Neighbours cat

useful_contacts

i have a 15 week old male kitten- not yet fixed and cant be until october(vet wont do it until he is 6 months). Basically we live in a flat and he is yowling to get out. We let him out a few times but yesterday my neighbours tom cat attacked him(i mean backed him into a corner and tore him to shreads) Id to bring my kitten to the vet to be cleaned up and hes ok.

Anyway today my kitten was playing in the hall and i hear an almighty roar - i ran out- My neighbours cat (who attacked him yesterday) actually came in my open bathroom window and attacked my kitten.

I picked him up and brought him to my neighbour- threw him at her and said i was calling animal control, that this was the 2nd time he had attacked my kitten. He response was "well i had my cat first" and that i had no right to be mad as this was her cats territory!

WHAT!!!!!! how the hell is my flat her rats territory(yes i said rat). How can she say its ok that her cat jumped in my window just to attack my kitten!

Sorry im so mad i just have to vent!:mad::mad:

Dixie Chick

As horrible as it was for you to have your cat attacked and once in your home, the neighbours cat is and ANIMAL. They ahve animal instincts. i suggest you read up on the territorial behaviour of cats. It isnt safe for a kitten to be outside where a tom can access them. That is common sense.

By the way, when you say you threw the cat at the neighbour, thats just disgraceful.

MoonDancer256

Solution to this is to keep your kitten indoors at least until he's old enough and big enough to defend himself. And don't leave your window open enough for the tom to get into your flat.

The tom is an animal, its instinct for him to defend his territory, and it's not really your neighbour's fault; nor are they able to do anything other than keeping their cat indoors all the time, which I can't see most owners doing.

useful_contacts

Dixie Chick wrote: »

As horrible as it was for you to have your cat attacked and once in your home, the neighbours cat is and ANIMAL. They ahve animal instincts. i suggest you read up on the territorial behaviour of cats. It isnt safe for a kitten to be outside where a tom can access them. That is common sense.

By the way, when you say you threw the cat at the neighbour, thats just disgraceful.

oh get off your high horse it was an expression, i didnt actually throw the cat at her

jesus!

useful_contacts

MoonDancer256 wrote: »

Solution to this is to keep your kitten indoors at least until he's old enough and big enough to defend himself. And don't leave your window open enough for the tom to get into your flat.

The tom is an animal, its instinct for him to defend his territory, and it's not really your neighbour's fault; nor are they able to do anything other than keeping their cat indoors all the time, which I can't see most owners doing.

I refuse to keep my windows closed at all times, its summer and its hot i physically cant.

My flat is not his territory

i cant keep the kitten in he yowls to get out- and its constant

Dixie Chick

useful_contacts wrote: »

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oh get off your high horse it was an expression, i didnt actually throw the cat at her

jesus!

Maybe I was on a high horse but we dont say "threw the cat at them" where i am from. Fair enough point

No, the flat isnt the other cats territory but if he sees the kitten and can get at him he will. its not the neighbours fault, his cat probably yowls to go our like yours but his cat is strong enough to defend itself. It isnt the cats fault, he isnt beig a rat, its his nature. The only reaon your kitty was attacked is cos a) it was outside and easy pickings for the tom and b) was accessable through your window.

"Animal control" would laugh at you for calling them

I am not trying to be bitchy to you but in my opinion you are upset about your poor cat but not accepting your fault in it

Amalgam

You've called the cat a 'Tom cat', are you assuming the cat isn't neutered? Seems a bit odd for a block of flats, can't say I'd be happy with that, from the point of view of marking etc (urine).

If the cat makes its way into your flat, a spray of water from a spray gun or something similar might discourage it from coming back. It is your property after all. Sod that.

ODD-JOB

Yer , you can understand the OP being angry . And theres not one of us here that wouldnt defend one of our own.
There is no easy solution to the problem !

And in turn , when the OP's cat reachs her prime , she will be the one chasing and attacking somebody else's kittens !

Thats just the way they are wired !

Just keep a close eye on ur kitten until it is a little bigger , and the water pistol is a great idea . I'd put a tip of curry powder in too , just to leave ur scent , (and message)

useful_contacts

Dixie Chick wrote: »

Maybe I was on a high horse but we dont say "threw the cat at them" where i am from. Fair enough point

No, the flat isnt the other cats territory but if he sees the kitten and can get at him he will. its not the neighbours fault, his cat probably yowls to go our like yours but his cat is strong enough to defend itself. It isnt the cats fault, he isnt beig a rat, its his nature. The only reaon your kitty was attacked is cos a) it was outside and easy pickings for the tom and b) was accessable through your window.

