I’m having issues with my neighbours and my cat, and I’ve been being very friendly and nice about it so far but it doesn’t seem to be working! So before engaging “mean crazy cat lady” mode, I’m looking for other people’s opinions!
I have cat, and she is a “friendly once you get to know her” kind of cat. Like most cats, she does not like being run at, cornered, or screamed at. She was a rescue cat and she has understandably bitten/scratched when she has felt scared in the past. When DD was a toddler, we made sure that she was always supervised around the cat (as we would with any animal, as even the most well trained animal could potentially cause harm if they feel threatened, and toddlers can be loud and over-friendly).
Next door have a toddler, who is obsessed with our cat. Of course it is lovely that he loves her so much, and I am more than happy for him to wave/say hello/stroke her if he is being gentle. The problem is that he keeps chasing her onto our drive, cornering her at our front door and excitedly screaming at her. At this point I let the cat in and I explain very nicely to the little boy (and to his mum) that the cat doesn’t like loud noises, please don’t chase her. If she runs away that is because she doesn’t want to say hello today, and that she can bite. But this keeps happening; I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve explained it to them! And even after I let the cat in, they sometimes still play on my drive for another 10 minutes?? I’ve even had to ask them not to touch my car after the child was trying to open the driver’s door. (To which the mum’s response was “I’ve told him!” but she did nothing to actually physically stop him trying to get into my car, which was parked on my drive. The same drive she parks her car partially blocking the entrance to, instead of parking on her own drive, I’ve posted on MN with that rage before 😂).
The child cannot be over 2, and of course he wants to say hello to cats and touch cars, but the mum doesn’t seem to be enforcing any kind of boundaries. AIBU to ramp up the crazy cat lady to the mum? My cat should be safe on her own doorstep and I really don’t want her to hurt the child because the mum isn’t stopping the child scaring her.