Cats been given antifreeze

Wexford1988

We have a number of cats that have gone missing and suspect our neighbour (who cannot be talked to) is feeding them anti freeze to kill them, so far three cats have gone in the last year... we suspect them because they have previously told another neighbour thats what they do to keep cats out of there garden as they dont like them, we live in the country and cant stop cats from roaming.
Is there anything we can do as another cat that is a real pet has now been seen going into there garden?
Any help is appreciated

Whispered

Of course you can stop the cats from roaming - google cat enclosures.

3ndahalfof6

is there any new birds of prey in the area, I have seen this problem before and after 4 cats went missing the person who owned them was thinking like you, only to find out there was a bird of prey in the area taking them.

Birdnuts

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

is there any new birds of prey in the area, I have seen this problem before and after 4 cats went missing the person who owned them was thinking like you, only to find out there was a bird of prey in the area taking them.

That would be an urban myth - its more likely a cat would kill a bird of prey rather than the other way around as they do with many other birds, or do you believe everything you hear down the pub:rolleyes: A Red Kite weighs only a pound and is primarily a scavanger while a buzzard is actually smaller then a Raven with a rabbit or pigeon being at the upper end of their prey base - indeed they are very much the farmers friend given the amount of vermin like rodents and crows they dispatch.

The only predator that regulary takes cats in this country are foxes - and then usually small ones and kittens. My uncle lost a kitten this way only last week!!

PS: In any case the OP appears to have strong grounds to suspect his neighbour, and i have heard about other cases of this type of illegal activity.

3ndahalfof6

Birdnuts wrote: »

That would be an urban myth - its more likely a cat would kill a bird of prey rather than the other way around as they do with many other birds, or do you believe everything you hear down the pub:rolleyes:

Thanks for putting me straight on that, what was I thinking, it could never happen I know that now,

and as for down the pub, to be honest most if not all of the information is well delivered with sincerity, all very well educated down there.

now if you spin round real fast you will be able to remove that foot out of your ass, allowing you to cough up that ball of sourflem, letting the real you shine through.

Birdnuts

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

Thanks for putting me straight on that, what was I thinking, it could never happen I know that now,

and as for down the pub, to be honest most if not all of the information is well delivered with sincerity, all very well educated down there.

now if you spin round real fast you will be able to remove that foot out of your ass, allowing you to cough up that ball of sourflem, letting the real you shine through.

I've edited my previous post to highlight why your friends speculation is rather improbable - such bird of preys are far more common around urban and rural areas in other countries with few or no reports of such activities so lets not go down the road of generating idle hysteria on the subject.:)

3ndahalfof6

Birdnuts wrote: »

I've edited my previous post to highlight why your friends speculation is rather improbable - such bird of preys are far more common around urban and rural areas in other countries with few or no reports of such activities so lets not go down the road of generating idle hysteria on the subject.:)

ok your forgiven , now I need to go to bed for some sleep to try to get over this,

I just hope its all gone away when I wake

Birdnuts

3ndahalfof6 wrote: »

ok your forgiven , now I need to go to bed for some sleep to try to get over this,

I just hope its all gone away when I wake

My only concern is that as someone with an academic background in Ecology and Env Science, birds of prey are already subject to enough illegal persecution in this country, most of it based on myths and ignorance of their basic ecology without adding to their problems. Indeed its the primary reason why so many were driven to extinction in Ireland in the first place.:(

PS: Sorry mods for dragging this thread off topic but these issues are important since these species are still only making a fragile recovery in this country

CyberJuice

if its worrying you then why not go around to this neighbour and confront him,tell him about the rumours you heard regarding him killing cats and tell him that in the future if he should spot your cat in his garden youd appreciate it if he could contact you asap and you will retrieve the cat,make it known that if your cat goes missing you will be not very please if you find out this guy has poisoned it and you will retaliate in some way

Bullseye1

I'm sure feeding poison to any animal is illegal. If you can get proof that he/she is poisoning your cats I would ring the Garda.

Hope you find your cats but it maybe that they have wandered off and found a new home. Are your cats breeding among themselves? As if you have a dominant cat it could be forcing the others away. Have they they been spayed?

Birdnuts

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I'm sure feeding poison to any animal is illegal. If you can get proof that he/she is poisoning your cats I would ring the Garda.

?

Indeed - the use of poison is now illegal in all cases, except as covered bait(in some kind of pet/wildlife proof bait box) for rodents.

