How to stop young cat going into neighbours’ houses?

[AngryBirdsNoMore]

Hello

I have a young female (spayed) Bengal cross. She’s an indoor-outdoor cat who we got as a rescue at about 6 months (she and her siblings were the result of a Bengal queen escaping and having a liaison with a local Tom). The fosterers were clear that she would need to continue to have access to the outside. Bengals are such a clever, active breed and she had become used to outdoor access.

She turned one a few months ago and is not a small cat. We have a fairly saturated neighbourhood when it comes to cats, so inevitably other cats have been coming into our garden to establish it as theirs and she has been roaming into other gardens to explore new territories. Terrace houses, London, cul de sac with very little traffic.

The problem comes with the fact that most of my neighbours are leaving their bifold doors, kitchen doors and windows etc open to make the most of summer - as are we! - and the cat is going into other people’s houses.

I got a shitogram WhatsApp from my (very unpleasant at the best of times) next door neighbour today, stating her rage in very aggressive terms that my cat was going into her house, as she has a cat herself and doesn’t want to deal with cat fights. My next door neighbour on the other side (a truly delightful woman and an exemplary neighbour) has also noted that the cat goes into her conservatory which she isn’t very keen on.

Is there anything I can do? Buy them water pistols?

Im due to give birth in three days and don’t really want neighbour and cat drama :(

Thanks

You can only stop your cat going in other people's houses by either keeping the cat indoors, or by cat proofing your garden and letting her out in that. If you let her wander freely, by definition you have no control over where she goes.

Our neighbour's young cat came into my house. Once. If my spaniel hadn't been dozing I would have returned a bag of dismembered limbs and body parts. He's faster than a cat and just as nimble and slim. Cat-proof your garden.

What are you expecting people to suggest? It’s the risk of getting the only pet in this country that is legally allowed to do whatever it wants with no repercussions to the owners. I love cats like I do all animals but I don’t think they should be allowed as pets tbh. You have no control over what it does when it’s loose, and it’s clearly causing issues with multiple people. Someone will take matters into their own hands eventually.

If a neighbour complains about DCat, my standard response is "I'll have a word with him."

Without putting chicken wire over the top of the entire garden I’m not sure cat proofing is possible. I’ve looked at pictures of cat proofing and she’d foil a lot of them. She’s a big, ingenious cat.

We’ve had cats here before but never had this issue of going into other houses.

As large of a catio that your garden can accommodate.

🤣🤣

Im not sure the Litter Tray is the subforum for you if you don’t think cats are meant to be pets…

Cat proof fencing

catio

leash training and walks

all of these are possibilities. They take time and effort on your part, but it is your cat and therefore your responsibility. The law may be on your side, but the law isn’t necessarily correct. You can do better.

We’ve got a neighbour that’s complained about everyone’s cats for the 21 years he’s been here. There’s been a few that liked to wander in and out of my house at will, I quite liked them though and the children were delighted, but not everyone likes strange cats in their house. Over the last 2 decades we know of at least 16 cats in the neighbourhood that have died from anti freeze poisoning. It’s pretty obvious who’s being doing it but never any evidence. There’s only 2 cats left now belonging to a neighbour 2 doors away from the cat killer. She did have 4, but when she was on holiday she came back to 2 dead from anti freeze, one very sick (but survived), she keeps the remaining two in now. I’d advise you to ‘have a word’ with your cat about not eating any funny smelling tuna lying around

Covering my entire garden with special meeting is exactly what I have done. It is v possible. It keeps my cats safe and stops them annoying anyone else. In the past I have also had various catios built in previous gardens. Your cat is still very young for a Bengal and is likely to get worse about annoying the neighbours as he/she matures to adulthood. Bengals are notorious to be annoying to neighbours and neighbouring cats. If your neighbours are getting cross now it is likely to get worse so you need to act to prevent it.

This is probably a very fair comment. Our previous two bengals didn’t bother the neighbours at all, so maybe I’m hoping for too much from this one. They were older when we got them though.

Netting!

