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!

You want my entire front, back, side garden and driveway covered over so the neighbours cat can't access it??
Give over.
Its my responsibility to keep my dogs in, not your cat out.
Maybe keep the cat secure its its own covered cattery? Or would I be expected to contribute to that too?
Keep it in until you've sorted out YOUR cat and YOUR responsibility- I've already dealt with mine/.

Keeping the dog in her enclosed garden is really all she needs to do.

As someone who has owned both cats and greyhounds - you really need to be vigilant for a couple of weeks till the cat gets the memo that "this garden contains dog - steer clear" and then it's honestly only an issue if you have the combination of a cocky cat when the fence is suddenly slippy with ice as it struts along playing the game of annoying the dog and tries to style out slipping off the fence and legging it rather rapidly.

Once the cat realises that this garden is a bad idea, if your fencing is OK - it's fine.

This. Plus:

• small wild animals and birds surely have a right to roam without being caught and used as playthings by domestic cats before they kill them.
• if somebody lets their dog crap in a neighbour's garden there would rightly be an uproar. But somehow people are just expected to put up with neighbourhood cats doing it.

OP - you are a very considerate and responsible neighbour and dog owner. As long as your dog can't actually get over the fence I think the cat will very quickly learn to avoid your garden. If the fence belongs to you fixing some spikes to the top of it so the cat walk along the top would help too.

If you want your cat to enjoy the outdoors safely, catio are brilliant.

The cat will learn not to come in the garden one way or another.
No way would l stop letting my dog out - if the cat is stupid enough to come into the garden , well survival of the fittest isn’t it!
If I had an outside cat & moved l would check to see if any neighbours have dogs and I would ensure my cat couldn’t get into that garden.
My cat, my problem. Or they could get a cattio and be a Responsible animal owner.

I have whippets with a very high prey drive and they are fast if something catches their attention. The neighbours cat was originally a house cat but they couldn't keep it in so it now wanders, our garden is large, and secure enough to keep the dogs in but not a cat out so I said that I couldn't guarantee the cats' safety.

Not longer after the dogs saw it in the wilder bit of the garden and chased it up a not very tall tree where we had a stalemate with dogs at the bottom & cat at the top, the cat owner said leave it up there for a while and it might realise that the garden wasn't a safe place to visit. We did that, I brought the dogs in after about 10 mins and kept them until the cat had returned home - it hasn't been seen on the premises since!

I have a dog that will chase a small furry if it runs. They are safe if they stay still.
I am presuming that as you have a greyhound you have high fences anyway? Can you put some of those rubber spiky things on the top of the fence to deter the cat from jumping in to your garden.
I would be mortified if my dog hurt someone’s pet/ another animal, and would warn the neighbours about your dog, try and make your garden unappealing to cats, it may be anyway, if the dog barks at it, and install sensor lights in the garden so you can scan round at night before letting the dog out.
I wouldn’t be keep my dog on the lead in his own garden or not letting him in the garden, but taking all reasonable precautions to eliminate a nasty incident.
Mine wears bells on its collar.
For all those saying to train the dog not to bark at the cat, obviously has not seen the speed of acceleration of sighthounds. They generally give no warning, as they are silent hunters. It would be like trying to train the herding instinct out of a border collie.

The cat will soon learn to stay out of your garden. That’s a win win in my book.

We have cats all around us and a very cat/squirrel/fox hating terrier. The cats and squirrels stay well clear and some of them live with dogs so they'll soon learn which gardens to avoid. The foxes though like to tease him and leaves lovely scents every morning.

this.

Umm no. Cats have a right to roam full stop. Dogs and other aminals can bark at them chase them and kill them if the cats are not in their own garden.

this

This is a sensible solution. Plus I echo other pps who have pointed out that cats usually avoid scary places, they're not daft.

Hi. I have 3 greyhounds and a Lurcher. Cats don’t come in my garden. Your hound will jump up towards the cat once, it will bugger off and not return, or at least that is my experience.

Your dog is in your garden, I am assuming, plus you have appropriately high fences? As long as your hound is contained in your own property boundary, you are fine. May be the cat owner needs to contain their cat.

As for the idea from a poster that you need to train your hound to be ok with cats. That poster needs to learn about sighthounds. 4000+ years of breeding for these high prey drive hounds, bred for hunting and racing, is not being trained out of them in a generation. They aren’t puppies when they are rehomed, they have mostly been racing. Chasing a mechanical ‘rabbit’ lure, every race. Chasing small and nippy things is hardwired into them by then.

It’s your dogs home, not the cats so let him out in the garden and don’t muzzle him. Make the neighbours aware you have a dog and then anything that may or may not happen is on them. Don’t punish your dog

I think it should be fine OP with not much done really. You can get those little sensor things to deter cats that make a really high pitch noise but from the ones I’ve walked past out & about they can be heard from quite far away, certainly the next garden it would be, so that would also stop the cat being able to go in their own garden

Your diplomatic approach will soon sour once the cat starts sh*tting in your garden and killing the local wildlife.

In our experience the cats learn to keep clear of gardens with dogs in. When we first moved to our house a few years ago, neighbours cats would stroll into our house like they owned it 🤣🤣 As soon as we had a dog, they steered clear. Id just let your dog sunbathe tbh.

Let your neighbours know your dog is extremely cat reactive and does go out in the garden frequently and let them do with that information what they will.

I own a dog and cats and the cats are free to roam. They mange themselves and avoid unsafe places. The dog will bark at and chase cats which aren't ours in the garden but won't attack, appreciate a greyhound is different though.

But my neighbours having a greyhound wouldn't stop me letting my cats out (who would get very stressed and unwell at being kept in) and so I'd accept the risk.

This. My lurcher has never worked but his prey drive is huge, and instantaneous.

It’d be like trying to stop pointers from pointing, retrievers from retrieving, and bull breeds from killing things. Impossible.

This is a good idea.

A friend's much loved cat was killed by 2 greyhounds living next door. It was never clear why she was in next door's garden or just on the fence as she was a slightly nervous cat.

That’s fine, when they’re used to wearing them, but if they’re not, it’s not just a case of put a muzzle on it and it’ll be fine straight away, is it? It takes time for them to accept a muzzle.

It's frustrating to read some of these replies, and clear that some dog lovers and owners have any idea how 'different' greyhounds are. They are bred to react fast and kill, even if they haven't raced they can do this. They are fast - faster than cats - and they also have the capacity to pounce at frightening speed. It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security by how loving and lazy they are.

The incident I sadly witnessed, mentioned above. My friend's cat and retired racing greyhound had lived together for years. We were in the kitchen, my friend had the greyhound next to her as she opened the door. The cat made a dash for the garden, past the greyhound. The dog didn't run, he just pounced down on the cat as she passed, grabbing her by the back and breaking her spine instantly. It was so shocking, so quick.

I applaud you Op for being aware that this is a dangerous situation for the cat and kindly thinking how to make things safe. This isn't a matter of the cat learning by being chased by your dog. There might not be any second chances.