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??

But the neighbour shouldn't have to secure their house in case a cat comes in and decides to go on the rampage. Even if the cat flap was closed, the cat could still get in through an open window or door (as has happened in our house multiple times in the past).

Luckily none of us have any allergies, but even so, why should people just have to accept random cats coming onto their property?

This whole post is totally irrelevant because cats and dogs are not comparable either by law or by common sense.

Just because the law says cats are allowed to roam doesn't mean people should have to put up with any of the stuff I posted. It's not ok for cats to get into other homes kill their pets, steal human food or kill wildlife.

Responsible owners that care about their cats shouldn't want their pets to be a nuisance nor should they want to risk them being poisoned, hit by a car or being harmed in any way by cruel individuals. I cannot comprehend having a pet and letting it roam around risking it being harmed/killed or killing something else. Why would you when it's all preventable?

Cat proof your gardens, the cat is still allowed outside and won't be a nuisance or come to any harm. 🤷🏼‍♀️ win win

It's not actually that straightforward - cat owners still have an obligation to prevent their cats from doing damage to other people and property - and a pet bird is someone's property.

I keep hearing people talk about cat proofing a garden but I'm yet to see how it would be easily achieved, our garden is massive. I can't stick chicken wire over it all.

Cats roam. It's their nature and it's the law. I explained below that my cat has always been an outdoor cat. We live rurally and he's spent most of his 15 years in the fields behind our house having a glorious time. He does venture by the road sometimes and I do worry. But I would rather risk an accident and know he's had a full, happy life outdoors than keep him cooped up and miserable. It's unfair. And unfortunately once he's out, other than putting a bell collar on him, I can't really control what he does.

There are lots of natural deterrents you can use to keep cats off your garden by the way.

Cat owners are being called entitled on this thread but has it not occurred to you that's it's also entitled to think that something you don't like should just be removed from society? As I've said there are many things that annoy and inconvenience me, I don't demand they all stay indoors.

I feel for the budgie and I'd be mortified if my cat did this but the owner knew full well the cats could get in so he's been negligent by not preventing it. Or speaking to the op about it. Or by letting his bird out unsupervised.

But @catelynjane we're not talking about windows or doors, we're talking about a pet flap. Which are used mainly by....cats. They just are. We all know it. If I had a flap which opens indiscriminately I'd have to expect several visitors a day in my area! (Loads of cats). If I had a budgie for a pet I'd be damn silly to think it's going to be safe for as long as such a means of access for felines.

The law and morality can sometimes be very different, but that doesn’t mean we just disregard the latter because we wouldn’t end up in court for it. It’s about being a decent person and caring about the other beings you share space with.

This thread is absolute proof that some cat owners are the most entitled of people. The arrogance is obvious but they just can't see it.

If you can't contain your pet in your garden then don't come whining about what happens if it goes into someone else's. It's a risk you take.

I keep hearing people talk about cat proofing a garden but I'm yet to see how it would be easily achieved, our garden is massive. I can't stick chicken wire over it all.

You could build a Catio. Get cat-proof fencing, fence off an area of the garden away from the boundary. There are loads of ways to keep cats on your property -evidenced by the fact that millions of us do it quite easily all the time.

There are lots of natural deterrents you can use to keep cats off your garden by the way.

People shouldn't have to spend money to deter other people's animals from their property.

Cat owners are being called entitled on this thread but has it not occurred to you that's it's also entitled to think that something you don't like should just be removed from society? As I've said there are many things that annoy and inconvenience me, I don't demand they all stay indoors.

I love cats. I have cats and have always had cats since adulthood. But I don't think cats should be allowed outside to shit on other people's property, access their homes and torment their pets.

I feel for the budgie and I'd be mortified if my cat did this but the owner knew full well the cats could get in so he's been negligent by not preventing it. Or speaking to the op about it. Or by letting his bird out unsupervised.

His bird was inside his home! Why do you think it's someone else's responsibility to spend money to keep your pet off their property?!

@squirrelnutkin23 no one is asking for cats to be removed, people are saying that owners should be responsible for measures to be taken.

If you got into an accident with a cyclist and they hurt you I bet you would say ‘Oh well, not the cyclists fault, they have their right to roam, I just have to accept it!’. Of course you wouldn’t, you have a right to be safe. As other species have a right to be safe from cats when there are measures their owners can put into place to help prevent incidents. And yes we are entitled to that. Everyone is entitled to that. Its pure laziness and disrespectful to simply shrug your shoulders and absolve yourself of the problem because ‘cats roam’.

And this is why cat owners get themselves a bad name.

Keep your cat under control and then it won't let itself into other people's houses and kill their pets

Everyone saying "cats are allowed to roam, it's the law!" - how would you feel if your cat got into someone's house and got torn apart by a dog or another cat and killed?

Such as what? Honestly, cats are so hated on MN. I've seen some really sick threads about the 'harm they could come to' over the years. This one isn't so bad, granted.

I don't hate cats. I have three of them.

I just don't think they should be allowed to free roam in the way they do and I'm really not sure why we just accept that people can own a pet that's allowed to shit on other people's property and access their home with zero consequences.

It was his responsibility to keep HIS pet safe. And he didn't. Awful for the poor budgie but entirely unsurprising given he knew cats were using his cat flap which wasn't the right kind he actually needed. Why even have one when he claims his dog didn't use it :/

I don’t hate cats. I think it’s utterly sick what people do to them and it’s ridiculous that @PinkSparklyPussyCat had to secure her cat because people with catapults were hitting it, that’s utterly vile.

But it doesn’t alleviate the fact that cats kill other animals and that can be reduced or prevented. This man’s poor budgie is dead. And it was OP’s cat (she believes) that did it. She could have taken measures to prevent it but she didn’t and her attitude towards the situation has been totally unfair and uncaring, as have other posters.

Neither are okay and one does not negate the other.

Some really stupid comparisons on this thread. Comparing cats to humans- burglars, cyclists, kids and dogs 😂 so nonsensical.

@fatphalange Such as what? Honestly, cats are so hated on MN. I've seen some really sick threads about the 'harm they could come to' over the years. This one isn't so bad, granted.

Did you miss the posts where cats were killed by neighbour's dogs while in their gardens?

I imagine there are also accidental poisonings if they eat rat bait.

@catelynjane I don't have any cats :)

He should be able to have a dog flap on his own property without having to worry about his inside animal being killed, ffs.

I compared it to bicycles because she had already made that comparison earlier - so actually, it was entirely relevant and was a response to a previous comment.

Okay?

I was talking generally.

It would be so sad. But an accident. That's nature. Not many would start issuing threats of violence to their neighbours, I bet. Unlike drunk guy neighbour of the OP.

Other species have a right to be safe? That's bonkers. Not how nature and the food chain works unfortunately.

There literally are no other fool proof measures to stop this happening other than keeping cats indoors. It's not laziness, it's a balanced choice that cat owners take. I accept there are risks and I'd be gutted if anything happened to mine but I'd accept it because of my choice.

The cyclist accident doesn't stack up either. Sometimes accidents just happen. Why does there always have to be someone to blame? If the op had kept her cat in this wouldn't have happened. Equally if the budgie guy had kept his bird in a cage or done something to keep the cats out (knowing full well they can get in) it wouldn't have happened.

Who has come whinging about any of those scenarios?