SO mad! Darn Neighbor's Cats!

[wildeflowers]

It's also not ok for cats to be on her property, using her yard as a litterbox, and making her animals anxious. If and when she has chicks, the cat could and probably will very easily hunt and kill the babies.

She shouldn't have to protect her pets from THIS nuisance, because the cat shouldn't be there at all!

FWIW, I wouldn't shoot it myself, but the cat sure might disappear to an animal shelter far, far away.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Our neighbors have a wormy cat who 's left wormy poop in our yard. Disgusting. Last week their little kids came and got their big wormy cat , carried it through another neighbors yard where that neighbor's dogs attacked the cat right out of the kids' arms. The kids were screaming and crying for about 20 minutes. We haven't seen the cat since.

It just disgusts me. The "grownups" in that house are all-around irresponsible. But this experience has taught me that some people HAVE NO DESIRE TO BE GOOD NEIGHBORS. Their attitude is something like, "Screw You. We Hate You. Here's More Poo For Your Lawn. Here's Spit from Our Children. And Here's More Bad Words For You. Our Kids Scream Loudly in Your General Direction, and We'll Throw our Yard Trash Over The Fences Into Everybody Else's Yards. Because We Hate Nice Neighborhoods To Be Pleasant. We'll Do All We Can To Make This Neighborhood Unpleasant." Crazy, but true. Just because they move into a nice house by nice people doesn't make them neighborly. Makes ya wonder what they're there for?

But there, they are.

On the bright side, I have devised a plan to keep my chicken run and compost heap TOGETHER in a fenced, covered enclosure. It will be expensive. But who can fault a cat for pooping in the fluffy black gold that is my compost? To a cat it must look like a giant paradise litter box from heaven. Knowing my neighbors, their cats have probably never seen a clean litterbox.

So, when current rude neighbors are gone, I'll be ready for the next bout with the next cat. And hopefully the next cat will have responsible owners who care whether it's safe and healthy.
I hope that's all your neighbor has, just wandering cats! It could be worse!

I wish you all the luck in the poultry lovin world.

...and prayers that your new neighbor co-habitates your property line with peace and respect.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Just to be clear, i only threatened to use a pellet gun on her cat if it came in my yard again because i was angry at the time and felt that would persuade her to keep her cat out of my yard. i have no intention of shooting the cat with anything that would cause real harm - no guns, no pellets, no paint ball guns. But i don't want to wait until i have a dead animal to take action. Her cat in the middle of a dozen frightened ducks steps from my back door was close enough.

i do have one drake, but these guys are kids, pretty much full grown but still only 9 weeks old. And as i mentioned in my first post, i have that one "special" duck who runs in circles when she gets scared or else falls over and can't get up. She always tends to be off from the herd a bit and i'm sure she would be the one picked off as a target. That would slay me if she were hurt, the poor little thing.

i did call our county animal care and control and the man i spoke to was very helpful. But a lot of the suggestions seemed aimed at keeping cats out of your garden, like moth balls, citrus, or cat deterrent sprays. He did suggest getting a big rooster, but not sure my husband wants to go through 3am crowing again. He also suggested a peacock would scare a cat off, but also said they're pretty loud. He did say i was legally allowed to trap and turn in any domesticated animal found on my property.

NellaBean, i like your suggestion of trapping it and putting some dye on it, and maybe some stinky stuff, too. If their cat kept coming home a bright colored stink bomb, that might do the trick.

Oh, also found out they have too many animals. You are only allowed to have four cats or four dogs (or a combination thereof, not to exceed four). They have four cats and three dogs.

 

[Mattemma]

Quote:
Saying anything about how they choose to care for their animals will only anger them. Better to catch and do something with the cat without telling them. Neighbor wars have been started over milder issues,and none ever end good(if they end at all). You will be lucky if they jusy ignore you from now on.

I say the heck with cat deterents.Why should we spend money and time trying to keep someone's pet out of the yard?We all have enough on our plate with wildlife. I went that route in the start,and I find capture to be a far better solution. If I had a gun I would shoot to kill.

I would be cautious about the dye.I saw a FL girl was fined $250 for dying her dog pink for halloween. Will dying or making a pet stinky really make a neighbor keep their pet in when they already know it is causing problems?

If you turn the cat in the neighbor would have to pay to get it.Would escalate the tension though.Make sure all is legal in your yard!

 

[chicken_crazy93]

Now before anybody bans me from ever owning an animal, keep in mind I have 2 spayed cats that stay in the house & I do love cats BUT... When I first got started with my chickens about a month ago I had very bad cat problems. I caught one cat goin over my chainlink fence with one of my 3month old birds in it's mouth & at the same time, another one tryin to catch one of my pullets. I killed that cat ( I keep an old Stevens .22 by the back door ) & went out, picked it up by it's hind legs, took it over to the lady that has multiple cats which lives two houses down the road from me & layed it on her front porch. I knocked on her door & asked to speak with her husband. Keep in mind, these folks are very irresponsible pet owners & just let their cats breed & breed & never have them fixed or keep them in the house or on their property. There is most always a dead cat or kitten in the road in front of their house. Anyway, I was very upset & told the guy & her I was gonna kill everything that came on my property & I was tired of it. Before I became disabled I use to raise dogs but have ALWAYS kept my animals fenced but after my accident I had to get shed of my dogs as I couldn't care for them anymore.

