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BS: nasty neighbour's cat
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Subject: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 07 Jan 07 - 12:59 PM This is on behalf of a friend. She has a male cat that's being annoyed, to put it mildly, by a neighbouring Burmese. The latter can be chased away by a water pistol or a water sprinkler, but not permanently. It comes into my friend's garden and frightens her cat. The latter is reasonablt feisty but not aggressive. The owner of the Burmese is unresponsive to my friend's worries. My frriend's cat sometimes needs to go thru the Burmese's garden to get to and from. There the Burmede seems less aggressive, which my friend puts down to the presence of the owner. my friend suspects the Burmese is seeking to be top of the 'pecking order' and that her cat isn't fitting in with the plans of the Burmese. My friend's cat books don't seem to address that sort of situation. Any suggestions for dealing with this would be welcome. Thanks in advance. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Captain Ginger Date: 07 Jan 07 - 01:03 PM I fear that, short of teaching the male cat jiu jitsu or finding a way to reattach his testicles (assuming he's been neutered), there's not much to be done. Cats have a defined pecking order (as I know, with three of them under my feet), and that order is kept in place by regular cuffing and bullying down the chain. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: katlaughing Date: 07 Jan 07 - 01:07 PM Have your friend do her own cat a favour and build it a simple enclosure outside a window. It will be safe from traffic, bully cats, dogs, etc. It doesn't cost much if you use plain boards and chicken wire to build a "box" then butt it up against the house and attach with screws or nails. Our cats have used one for years, even have a "balcony" (horizontal board) on which they step out and sit, or climb down a slanted board to the grass. I did this, originally, with cats which had been let to run on the prairie in WY, with an open window, free range. We moved back East and they knew nothing about traffic, so they instantly became inside cats. It also saves birds if you confine them. I heard some story on NPR the other day in which they claimed a gazillion songbirds are killed every year by cats. One state legislator wanted to give hunters rights to kill loose cats. Thankfully he was unsuccessful, but as |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Jan 07 - 01:52 PM Has the neighbor's cat been neutered? That reduces the aggressive behavior a lot. Altering by stealth is an idea (but not a great one--you're so close-by they'll no doubt know who captured the young guy and commissioned the surgery). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: katlaughing Date: 07 Jan 07 - 01:57 PM Besides which if it is pedigreed it may be used for breeding and you could be open to a lawsuit for lost stud fees. Though, if they are using it that way they are idiots to let it roam free! |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 07 Jan 07 - 02:26 PM Apparently the Burmese has been neutered. Also the vet says things will eventually settle down. The situation did improve for a while and has since deteriorated. Thanks so much for your responses. Any others would be welcome. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Cluin Date: 07 Jan 07 - 02:30 PM People should be forced to tie up their cats. I have to tie up my dog so he doesn't shit in the neighbour's garden. Do the same with the cats. Thank you. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: DMcG Date: 07 Jan 07 - 02:53 PM Not to depress you or anything, but we've been trying to deal with the same problem for well over a year now and have had no success at all. There are just three variations: a) the offending cat has not been neutered b) We have no idea who owns the cat. It seems too well looked after to be homeless - it is longhaired and always appears reasonably groomed as well as well fed - but can be seen at any hour of the day or night. c) Given the slightest chance, it comes into our house and makes itself at home. (It also does that to our immediate neighbours.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Helen Date: 07 Jan 07 - 03:21 PM We also have a problem, but with one of our own cats. He is a big, boofy cat and has been neutered but that makes no difference to his behaviour. He still is top of the pecking order in a family of 6 cats and 2 humans, sometimes. There is his grandmother, his aunt, his sister, his niece and his nephew. I don't know what breed he is. He is tabby with yellow underfur. He continually bullies his very gentle aunt, and nothing we do seems to stop him, except keeping them separated. We've tried the spray bottle, which works for everything else, we've tried the alpha male or female trick, and if he has misbehaved and we go for him and push him firmly (but not roughly) down he drops to the floor and stays there until we move away. Sometimes he drops without being pushed, because he knows the drill now. I feel dominated by this cat sometimes because he rules the roost, although we act like the alphas to try to convince him otherwise. So, I'm interested in ideas too. Helen |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: MMario Date: 07 Jan 07 - 03:47 PM ?? The burmese is LESS agressive in it's own territory? That's a little ass-backwards. