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Original poster

Neighbours unneutered Tom cat

34 replies

Ginnymweasley · 18/11/2020 21:39

I'm looking for some advice on what to do in this situation. I have 2 cats, 1 Male and one female both neutered. We have a cat flap but both of them very rarely stray from our garden and the male older cat very rarely goes out at all, other than in the summer when we are in the garden more.
One of our neighbours has this year acquired a male cat which it turns out isnt neutered. In the last 4 months this cat has been getting increasingly aggressive with our cats especially the small female one.
The neighbours cat has now started coming into our house through our cat flap, we have found him attacking our cats in our bedroom. Our cats are now terrified to go out especially after he bit one so bad they ended up having to go to the vets for stitches and treatment for an infection.
We were coping with this fine by locking our cat flap and keeping our cats inside. However yesterday the cat went for my toddler in our garden. I was taking rubbish out and my 2 year old came with me. He was walking through the garden and the cat went for his feet from under his sand table.
I have tried speaking to the owner but they refuse to get him neutered for some reason. I don't know what to do next.

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 18/11/2020 22:20

You can cat proof your garden but an entire tom won’t live long, he’ll probably either get run over travelling to get to unneutered females or wander too far and get lost.

Is it a moggy or a pedigree?.

Original poster
Ginnymweasley · 18/11/2020 22:31

I think it's just a run of the mill domestic shorthair. We have been looking at cat proofing but it's difficult cause our garden goes all the way around the house, including the drive but will have a look into it again.
It's been letting itself into other peoples houses through open windows as well, at least 2 other neighbours have complained about it attacking their cats. The owner just can't be bothered to take it to the vets I think. At first they blamed covid but now they have just decided they aren't going to neuter it at all. They have told me to spray it with water everytime I see it but we tried that and it just sat there.

OP posts:
elsaesmeralda · 18/11/2020 22:33

It's just cruel not to get it neutered as it'll end up getting run over.
It's a shame for your cats Sad I would keep on at the neighbours about it cause it's causing grief to the neighbourhood all because they probably don't want pay to do it

violetbunny · 19/11/2020 07:52

I would offer to get it neutered and pay for it. Will probably be cheaper for you in the long run.

MrsMoastyToasty · 19/11/2020 07:56

Change your catflap for one that only recognises your cats microchips.

difficulttod · 19/11/2020 08:05

Personally I'd be tempted to call the cat warden (pet warden?) or take it in to the vets and say you think it's a stray.

thecatneuterer · 19/11/2020 09:14

It's most likely to be because they don't want to pay for it or can't be arsed. I would ask one more time and, this time, offer to sort it out yourself (and take to the vet and collect it) and pay for it (assuming you are able to). It's shit, and shouldn't be necessary, but if it's the only way to solve the problem I would.

userxx · 19/11/2020 09:18

They sound vile people. One of my neighbours got a kitten last summer, it's already had a litter of kittens of its own, it makes me so angry.

AfterSchoolWorry · 19/11/2020 09:20

@difficulttod

Personally I'd be tempted to call the cat warden (pet warden?) or take it in to the vets and say you think it's a stray.
They'd scan it for a chip. That's the problem.
LST · 19/11/2020 09:20

I would catch it and take it to the vets. Say its a stray. We have problems with intact Toms here too and they terrorise my cats. I have a huge ginger Tom that tries to hold his own and completely fails. We ended up having to take him to the vets after a wound turned into an abcess (sp?)

TomblibooEeesTrousers · 19/11/2020 09:22

I’d get a microchip cat flap, it’s the only thing that stops our bastard neighbours Bengal (unneutered!) from coming in our house and terrorising our boy. Think also some charities will help pay for the op if your neighbours can’t afford it.

thecatneuterer · 19/11/2020 09:30

They'd scan it for a chip. That's the problem. Unneutered cats are NEVER chipped (apart from some pedigrees and some that have been brought in cars from Eastern Europe thus needing pet passports). The sort of people who don't neuter are also the sort of people who don't chip.

justanotherneighinparadise · 19/11/2020 09:31

If you hadn’t already spoken to the neighbour about it I would have advised you caught it in a humane trap and got its balls lopped yourself. However as you have I would advise you put in writing your concerns about the cat and it’s aggression, listing the things that have happened so far. Tell them you are now keeping a record of all incidents and if there are any resulting vets bills due to injury from their cat you will expect them to cover it. Also tell them you will be videoing their cat in the house so not only will you have a written record, but a video record too so if you have to go through small claims court they’ll know you have evidence.

In my experience most people who don’t give a shit about having their cats neutered will only start to give it more thought if there’s a financial incentive to do so.

