Dog Community

Am I overreacting?

Posted : 6/26/2006 8:40:54 AM

I am putting this here because it kind of relates to Ben, plus I know many of you own cats. I love cats, and owned them for most of my childhood, but my SO is not really a "cat person".

There is a woman a few doors away from me who owns 2 cats, a brother and sister, I think. Definitely siblings, anyway. These cats enjoy the run of the neighbourhood, and frequently enter at least 6 houses on my street, including mine. They spend a lot of time in my backyard, and have terrified Ben to the extent that he won't go outside to potty if they are out there, which of course causes problems when I am trying to housetrain a puppy. He also barks like crazy if he sees one. For a long time, I was forced to keep all of my doors and windows shut, even upstairs, because I would find the cats all over my house, asleep on my bed etc. I in no way encouraged them to come in, and neither have any of the neighbours who have mentioned this to me.

The big problem here is that their owner thinks this is funny. Whenever anyone mentions this to her, she puts on this "aren't they just precious?" attitude, assuming everybody loves her cats as much as she does. Having spent more hours than I care to count chasing and luring these cats out from under my furniture to get them out of my house, I can assure you I do NOT love these particular cats as much as she does.

What really gets to me is that at least one of these cats "refuses" to wear a collar, so when it does go into someone's house there is no way of positively identifying where it came from. Since it could potentially be going into the home of someone either allergic or deathly afraid of cats (it does happen) I feel that this is unreasonable - we should AT LEAST have a right to know who to complain to. If I owned a cat that would not wear a collar, it would become an indoor cat - end of story. Instead everyone on my block constantly mentions this issue to our neighbour and all she does is laugh.

Am I being unfair here?

Kate

tashakota

Posted : 6/26/2006 8:50:58 AM

I don't think so. It would bug me to no end and if I caught one of the cats, off to the shelter it would go. I don't believe in outside pets, meaning pets left outside as their primary way of living. And having to chase animals OUT of my house would not be acceptable to me, so I would solve the problem by removing the cat from the ability to do so.

On another note, has any one ever told this woman straight up that they don't like it? That the next time they catch the cat, off to the shelter it will go?

rredbird

Posted : 6/26/2006 9:01:26 AM

*SIGH* that's why we have leash laws here - it applies to cats also.

No, you are not over-reacting.

I am not a fan of spray bottles but in this case i think it would be justified. I bought a small super-soaker water gun to use on our newest kitty who decided kitchen counters were good to play on. After a couple of squirts she no longer climbed on them. In your case I would get a heavy duty one and run them out of the yard too!

micksmom

Posted : 6/26/2006 9:02:36 AM

You shouldn't have to put up with someone elses animals making a nuisance of themselves on your property. If I were you, next time those cats were on my property, I'd put them in a carrier and call animal control. I'm about to do that with 3 cats around here. Besides pooping in the flower bed, our cat almost goes through the window when they're over here.

glenmar

Posted : 6/26/2006 9:18:06 AM

No you sure are not over reacting.

Cats shouldn't be roamin around loose anymore than dogs should be, if for no other reason than for their own personal safety.

I once had a stray decide that the backseat of my van was the PERFECT place to give birth. Many hundreds of dollars later I could STILL smell cat pee on a warm day and had to trade the van in.

You and the neighbors need to tell this woman that no in fact her cats are NOT precious when they are on your property and that they will in fact go to the shelter if she doesn't contain them.

Julie Byers

Posted : 6/26/2006 10:07:27 AM

Kate I don't think you are over reacting, but it sounds like you and your neighbors are frustrated that this gal is not taking your hints regarding her cats wanderings. If she is this ignorant then you can't expect her to catch subtle hints either. Tell her it's time for a heart to heart chat and let her know it really is a problem and ask her to contain her pets. It's up to her after that point. Be prepared to take action if she doesn't follow through. Otherwise, you might as well keep food dishes at your house for her cats as they will be frequent and permanent visitors. Good luck on this, TTFN! Jules

mudpuppy

Posted : 6/26/2006 10:46:39 AM

this is ridiculous. However, human nature being what it is, perhaps it might work better to appeal to the owner about the cat's safety. Tell her your new dog is a cat-killer, and you're worried about the cat's lives. Something like that, rather than scolding and appealing to her sense of responsibility.

karin

Posted : 6/26/2006 11:06:34 AM

I agree. Tell this woman that you do not like the cats coming into your home. Be very firm with her, and tell her that if it happens again, you will simply call AC, and have the cats removed from your property. Maybe you can get some of your neighbors together, and talk to her at the same time, so she realizes that you are not the only one who dislikes this. Stick to your plan, and call AC next time the cats are in your house, or drop them off yourself. When this woman has to pay a fee to get them back, perhaps she will stop letting them roam the neighborhood. For the yard, get a super-soaker. When Ben goes out to potty, bring the super soaker with you, and squirt the cats. They will learn to avoid your yard, and water does not harm them, cats just dislike it.