"Animal control" would laugh at you for calling them

I am not trying to be bitchy to you but in my opinion you are upset about your poor cat but not accepting your fault in it

What is my fault in it? because her cat came into my house and attacked my kitten, personally i dont see how thats my fault. I have to let my kitten out and i cant stand there all day watching him which he expects me to do, but when i take him in he screams the place down. And i cant keep all my windows closed constantly

goodlad

I went through something similar a few months ago.

I have two cats, they are now about 15 months old.

I was letting them out my back garden but a nerghbours cat kept attacking my two cats. The neighbours cat was a lot bigger than my cats so was easily ripping them to shreds.

Yes i was pissed off and wanted to freak but what am i supposed to do.
The cat came into my garden a lot and sat at my back window just waiting for my cats to come out and he would attack them again.

I cant expect my neighbour to just not let his cat out but yet i didnt want to just keep my cats in.

I had to bite the bullet and keep my cat in. As someone said before cats are territorial. You cant change that.

If your cat is howling to get out then try play with the cat more.
A laser pointer works wonders!

Oh btw, now my male cat who is absolutely massive for only being 15 months old kicked the crap outa the neighbours cat about 2 weeks ago when it attacked him. Now the neighbours cat doesnt come into the garden.

Dixie Chick

useful_contacts wrote: »

What is my fault in it? because her cat came into my house and attacked my kitten, personally i dont see how thats my fault. I have to let my kitten out and i cant stand there all day watching him which he expects me to do, but when i take him in he screams the place down. And i cant keep all my windows closed constantly

From your first post, your kitten got torn to shreds when out in your back garden obviously unsupervised if the tom cat had enough time to do damage to bring him to the vet. I also have a cat and a kitten and I am very cautious to not leave them in the room alone together cos I know the big cat will beat up the little one. You cant do that, you cant leave a smaller animal outside unsuperivsed if its in danger

Yes it was bad he came into the house, the neighbour should ahev apologized for that. But I can see you are upset, I would be too by it.

Dixie Chick

goodlad wrote: »

I went through something similar a few months ago.

I have two cats, they are now about 15 months old.

I was letting them out my back garden but a nerghbours cat kept attacking my two cats. The neighbours cat was a lot bigger than my cats so was easily ripping them to shreds.

Yes i was pissed off and wanted to freak but what am i supposed to do.
The cat came into my garden a lot and sat at my back window just waiting for my cats to come out and he would attack them again.

I cant expect my neighbour to just not let his cat out but yet i didnt want to just keep my cats in.

I had to bite the bullet and keep my cat in. As someone said before cats are territorial. You cant change that.

If your cat is howling to get out then try play with the cat more.
A laser pointer works wonders!

Oh btw, now my male cat who is absolutely massive for only being 15 months old kicked the crap outa the neighbours cat about 2 weeks ago when it attacked him. Now the neighbours cat doesnt come into the garden.

Sorry to go off topic, where would i get a laser pointer? In a toy shop or somewhere?

ODD-JOB

You cant supervise a cat once you let him out ,.... you havent a hope of catching it unless it wants to be caught.

And the neighbour cant apologise for its cat's trespassing on your property, thats not their fault either !

There is no solution , this will always be the way , and in 500 years time the same conflict will be occuring with the exact same issues !!

Just remember that it wont be too long until the OP's cat grows bigger takes the reigns in the gardens !
and will also eventually fall 2nd to some other young cat , and the cycle shall continue.

Mary D

In fairness if the kitten hasn't been spayed and isn't used to being by itself of course it should be supervised when it's let out by itself initially, that's the responsibilty of taking on a pet!!

I think you approaced your neighbour with the wrong attitude. The neighbour can't control where his fully grown cat goes, as you will find out when your kitten gets bigger. I live on a road where neighbours on both sides of me have kittens and my cat is fully grown. I brought their kittens into my house at different stages for different lenghts of time and got my cat used to them so he wouldn't attack them. Now the 3 of them lay on the mat at my front door together and are great company for each other.

Perhaps you should try to re-approach your neighbour.

useful_contacts

today i let my kitten out, was letting him out for 10 mins and staying at the door watching him , then my house phone rang, it was my dad, was chatting for 5 mins, said id to go- went up ...my cat was not in the garden. searched the yard called him, heard yowls. Ran up to the gate. he was next door(other side from the cats) and a terrier had him backed into a corner.

