Neighbour's aggressive cat

[mimblewimble]

Our neighbours a few doors down have a very territorial and aggressive tom cat.

He was fighting with and injuring our cat so much that we had to speak to his owners. The owners are lovely so it's really awkward to bring up with them. The cats now don't go out at the same time any more - we have to coordinate with the owners on WhatsApp every day.

We also can't leave any doors or lower windows open if their is out, as he will enter our house, or fight our cat through the windows. Now this isn't ideal, but it's been workable.

However we now have the problem that he is attacking us. If he is in our back garden and we go out there he stalks and tries to attack us. DH, the kids and I are all scared to go out there on our own is we know he's out.

We have tried to shoo him from the garden, but he will either just stay put and stare, or if you get too close he turns on you. We have tried water pistols but he just moves slightly away and then returns.

It now seems to be getting even worse, as a couple of times recently he has actually chased me down the street. I have been scratched by him a couple of times, and he can't be scared off.

I'm worried he will cause one of us a serious injury, especially one of the kids.

How on earth do I go about raising this with the neighbours, and what can I reasonably expect them to do?

The cat is already neutered, and he's just a normal tabby as far as we know.

I've mainly read OP's posts so apologies if this has been covered.

Is it possible that the territory issue is being exacerbated by the cats being separated by shifts? What would normally happen is they would fight it out to establish their own territories and then things would calm down. This cat would probably have a bigger territory than the others but the fights should settle, and with that the cats should all feel more secure albeit within their own patch. By letting each one out unchallenged by its neighbours, maybe they are continuing to dispute the boundaries leading to high adrenaline and aggression. Bully cat gets out every morning and finds the others have been weeing all over his territory, and goes on the rampage trying to claim it all back. Over and over again.

It sounds like a nightmare here because your cat and neighbours' ones don't have the option of relocating further away from this very aggressive cat, which is probably what they would do in the wild. But most cats do manage to defend their own back garden especially if you can make it secure and/or support it with water pistols etc.

You could look at securing your own garden or asking the neighbour to secure theirs. Expensjve but catproofing is usually pretty good at keeping cats out as well as in. Chip operated cat flaps into your house and any sheds etc will help your cat feel more confident. I know you're asking about cat Vs human but a confident cat defending his own territory in your garden is a good defence, once their territories are securely established.

Aside from the cost of having to buy one, are people really suggesting that every household should have to find a space for a super-soaker and keep it loaded and ready at all times? You've worked hard to plan, decorate and furnish your hallway exactly as you wanted, but you've then got to permanently stick a massive, potentially leaky, garishly-coloured kids' plastic toy in there, on top of your antique mahogany sideboard?

It's funny how few people in the UK these days would agree with the principle of 'the whole village raising a child' (talking about everyday protecting, parenting, feeding and disciplining them - obviously not saying a neighbour shouldn't drag one out of a burning house); but when it comes to free-roaming problem cats, all of the neighbours are expected to spend time, money and effort to mitigate any antisocial terror or unpleasantness that they like to perpetrate.

Imagine if you had an out-of-control teenager who kept hurling rocks at neighbours' windows and you tried to tell them that it was up to them to pay to replace them all with toughened panes or to paint the frames black so that the scrape marks wouldn't be as visible - or maybe to befriend your teen by offering them buckets of sweets and Roblox vouchers, as they're only being vandals because they're unhappy!

Forget the water pistol- bucket of water if he's in your garden scaring everyone...
I used to work in a cattery and that's where I learnt that some cats can be bloody scary!!!! I still remember a particularly evil one called Sophie 30 years later...

Right lol. I won't tell you what I'd do to the cat!

This is an interesting question!

So we had our cat first, I can't remember now but we had maybe a year before the neighbours got this other cat. Ours did get into fights with various other cats, but as you say they settled down.

When the neighbours got this aggressive cat they actually tolerated each other to start with. Then they started fighting. Our cat is not at all innocent in that respect - they are both young, territorial males and neither of them wanted to back down. They would both deliberately seek each other out.

