Cats killed neighbours budgie!

[ethal80]

My nextdoor neighbour has a budgie whom he thinks the world of, he's a very tame bird and well trained.
Neighbour also has a dog flap installed...
I got a text early this morning asking if my cats were in. (I don't have a cat flap) I said that they'd been in all night, (which I thought they had) just been fed and let them out at 7am.
He told me his birdcage was open and budgie was gone...no windows open or no way of escape.
I helped search for the budgie...no luck. Later on today, I asked my son to brush our longhaired cat...he discovered blue feathers in his fur!! Unbeknown to me, my son had let him out and back in again at 4am this morning! He's killed the bird hasn't he? He's been known to go in the house as he gets along with the neighbours dog so isn't frightened.
Neighbour has been out thus morning, installed a motion camera, gone out and low and behold....my cat has again entered the property! He's sent me the footage of my cat at the cage today along with threatening messages to me and him saying that he's going to kill my f**King cats!
He's a big drinker and is out at the pub now with his brother and I just know that when they return, they're going to kick off. I'm so scared and feel sick at the thought of him harming my cats. I really think he's capable of it too as he hates cats anyway. I've got them both indoors now and filled the litter tray. Will try and keep them indoors until he's calmed down.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading if you've got this far but I just don't know what to do??

If he's sent you threats and violent texts I'd report him to the police. Your cat did something wrong (though it's a cat and what it did is no more than act in the ways it's own nature intended) and you should have sincerely apologised and offered to buy a new budgie (not that a new budgie is the same) but he's not allowed to resort to threats intimidation and violence . If he had run over your cat with his car you'd be mortified, grieving and probably angry but presumably you'd understand accidents happen and not resort to threatening him! That's not ok. Accidents happen, and this isn't something you could have controlled.

You owe them. Imagine if their dog killed your cat!

Do whatever is necessary to make reparations.

Yes this would be totally different if someone's dog had done this, only on Mumsnet is it his fault 🙄
It's your responsibility to monitor YOUR animal, he can have what he likes in his own house, he should not have to cat proof his house.
You should apologise and don't antagonise him further.

You have absolutely no right to dictate how someone else lives their life perfectly legally in their own home

None.

I'm shocked at your post

This. This site is absolutely batshit. Caring pet owner has a dog flap on his own property, dog doesn’t put a foot wrong. Caring owner POSSIBLY (not confirmed) has a loose pet budgie on his property, doesn’t put a foot wrong. Next door however, has a cat that repeatedly enters the other property, attacking and killing one of the other pets, and it’s ‘omg it’s totally not your fault op, how dare he have a dog flap and a budgie when you’ve got a cat. Your cat should clearly take priority if it wants to go in his house’ 🙄

You can absolutely cat proof a garden. And she does need a cat run, as not only is her cat responsible for repeatedly entering someone’s property, it’s now responsible for the death of their pet. And now he’s pissed off with the ops less than sympathetic response, there’s a good chance that her cat will also end missing in mysterious circumstances

I'd have been tempted to go out, purchase an identical looking one and stick it through the dog flap.

Alternatively get a friend to go round, knock on the door, ask if he's lost a budgie and say that they've just seen one on a roof nearby.

Exactly. The audacity of thinking anyone to insist it's his fault. His pet should be allowed to roam freely in its own house! Nobody should have to adapt their lifestyle because of someone else's cat!

...but it IS OP's fault. I don't get those saying it isn't.

It's not his responsibility to 'cat-proof' his house, it's the pet owner's responsibility to control their pets. As for his bird, he can let it fly around freely to its heart's content!

Put the shoe on the other foot and ask what you'd be saying if the neighbour had a pitbull and that pitbull had been let out into his garden. Now let's imagine that dog had escaped the garden, made it into your house, and killed your cat or even your child.

Do you think people would still be saying 'ah but it's not his fault'???

I'd eat humble pie. Do some research, find out what options you have for your cat AND him.

This is 100% the cat-owner's fault, so I'd start by looking at the possibility of keeping the cat indoors. If that's not possible (I'm a cat owner, so I see the issue), look at maybe buying him a new budgie, a proper lockable cage AND a dog flap on a timer so this doesn't happen again.

As I said, put yourself in HIS shoes... if this was your beloved pet, or your child, imagine THAT anger! Now think of all the steps you would want them to go through to prevent it from happening again.

I'm sorry, but if someone did that to my family... I wouldn't even want to think about what I'd be thinking...

This!! I cannot believe the people blaming the man for the OP failing to take responsibility for the actions of her cat!!!

He's every right to be absolutely livid with you. Threats are wrong certainly but he is within his rights to bloody well want to kill your cats and you for your shitty attitude.

