neighbour dispute : cats

[KFC]

I've been having a bit of a dispute with one of my neighbours over his cats but we seem to be going round in circles and not achieving much. To cut a long and boring story short, basically his cats are stting in my outdoor area. Before the usual suspects pop along and say it must be foxes, aliens or anything other than a cat, I have the cat on webcam, doing a st in my garden

My main issue is I have dogs, and if they find non dog st they seem to love nothing more than rolling in it. So I've just had to bath my dog again today as she found the latest cat st before I did.

I complained to the neighbour about this and his response is basically 'tough luck, there is nothing I can do about it'. Its pissing me off that people think its okay just to have a cat and let it st wherever it likes... you shouldn't have a cat if you can't stop it making a mess on other peoples property!!

The property is dog proof (6-7 foot walls surrounding it) but obviously not cat proof. Me neighbour told me to put netting over the full area if I didn't want cats in it. I suggested he put netting on his, and keep his cat in it, which didn't go down very well.

The guy is just a selfish wker and there doesn't seem to be any reasoning with him. I suppose I could post all the turds back through his letter box but I'd rather avoid the childish route if possible. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a great way to resolve this outside of using an air rifle...

I've tried most of the previously suggested methods for keeping cats out, using other animals piss, vinegar, etc and none of them have worked.

I'm thinking of two other solutions to try - the first being put those nail strip things that hold carpets in place along the top of the wall. I figure its enough to give the cat a fright and hurt it a little, without seriously injuring it. The other is put vandal grease all over the top of the wall. I told the owner I was going to do that and he said if he ends up either with a vet bill or a cleaning bill he's going to expect me to pay it...

So what can I do here? My friend suggested catching the cat and dumping it miles away but I don't particularly want to do that. Plus if his cat goes missing I'm going to be the prime suspect...

[wasserboxer]

Teach your dog not to roll in st?

[KFC]

wasserboxer said:

Teach your dog not to roll in st?

One of my dogs won't even sit or stay and has been an absolute nightmare to train so far. I think its going to be near impossible to train her to avoid doing something that comes from instinct at this point in time.

[ikarl]

Hurting the cat or dumping it miles away??! Wtf???

Go and look in the garden before you let the dog out and put any st in the bin.. Not rocket science is it?!

[dazp]

The other is put vandal grease all over the top of the wall. I told the owner I was going to do that and he said if he ends up either with a vet bill or a cleaning bill he's going to expect me to pay it...

I think you should just do this. It's not your problem if his cat steps in it.
He can expect all he wants for you to pay it but as you are not the owner of the cat, it is his responsibility,

[Jasandjules]

KFC said:

My friend suggested catching the cat and dumping it miles away but I don't particularly want to do that. Plus if his cat goes missing I'm going to be the prime suspect...

Find another friend.

Also be very aware that sometimes these things can escalate and end very badly. Hurt someone's pet, be prepared for something to happen.

And you will be the first place he goes if anything does happen to his cat.

[KFC]

ikarl said:

Hurting the cat or dumping it miles away??! Wtf???

Go and look in the garden before you let the dog out and put any st in the bin.. Not rocket science is it?!

I leave the dogs with access to outside while I'm not at home - this was the main reason I bought this apartment, as it had such an unusual setup of very high walls surrounding it so it was absolutely perfect for dogs. So I can't always get to the sts before the dogs do.

I'm not going to maliciously hurt the cat... but I'm also not going to accept having cat st on my dogs, or dragged through here. When I came home the dog was sleeping on my bed, with a lump of cat st stuck to her. Thankfully it was on her back and none of it was on the bed.

I'm wondering if a row of those carpet things would work? I'd rather hurt the cat in a minor way than risk retaliation from the neighbour with vandal grease on his sofa...

[scdan4]

KFC said:

wasserboxer said:

Teach your dog not to roll in st?

One of my dogs won't even sit or stay and has been an absolute nightmare to train so far. I think its going to be near impossible to train her to avoid doing something that comes from instinct at this point in time.

To be fair he's got as much chance of training his cat as you have your dog.


Is it possible to let the dogs have the run of the area all the time? - I assume that the cat only goes in when the dog can't get to him.

Gripper strips work well - and I don't think that they will damage the cat (have to be a pretty heavy footed cat to end up on them). Some planters with low growing spikey plants may well be more acceptable.