We did actually think to start with that it would settle down. Unfortunately, our cat was getting very regularly injured and we had a couple of vets trips with expensive bills when he had infected wounds. It was really awful we kept finding our boy lying in the garden in pain after yet another fight. There was a good old period of time when they were both out together and we tried to help with water pistols etc but it all just kept getting worse rather than better.

That's why we originally spoke to the neighbours and set up the rota arrangement. Their cat was getting injuries too (though we think ours was coming off worse) so they were up for it - we didn't go into any fault/blame.

So I do think you could be right that it isn't helping, but I don't think we could bring ourselves to just let them sort it out.

I'm reminded of a rather aggressive cockerel I used to have.

Big gloves, grab it, give it a good dunking in a bucket of cold water.

It worked on the cockerel.

are the cats neutered?

Bucket worked for us too. I just kept a full bucket in the front and back garden. Aggressive cat only had to get completely soaked twice to then stay out of our property.

Yes they both are.

There is no fault/blame necessarily (in my eyes) because animals will be animals, but there IS a problem that your neighbours needed to sort. This particular animal's behaviour is not compatible with living in this environment.

The cat is attacking you and your family. They need to sort that. It is on them to figure out how.

Personally, I would go around and be clear (and polite) abbout what is happening, that it is not acceptable and that you need them to sort it.

You don't need to problem solve with them. It is their cat and on them to decide what is the best course of action to prevent him being able to, or willing to, hurt you.

There’s a cat like that round here, a bengal, we call it mad cat. It terrorises our timid girl cat if she’s sitting in the front of our garden.
I went to shoo it one day with a bottle I pulled from the recycling box when it had cornered our cat. It wasn’t backing down and was actually coming at me.
I wouldn’t say I’m scared of it but am very wary.

My thoughts entirely.

These type of threads always pop up here and the onus always seems to be on the non cat owners to spend time and money on a raft of conventional and not so conventional solutions in order to keep someone else's nuisance pet off their property. Do people really expect it is feasible to keep various buckets of water around the house, to be planting specific herbs or bushes around the garden, laying down spikes, to be making citrus based liquids to decant into water pistols, buying sonic repellents, installing ugly fence top deterrents. Anyone who is understandably a bit upset because the neighbours cat has just pissed on their bed, used the brand new sofa as a scratching post, shat all over the garden and attacked their toddler is rounded on for being cruel when they admit to using a broom or their foot to get the arsehole cat off their property.

In all honesty? I'd give it a small kick. In nature, if an animal is like that to another up the food chain or stronger, it will get physically reprimanded, thats how it learns to back off.

Firstly I would tell your neighbours so they have a chance to deal with it (not let him out or get him checked by the vets for some issue that might be causing it).

But if they don't deal with it, and the cat continues to be aggressive you and your family, I would be aggressive back.

Yeah I'm not surprised - you wouldn't have started the shifts without good reason. Cat bites are really nasty and so prone to infection.

I like the bucket dunking idea, though it would be quite challenging to pick him up to do so. Chucking a bucket of water at him if not maybe?

Agree keep bringing it to the owners. I am a big believer in cats being allowed out but not if they are stalking and injuring your neighbours.

Has anyone tried the human male urine route? I have read that getting your male partner for children to pee on the garden once a week can keep out cats and foxes - I’ve never tried it myself, as I can’t persuade my male humans to cooperate! Has anyone tried this and had success?

Also, they apparently don’t like citrus, mustard, vinegar and peppermint- maybe adding some of those ingredients into your super soaker can help?

Has the other cat's behaviour changed suddenly and is it looking skinnier? My old cat (RIP) suddenly turned totally feral when she was about 12, along with losing weight despite being fed by half the street. Turned out to be overactive thyroid, treated by some paste put on her ear daily. Within weeks she was back to her old cuddly self
She was still enough of an arsehole to look you straight in the eye and kick your cup pf coffee onto the floor though.
Seriously though, behaviour changes in cats van be signs pf serious conditions
Maybe tell your neighbour about this.

