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.

She’s deterring unwanted behaviour!
Creating a serious aversion to the behaviour!

It clearly works. You may not like it - but the cat was unharmed.

Did you miss the part about the cat terrorising and injuring the other poor cats?! You must be a sadistic bastard and enjoy the poor neighbourhood cats being hurt.
No, however you clearly missed the part where I said I didn't believe Bengals should be outdoor cats and that I thought the only permanent solution was for the OP's NDN to get a catio.
You may wish to consider RTFT?

And you need to ask yourself what kind of a parent you were/are - if you wouldn’t go to similar lengths to prevent serious injury to your child.
I'm a parent who has taught their children empathy and that animal cruelty is a bad thing.

But they aren’t keeping it in are they.

So your point is irrelevant because the cat is still out and about and causing problems!

Of course they should keep it In.

And parents should teach their kids manners.

And drivers shouldn’t speed….

Any other irrelevant pearls of wisdom whilst you’re at it?

Good. Cats should not roam.

Thank you for actually reading my post. I thought i was going mad. At no point did i inflict anything more than her getting wet, the same as the hundred suggestions of a super soaker. In fact it was me that got hurt.

In the long run it was a brilliant course of action that honestly enabled us to get along perfectly. She knew i had boundaries and she never tried to push them.

Showing dominance and not allowing a kid to bully animals, including your own cat in children in YOUR HOUSE isn’t empathy!

I have a petite female bengal who is constantly terrorised by our neighbour's moggy tom. Bengals are very territorial and we have a couple of acres which she roams in. It doesn't stop other cats visiting though! Bengals love water - you need a supersoaker with real power and be persistent. You also need to make yourself and your property unpleasant to Cats. Be loud, leave citrus peel around the boundaries, perhaps a friend with a dog can visit? As with most animals, its not the breed but the owner who gets a breed they don't understand.

And yet it worked. She never touched the carpet ever again, she got a little wet and she always knew that if she stepped out of line she wouldnt get away with it.
But ok, your doubt and calling me a twat makes you correct. You didnt answer my question. Whats the difference between a shower and a super soaker. Or do you just want to single out my solution.

It probably also came along with a whole load of other fearful behaviour, as I doubt the cat made the association.
Aside from the utter terror that the cat must have experienced being forcefully held under water, by someone that had been entrusted with its care.
It would be completely ineffective as a training method, a super soaker would be an immediate connection between behaviour and getting wet, providing it was done during the act, you taking the time to physically pick the cat up and put it in the shower, would leave the cat wondering what the fuck is going on. Pointless and unnecessarily cruel.

skinning alive yet ?

Damn it that was going to be my suggestion Grumpy

Admires self in floor length Tabby With 'Tude fur coat .

<<Disclaimer : I have cats and don't even wear leather.>>

I think that unless people have had experience of how vicious Bengals can be it's easy to think that people are exaggerating.

Once had a very selfish neighbour a few doors down who let her aggressive Bengal roam free. It used to enjoy stalking and terrorising my rescue chickens. Chickens can be pretty scary when they want, like mini dinosaurs, but this cat was just evil. It killed my smallest hen, and when I told the neighbour she just said I was lucky he hadn't killed all of them!

Fortunately all the neighbours made it clear how fed up they were with the selfish cat owner (I could list other examples of her cheeky fuckery but it would go on for pages) and she moved out.

Maybe the solution is for people have a license to own dogs or Bengals. Part of obtaining the license could involve sitting a test to demonstrate if you are actually going to be a thoughtful owner.

All cats will defend their territory. And that territory won't necessarily lie within the boundaries of your home.

OP if your cat isn't a house cat, then it could well be terrorising Fluffy next door. You can't ask someone to keep their cat inside whilst yours roams. It's hypocritical.

If he's spraying all over it suggests he's not neutered - they probably want to breed to show him. However having his cojones will make him doubly aggressive and terrotorial. (Also explains why they let him out - he's probably ripping the house, and them, to bits if they try to keep him in.)

Not sure what you can do other than a super-soaker, and perhaps part for someone to steal him because he is so beautiful.

Sorry - posted too soon.

It's really worrying about your baby, though - when the warmer weather comes you'll need doors and windows open, and you can't have this cat-b*stard shooting in attacking your child.

@Firsttimetrier

Can I suggest you post this on LitterTray
There are many cat experts and people who work in Cat Rescue so they will have experience of Bengals and Bengal Crosses when they end up being moved from home to home and end up in Rescue before risking being PTS

I'm pretty sure their advice won't include kicking the seven shades of shit out of this cat (maybe the feckless owners though)

It IS horrible, but if I feared for my baby I would do it.

Cats are very difficult to control, and even the laws recognises this, but the owners should have to take some responsibility when they know this sort of thing is happening. If they don't, soon or later someone else will do something about it.

Laws around cat ownership and responsibility really need reviewing. This is a dreadful story. I feel for you OP. Our neighbours recently bought two massive Maine coons who terrorise the rest of the cats in the area, killed one of our chickens really horribly and harass the others so badly we have to keep them locked up unless we’re able to be on cat-watch. It’s really upsetting.

Can you borrow a dog for a week or two, a big scary looking dog?

What does your opinion on bengal cats being kept indoors have to do with anything? OP’s neighbour has no intention of keeping the animal indoors so she needs to come up with practical solutions for keeping this animal away from her home.

No - do NOT get a gun of any type.

Not only is it cruel, but guns are dangerous - you could miss the cat and hit a passer-by. You could blind someone.

Guns of any type are a dreadful suggestion.

But it's not attacked the baby, and probably wasn't going to either, the baby just happened to be in proximity, if it was going to attack baby it would have.

I agree - but a cat fight could easily spill over onto the baby, and a 3 month old is very vulnerable and unable to run way the way an older child could. A cat could easily scar or blind an infant.

We had a cat for 21yrs. It once made the mistake of damaging a brand new stair carpet. It didnt enjoy the shower it took for a few minutes (I was covered in scratches). It never touched another carpet in its life and i inflicted zero pain on it.

It's a shame your scratches didn't get infected, it's the least you deserve. Don't get an animal if your fucking carpet is more important.

This happened to us with a feral Tom cat - kept attacking my toddlers. I eventually sprayed it with a litre of orange juice with an added full squeezy thing of lemon juice in a super soaker and it never came back.

I agree - but a cat fight could easily spill over onto the baby, and a 3 month old is very vulnerable and unable to run way the way an older child could. A cat could easily scar or blind an infant.

Pick the baby up and walk away and explore ways to stop the cat getting on the property, either physically (shut the door, other deterrents) or through discussion with the neighbours.
Last resort, report them to authorities.
Suggestions of physically tackling the animal with kicks, pool cues, broom handles are stupid and likely to amplify the situation and will likely end up with injury to yourself.