It popped up on active, I don’t tend to look at subforums…

And I don’t think they should be pets out of concern for the cats. Some people are intolerant of animals belonging to other people that have absolutely no control over them, and it sounds like at least one neighbour has it in for it. Your options are to keep it in or risk letting it out when you’ve already had warnings from two people that they are not happy with its behaviour. I do find that some cat owners have an arrogance about them that nothing they do is ever their fault, I do see in your post that you’ve stated ‘the problem is the neighbours are leaving their doors and windows open’. Not that you have a loose roaming animal going into houses

This. In some other countries it’s standard for cats to have to be kept in doors or enclosed gardens. The situation we have over here with cats is bizarre and not allowed for any other pet I can think of. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to cat proof your garden. If your nice neighbour has shown a bit of dissatisfaction I would work hard to sort the issue. Your cat might still get out but I’m sure your neighbours seeing you put in effort to solve the issue will be appreciated.

No Ah, you’re right, that was badly written. The neighbours having their windows open is absolutely not the problem. The problem is that my cat is going into those windows. Definitely no blame on the neighbours who are just enjoying their property. It’s just that that’s the factor that has changed.

Very good points.

May I ask for a link to the type of netting you use? Or the name?

Bloody hell I wonder if my dads moved next to yours? He hated cats with a vengeance. To be fair our estate was overrun and they were in our house all the time. They killed his pet chickens, a couple used to piss up our curtains whenever they got in, and one year one dragged the Xmas Turkey out the back door when my mum put in on the side to rest. His method used to be an air rifle or golf club :/

There's a bengal cross who lives close to me and is regularly in my garden and even in my house. It is aggressive and generally a menace. It attacked my 4 month old kitten in front of me ripping her stomach open requiring 3 days in hospital for surgery and a £1500 vet bill. I'd never heard a cat scream before - if I'd not stopped it she would have been killed. This happened in my house - it was a hot day and we had the back door open. It returned last week, attacked my adult car in the garden (my son intervened) and another vet bill for leg injuries and antibiotics. On Friday it did the same to my neighbours cat. It's so violent - I get that cats fight but this cat is in a different league. It might be worth working out now how you'll try to keep your Bengal closer to home OP - though I do appreciate how difficult that will be.

You can definitely tell the difference between cat owners and people who have had their lives made a misery by them. I try to avoid threads like these as I can’t get my head around the mindset that keeping these animals is a good thing. They’re full of snide comments like @KirstenBlest thinking she’s being really funny and clever when these animals are being nuisances or even downright dangerous. The op has gone out and not just got a cat, but a particular breed that is notorious for these kind of issues. And just happens to be a breed that is fucking massive and insanely strong compared to your normal house cat. One of the neighbours concerns is it coming into her house and attacking her cat. Perhaps she can take Kirsten’s advice and ‘have a little word with it’ about it not ripping the neighbours cat to shreds like one did to your kitten.

Angrybirdsnomore.. sorry don’t know how to link my answer to your question.
I got my current garden fully fenced in and paid the same man extra to fit wooden bars that sit at top of fencing in a relaxed L shape- that allowed me to fit netting at an angle then using cable ties and elbow grease I stretch it right across garden ( about 8foot high). You can buy specialised cat netting- it is v expensive. I got blue rubble netting- v strong and the blue against the blue sky is less noticeable I feel. So far it has lasted three years. The snow did bring a section of it down last year but it was easily fixed. My cats love it as they are all rescued/ex feral so they get lots of garden time but the ( not friendly) neighbourhood cats can get into them

Cat proof your garden.

We have ours done by katsecure and it’s brilliant.

I’m really surprised you were advised to allow a Bengal cross outdoors. They have a strong hunting instinct and can cause a lot of damage to other cats, rabbits and wildlife in the area.

When I saw the thread I immediately assumed this cat would be part Bengal. Just saying...

Jesus. That’s horrendous, I’m so sorry. No, my cat is definitely not the aggressor. She stands her ground when other cats come into ‘her’ garden but runs as soon as they make a move - hence she’s looking for new territory I guess. Her main attack / defence technique seems to be to poo herself in fright…

That cat sounds like there’s something seriously wrong with it. I hope you’ve been able to identify the owners to at least get them to pay the vet bills.