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: GUEST,Jon Date: 07 Jan 07 - 04:08 PM Where the cat feels his territory is need not be the same as where the neighbours boundaries are, MMario. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: SINSULL Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:01 PM I am having similar problems with a neighbor's cat. They moved in and he decided he likes my yard better than his. He sits under a holly bush and growls at anyone going in or out of my house including me. I have discussed this with him but he is rather rude and refuses to listen. So there are frequent spitting matches lots of territorial spraying and occasional minor spats. I still have to face the neighbors who assume that any cat yowling at 3AM is mine. Seamus is a good deterrent, The neighbor's cat is terrified of him while mine have a live and let live attitude towards their buddy. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Podger Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:11 PM SINSULL, did you really mean to say that you go in for territorial spraying? |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:24 PM Suely he's talking about cat activity. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:31 PM Sins - that's surprising. I usually get on very well with cats. Seamus |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Cluin Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:34 PM I was gonna ask how you've been terrifying all the local pussies, Seamus. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Cluin Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:35 PM Then I decided I didn't want to know. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Peace Date: 07 Jan 07 - 05:37 PM Why isn't it now called a Myanmarese now? |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 07 Jan 07 - 06:25 PM Old habits die hard? old habits die hard II? We talk about the ......aw,so thread-drift-like. Anyway,thanks katlaughing. my friend, being a Tau.....,well anyway, she started thinking of difficulties. unfortunately I've put up bookshelves in the past,so she might call on my assistance tho' she's dextrous. (No,you don't get that from the chemist) Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: SINSULL Date: 07 Jan 07 - 06:37 PM Yes I spray long and wide - but with a plant sprayer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: freda underhill Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:12 PM Ivor, i had a similar problem for a couple of years. i live in an inner city community with a large open garden. a neighbouring virile, jaunty and maurauding cat was a very unwelcome visitor to a couple of cats ocver this side of the garden. a water pistol or a water sprinkler are too polite. What your friend needs is about a good bucket or two of water, full and ready in advance. The Burmese will get the message pretty quickly. freda |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: ragdall Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:28 PM Why isn't it now called a Myanmarese now? ...because, as an exile, the cat refused to recognize the current regime? |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Mrrzy Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:33 PM Someone around here didn't like the neighbor's cat on his apparently expensive car, so he shot it - the cat, not the car- and it lived long enough to go home and be found by the children of the house. It's been a big deal in the local papers... |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Paul from Hull Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:36 PM *LOL* Ragdall! |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Peace Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:43 PM LOL |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: JennieG Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:57 PM Cats don't like citrus or vinegar, so have you tried spraying with lemon juice or vinegar in the water? I think one of the TV vets here recommends this to get the message across to a cat that it is unwelcome in a certain area. You might have to experiment with the proportion of juice or vinegar to the amount of water. Cheers JennieG |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Peace Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:58 PM Mark Twain had a method to get a cat to eat mustard. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: GUEST, Topsie Date: 07 Jan 07 - 07:59 PM I was quite pleased when I saw my cat using my nasty neighbour's gravel as a litter tray - serves him right for cutting the top off my Deutzia bush. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Peace Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:01 PM "serves him right for cutting the top off my Deutzia bush. " I am afraid to ask . . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Little Hawk Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:08 PM There is nothing that can be done about a cat that likes to bully other cats, short of either 1. killing it...or 2. making it impossible for that cat to physically approach the other cats. I do not recommend killing the neighbour's cat. Therefore, either live with the problem or find a way to make it impossible for the Burmese to get near enough to your cat to bully it. For some things, only time is a solution. The nicest cat we ever had was bullied into a rapid health decline and an early death (through illness) by another cat we had who was an outright aggressive bastard who lived to beat hell out of other cats. In retrospect, we should have gotten rid of the aggressive one, but my parents did not recognize how serious a problem it was until too late. I was quite young at the time, and that's all I can remember about it. Neutering causes some cats to be less inclined to aggression...but it's no guarantee. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Rowan Date: 07 Jan 07 - 08:48 PM I wondered at the beginning whether the thread title should have been "Neighbour's nasty cat", as my suggestion shouldn't be applied to a nasty neighbour. I have long held the view that any cat outside its owner's property should be regarded as a feral cat. There was a time when I inclined to the view that a sudden and quiet exposure to a very heavy metal was a good way to deal with feral cats; while effective, it caused me to lose out with a wonderful lady who thought all cats that had been dumped in my local Reserve were lovely creatures with a right to be there rather than be summarily dealt with. C'est la vie! Irony intended. Given that there are laws against such behaviour and the desire to get along with neighbours limits similar actions, I can recommend acquiring a friendly dog with a healthy sense of territoriality that befriends residents but warns nonresidents to look to their loins. Although I prefer macropods and small marsupials around my house (meaning I don't keep either dogs or cats) I've had various friends tell me that dogs can be quite effective in discriminating positively to a resident cat and against nonresident cats. Cheers, Rowan |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: ragdall Date: 07 Jan 07 - 09:07 PM Male cats are territorial. Female cats are hunters/providers. Neutering doesn't change this. Nor does it, (as I was dismayed to discover after having both my cats neutered), prevent either gender from spraying to leave messages for other cats. Those generalizations aside, each gender will defend territory, or hunt, when she or he feels inclined to do so. "My frriend's cat sometimes needs to go thru the Burmese's garden to get to and from." If your friend's cat is going onto the other cat's garden, why is your friend complaining about the other cat coming into her cat's garden? You've used the terms, " being annoyed" and "frightens", but I haven't read any indication that the neighbour cat is actually attacking your friend's cat. Does it? Maybe your friend's cat is behaving wisely in cat fashion when he gives way to the other cat? If the two cats are going to continue to share the same territory, (the combined yards, which both seem to feel free to use), they will have to sort it out themselves, without interference from your friend. Your friend's cat may not end up being the dominant one. If she can't accept that, she'll have to devise means to prevent the other cat from entering her yard when her cat is outdoors, or stay with her cat when he is out. In any case, she'd be wise to prevent her cat from wandering as there are many other dangers which can cause him more harm than the neighbour's cat will. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Rapparee Date: 07 Jan 07 - 10:36 PM Women and cats will do as they will, and men and dogs better get used to the idea. -- Heinlein. Our boundaries are not animal boundaries. Not even if we fence them. Why must your friend's cat cross the Burmese's yard? |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Little Hawk Date: 07 Jan 07 - 10:41 PM We'd have to ask the cat to get the definitive answer for that. Assuming the cat would deign to give us one. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: katlaughing Date: 07 Jan 07 - 11:42 PM Sorry if my suggestion has you busy, autolycos.:-) Just tell her to get a staple gun, get the lumberyard to cut the boards the right lengths, nail them together in a box with three sides. Staple the chicken wire around it and on top, then bung it up against the hosue and apply nails or screws. EZEE-PZZZ!**bg** I'll try to remember to post a picture of ours, though it *ain't* pretty. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Cluin Date: 08 Jan 07 - 01:58 AM Beware the cats! They are not to be underestimated. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Gurney Date: 08 Jan 07 - 04:27 AM If you can find a motorcycle magneto-I know they are rare nowadays- you can ring a very effective electric fence. It shouldn't kill the cat, well, it didn't kill the cat or the dog that were using my motorbike as a territorial marker, but they accorded the Beezer great respect thereafter. You do have to sit there until the begger comes into contact with the wire, and then give a couple of turns. Whammo! But try it on yourself first. One of my customers has a Burmese, a big powerful neuter. He has turned their loop-pile carpet into something that looks like an uncut lawn, and their leather suite into ragged suede. Nice cat apart from that (says he, with a wry smile.