PS: Another possibility here is road death, going on the number of cats dead on the roads around here, I suspect that this the reason for a lot of missing pets:(

doctor evil

OP look into getting an enclosed run for the cats. If the cats are roaming you have no way of knowing what they are getting up to.

kildare.17hmr

Wexford1988 wrote: »

We have a number of cats that have gone missing and suspect our neighbour (who cannot be talked to) is feeding them anti freeze to kill them, so far three cats have gone in the last year... we suspect them because they have previously told another neighbour thats what they do to keep cats out of there garden as they dont like them, we live in the country and cant stop cats from roaming.
Is there anything we can do as another cat that is a real pet has now been seen going into there garden?
Any help is appreciated

keep your cats in then and respect your neighbour:rolleyes: Dont agree with the poisining but he has a right to remove them or kill them humainly if they are on his property and if that happens to your cat it no ones fault but your own

GarIT

Wexford1988 wrote: »

we live in the country and cant stop cats from roaming.

I hate people like you have you never heard of a cage?

Anyway if I choose to leave a mix of antifreeze and milk in my back garden thats my choice, I haven't given permission for any animals to be in my garden so as far as im concerned its not going to hurt anything, if it does its not my problem.

Ive never done this btw but its tempting sometimes with all the **** in the garden.

kildare.17hmr

GarIT wrote: »

I hate people like you have you never heard of a cage?

Anyway if I choose to leave a mix of antifreeze and milk in my back garden thats my choice, I haven't given permission for any animals to be in my garden so as far as im concerned its not going to hurt anything, if it does its not my problem.

Ive never done this btw but its tempting sometimes with all the **** in the garden.

Talk to your neighbous then and if that fails Get a cage and catch them if its a problem im sure your local gun club will dispose of them for you, poisining an animal like that is fcukin sick and wrong

Bullseye1

GarIT wrote: »

I hate people like you have you never heard of a cage?

Anyway if I choose to leave a mix of antifreeze and milk in my back garden thats my choice, I haven't given permission for any animals to be in my garden so as far as im concerned its not going to hurt anything, if it does its not my problem.

Ive never done this btw but its tempting sometimes with all the **** in the garden.

Incredibly insightful response. Do your resent birds flying over your property too?

jam_mac_jam

If you really suspect this I would have a word with the gaurds, I dont know how serious they would take it but if anything happens you will have said so first. You have to keep the cat in, you cant risk its health by letting it out if you have a lunatic living near you. I am not condoning their carry on, its evil poisioning somebody's pet but you have to protect your cat.

Birdnuts

GarIT wrote: »

I hate people like you have you never heard of a cage?

Anyway if I choose to leave a mix of antifreeze and milk in my back garden thats my choice, I haven't given permission for any animals to be in my garden so as far as im concerned its not going to hurt anything, if it does its not my problem.

Ive never done this btw but its tempting sometimes with all the **** in the garden.

Plenty of ways to keep cats/dogs out of your garden without resorting to such illegal and cruel methods. Everything from orange peels to sonic devices will keep dogs or cats out of your garden. One blast of you garden hose works as good as anything.

Mo60

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Talk to your neighbous then and if that fails Get a cage and catch them if its a problem im sure your local gun club will dispose of them for you, poisining an animal like that is fcukin sick and wrong

So its sick and wrong to poison an animal but alright to shoot it?

Birdnuts

Mo60 wrote: »

So its sick and wrong to poison an animal but alright to shoot it?

When done properly shooting is the most humane and instantanous way of dispatching an animal, like when an injured horse is beyond saving at a racetrack - poisoning on the other hand is a long drawn out affair where the animal suffers pronlonged pain and agony. There is also the risk of secondry poisoning if another animal eats the carcass of a poisoned animal.

slashygoodness

OP: It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your cat and if you really do suspect your neighbour of such VILE and INHUMANE actions then you may need to think about safe garden enclousures, keeping the cat in doors or rehoming the cat to a safer environment.

It is a sad state of affairs when people have so little respect for life that they would advise killing IN ANY WAY any animal that enters their 'land'..... IMO people who choose to hurt animals deserve to be treated in the same way they treat animals.....

Hellrazer

GarIT--The suggestion of you using poison is against the rules so I suggest you calm it down a bit.Youve also insulted another user-again against the rules.
Consider this a warning.