My wife is Australian and has a slightly different opinion to cats than the uk. She would call it vermin and it would be treated as such. The man and the budgie did nothing wrong, but they are getting the blame for the ops actions. So say if he decided to put some bait or traps out for vermin and the ops cat becomes the victim, then that is her fault going by the same logic, yes?

Cats, unlike dogs and livestock can roam everywhere and don't have to be controlled by their owners.

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/getting-a-cat/cats-and-the-law

But owners still have a duty of care to ensure they don't injure people or damagae property.

Btw cats are regarded as property so hurting a cat does count as damage to property but in the same vein, damage caused by OP's cat would also count as the same!

There's nothing stopping him from, say leaving out rat poison and the cat eating it. He could claim it wasn't meant for the cat.

Your poor neighbour. How awful he must feel.

OP you haven’t sounded very caring at all. The way you love your cats is how he loves his budgie. All you’ve done is be concerned about yourself and your animals without giving a shit about his poor bird and his feelings. I’d be fucking livid if any animal killed mine so I get that he is angry. You need to have a bit more compassion. Keep your cat indoors, this is not your neighbours fault at all.

I have spent this weekend redoing my cat netting to make sure my garden is cat proof. It was damaged by latest storm but have stayed up for past three years. It is perfectly possible to cat proof garden or provide a catio.
Unbelievable that some posters are blaming the man for his budgie being attacked and killed in its own home.
If it was a child attacked by an Animal making its way into someone’s home would you be saying the same?
Esp as the cats have gone into his home before.
It may not be important to others but that bird was his pet.
You should be apologising with no ifs, buts or maybes.
And if he is likely to kick off then your cats are potentially in danger and need to be kept in.

Another one shocked that so many people are blaming the neighbour! It's pretty simple - your cats are your responsibility. If someone's dog got into your property and killed your cats that would be the dog owner's fault. I'm surprised there isn't more evidence of a dead budgie but if your cat goes into someone else's house then you need to stop your cat doing that. Sorry OP, but this is on you.

Am I misunderstanding and misread this? The cat went into HIS house and killed the budgie and it's the man's fault? The cage was open IN his house...how on earth is this the man's fault? I understand the law says cats can roam, but I would be very annoyed if someone else's cat came into my house and killed my pet.

Yes, I’ve two cats.

a long time ago I owned a hamster that unfortunately was eaten by my neighbors cat 🤷🏽‍♀️

I absentmindedly left the cage open and my neighbors cats wondered in. Things happen. Survival of the fittest. I didn’t text my neighbor all angrily telling her I was going to kill her cat.

So he's had a loose bird go missing this morning and in that time, he's been out, bought a camera, set it up and filmed your cat coming in, decided it's responsible and that he's going to come over and kill both cats for something he hasn't seen happen.

Aye, right.

That's alcohol talking.

A cat will roll around and play with feathers/dead birds if they find them anywhere, whether they've done the killing or not. As will dogs.

Call the police if he turns up tonight.

Was your hamster a beloved pet?

Was it killed inside your home?

@thebestinterest

You can't compare a pet you're ambivalent towards (I'm assuming given the reaction) and a pet that is loved by the owner.

So if a neighbours dog jumped through your window and killed your cats, that would be your fault?
That doesn’t make sense.

Do you also blame the victims when they’re killed by an aggressive dog?

When you own an animal, they are your responsibility and their actions are yours to deal with.

It’s never the victims fault, even if they could have taken measures to prevent it happening.

This man was not responsible for the death of his pet and it’s very nasty to say it was.

If he knew that your cat could get in the house then he should have ensured the poor budgie’s cage was in a secure place where the cat couldn’t get at it. Poor budgie (rip) would have been scared witless at your cat staring at it even if it was in its cage.

If the OP knew that her cat got in the neighbour’s house she should have taken steps to make sure it stayed in her own property / garden.

You can get locking cat and dog flaps, and ones which only open for special collars. Or you can just slot the cover in and stop them from being used. If I knew a neighbours cat was coming in, that is what I would do (and did when my neighbours ginger tom used to come in and steal my cats food).

Exactly this. Trust me you'd much rather keep your cat in or have a cat run then watch your cat in convulsions screeching in pain for 10 mins before dying. I was 10 and have never forgotten it. It's very easy to poison a roaming cat and very hard to prove as above poster said. This neighbor will say itsmy yard/house not my fault the cat roams and ate poison it's the cat owners fault. And he'd be right. I just do not understand why you or anyone else would put a loved pet in so much danger.

Did you see the bit where the op said he’d recorded the cat entering the property again and actually sent her the footage of her cat next to the cage? So what part of his story is unbelievable? I’m finding it hard to believe the op let her cat loose to go round there again. It says a lot that when it did it’s gone straight to the budgie cage. What a coincidence