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: GUEST,Bruce Michael Baillie Date: 08 Jan 07 - 08:17 AM ...I always find a well aimed King Edward (potato) hurled up the jacksie at great speed gets rid of most cats from my garden! |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 08 Jan 07 - 03:24 PM You're being very kind, one and all. i've taken advice from my client,let's call her Roz and actually that is her name. Katlaughing, the 'hutch' idea is not apparently necessary because the cat,Mr.Pie, can get into the house by a cat-flap. Roz isn't too keen on that also because she's more interested in sorting the Burmese out,know wha' I meeen? The Burmese does chase after Pie,who goes to the flap, and alternatively sits in Roz's garden waiting for Pie to appear. it does that far far more often than Pie goes thru the Burmese's garden. I'll have to find out if Pie doing that can be avoided. Roz finds the idea of the bucket difficult,trying to chase after a disappearing cat with same. Roz is also aware of sounding rather "yes but"-like. I haven't yet to get to "try some citrus or vinegar in the gun". Thanks Ragdall. She may well look at how to keep the other cat out,tho' it does give Mr.Pie grief. I don't think Roz is a dog person,she doesn't like them too much tho' again, thanks for the suggestion. Roz and I are very grateful for your ideas;I'm trying to steer her away from getting embarassed at your collective kindness. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: kendall Date: 08 Jan 07 - 04:16 PM I know what I'd do. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Becca72 Date: 08 Jan 07 - 04:34 PM Pellet guns are not a good option, father. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Rowan Date: 08 Jan 07 - 04:56 PM Tell Roz she shouldn't feel any embarrassment at all. It's communal inclination like this that makes the world an interesting place. Cheers, Rowan |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Cluin Date: 08 Jan 07 - 05:47 PM The old sandpaper & turpentine treatment. Then iodine on the scratches on your arms. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Greg F. Date: 08 Jan 07 - 05:50 PM A high-velocity .22 long rifle hollow point should work a treat. People need to learn there is no constitutional right for their pet -cat, dog, or what-have-you- to shit on or damage other people's property. Period. Not to mention the damage they do to wiildlife. Keep 'em indoors, or on a lead. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Peace Date: 08 Jan 07 - 05:56 PM "Pellet guns are not a good option, father." Think 'crossbow'. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Greg F. Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:03 PM Yeah, but them bolts ain't cheap & ita a pain gettin 'em out of the carcass. |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:10 PM LOVL Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:12 PM Blast - and yes,quite right, thread Should have read "Neighbour's nast cat" Sorry. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: autolycus Date: 08 Jan 07 - 06:31 PM N nastY c oh dear And nice of you to say,Rowan.Ta. Ivor |
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Subject: RE: BS: nasty neighbour's cat From: Rowan Date: 08 Jan 07 - 07:19 PM GregF refers explicitly to what I had originally implied in my first post above. Trouble is, there are laws about discharging firearms, especially in urban environments; in Australia it is specifically prohibited. So it's not my place to say that, when your backyard is unoccupied by a known companion animal and is thus routinely invaded by feral cats, but is surrounded by solid timber and there's no possibility of ricochet, the sound of a .22 short is unnoticed against the background urban hum of traffic. Two, though, pricks people's ears up and three will have them say "Some b--tard's shooting!" These days I don't recommend what was once a very effective response; I've become gentler. And I live in the bush. Because I have the occasional Antechinus invading the kitchen I use Elliot traps (collapsible sheet aluminium traps that keep captives alive and restful for later release) and I use a larger version if I see any dumped cats. Dumped cats usually have a low survival rate but 4th generation ones can be huge; 12 kg (~28lb for you unmetricated ones) is the largest I've yet seen and it needed a feral pig trap to catch it. A similar trap for the Burmese interloper (as used by people who relocate possums, raccoons etc) might be just the trick for Roz, who would then have a choice about any (or no) aversion therapy for the cat and its owner. Again, in Australia the Council Pound is a common destination for 'uncontrolled' domestic animals. Many councils have a requirement that domestic animals are microchipped, enabling the staff to locate the animal's owner who, on payment of a release fee, can take the animal home. If the animal has no microchip, tracing putative owners becomes more difficult but I'm sure community-minded people could offer suitable advice, after a week or so and before the pound's euthanasia policy is implemented Cheers, Rowan |