Our cats are inside only. It drives me crazy when either the neighbor cats, or stary cats wander through our yard. The saints love OUR cats, but the strays drive them crazy as well. Here are just a few things that have happened in the last year with starys in our yard:
1. I have to put excess dogfood in a rubbermaid container at night, otherwise starys eat it. The eating does not bother me, its waking up to cats fighting in our yard at night. Which of course, wakes up the saints. Then they want outside. I do not like 3 AM potty breaks.
2. Some of the male strays have started to mark their territory in our yard. They have marked on the raised food bowls, the shed, lawn chairs. They know the dogs are inside at night, and consider our yard "theirs". I hate them.
3. We had some 40 below zero weather last winter. A stray crawled under our back porch (which is like a small deck) and died. Marley and Shaq spent days sniffing around the porch, until one morning Marley patted her paws under the steps, and pulled out a very large, very dead cat. It was disgusting, and I was running around our yard at 6 AM in my robe, so I could have Marley "trade" the cat for a piece of hamburger.
4. Recently the neighborhood tom, whom Shaq and Marley hate with a burning passion, figured out that the dogs can't get out of the fence. He parades up and down the fence, marking "his" territory. This drives the dogs nuts, and they bark. I of course have to go out, and bring them inside. They need at least a few minutes of peace outside to potty! Saturday night, while bringing the dogs in Marley lunged for the cat (he was right outside of the fence) and I ended up with an broken toe. I WILL be trapping that cat.

sharismom

Posted : 6/26/2006 11:58:57 AM

I can't believe this woman doesn't care that her cats go into your (and other neighbors' houses)! I can't even believe that those cats feel comfortable just sauntering in or climbing in your windows. You are practically a hostage! I'd be livid. People...[:@]

jeano

Posted : 6/26/2006 1:42:40 PM

My2saints: Your story of the feral cats reminds me of my war on the feral rabbits around here. I hear you!!! I had the same problem: with rabbits all over the place, no WAY would Sofia pee when we went out!

Kate, if you can get at least one or two other neighbors to go with you to talk to the woman about her cats, I think that'd make the most impact. Be direct.

janobonano

Posted : 6/26/2006 2:57:59 PM

I'm allergic to cats, and I'm pretty sure that's not rare, so I would say you are definitely not overreacting!

dasher

Posted : 6/26/2006 3:25:11 PM

Don't think you are over-reacting at all. I agree with mudpuppy. I would confront the neighbor and appeal to the safety of her cats. I would say that we fear Ben make attack her cats. If that didn't work, off to the shelter they would go.

fizzlbriches

Posted : 6/26/2006 3:40:25 PM

I wouldn't say that you fear the pup might attack the cats because you don't want her repeating that "you admitted your dog is vicious" and, yes that would be an exaggeration of what you said but things tend to get "lost in translation" and when she repeats the story etc etc etc.

I, personally, would look up the codes \ leash laws for your area, or call AC to find out...then politely explain that while she finds this "amusing" or "precious" you find it "harrassing" and that should you find any unwanted animals on your property or in your house you will have them removed by animal control. Do this every single time, AC will get tired of dealing with her (if she doesn't get tired of bailing them out of jail first).

Thats just me, I'm not really a mean person but I do have very low tolerance and once you have irratated me it isn't easy for me to chill out.

Good Luck

Benedict

Posted : 6/26/2006 5:30:39 PM

Thanks, everyone. I didn't want to get fired up before confirming that other people would feel the same way I do. (Other than my neighbours who have to suffer through this as well.)

I know she has been told that we hate this. She went away for a few days and a neighbour I am quite close with looked after them. I told her about what the cats did and she did me the huge favour of keeping the cats in all day so I could open my windows and get some fresh air into the house. When their owner came back, the neighbour who had been catsitting did tell her that she kept the cats in all day so they would not be a nuisance to the rest of us.

The woman who lives in between us and this cat-owner will definitely go with me to speak to her, so I will try that. If not, I am going to take them to the RSPCA the next time this happens. That may cause problems for her, since she GOT the cats from the RSPCA, and here they have very strict rules about providing a good and appropriate home for rehomed animals. I doubt they will look kindly upon this woman letting her cats wander around collarless. She even admitted to me that the only reason she got them chipped was because at least one won't wear a collar, and she seems highly unconcerned about putting other people through the effort of taking her animals to a vet or shelter to be scanned because they aren't identifiable. For a TRUE stray, I would not see this as a hardship, but she is abusing this, IMHO.

Kate