I couldnt get in to the yard cos it was locked from the inside, i was screaming cos basically my kitten was about to be ripped apart by a dog.

The neighbour who i had the fight with stuck her head over the fence... i told her what happened... she RAN out with a ladder ... climbd over the wall ... shooed the dog away and saved my kitten. Brought him back to me. He was shaking with the fright and ran into the house.

I was crying(animal lovers will know how i felt) I thanked her and hugged her. She said when her cats(one of who attacked my one) were kittens they got into messes and she knew how i felt, that not to worry he would grow out of it. That cats were scamps and her ones nearly gave her heart attacks

I went straight up to the shop and bought a bottle of wine as a thank you and gave it to her. I feel like such a bitch. Days ago i screamed at her and she went out of her way to help me. She said it was because she had cats and knew how troublesome they were , but she didnt have to do that. My faith in humanthy(sp) is restored, after the way i spoke to her she didnt have to do that and she did because she was a cat owner herself/

Thats irony but im glad my neighbour turned out to be a nice woman other wise my kitten would be dead now

She sure showed me!

Hank Scorpio

now now you didnt do anything wrong just try to keep your kittie in doors and all will be ok :rolleyes:

useful_contacts

nuxxx wrote: »

now now you didnt do anything wrong just try to keep your kittie in doors and all will be ok :rolleyes:

hes staying inside now. we are planning to move to a house with a garden. a flat no place for a kitten

star-pants

That was really really nice of your neighbour, heroic even, because it's hard sometimes to get between animals in a fight. As you said goes to show how nice some people are.
I'm so glad your kitten was saved, and hopefully you and your neighbour can get on better until you find a larger place

Tallon

I understand the OP being angry but in fairness, no apartment complex in the world should have animals in it! (IMO)

Does your apartment allow pets?

If your going to bring up a large animal, ie a cat or dog, you need room for the animal, otherwise its just cruel

MoonDancer256

Tallon wrote: »

no apartment complex in the world should have animals in it!

No that's rubbish. I kept my cats in a 10th floor apartment in Paris for the first 4-5 years of their lives, and they were all perfectly happy. They had lots of toys, lots of attention, and a huge floor->ceiling cat tree to keep them entertained. Vertical space is more important than horizontal space for a cat. Cats can be perfectly happy in apartments. I also had my ferrets in the apartment, and the apartment manager had no problem with any of the animals; we even got permission to fully secure the large balcony to allow the cats to sit out in the sun and chase bugs.

A dog is a bit different of course, which is why I waited until I was in a house with a garden before getting a dog.

The OP isn't doing anything wrong by having a kitten in an apartment, it's the letting it out to get mauled by neighbouring cats/dogs thats the problem :P

Tallon

MoonDancer256 wrote: »

Cats can be perfectly happy in apartments.

I know their happy, their animals, if they lived on the moon, they'd be happy as long as you fed them.

I meant an apartment is not a good place to have animals, think of it from the neighbours point of view, the sound of cats fighting can be very upseting to children and the likes. also the potential smell of cat/dog urine

Also the fact that animals will tend to wander into other peoples apartments, i.e. what happend in the OP

Your supposed to look after your animals, if your dog wasn't on a lead it would be taken off you.

useful_contacts: If it happens again, just hold onto the cat and call animal control, tell them its not your cat but its in your house, simple

annefitzy

We rehome to people in apartments or rented places but we have a very strict policy we need letters from the landlord ect completly enclosed balconys.... sometimes we also look for other letters for reference after all if a person is genuine they wont mind the inconvience or the wait.....its the people that are pushy and wanting you to skip the red tape that I worry about:eek:


Hope this makes sense as I am tired and need sleep

ISDW

Thats lovely. I am smiling here though, at your embarassment, and the irony of it all. These animals sure do put us through the wringer.

She sounds like a nice woman, and I'm sure that most people would help in that situation, regardless of what had happened previously, nobody would want to see a kitten killed like that I'm sure.

So, out of all of this, you have made a friend with a neighbour, which is great. And hopefully your kitten has learnt to stay out of the terriers garden, so all in all, a win win situation.

Best of luck.

