Nightmare neighbour cat

[kirinm]

We live in an area with lots of cats. Most get on with each other / tolerate but there is one that is super aggressive and attacks other cats. I'm taking my cat to the vet for the 3rd time (we've only had her 18 months) due to a bite and a consequent abscess. My neighbours kitten was attacked yesterday too so she's also going to the vets.

We know it is the same cat doing the attacking but what can we do? Is it reasonable to ask the owner to keep him inside? I don't know what I would do if I was approached to say my cat is aggressive or how I'd stop it?

That’s illegal

Is the other cat a Tom? They often have quite distinctive 'fatter' faces which can help you tell. Unneutered are more aggressive and travel further, you could ask the owner to look at getting him neutered if so and if possible. Otherwise, get a water pistol and keep an eye on your garden, if he comes along give him a spray of it. Won't hurt him but will get him to change his behaviour over time. We have a big black cat that comes into our cats garden and sometimes fights with them, he gets shooed away when we see him.

We had this problem with a neighbour's Bengal terrorising all the other cats. Several different neighbours spoke to the Bengal's owner after paying hefty vet's bills to treat their injured cats. The Bengal's owner build a catio in their garden and the problem was resolved.

Could you speak to some of your neighbours who have been affected and arrange for you all to have a word with the bully cat's owner? He may decide to contain his cat to avoid the discomfort/embarrassment of repeatedly apologising to disgruntled neighbours.

By all means ask but you aren't in control of what they do so if they say no then what do you do?

No it's not 'fair' but I don't think any of us have ever been promised fairness in life.

If they won't keep their cat in or enclosed in their own garden then fair or not you have to protect your own cat. Doesn't have to be by keeping them inside. You could install a catio or have cat proof fencing put up.

😂 previous about their cats balls made me laugh. Think we will go with the water option.

My cat is now under sedation having her abscess lanced with a temp of 40C. I'm not sure how I cat proof our garden but I will try and will also ensure she's kept inside at night.

I'm not really expecting the neighbour yo trap her cat inside - although she lives in a second floor flat so not even sure how he gets in and out. But I will do what I can to make him stay away.

We will be speaking to the owner. There are 3 neighbours with vet bills and scared cats but I also don't want to bully the owner! I think she just needs to know her cat is aggressive and causing injuries on a regular basis and she definitely needs to get him neutered if he isn't already.

Irony is he's a beautiful cat. Just angry.

You broke the law? You presumably lied to the vet and told them it was yours or else they also would have broken the law

I'd forgotten about this until you posted this OP, but our 2 cats were attacked relentlessly by our neighbour's cat and the neighbour was my DH's boss. We didn't say anything to him, but one day 2 of his older daughters found us spraying their cat up our tree and they were understandably very much aggrieved, until we pointed out that he had cornered both of our cats up the tree above him and as soon as we stopped spraying, he then started to go higher and attack them again. They managed to coax their cat down the tree and then we ended up explaining that we'd already had about £300 in vets bills due to cat bites from their cat and damage from their cat getting in through our cat flap. The daughters then told their parents and the parents (inc boss) came over with gift apologies and we didn't see their cat around nearly as much after that. I don't know whether they just kept him in more at that point, or something else (bell on collar etc) but it was better.

I've had a similar situation previously and luckily the neighbour was understanding and sorted it but if they're not, you have to cat proof your garden.
I'd not have outdoor cats now anyway. De-icer, cruel people, poisoned wildlife (mice etc), cars, dogs..
. Nope.

Poor cats.

My bill today is £500.

We’ve had success with a sonic device from Amazon. I had my doubts but after a couple of weeks the bothersome cat stopped coming on to our property. You point it in the direction of where they enter. Our own cat is not bothered by it and has regained her territory. We installed two, one front and one back of property, they emit a sound not audible to humans.

My previous kept getting attacked and got abscesses. I kept them inside at night and then more often.
its about about protecting my animals.
my cats now stay in my house and garden.
some cats will fight.
you can clean abscesses with cooled boiled salt water. ( sea salt, not table)
ive only ever had to treated mine with antibiotics, as ive always cleaned mine out.

Nearly £700 and found out that her insurance doesn't cover an abscess. That is, of course, because the neighbour's cat bit her previously and now it's being treated as pre existing.

Oh, your poor little baby!

Oh, poor little love. I hope she makes a quick recovery.

Poor little love! Please show your neighbour the picture, hopefully will jog her conscience, but my concern is that if she is in a flat she may not want to keep the cat indoors. Good luck!

What !!
That is absurd .
An abscess through a bite is an accident not a condition surely .

The fact she has been bitten before , is this new wound in exactly the same place ? And even if it is , does this mean a pre-exsisting abscess is still there after treatment ?
This is a new episode of injury .

That sounds like the Insurance are taking Pre-Exsisting Conditions to the wire to stop them from paying .

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I'm going to call them tomorrow.

This is what the policy says

OP, can I suggest that you get your cats checked for FIV.

Well worth phoning them I think to clarify.
Our male cat scratched his eye (we'd had him about 4 months ) , took him to the Vet ( gel and drops but it was only very superficial )
We didn't claim because it was £80 and after the excess probably not worth claiming .
But as he only has 2 eyes , if he was injured again they could say "Well yes , pre-exsisting injury" if it was the same eye .

But a bite on one part of the body then rules out a bite on another part ?
Mad !

Get a real bruiser of your own to keep it off. We had a very nice (big) cat but when a bully moved into the neighbourhood he took them out repeatedly to protect the other cats.

We’ve had this problem recently with a £100+ vet bill including antibiotics. My husband got the offending moggy with some water last week and he hasn’t been seen on our garden since.

I have asked about that. She's vaccinated but they said it wouldn't show up for a couple of weeks so will have to wait for now.