AfterSchoolWorry · 19/11/2020 09:32

@thecatneuterer

They'd scan it for a chip. That's the problem. Unneutered cats are NEVER chipped (apart from some pedigrees and some that have been brought in cars from Eastern Europe thus needing pet passports). The sort of people who don't neuter are also the sort of people who don't chip.
Never thought of that!
Vinorosso74 · 19/11/2020 10:27

I despair of people like this.
We have some owned unneutered males around here. One went missing a year or so back and was luckily found via Nextdoor; the amount of people who advised getting him neutered and chipped but no, he still has his balls. This one seems to get on well with our neutered male (think they're similar age) but bloody hell he's noisy.
Another acquired a kitten after losing their elderly unneutered male. He is a menace and travels great distances. I spoke to one of the daughters (mum is elderly and her English isn't great) about neutering and gave them the CP leaflet about free neutering under the C4 scheme but he also has still has his balls.

Original poster
Ginnymweasley · 19/11/2020 10:33

Never thought about a microchip cat flap will look into getting one. It was an abcess that my female cat got, it was disgusting. Cats seem happy enough today, I saw the neighbour again this morning and mentioned again about neutering. Just got a blank look and a "oh he's fine how he is". I doubt the cat is chipped as they admitted they haven't taken him to a vet since they got him. He does hate my other neighbours dogs so maybe I should borrow one for a couple of days haha.

OP posts:
justanotherneighinparadise · 19/11/2020 12:20

Unneutered male cats spray so I have no idea how people live alongside them. The smell is horrendous!!! Their living quarters must be completely rank.

JoeCalFuckingZaghe · 19/11/2020 12:39

Maybe instead of spraying the cat with water tally up the times you see the cat in the day and go round with a super soaker and hose the neighbour down. Grin ok it’s not a realistic thing to do but it’s certainly nice to think about.

I hate lazy pet owners. I’d honestly be tempted to capture cat and call a shelter / vet and say it’s a stray. If it’s chipped they’ll get it returned, and if not ... we’ll they’re not good pet owners in my eyes and deserving.

Original poster
Ginnymweasley · 20/11/2020 07:23

Well this morning the tom cat broke our cat flap trying to get inside. So now we have no defence to keep it out until we get a new one. I have messaged the enighbour to let them know that it is now damaging our property but I doubt they will give a shit. My husband chased it away. It ran over the road and promptly attacked another cat who was just sitting on a wall. It's a menace.

OP posts:
Original poster
Ginnymweasley · 20/11/2020 12:39

Shockingly enough I have had no offer to pay for the damage. However they are now trying to claim it must be my cats fault. The cat that was happily sleeping in our house on my bed the entire night while their cat was breaking and entering.
Followed by maybe it is another cat? The cat in question is grey and quite distinctive so its definitely their cat. I just dont know what to do anymore.
Looks like our cats are gonna have to be shut inside until I can manage to cat proof our garden but with work being done on half of it that might not be till next year....

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 20/11/2020 13:49

Contact the cat proofing companies for a quote but the poor sod won’t last long if he’s running over roads to pick fights.

If you can keep him in overnight you can take him to a vet as a stray you’ve taken in and are going to keep as a pet. It’s contactless service at the moment so they wouldn’t notice that he’s not bonded to you.

Cheaper than cat proofing.

MrsTwitcher · 20/11/2020 13:56

Can you borrow a basket or ask for a trap and put in on the inside of the catflap. Trap it and take it to the vet.

AfterSchoolWorry · 20/11/2020 14:02

As he's not chipped I would catch him and submit him to a tnr programme.

The 'owners' sound are completely irresponsible.

Shmithecat2 · 20/11/2020 14:07

Yeah, I'd be taking it to the vet myself and getting it neutered. As pp have said, if they haven't bothered neutering, 99.9% sure that it won't be chipped either. Less hassle for you and your kitties in the long run, and will also hopefully give the poor bugger a quieter, less stressful life.

Original poster
Ginnymweasley · 20/11/2020 14:07

My dh did suggest taping our cat basket over the cat flap hole and taking it to a vet. I have phoned our vet to enquire about neutering and they have said they are not doing it currently but other vets are so i may make some more enquiries this afternoon. I told them there was a stray cat living in our shed that was unneutered.
My dh is planning on blocking off the bottom of the hedges this weekend to stop it coming in that way. Not sure how to tackle the driveway and the border with next door as they have a garage that the cat can jump down from into our garden and one section is currently covered with building materials. New cat flap has been ordered. I've given up trying to reason with the owner as they obviously don't care.

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