Dixie Chick

Useful Contacts, glad things have patched up with neighbour. That kitty of yours sounds like a total rascal!:D

shanagarry

Tallon wrote: »

I meant an apartment is not a good place to have animals, think of it from the neighbours point of view, the sound of cats fighting can be very upseting to children and the likes. also the potential smell of cat/dog urine

Also the fact that animals will tend to wander into other peoples apartments, i.e. what happend in the OP

That's complete nonsense. I have a cat who lives very happily in a third floor apartment. She's on her own so no fighting, she has a litter tray that is cleaned regularly, and she can't go further than our large balcony (save over the edge, but she has a hell of a lot more sense than that!), although she has minimal interest in being outdoors. I don't know what sort of cat owners you've encountered that are so filthy the neighbours would smell cat urine :eek:

Tallon

shanagarry wrote: »

That's complete nonsense. I have a cat who lives very happily in a third floor apartment. She's on her own so no fighting, she has a litter tray that is cleaned regularly, and she can't go further than our large balcony (save over the edge, but she has a hell of a lot more sense than that!), although she has minimal interest in being outdoors. I don't know what sort of cat owners you've encountered that are so filthy the neighbours would smell cat urine :eek:

Ok, first of all, read the first line this post

secondly, are you telling me that cats / dogs do not mark their terrirtory?
Your arguing about an evolutionary fact, im not complaining about animals being unhappy, Im complaing about people complaining about their animals encounters when there purposley bringing them up in unsuitable places

Saruman

Well at least the neighbour problem is sorted, you just need to keep an eye on your kitten until he is older.
Perhaps try and befriend the neighbours cat? Use the laser pointer idea to play with the neighbours cat and he might come to see your kitten as a friend rather than a future competitor.
It is common knowledge that you have to keep a Tom cat away from kittens as they will kill their own kittens sometimes.

iguana

It's perfectly possible to have most domestic pets in an apartment. Cats can be perfectly happy living indoors forever, in fact the lifespan of a cat increases from 5-6 years to 20-25 years if they are kept indoors. And a dog will live happily in an apartment as long as it's exercised enough, it's just harder work for the owners as they need to walk the dog to let it pee instead of just opening the back door. How do you think people in big cities in Europe and America have pets? I have a friend with 2 pitbulls in a Chicago apartment and they are perfectly happy dogs.

OP, I'd seriously recommend you strongly consider keeping your cat as an indoor cat. They live a lot, lot longer and become more tame and involved with their owners. I used to regularly get cats coming into my garden and a couple of times I've had to rescue them from my dogs. They tend to be a bit cocky and seriously underestimate how fast Dougal is and my dogs know how to hunt as a pack with one sending their "prey" toward the other. Luckily the cats now know to leave my garden alone, but it still happens occasionally. In addition there is a cat illness FIV, which is basically HIV for cats except it's far more transferable and prevalent than HIV. If the cat who scratched your cat has FIV then your cat could have it too. Like HIV, and FIV carrier remains symptomless until the disease mutates into AIDS.

useful_contacts

iguana wrote: »

OP, I'd seriously recommend you strongly consider keeping your cat as an indoor cat. They live a lot, lot longer and become more tame and involved with their owners. I used to regularly get cats coming into my garden and a couple of times I've had to rescue them from my dogs. They tend to be a bit cocky and seriously underestimate how fast Dougal is and my dogs know how to hunt as a pack with one sending their "prey" toward the other. Luckily the cats now know to leave my garden alone, but it still happens occasionally. In addition there is a cat illness FIV, which is basically HIV for cats except it's far more transferable and prevalent than HIV. If the cat who scratched your cat has FIV then your cat could have it too. Like HIV, and FIV carrier remains symptomless until the disease mutates into AIDS.

Oh dont worry- i told the vet to give tilly a shot for everything he needs- cat flu cat lukemia- got some looks off the vet when i asked him to give tilly everything he had that a cat needs , cost a bomb with all the shots but i didnt care i just wanted him safe.


Since the incident he has not ONCE cried to go outside, i think he remembers what happened, and thank god as the house we were moving to fell through so we will be here for at least another few months until we can sort another

EDIT- a pic of my little terror:)

dee o gee

Hes adorable, and he has such big ears Glad to hear you've sorted everything out with your neighbour. Sort of going through the same thing with my neighbour and her dog that she just lets stray about, she's attacked my fella twice while im walking him :mad:

MoonDancer256

useful_contacts wrote: »

Oh dont worry- i told the vet to give tilly a shot for everything he needs- cat flu cat lukemia- got some looks off the vet when i asked him to give tilly everything he had that a cat needs , cost a bomb with all the shots but i didnt care i just wanted him safe.

For the record, there is no vaccine for FIV in Ireland; if your cat goes outside, he can catch it no matter what vaccines you give: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIV

There is a vaccine available in the US, but it isn't here yet, and isn't overly effective yet.