I'd normally recommend some lion st - this does work wonders, but expect the mutt would roll in that instead!

Motion activated hose sprinklers alledgedly work as well.

[Vipers]

How about these untra sound emitters which are supposed to deter cats.

[KFC]

scdan4 said:

Is it possible to let the dogs have the run of the area all the time? - I assume that the cat only goes in when the dog can't get to him.

The main deciding factor in buying this flat was the ability to safely leave the dogs with access to outside while I wasn't home. The cat is stting while the dogs have access to outside but if they're upstairs when the cat enters they probably won't notice he's there. Its going to be messy if they catch him mid turd and he can't run away!

scdan4 said:

Motion activated hose sprinklers alledgedly work as well.

Not suitable as it'll end up soaking my own dogs too.

[KFC]

Vipers said:

How about these untra sound emitters which are supposed to deter cats.

My immediate next door neighbour has an old cat so I don't think I can really use any of those ultrasound things without harassing the innocent cat too. He's definitely not involved in the stting, his days of leaping up 6-7 foot walls are long behind him.

[IrateNinja]

Other than getting rid of the cat, can you actually think of a way that he could stop his cat from going where it chooses?

Training your dog not to go on your bed, and not to roll in st (basic training no?) would surely end this argument.

[anonymous-user]

KFC said:

you shouldn't have a cat if you can't stop it making a mess on other peoples property!!

How exactly do you think anyone is going to train a cat like that?

KFC said:

So what can I do here? My friend suggested catching the cat and dumping it miles away but I don't particularly want to do that. Plus if his cat goes missing I'm going to be the prime suspect...

You should put your friend in the boot and dump him miles away. How would you feel if someone did that to your dog?

[KFC]

Greg66 said:

KFC said:

you shouldn't have a cat if you can't stop it making a mess on other peoples property!!

How exactly do you think anyone is going to train a cat like that?

They obviously can't. Which means they shouldn't have a cat in the first place!

IrateNinja said:

Other than getting rid of the cat, can you actually think of a way that he could stop his cat from going where it chooses?

He's got the exact same 50 square metres of outdoor space that I do - he could put a net over it to stop his cat leaving.

IrateNinja said:

Training your dog not to go on your bed, and not to roll in st (basic training no?) would surely end this argument.

The dog won't even sit or stay - how am I possibly going to train it not to go on furniture when I'm not even at home myself? Plus it won't end the argument anyway as I'm still going to need to bath the dogs every time it happens.

[t400ble]

Its a cat, it will find a way out!
Cats and Dogs live by other rules.

[CaptainMorgan]

Why do the dogs need to be outside while you're not there? As someone else said, check the garden then let the dogs out? (I generally do this anyway incase there is anything in the garden that could harm the dog.

[KFC]

CaptainMorgan said:

Why do the dogs need to be outside while you're not there? As someone else said, check the garden then let the dogs out? (I generally do this anyway incase there is anything in the garden that could harm the dog.

They enjoy being outside, plus it gives them somewhere to go to the toilet if they need it.

Anyway, it'd piss me off too much to stop having full use of my own garden because of some other selfish idiot wants it for his cat to use anyway

[haggishunter]

You can't train your own pet but want someone else to train theirs? A dog is far easier to train than a cat.

Have you thought about closing your bedroom door?

[KFC]

haggishunter said:

You can't train your own pet but want someone else to train theirs? A dog is far easier to train than a cat.

I don't want him to train his cat - I want him to keep it out of my garden. I've already explained that training the dog to not roll in st is going to be absolutely impossible to do.

haggishunter said:

Have you thought about closing your bedroom door?

Another point that has already been explained too. Why should I? The dogs like being outside, I don't see restricting their access to this as being a suitable solution.

I suppose its a visit to the DIY store for nail strips and/or vandal grease next.

[wasserboxer]

KFC said:

haggishunter said:

You can't train your own pet but want someone else to train theirs? A dog is far easier to train than a cat.

I don't want him to train his cat - I want him to keep it out of my garden. I've already explained that training the dog to not roll in st is going to be absolutely impossible to do.

And training / stopping his cat from getting into your garden is also pretty much impossible.

This thread does prove my theory that cats are very intelligent creatures who've learned how to manipulate humans for their own gain, whilst dogs are, essentially, really, really stupid.