To suspect my neighbour killed my cat

[Mani2024]

Three years ago we moved to our new house. Day one we met one of our neighbours and he asks whether we have a cat because he hates them. We didn’t at that point but we had planned to get one as we and our children really wanted one. neighbour begged us not too even though there are many many cat in the area. We reluctantly agreed to keep the peace but after a terrible year with lots of heartache we decided it was non of his business and got two kittens.

When he found out we had cats he made a passive aggressive comment to my six year old child about how one of the cats in particular had been in his garden and on his bird table. Some months later I heard our cats squealing. I thought they found themselves in a fight with another cat so called out to stop it but turned out to be my neighbour doing something to them to get them out of his garden. He said they were stalking his bird house.

We tried to settle things down with him, said feel free to spray them with water if they come over, we would look into a fence with a slope and if they ever mess in his garden (which they doubt they had as they still used litter trays) he could put over the fence with a spade. That conversation went well but he did say he’d killed a cat previously because it had chased a bird and that the killing had been unintentional.

fast forward some weeks and one of our kittens was found at the end of the road dead in the road with a sever head injury. This is the cat that both neighbours had said was the main culprit of jumping on their bird tables. Initially I was extremely upset and couldn’t think clearly but after a week or so I remembered that morning I had heard a cat scream that was worse than you would usually hear and had looked out my window to see what was going on. My husband saw my neighbour around that time walking up the road away from where she was later found and when asked what he was up to today said he was going for a long walk. I saw the neighbour in his garden briefly a week later, when our eyes met he went straight back into his house which is unusual as he usually chats to me. Generally he has been quite friendly apart from the issue with the cats.

i have spoken to my husband and a few friends about this and generally the consensus is that I’m overthinking and that this theory is just generally wild. Im
absolutely convinced he killed her and placed her at the end of the road to make it look like she got run over. Then again, I’m so desperately upset by it all that I’m not sure if the grief is clouding my judgement

@Poppysmom22 so because it's an animal it's ok to murder it?

Get help.

we don’t know it has been murdered though do we

I don’t need help I think you might though

@Poppysmom22 if you think it's in any way acceptable for an innocent creature to be murdered simply for existing then yes, you do need help.

How do you KNOW the neighbour has murdered it - you don’t

could have been hit by a car

Could have been attacked by a fox

Why not?

I would be surprised if neighbour bludgeoned it to death unless he's a psychopath, but then given his "Ive killed before" comment, its a possibility. Sadly there have been cats poisoned round my way which is the standard way for cat haters to do it. Either way, truly horrible. I'd try and believe it were a road accident in this case.

Don't know for sure but it sounds very possible and you seem to be implying that if that has happened then it's acceptable because the cat was roaming.

Accidents happen. I let my cat out every day knowing the risks of cars or theft or other animals. I do it because I believe the risks are worth the value of him having a fuller life outdoors. However if I had any inkling that some evil fucker deliberately caused him harm it would be a totally different story and I'd be raising hell.

Hurting animals deliberately isn’t acceptable - Where have I said it’s acceptable - accidents happen - as an owner you can mitigate the risk with your animal management practices- the fact is if the cat was at home it wouldn’t have been hit by a car fell off a roof attacked by a fox murdered by aspiring serial killer next door

My father and I are both bird lovers. I dislike cats, he LOATHES them with the fire of a thousand suns.

He's shared - more than once - what his method of choice would be for dispatching any cats he finds worrying his bird table (anti-freeze). I tell myself he's full of shite but wouldn't be surprised to find out he has deliberately run over cat(s) in the past.

And before anyone says anything, just imagine what a carousel of endless fun, fun, fun it was growing up in a home with someone with that mentality.

There’s no proof the neighbour has killed the cat or even that the cat has been murdered at all.

The point is animals shouldn't have to be kept at home when they are legally permitted to roam just so that psychopaths don't commit criminal activity by harming them. If the cat had been knocked over by a car it would still be upsetting but I'm sure op would find it easier to come to terms with for obvious reasons.

If nobody ever left their homes the world would be a much safer place, but that's not life is it.

OP, I’d approach your neighbours with ring doorbells - I’d have no problem showing you our footage in those circumstances. Our neighbour searched through hers when our car was stolen.
If my ring doorbell footage showed him doing what you think he’s done, I’d ring the police and report him myself and then bang on his door and have a ‘discussion’ with him. You can’t reason with awkward people like this - you basically have to teach them to never mess with you again.

Whatever has happened, I’m sorry about the loss of your kitten. I think you will need to take steps to restrict your other kitten to your garden.

Definitely agree with the CCTV and any Ring footage. Every other house seems to have cameras these days and if any sighting of his involvement then police all the way.

I think it would be more comparable to a toddler in a dark alley at night though.
A cat is going to have as much idea of safety and as much expectation of being looked after by their care giver.

The evidence though is that cats don’t have a significant impact on wildlife numbers. Everything you’ve written here is anecdotal. Just your impression which isn’t born out when someone looks at it scientifically and takes a broader view.

My neighbour's sighthound killed another neighbour's cat when it came into the dog's garden and it all got very ugly.

"The evidence though is that cats don’t have a significant impact on wildlife numbers."

I've just found a plethora of sites that state the opposite.

I'd want revenge. Id make his life a fucking misery

Lots of people saying this but then equally saying he's a psychopath because he's killed at least one cat.

I don't think I'd want to wage war on a psychopath...

Pheasants are bred for shooting as are Guinea fowl - a fellow south west rural inhabitant. Venison is not necessarily ‘wild’ either. It’s just not industrial farming. Wild shoots are organised and the birds are bred for that purpose.

You aren't crazy at all. Keep asking around and put your own cctv up. Your neighbour is a psycho and needs to be stopped. He 100% killed your cat and may do it to others. I would be fuming and go and give him a mouthful of abuse.

Pheasants are bred and then released into the wild, so some may think it’s just semantics as they are living wild when shot and can we really categorically say that no wild born birds are killed during a shoot. But here’s a guide, a good number of species hunted are wild from the get go with some actually now getting scarce due to hunting:
https://www.sportscoverdirect.com/scd-blog/guide-on-uk-game-birds/