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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

How to deal with aggressive cat and neighbour

38 replies

ottocat · 21/11/2021 13:03

We have a 1 year old neutered male rescue cat, he's the soppiest cat we've ever had, insists on cuddles and sleeping between us at night and just lies there when the kids poke and prod him etc. However we know he does fight a bit with other cats around our house and a neighbour has complained. Some cats he seems fine with but there's 2 that he doesn't seem to like (both female.
He also has a habit of being very bold and walking into other peoples houses, jumping through open windows etc, mainly for food and fusses, we have asked neighbours not to encourage this but some still buy him toys which he brings home.
Neighbour wants to work a schedule on when we'll let our cats out but with us both working snd 2 young children it's not something we can coordinate and he has a cat flap to use feeely. Neighbour now saying as she can't stop him going in her garden with sprays etc she is going to go to the local authority and wants us to employ a cat behaviourist for him! Any advice on laws / where we stand / anything she can try to stop him?

OP posts:
Original poster
ottocat · 21/11/2021 13:04

Obligatory photo of Otto

How to deal with aggressive cat and neighbour
OP posts:
MrsBertBibby · 21/11/2021 13:06

Awww.

TroysMammy · 21/11/2021 13:07

Your neighbour is bonkers. A cat behaviourist Grin. Considering most cat's have "I give no fucks face" she's hoping.

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 21/11/2021 13:08

What does she think the local authority will do?
Of course you can't have a schedule of keeping him in. That's unworkable. Can you cat proof the fence between your houses?

DaftVader42 · 21/11/2021 13:08

Keep him in at night ? Allow out at 7.30am?

Fernie6491 · 21/11/2021 13:08

Good luck with that, never known a cat to be 'biddable', they go where=ever they like!

i reckon a behaviourist would laugh in your face Smile

MrsBertBibby · 21/11/2021 13:08

What does she expect the council to do? They don't have any cat-referee powers.

If she wants to pay for a cat behaviourist to tell her cats gonna cat, she can do that I guess.

DaftVader42 · 21/11/2021 13:11

My friend has just had to give their cat to a rescue, as neighbours cat so aggressive and vet advised other cat had nearly killed it. Injuries were horrid, and who knew what would happen next time.

So sad for their family as they loved their cat. So, if you can compromise , would be kind ?

HarrietSchulenberg · 21/11/2021 13:13

Buy your neighbour a water pistol and advise her to use it if your cat approaches her house. You could keep your cat in when you're out at work and let him out during the evening when you get home, and tell her that that is your schedule.

Other than that I'd offer to sit with her while she rings the council so you can have a good laugh at their response.

SexyNeckbeard · 21/11/2021 13:41

You should cat proof your garden and keep it on your property. Otherwise she'd be justified in chucking water over it.

TSSDNCOP · 21/11/2021 14:06

I would LOVE to be a cat behaviour therapist. You would literally be stealing people's money. Is it possible to give less than the zero fucks a cat would give to this nonsense.

violetbunny · 21/11/2021 16:44

Hmmm. I've been the neighbour in this scenario, our 2 cats were getting attacked daily by our neighbours enormous cat. They said they couldn't keep him inside because he was an "outdoor cat".

Ultimately, everyone is responsible for keeping their own cats safe, so we realised we would need to keep our cats in, rather than rely on neighbours keeping theirs in. As ours still like to go out, and our garden would be difficult to catproof, we ended up getting a microchip cat flap which has a curfew mode. This meant we could keep our cats in overnight (when neighbour cat seemed to be out the most). You can set it so that after the time you choose, your cat can enter your house but not leave again until your chosen curfew time ends. It didn't stop all the fights but definitely limited them.

TheSpottedZebra · 21/11/2021 17:11

Maybe stop thinking about laws and start thinking about how you would feel if your much loved pet/s were getting injured and scared in their own home. Injuries which possibly lead to behavioural issues for them at home. It's pretty awful. Neighbour is probably desperate.

