll dislike licking it off and will decide to terrorise other houses and avoid yours.

double bonus if it keeps going back home covered in oil or orange juice and smears it over the owner's sofa. Might make them try harder to stop it visiting.