There was a programme on TV a few years ago where they explored how domestic cats live together in built up areas. They put trackers on cats and mapped it all out.

All cats have their own territory and in a built up area, these territories do overlap. In most cases, the cats figure out a rota themselves, or the territories adapt as new cats come in.

We certainly see this with our cats. Every so often a new cat appears and there are a few scraps, but gradually it calms down again.

Occasionally another cat will test the territory. I have one cat that is very territorial with other cats.

There are a couple of neighbourhood cats that all get along with each other. It's very strange - I've never seen it before! There are two of them and they hang out with our two a lot! They also hang out with another cat, that our cats can't stand, so it's a strange combo.

Never have I seen a cat attack people though, so there is definitely something not right with this one. I second OPs DH putting on some thick trousers and boots and seeing what happens. He can be the sacrificial lamb in this scenario so the owners can truly see what he's like.

They should then speak to their vet for suggestions and then keep him in for the protection of the neighbourhood, or build their own catio or cat proof garden.

No, it's been a few years now. He looks healthy. And he's apparently soppy with the neighbours.

I’m sorry if this has already been suggested (I haven’t read the whole thread) but I have heard that big cat poo works very well at repelling other cats. A friend of mine managed to contact a local zoo to procure some. If you could get some and put it in your garden, it might put him off?

I've heard this too, no idea if it works!

But anyway ...

1. We have our own cat and don't want to repel him!
2. Short of smearing myself in lion dung when I leave the house I'm not sure how it could help with him attacking us out the front.

To start off with just bring it up with the neighbours if they’re lovely it should be easy to talk to them, to all those saying kick or hit the cat with something you are very much wrong, speak to the owners first. He probably needs checking over by the vets, we had a rescue kitty very similar to this, he ended up with basically antidepressants and it made him much better. He wasn’t on them for too long and when he eventually came off them he remained better. This poor cat may need the same. And if you “show him who’s boss” like others are saying it’ll only probably make the situation worse and make the neighbours fall out with you.

I actually can’t believe what I’m reading on this thread. Who cares whether the wretched animal has received therapy or a gluten free diet or whatever the hell, it’s coming on to your property and attacking you in the street this animal needs to be put down if they can’t keep it indoors! Fair enough on the owners’ part if you haven’t spoken to them and therefore they aren’t aware of the severity of the situation but this is ludicrous!

to all those saying kick or hit the cat with something you are very much wrong, speak to the owners first.

Yet again, we see the wilful misinterpretation of what desperate people are being drawn to do, having exhausted the other options to be able to live unmauled and unharmed in their own home and garden.

We aren't bloodthirsty people who are relishing the happy opportunity to boot a cat to kingdom come, as we are being painted by those who may well have an agenda.

As with the comparison to protecting ourselves against burglars who arm themselves and decide that they will break in to innocent households; nothing would please us more than for all thieves to unilaterally make the decision that they will either save up to buy lovely items that they covet or otherwise simply do without them, just like honest poorer people already do.

Stay out of people's properties and they will very, very happily not feel any need to be forced into desperate solutions to defend themselves from intruders. It isn't somehow thwarting our keenness to whack you with a nine-iron that we keep solely for that purpose, you know; removing our need to ever have to do so is exactly what we want in the first place!

Good suggestion about carrying a tincan with coins in and rattling it hard and with menace everytime it approaches you.
Make yourself bigger and walk towards it waving your arms. Do not accept defeat and never run OP!
It may not be a lion but it sure is trying to act like one, so don't have any of it!
Alternatively, Dreamies are your friend and so will he be!

Since nothing else seems to work, my suggestion is to post loads of pictures of him in 'the litter tray', while providing daily updates about his thuggery.
Worked for me 🤣
I'm still wondering if you live on my road...