Kildare .17hmr--Ive also received reports about your post and the gun club comment.We`re talking about pets here and not feral cats.
Most users (along with myself) would agree with a gunclub shooting the feral ones but not pets so in this case I think your comment is way out of line.
You seem to have a serious problem with cats roaming,actually with cats in general and are too quick to suggest "shooting them" so consider this a warning.
Im asking you to choose your posts carefully before posting them.

JustAThought

This thread is really disturbing on a lot of levels.
OP; how many cars have you got/lost?
It's horrific that your neighbour is possibly poisoning them but you need to talk with him/ her if this is the case; cats and dogs love the sweetness in antifreeze so it's a huge lure for them into the garden; has s/he considered this?
Check is there a bye law with your council againstthe use of poisons on private lands; mu farmer neighbour always puts signs up as does the council; perhaps it's a requirement that s/he's breaching.. Ie prosecutable. Might worry them a bit.
But, IMO if you animals are wandering onto their property it iS your responsibility to prevent this; like it or not. I dunno if your in an estate or on huge lands but they re your pets; you need to protect them even if it means paying out and discomforting yourself . If your neighbour can't be talked to how about writing a letter & suggesting a solution. There are pet- off products ; can you suggest you buy them and they pout them around their areas and you can liaise and see if it's working. They need to know strong smells ( such as antifreeze) attracts them. But at the end of the day if you have to build a run then that's what you have to do; if your pets are making someone angry to te point of possibly poisoning them to keep them out of their property then you have to take action.

ziggy23

We have a nutter around the corner threatening to poison mine and my neighbours cats. We both rang the guards to see what they say and also to have it on record. To my surprise they called round to her and gave her a warning. There hasn't been a peep out of her since whereas before she used to be giving out about the cats all because they set her sensor light off. Maybe doing this would be enough to put the s***s up your neighbour?

Wow, can't believe someone would leave antifreeze out for cats.

My father is in no way an animal-lover, and likes to grow his own vegetables. Neighbourhood cats are always going into his garden and you know what he did? He put netting up around the veg to stop the cats pooping there. Simple.

Outdoor cats are not like pets, they're pets when they're at home but when they're outside they're wildlife. If you don't want wildlife in your garden then you fence it off. End of. No need to kill an animal that someone loves. You don't need to be an animal lover to see that.

OP, why aren't you able to talk to this neighbour?

Mo60

Mo60 wrote: »

So its sick and wrong to poison an animal but alright to shoot it?

Just to verify, in this instance, I was refering to a pet animal.

I can understand that sometimes animals have to be humanely destroyed - eg: when worrying sheep etc., but find it abhorrent that someone would deliberately kill someones' pet just because it enters their garden.

TooManyDogs

The 'cats roaming' debate has been discussed here many times, alot of people object to other people's pet cats being in their garden. Most people will simply bitch about it, and maybe spray the cat with water but unfortunately some sick people will try to get rid of the problem by any means necessary. It's ultimately the responsibility of the cats owner to keep their own pet safe from these sickos, excuses like 'you can't stop a cat roaming' are cold comfort when faced with a dead pet.

Has anyone considered the possibility that the person might have a leaky bottle of antifreeze or spilled antifreeze in their garden so it might not be deliberate?

McKuntmissioner

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Has anyone considered the possibility that the person might have a leaky bottle of antifreeze or spilled antifreeze in their garden so it might not be deliberate?

OP has written that this neighbor has been speaking to others about the antifreeze and it's deliberate use against cats, so the leaky bottle theory is unlikely.

planetX

There is something very wrong with someone who could leave out poison, or who would shoot a tame pet for that matter. It starts off with vile behaviour towards animals, and where does it end? I hope the neighbourhood don't let their kids go trick or treating near that house.

TonyFella

Cats should be kept under control just like dogs are. Iv had two hens and one chick killed by two cats that live somewhere around the area. All i know is that they live out in Howth now and hens are safe. No need to kill cats just move them on!!

doctor evil

true-or-false wrote: »

Outdoor cats are not like pets, they're pets when they're at home but when they're outside they're wildlife. If you don't want wildlife in your garden then you fence it off. End of. No need to kill an animal that someone loves. You don't need to be an animal lover to see that.

OP, why aren't you able to talk to this neighbour?

TBF if someone really loved their animal they would take responsibility for it. It is a cop out to say they are wildlife when not at home and therefore the owner has inpunity.

Cat owners need to wake up, it is not ok to let dogs roam so why are cats any different?

I agree with the last part.