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.

You can - or certainly you used to be able to- buy lion poo commercially. We bought some from somewhere called "Silent Roar" for this purpose when our bengal girl was being bullied and repeatedly attacked in our garden. Contrary to upthread it's not always the bengals who are the aggressors! Ours was small and timid and loving and whilst she did dislike other cats, she couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding - she never scratched. One cat even snuck up and attacked her as she sunbathed in the living room by some open french windows.

The lion poo did initially work. Honestly though, we found the only real deterrent for bully cats is to cause them discomfort - bucket of water over them, good prod with a broom etc. We never kicked though. They have to know it's not worth their while to come back. And I say this as a cat lover. The priority was our own cat enjoying her garden.

OP, what about something like this? It's like the repeller things people put in their gardens, but you carry it with you and only use it when you see the cat so it won't upset your own cat.

https://amzn.eu/d/3DC3Tif

I still don't see why it's down to OP to spend time, money and effort in finding a solution to somebody else's animal's extremely antisocial behaviour.

Fair enough if it were a wild animal being a pest; but this is actually somebody's pet, for whom they are simply merrily abdicating all responsibility.

To start off with they haven’t exhausted all options all they’ve done is use a water pistol pretty much, and they haven’t done the main thing which is tell the neighbours what the cats now doing even suggesting like I said about taking the cat to the vets.

You say “yet again, we see the wilful misinterpretation” yet the only one who’s misinterpreting things is you. Where did I mention about people being blood thirsty? Or where did I make anyone out to be that way? I didn’t, I just stated that it was the wrong thing to do as they hadn’t even spoken to the neighbours about it yet. By kicking or hitting the cat it would potentially make the whole situation worse, possibly even starting world war 3 with the neighbours and if an aggressive animal feels threatened chances are it won’t just shy away and could potentially hurt OP more, having dealt with aggressive animals I would know.

As for the agenda part get a grip.

To OP: What I failed to add to my other post in my haste of posting whilst dealing with a toddler until you can chat to the neighbours try to avoid running, avoid turning your back and try to stay calm, I know you’re scared trust me I’ve been there but it only makes it worse, have a bag to block it and try to stand your ground. You can also use the bag to calmly and firmly move the cat out the way but just be cautious of your hand and arm rucksack might be best as you can hold it from behind.

This cat has a behavioural problem and/or a medical issue.
Have the owners circumstances changed? New baby, new other pet or something?

I agree you need to video him being aggressive to show his owners and they need to do three things…..

1. Keep him inside for the time being.
2. Take him to the vet for a thorough check up.
3. Get him seen by a feline behaviourist.

I would actually throw something at it. Hate hate hate those creatures.

Cat haters say some really concerning and unhinged things on here. I’m sure most are normally reasonable people but jeez, they turn into absolute weirdos on cat threads. It’s not normal to carry so much hatred for an animal doing, ya know, animal things. Hate the owners by all means….because, as with out of control dogs, it is the owners that are the issue, not the cat.

There is a reason for the behaviour of this cat and, yes, it is the owner’s responsibility to deal with appropriately, which they don’t seem to be doing currently. OP, you need to go back and be firmer with them for your and the cats sake. There is something wrong with him and he needs his owners to help him.

Chipsahoyagain
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I would actually throw something at it. Hate hate hate those creatures.”

Why? Do you hate all cats (lions, tigers, etc,) or just domestic ones?

To start off with they haven’t exhausted all options all they’ve done is use a water pistol pretty much, and they haven’t done the main thing which is tell the neighbours what the cats now doing even suggesting like I said about taking the cat to the vets.

OP mentions lots of things that they've done/been forced to do to have to try to live with this animal in the neighbourhood - including co-ordinating with the cat's owner. But why should they have to spend so much of their time and energy on somebody else's pet?

You say “yet again, we see the wilful misinterpretation” yet the only one who’s misinterpreting things is you. Where did I mention about people being blood thirsty? Or where did I make anyone out to be that way? I didn’t, I just stated that it was the wrong thing to do as they hadn’t even spoken to the neighbours about it yet. By kicking or hitting the cat it would potentially make the whole situation worse, possibly even starting world war 3 with the neighbours and if an aggressive animal feels threatened chances are it won’t just shy away and could potentially hurt OP more, having dealt with aggressive animals I would know.

Nobody has actually said the phrase 'bloodthirsty', but there has been a lot of talk on this thread - not necessarily from you - about 'cat-haters' and people who want to hurt animals.

Again, it is not up to OP to have to train, psychoanalyse or seek treatment for somebody else's pet.

I am saying that, when a cat is set on aggression and violence, sometimes the only option is to fight back, using your size advantage as a human. I realise that this means the cat may end up very badly hurt as a consequence of its aggressive behaviour and maybe lack of proper care from its owners. It is not a good thing if it gets hurt, but it may be the only way that it will learn consequences and desist in its reign of terror.

As for the agenda part get a grip.

By 'agenda', I am referring to those who cannot accept that their cat could ever do anything wrong, antisocial or injurious to a person; yet, these are often the same people who will leave their cat to freely roam, ignore any complaints or negative reports and just wash their hands of any problems that their cat is causing. Rather than take any responsibility for their pet, they will insist that the fault lies with the people whose lives their cat is making a misery. Essentially, you are not allowed to complain about their cat, but you are also not allowed to do anything effective to make it stop. They love their pet and so must you too, regardless, no other option.

We have spoken to the neighbours now. They said he doesn't show these behaviours at home and said they'd speak to the vet. I don't think they believe us about the extent of his aggression so will try and film him.

DH has agreed to be the bait but we are waiting for a day when the cat turns up and it's light enough to see, and we're both at home.