Neighbor's unaltered cats driving me nuts!

[Sallyschickens]

She has a bunch of unaltered cats that roam around everywhere!

For whatever reason she won't have them spayed or neutered. (Does anyone know how far these cats can roam?) They are fighting with my neutered cat in MY yard! There are atleast 10 acres between her property and mine. They also roam around at night making the most obnoxious noises...plus the nasty spraying on my car's tires, trash bags waiting to go to the curb and now my hay bales too!

YUCK! I have a small hole for my kitty to enter the feed and tack room to control rodents, but her cats take advantage!! Now I have to bring my saddles indoors...it is driving me NUTS!!!

What advice do you have? What can I do aside from calling animal control? (Which is my next step.) I just moved here and didn't want to cause a stink...but I will probably have to. Didn't want to start out this way in this community, but I can't take it anymore.

What should I tell her to make her understand how it is driving me nuts in a tactful (or not) way? (At this point I don't really feel like being very tactful. Another neighbor says he said something to her about a particular tom and she said she would just "put the cat down"...YIKES!)

Last question, is there any reason known to man why folks (who can apparently afford to) let their barn cats go unaltered and multiply over and over again? (I already have my answer, just wondering about other's opinions.)

Thanks for letting me vent!

 

[gkeesling]

i had a neighbor like that. He had barn cats and just let them multiply and roam. I have one neutered barn cat. The neighbor's cats would come into my barn and eat my cat's food. he wouldn't do anything about it so his cats just started "dissappearing" when ever they came over to my house. He never did ask why he didn't seem to have as many cats anymore. I suppose he didn't care much since he never controlled them anyway. I think he thought coyotes were getting them.

 

[key west chick]

Sorry, but I would SSS. I know it sounds cruel but I'm afraid you will find thats the general thinking around here. The poor kitties are paying for her ignorance and stupidity.

 

[speckledhen]

How many does she have? They probably don't have rabies vaccinations, either, if she's like folks around here. If it was me, I'd "remove" them, one after the other. You'd be doing the cats a favor since unaltered males are often injured and they can all contract rabies or spread diseases themselves.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

And here I was complaining just yesterday that our nearest neighbors cat is a snoot and too snobby to come down here. He is the only one...but he is too fat to move

I would have a nice neighborly talk and explain it just the way it is. It is always best to deal with someone you have to live near in the nicest way possible..if possible. You have to live around these people who could potentially make your life even more miserable. THEN, if they don't show any concern or care for your feelings as their neighbor then you have to do what you have to do. Shoot them, trap them and take them to the animal shelter, or whatever you feel is best. Good Luck

Vets here will spay or neuter a dog or cat for 10$ each. Cats and dogs are so overlypopulated that countless numbers of them are put down every single day. Our own local shelter does over 100 cats per month.

 

[vfem]

If they aren't collared, collect them all up and bring them to the SPCA where they will 'fix' them and if she wants them back she will have to pay for the fixing and the temp housing until she comes and get them.

I did this with some dogs that used to wonder around the neighborhood... those people didn't want to pay for all that when they went to get them back, so someone else adopted them instead. Now I don't have to deal with those 2 wondering dogs any longer.

If they get anymore I will do that same thing!

(p.s. - If there is no leash law, it is ONLY legal to do this if they do not have a collar or tags. Then it is stealing someone else's property. Plus, they will not 'fix' them if they are tagged anyways, they just call the owner.)

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Many people who have "barn cats" and don't fix them, do it because they view the animals as rodent control and nothing more. My mother does the same thing, sadly. The cats are not pets, but more like walking mouse traps, you don't get upset when your mousetraps go missing. Not when it's easy to just pick up more.

-Kim

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I agree, talk with them first. nicely, calmly, politely but also firmly to get across that it is a major problem with you and they are causing damage. If that has no effect at least you tried and you have every right to control the problem on your property.

Steve in NC

 

[Katy]

She could have an issue like I do...All my tame cats are spayed or neutered, but the feral ones that I can't catch aren't. I have these ferals thanks to people dumping them in the area of our farm. Every year I catch and tame as many of their kittens as I can so I can get them neutered too, but often the mother cat keeps moving the kittens when I find them and they end up being feral and sickly too. I'd like to have the guts to take the rifle out there and dispose of some of them, but I just can't do it.....or better yet I'd like to make the person who dumped them come do it.

 

[HiDelight]

Do NOT get me started about unaltered cats! omg what a mess it can be ..between the yowling and screaming outside ..the litters that end up on rescue sites and in the HS

as simple as it is to neuter or spay a cat and most places have free services..NO ONE should have litters or let Toms or Tomettes wander freely ...

I am not sure what to say to someone right now who feels that an unneutered cat is ok

but shame on them for doing this and everyone especially cats suffer for this error in judgment

if you are a careful breeder and keep your cats INDOORs then fine I guess but there are purebreads on petfinder of every variety soooooooo....

shame on you for not altering your pet to whomever lets them roam free!