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!

Why is everyone on this thread so selfish?

Of course the OP shouldn’t have to keep her dog inside forever, but it’s surely just common courtesy for her to take some steps to ensure her dog doesn’t kill the neighbours cat??

If there is some actions she can take that are easy enough for her isn’t this the kind thing to do??

Rinsing your hands of it and saying not my problem is just mean.

OP the small fence idea is good, to slow the dog down. As is a muzzle for a week or so if the dog will tolerate it.

Cats learn quickly enough.

I don't expect anyone to look after my cat!
Even the cat I have now, we moved last year to London for a few months, cat proofed a garden because it was off a busy road and we walked her around the block every night (she walks, off lead with us everywhere).

She steadily went downhill, losing her freedom. Overgroomed, shouted and eventually just sat in the corner of a room, barely eating, not allowed to stroke her or pet her. Certainly no play. Circumstances changed and came back to our old house, she was allowed out again. Instantly fine, like flicking a switch, apart from keeping away from me for a couple of days for fear of being taken back to London. Sometimes we have to listen to the animal and not all cats are content in being indoors.

While our girl temporarily lost her freedom, the bengal we rehomed was never let out, from the beginning. So very unhappy and was rehomed with us due to his behavioural problems. So while safe inside, I wouldn't say healthier for all cats. Stress is a big issue for cats and can cause problems.

It took an awful lot of training to get our puppy who was raised with a confident cat not to chase our cat. We had to start by our dog watching the cat being held at the top of the stairs and it was slow going.

We had to do in stages and with a cat we could control (to a point) and training inside the house is much easier than outside the house.

Even if the OP wanted to train the dog it’s going to be exceedingly hard to train any dog from chasing a moving animal when they are starting from an outside environment and at mature age and a chasing breed.

I’m not saying if the OP wanted to do this as a training exercise it isn’t worth it but I wouldn’t be hopeful. I would talk to your neighbours and remind them of the risk and put the onus on them to choose if they are happy with it and if not they need to keep the cat inside or cat proof their garden at their expense and again at their risk to their cat (if they do it badly and the cat gets tangled or gets past it into your garden)

I have a greyhound which is very reactivate to cats. There are alot of cats in my neighbourhood. Very quickly they learnt to run away when they see her. When I pull up in the car,they assume she's with me and make a dash for home. Cats aren't daft,they will quickly learn not to invade her space.
Have a friendly word with the neighbours warning them, and please don't keep your dog inside.

Speak to them, let them know that whilst you wish no harm to their cat, your dog has the right to enjoy his garden and if the cat comes in the cat may well be harmed (and they'd be responsible for vet bills for their cat AND your dog!)

Ask that they put up spikes or rollers, giving permission to do this if the fence is yours. (Their cat, their responsibility to keep it safe).

I would also ask if they'd be ok with you getting a super soaker type water pistol or using the hose and squirt the cat consistently for a few days if it gets up on that section of fence, until it is made cat-proof.

Most cats will learn however it only takes one error of judgement for it to become an ex-cat where greys are concerned.

Muzzling IF you're supervising might be a safety precaution whilst neighbours sort fence and you squirt their cat BUT... not perfect, greyhounds (and many dogs) CAN grip fur through the muzzle and then shake their prey. They can also just batter the animal to death with the muzzle on, and I have seen frustrated lurchers and greyhounds do this (because as a dog behaviourist I watch a lot of client videos, not because I just muzzle sighthounds and watch them muller live animals!!).

I'd try to pair hearing/seeing cat with very high value treats for your dog too so that there is a chance he is more likely to look to you than dive after it - YMMV and you would need to be supervising with a treat pouch full of sausage bits for a while though!

I am a cat person who owns cats. This firmly seems like the cat owner's problem.

Greyhounds are notorious for killing cats. Particularly when a cat is used to going into a garden so caught unawares. Greyhounds accelerate so quickly that cats sometimes can’t get away, so that would worry me.
Have a chat with the cat owners, maybe they need to fit cat fencing on their perimeter so the cat stays in their garden.

To add to this, cats are very trainable. It does a great disservice to their intellect, and is just not true, when people say that it's not possible (or too difficult) to train cats.

If they are 'stressed' or 'bored' they need stimulation and taking time to train them with commands or tricks is a great way to alleviate a lot of these issues.

My cats don't hop on countertops, they don't run at the door when it's opened, they don't scratch carpet or furniture. They've been trained.

People expect cats to just take care of themselves.

We're supposed to look after them and that goes beyond just giving them food and water and leaving them to it for every thing (and everyone) else.

On the two occasions my older greyhound encountered a cat in our garden, he was the one to come off worse and need a trip to the vets. Cats will scratch at the eyes if they feel threatened, he was lucky the cats didn't blind him.

