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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

or is cat hating new neighbour batshit crazy?

206 replies

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 12:22

NC as obviously this is totally outing. New neighbours (a married couple, no kids) moved in a couple of months back and seemed perfectly OK and normal at first, went round to say hello and welcome them to the street and so on. Then I mentioned in passing I had two cats, at which point one of them started going on about how dreadful cats are for local birds. My cats are indoor cats so pose no threat whatsoever to wildlife - even if they escaped (which they have never done in over eight years of owning them), one of them is blind and the other one is so graceless and daft he can barely jump onto a chair, let alone catch a bird. I said this and then a few hours later the male neighbour sent me a whatsapp with links to several articles about cats damaging the local wildlife. Again I politely said, thanks very much, but this is irrelevant to me as my cats do not go outside and never have.

Anyway I thought they were weirdos but left it at that, until the other day when I received a very angry message saying there was a dead bird in their front garden and it was obvious that one of my cats had done it. They couldn't have done it as, again, they don't leave the house and they had not escaped. We live in a neighbourhood with plenty of other cats that do roam, plus foxes, so I daresay it was the work of a fox or one of the other neighbourhood cats. But my neighbour insists it must have been my cats because they are nearest, and that they must have escaped without me knowing (they didn't).

Anyway I think they are absolutely bonkers insane and the correct response is to ignore them but DH thinks we don't want to annoy them too much as they live next door. Surely - SURELY - I am not BU?

OP posts:
Mycatmax · 21/11/2023 18:24

I would block them now. They sound insane.

witchypaws · 21/11/2023 18:38

Some people are bonkers
My cat did go out and nearly got picked up to be scanned as someone reported a "scraggy black cat sauntering across the road"
The little git had taken to using the zebra crossing
Thankfully local cat woman recognised he was mine from the sauntering description Blush and said he was just old and opinionated

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 18:40

witchypaws · 21/11/2023 18:38

Some people are bonkers
My cat did go out and nearly got picked up to be scanned as someone reported a "scraggy black cat sauntering across the road"
The little git had taken to using the zebra crossing
Thankfully local cat woman recognised he was mine from the sauntering description Blush and said he was just old and opinionated

Our local facebook group is full of well-meaning but bonkers people saying things like "there is a cat sitting on a wall, shall I take it to the vet to be scanned for a chip?"

OP posts:
Ladybughello · 21/11/2023 18:49

They’re clearly completely mad

MonteStory · 21/11/2023 19:18

I think you need to join in with the crazy.

”ok as you’re so insistent I have asked the cats and they both promise it wasn’t them. I can tell when they’re lying, believe me!
they’ve both promised to look out and bang on the window if they see any of those strange outdoor cats. They mentioned a ginger one? Hope this helps.”

Deepwinternight · 21/11/2023 20:16

I wonder how old these crazy neighbours are?
I imagine an very old retired couple, doing nothing the whole day, just being bored and thinking about rubbish to waste their time..

Catsmere · 21/11/2023 20:51

I had a scumbag neighbour like that. Day I was moving in I mentioned I have two indoor cats. She said "I hate cats" and trotted out an incoherent story of something awful happening to a kitten as justification for why! Someone later said "She has mental problems" and I thought yes, cat haters do.

Block and ignore these creeps.

TheOccupier · 21/11/2023 21:00

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 12:33

I've had cats my entire life and as an adult have always adopted ones who have to be housecats for various reasons - had a long line of FIV positive cats, blind cats, deafblind cats, cat amputees and so on.

I love cats as much as your neighbours apparently hate them. Thank you for taking care of these kitties in need!

As for the neighbours, I wouldn't respond or engage.

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 22:10

Deepwinternight · 21/11/2023 20:16

I wonder how old these crazy neighbours are?
I imagine an very old retired couple, doing nothing the whole day, just being bored and thinking about rubbish to waste their time..

They're young, no more than early 40s at most.

I received a reply "if birds and other wildlife continue to be decimated we will be forced to take official action against you and other local cat owners. your cats should be kept inside and off others' property".

I have blocked them now. Mad as a box of frogs.