So how CAN you work with neighbour to keep the cats apart? Could you get a microchip cat door and have it in only at times per above? Could you try a schedule? Pheromones to calm down your pet? Are her females neutered?

TheCreamCaker · 21/11/2021 17:36

Your neighbour is an ignoramus and an idiot. Tell her to throw water at your cat if he bothers her and her cats. Your boy is gorgeous.

Original poster
ottocat · 21/11/2021 18:17

Can't really do anything with fences as we're in Victorian terrace in London and her house is a few doors down, she has tried water pistol already, we said try lemon water or vinegar in it and that hasn't stopped him.

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Original poster
ottocat · 21/11/2021 18:22

We have a microchip cat flap but it doesn't have the curfew options, our cat stays in all night but it appears both like going out in the day time. She did say to DH they are moving in 6 months (they rent) so hopefully we can get through those 6 months with not too many run ins. So far there haven't been any injuries to her cat I think more intimidating it rather than physically attacking it

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Wolfiefan · 21/11/2021 18:27

Your cat is being aggressive and going into other people’s houses?
You need to cat proof your garden to stop him.

purpleme12 · 21/11/2021 18:30

Well she won't get far going to local authority but actually with her suggesting a schedule with you, it sounds to me like he has been trying to be reasonable with you and been trying to think of solutions for both cats

Motnight · 21/11/2021 18:44

Tell her to crack on 😂

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/11/2021 19:05

I’d cat proof. It’s cheaper than a huge vets bill if yours is injured and you don’t want her trying to poison him or trapping him and releasing him miles from home.

Winniemarysarah · 21/11/2021 19:20

@Wolfiefan

Your cat is being aggressive and going into other people’s houses? You need to cat proof your garden to stop him.
People on here don’t really give a shit about the misery their cats cause other people. When I was little we had a neighbour that had three cats, they were in our house at opportunity. They got into our shed once and killed my guinea pig and 3 chicks. If we left our windows open they’d come in and (bizarrely) shit in the kitchen sink. They ruined our Xmas dinner one day, my mum put the cooked turkey on the side to rest and opened the back door to let the steam out, the cats come in and dragged the turkey out of the back door. The final straw was when my mum came home from hospital with my day old brother. She set him down in the hallway in his car seat, one of the cats ran through the front door and sprayed piss all over the newborn baby. I’m not going into detail about what my dad did after that, but 2 of the cats didn’t survive and the 3rd one was kept inside after that.
Winniemarysarah · 21/11/2021 19:32

@purpleme12

Well she won't get far going to local authority but actually with her suggesting a schedule with you, it sounds to me like he has been trying to be reasonable with you and been trying to think of solutions for both cats
Well she actually could because nuisance cats are dealt with the environmental health department under the environmental protection act. A cat entering someone else’s property is classed as anti social behaviour, the most extreme cases result in a prosecution, 5k fine and they can remove your pet from you.
TheSpottedZebra · 21/11/2021 19:39

Winniemarysarah you had my sympathy there with your little story but really you just embroidered it too much and ended it horribly. 2/10

Original poster
ottocat · 21/11/2021 19:58

I'm not saying they're being u reasonable, that's why I'm asking for advise if anyone has any ideas on what might deter him from going into their garden? As mentioned they've tried spraying water at him but he's not bothered by it. He's a rescue and was on the streets of Abu Dhabi until 5 months old so probably got used to people shooting him away so no longer scared by it.
I'm not shutting him in all day, DH and I work so can't let him out mid morning for example, and he likes to come in at night to sit with us on the sofa and comes up to bed with us when we go. It would also mean a litter tray for the daytime which I don't want to deal with esp with a 1 year old crawling around

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Original poster
ottocat · 21/11/2021 19:59

@Winniemarysarah I think your story is rather an extreme example compared to Ottos behaviour! I wouldn't say I don't give a shit either as why would I be asking for advice if that were the case

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