I adopted a lurcher three months ago. I dread next door's cat coming in our garden but haven't seen it since we got the dog. Fortunately it's a youngish cat and streetwise, so I hope it will be sensible.

The problematic cats are two old ones who live across the road, who don't run off and stand their ground. They don't come in our garden but one scratched my dog across the muzzle when hidden in a hedge.

I do think my dog has the potential to kill a cat, and honestly I don't know if I could keep him if that happened.

Agree this is exactly what to do.

As long as you are confident your garden is 100% secure to prevent escape upon sight of the cat, their cat is their responsibility.

I used to have two JRTs. We had a squirrel that used to sit on our fence as we had a huge oak tree in our garden and this particular squirrel liked to stay close to that tree. I think the squirrel thought it agreeable to wind the dogs up by just sitting there, on the fence, safe in the knowledge they couldn’t get at it. It didn’t stop the dogs barking furiously. I would hope the neighbour’s cat has a similar mindset to the squirrel. Cats are quite adept at avoiding being mauled by dogs.

@acrispyguinness don’t change how your dog enjoys the garden. Definitely give the neighbours a heads up, but this is for them to be aware of. And I say that as someone who has two cats.

Is the dog an ex racer? If so he would be used to a muzzle, could that be an option for the short term?

When we were buying our house our neighbours heard we had cats and came over concerned saying 'oh but we have a dog so....?' As if waiting for me to say oh never mind we'll look elsewhere for a house!?
A dog isnt going to put me off buying a dream home. My cats roam but avoid their garden, their dog barks if he sees my cats but it doesnt bother us or the neighbours. He did once wander into the house when he walked out of thier house without them knowing but luckily the cats where out and he enjoyed a quick fuss from us and then off he went back home.
Cats do and will look after themselves.

On that basis, the neighbours should also muzzle their cat and clip its claws to prevent it killing mice and birds, I presume? It's almost taken as inevitable that cats will kill other smaller prey when they are out of the house, which is an issue we don't hear about with dogs - if a dog attacks another animal it is often PTS, but cats are afforded a different view.

This.... I have 4 cats, our neighbours have dogs.

The cats stay away from the dogs once the dog has made it blooming clear he will go for them.

You have your dog in your garden safely contained. It is not your responsibility to keep the cat out.

We’ve just moved, our cat goes on the fence and looks at next doors dog but beyond winding him up, knows not to go there. He just chooses to go elsewhere.

Cats are not stupid. The cat has already shown you how easily it can scale the fence, something your dog cannot do. The dog is not going to catch the cat. Let your dog sunbathe.

I agree with what @Fibrous has posted above. Quite a lot of people posting on here what would be good advice for any other kind of dog but won't work for a greyhound. If a hound is ex-racing (likely) you can't train the prey drive out of them. It's been trained into them and is stuck - and it's not like the prey drive of your average spaniel or lab. Also, and this is the big thing that I'm sure OP already knows, the BIG thing is that many dogs will chase cats but greyhounds have the speed to catch them. And if they catch them, it's bye bye cat. This is the reason many greyhounds are muzzled outside - not to protect people, who they generally adore - but in case of darting cats. I agree with Fibrous that a muzzle for the short term is a good idea so that the cat realises the dog can catch her (without harm), once she knows this, hopefully she'll have the brains to stay away. Sending you lots of love OP, hope you get it sorted - this has always been my nightmare too as a greyhound owner💞

100 percent up to neighbours. Being cordial I might go round and mention danger.

I have a lurcher. I'm almost certain he'd kill a cat. If that were to happen outside our fully secure garden, then it would be on me and I'd probably pts. If it happened because a cat ventured into our garden... No way. It's his home.

Water gun? Spray the cat with a little water when it gets on the fence to discourage it from going there

Just go and tell the neighbours you've checked your fence but they need to keep their cat out of your garden.

Cats are fast and smart. It probably wont jump into your garden . And can your dog get onto the shed ? They will probably at best stare at each and bark or hiss.
My cat loves sitting on the wall of one of my neighbours whist the dog goes mental barking at him. My cat is a dick. I do try to keep him in my garden . But he is not stupid enough to actually drop down into the garden .

I muzzle my greyhound outside.

He mildly dislikes the muzzle, but peanut butter in it helped. Like most things in greyhound world, the muzzle falls in the category of ‘can’t be arsed to notice this’.

Cats on the other hand very much fall under ‘instant death’ along with hares and anything else that is fluffy or moves fast. If you haven’t seen a sighthound in action, it is impossible to imagine their reaction and acceleration speed.

I’d talk to the neighbours and deploy muzzle. Much better that cat learns dog is there.