New neighbours have a cat - I have a greyhound. Help??

[acrispyguinness]

As per the title, we have new neighbours. They have a cat which they have now started letting outside. Their cat likes to scale the fences and walk along the tops and over my shed - ordinarily not a problem, I like cats. My senior greyhound however does not. He’s very reactive to them and honestly I’m not sure what he would do if he were presented with the opportunity.

How can I deter their cat from strolling the fences? I’m having to keep my poor boy inside as I can’t supervise 24/7 so he’s no longer able to sunbathe in the garden as I work. He was sunbathing by the back door this morning and their cat appeared at the top of the fence about 2m from him, luckily he didn’t see and I quickly ushered him indoors and shooed the cat but I can’t do this every time it scales the fence. Help!

I would knock on the door and explain you have a greyhound - cat owners know that’s an issue and a prey drive that can’t be trained out. And I would get spikes for your fence, but explain that you’re doing this. As long as your garden is secure and your dog can’t actually scale the fence then that’s the limit of what you need to do. The cat will learn.

The cat will see the lie of the land and keep out of the way I suspect.
You could muzzle your dog in your garden for a couple of weeks - the dog can then chase but not injure.
The cat will get the message and avoid the garden, then you can remove the muzzle.
I think that’s what I’d do anyway.

Cats gave our garden a wide berth when we had a sighthound, now we dont have a dog and they have returned!

Could yours jump the fence? If not then cat just needs to know he's there and they'll avoid.

Whose fence is it? I’d be tempted to put something atop to stop Tiddles walking on it.

The cat will learn to keep away from your dog - your dog is exhibiting normal behaviour, just as cats will chase mice and birds. Don't keep your dog indoors, he is entitled to enjoy his garden.

I don't hate cats at all but any owner letting their cat roam near a sighthound is not caring for their cat. They are risking it getting harmed and it's their duty to prevent this, not the OPs

Unless your dog can get out of your garden, just let the dog out. Cats are not stupid and will not go in your garden again while the dog is there.
I think you could offer to rent your dog out to people who have a cat problem 🙃!

Agree 👍.

Beeg pile of bollocks

I would raise your concern for the cat’s safety with the neighbours and suggest they need to cat proof their fence for their cat’s wellbeing. Say that whilst your dog hasn’t harmed a cat to your knowledge he is an ex racer therefore it’s a concern. If they are ambivalent following your warning that’s on them

Have you ever had a senior sighthound. Muzzling would distress them no end. Not practical at all.

Agree that cats ain't daft OP. Just go about your usual business - perhaps mention to the neighbours. Your dog should be able to live in its own backyard garden without any compromise.

Yikes.
If the cat jumped down to the ground, would your dog still be agile enough to catch it?

If it’s just a case of barking, then I’d probably let the cat take its chances. Your dog has a right to “quiet enjoyment” of his garden (or noisy enjoyment! If the cat is being a pest).

PS I’m a cat person - all the cats I’ve known wouldn’t be silly enough to put themselves in danger from a regular dog. But I’ve never known a greyhound.

Put netting all round your fences. I had to do this.

Half of this statement is okay but the other half? Cats have a 'right' to not be barked at when outside?

I'd leave that to the cat owners. Their cat, their prerogative. Their cost.

I was going to suggest this. I'd appreciate it (as a cat owner) if next door said 'hey, I've got a dog who hates cats and I don't want anything bad to happen so I'm putting these spikes up to hopefully discourage them'. It gives them the heads up and is proactive - they can then hopefully judge whether it's safer to let their cats out overnight when the dog's inside or whatever.

You cannot train out prey drive in a sighthound that has raced. It would be akin to trying to train him not to eat. Simply impossible to outtrain physiology and instinct.

This.

Cats have absolutely amazing reaction times. If you haven't seen videos of them defeating snakes, they are worth a watch.

The chances of the dog being able to catch it are minimal, even in the unlikely event the cat came down off the fence. They are not daft.

Yeah but it’s OP’s garden and it needs to be done on all sides

I understand that but I think someone who isn't familiar with dogs would have a generalised misconception about training. There wasn't any point (to me) in going into the nuance of different breeds with someone who states that cats have rights to not be barked at when outside. I only have so much time in the day.

I take it you have never owned a greyhound.

I would go and see the neighbourhood to warn them, but try and keep them on a lead in the garden or a large crate. No one’s fault but I feel sorry for the hound.

I have three greyhounds.

We moved and had 3 lurcher...lots of local dcats. We bought a hose..
Quick spray and they learned to keep away.

Even worked on 3 frisky pigeons!

Probably because they'd prefer not to be responsible for the death of their neighbour's cat.

Fwiw, I don't think OP should keep her greyhound indoors because of the arrival of the new cat but if OP thinks there is a risk of death or serious injury it would be wise to muzzle the dog and give the neighbours a month so so to secure the immediate boundary. That having been said, cats being cats, it may still attempt to get in but at least at that point OP will have made more than reasonable efforts to minimise the risk.

I have a whippet. My new neighbour has a cat. When they moved in I said, a cat, how lovely. Just to let you know, my dog has a very high prey drive and she is often in the garden, so just a heads up. They said thanks for letting us know, our cat's a roamer so we take our chances. That's all you can do.

As it happens, the cat does come into the garden, but it always seems to be one step ahead of the dog. I see the dog sniffing around the places it has been, but it can't work out where the damn thing is. Hopefully it stays that way.

The cat is as much from risk of traffic as it is from predators.

https://www.google.com/search?q=anti+cat+strip+for+fences&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#lfId=ChxjMe

NOTE: Meant for discomfort/discouragement NOT harm.