OP posts:
GuessItsANameChange · 21/11/2023 22:28

What a pair of absolute weirdos.

eurochick · 21/11/2023 22:30

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 17:37

whoops I didn't post properly last time

I said "my cats do not have laser vision and are therefore unable to kill birds through the window."

thanks to whoever upthread posted that!

It has made my day that you used the laser beams suggestion😄

One of my feline friends is in kitty hospital having surgery today so this thread has been a good distraction.

witchypaws · 21/11/2023 22:40

Official action? What they planning on doing, reporting the blind indoor cat to the police for bird manslaughter? Grin

I was eye rolling at my neighbours 10ft inflatable light up Santa earlier but I think I'll stick with them. They even installed a new water feature for my elderly cat after theirs broke as they knew how much he loved a drink from it

GuessItsANameChange · 21/11/2023 22:46

Even if the cats were allowed out doors, they’d have no basis for any sort of ‘official action’.

Well done for blocking the number OP because I’d be insisting on having the last word 😅

Catsmere · 21/11/2023 22:48

Glad your cats are indoors, OP - I wouldn't put it past people like this to put poison baits out.

Whiskeypowers · 21/11/2023 22:49

Who are they going to call…. The indoor cat police? Stupid fuckers.
definitely keep them indoors as PP wrote i wouldn’t put anything past them. Some people really need help.

HappyHamsters · 21/11/2023 22:52

I would ask the police for advice, they could deliberately harm cats and people need to be aware of any threats

Thro · 21/11/2023 23:26

What a strange interaction. I wonder if they got your number confused for someone else’s number.

ClearConfusion · 21/11/2023 23:32

You can’t reason with unreasonable, so don’t even try. “My cats don’t go outside” is not a difficult sentence to understand. They are clearly being intentionally awkward. Ignore them.

44PumpLane · 21/11/2023 23:41

Your neighbour seems to lack basic reading comprehension!

Also, who are they going to call? CAT BUSTERS?! 😂

bombastix · 21/11/2023 23:43

Yes they are bats. Cease communicating immediately

Keepingthingsinteresting · 21/11/2023 23:54

fearfuloffluff · 21/11/2023 16:09

They're being unreasonable but I'd just play nice for the sake of peace. It's unusual to have a couple who are both nuts, it's more often a single person isn't it?

You could try putting up bird tables and bug hotels etc in prominent place to appease them!

Sorry, what @fearfuloffluff? Are you saying single people are more likely to be crazy? In my experience it’s quite common for the two parts of a couple to be just as nuts as each other- birds of a feather flock together and all that.

saraclara · 22/11/2023 00:34

PugginBaby · 21/11/2023 22:10

They're young, no more than early 40s at most.

I received a reply "if birds and other wildlife continue to be decimated we will be forced to take official action against you and other local cat owners. your cats should be kept inside and off others' property".

I have blocked them now. Mad as a box of frogs.

Well they're not going to get far with that. Cat owners are not legally responsible for the actions of their cats (in the UK, anyway). The laws on owning cats are very different from those regarding dogs on that regard. There's not a thing they can do about any of the neighbourhood cats, assuming you're UK based.

Catsmere · 22/11/2023 00:47

saraclara · 22/11/2023 00:34

Well they're not going to get far with that. Cat owners are not legally responsible for the actions of their cats (in the UK, anyway). The laws on owning cats are very different from those regarding dogs on that regard. There's not a thing they can do about any of the neighbourhood cats, assuming you're UK based.

Yes, they might have a point if they were in Australia, for instance - our laws regarding cats are much stricter, because of the native animals. But in the UK? I don't think so ...

GuessItsANameChange · 22/11/2023 01:11

Keepingthingsinteresting · 21/11/2023 23:54

Sorry, what @fearfuloffluff? Are you saying single people are more likely to be crazy? In my experience it’s quite common for the two parts of a couple to be just as nuts as each other- birds of a feather flock together and all that.

Only until the cats get one of them.

jlpth · 22/11/2023 01:13

I would reply one more time, for the sake of neighborly relations.

I would reply:
"I am sorry that there seems to have been a misunderstanding. When I told you my cats were indoor cats, I meant that they never, ever go outside. Therefore, there is absolutely no way my cats have every been on your front lawn. The bird has not died due to my cats. I hope this clarifies things for you."

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