Anyway, they called the police. They came out & talked to them & then came up to talk to me. I showed them my property, the feathers where the cat got the pullet & took it over my fence etc... They told me I was in the right & told the lady & her husband they may have to pay for my chicken. Then, here came the little pullet walkin down the side of my fence tryin to find a way to get back in. The cat must have let her go after hearing the .22 sound, I don't know. The two officers caught her for me & put her over the fence with the others. I have to use a cane to get around & have to take short breaks when tryin to walk but I can still get around & could have put her back in myself but I let them do it & thanked them for it. Well, for the next couple of days the lady that owns these cats would come runnin outside in her yard everytime she heard the little .22 go off but never once came up to get her dead cats or tried to talk to me or anything. I finally got the picture accross to them folks & so far have not had anymore cat problems BUT.. I keep baited coon traps set around the outside of my fence & have caught one cat in one of them but that was it.

In my opinion there are two kinds of pet owners & I try my best to fit in the responsible group but a feller has got to protect what's his or he won't have nothin. As far as bein afraid of retaliation by throwin poison food over my fence or anything like that, well, let's just say it would be on if that ever happens! That's childish & cowardly to start with when you go to poisoning a feller's animals & around here where I live, nobody would put up with that kind of crap.

 

[abhaya]

I live in the country and any animal that is chasing or worse killing live stock is dealt with perminantly. They get sent to the big chicken coop in the sky. But in town it is different. My brother had a problem with some cats down the road digging in his garden and pooping. He got a supper soaker and loaded it with buck lure (really smelly) and food coloring. Took aim and solved the problem. they started keeping the cats in the house or something because he never saw them again. If they are saying it is not thier cat then it could not have been you that gave them the soaking.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Obviously our neighbors are not the smart, considerate, animal-loving type. Twice now since they have read my note i have found that same cat back in my yard. Within an hour after they read the note, they didn't put their cat inside and it was back in my yard, which is what prompted me to go over and talk to them, since they didn't have the courtesy to come talk to me. Yesterday was raining like crazy, so no cat. This morning it's clear out and i just found that same darn cat in the tree over one of my coops, scoping out my ducks. i sprayed it with a hose, but it will be back, i'm sure.

i may try talking to them again, but that will be it. i honestly don't think i could harm a cat, but trapping it and taking it to animal control is an option, if i can trap it, that is. What is wrong with some people???

 

[chicken_crazy93]

They have no morals about themselves is what's wrong with these type people. If that darn cat is causin it so YOU can't even enjoy YOUR animals on YOUR own property than something has got to give! You seem like your a nervous wreck all the time over someone else's animals. That is wrong, you should be happy & content & feel safe with whatever you're doing at your home & on your property at all times. I don't know where you live but if you were within 50 miles of me, I would come over & take care of the problem. I have a couple of spare coon traps & that way you wouldn't have to see a cat get shot. If you could get you a small amount of tuna & put it in the far corner of your trap but not close enough where they could reach in from the outside & get it you would catch that varmint & dispose of it in anyway you wanted to, preferably with a .22 straight thru the ear & then take it & throw it on the owners door step. I don't even know you & I'm startin to get upset.

 

[KaterCheek]

If you have birds, predators are always going to be a problem. It's your yard and your property as far as other humans are concerned, but those walls are going to be ignored by the feral cats, dogs, hawks, coyotes, foxes, raccoons or owls who notice you have food wandering around. If you catch a predator killing your birds, you're justified in defending your fowl, but the neighbor's cats aren't killing your ducks, they're just mingling.

I'm kind of sympathizing with the neighbor. What are you expecting them to do? Tell the cat not to do that? Their only option is to keep the cat indoors, and who is going to change their lives and their pets' lives that much for a stranger? Once a cat is an outdoor cat, it does not easily become an indoor cat. Our cats are indoor/outdoor cats, and if we keep them from going out, they drive us insane. After three days of being trapped in the house, our cats would become so irritating that I'd shoot them myself. (Kidding.)

If the cat gets in your yard again, your best bet is to spray it with water. If you do that enough times, the cat will decide it doesn't want to be there. (How about a motion-detecting sprinkler system...hmmm...is that possible?)

But cats don't necessarily have to be the problem you're making it out to be. Our cats are very interested in our chickens, so a couple of times we put them in the coop with the hens. The cats quickly learned that full-grown hens are not to be messed with. Unless the cats are feral, or unusually aggressive, they probably won't hurt your birds.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Hi KaterCheek, the cat is not mingling with my birds, it attacked my ducks. It has spent the last six months, since moving in, prowling around my yard, sneaking right upside of my coops, and skeddadling on top of my coops. All my chickens are penned, so all that it has been doing is scaring the beejesus out of my poor birds. But i let my ducks wander in the front part of my yard, still within double fencing, just no cover over it, when i am home. Two days ago, while i was home, it attacked my ducks. i know some people on this board swear a cat won't harm a full grown hen or duck. But others have experienced cats (domesticated, not feral) killing their birds.

Also, i've sprayed the cat with a hose multiple times, and it just keeps coming back. i don't have any sympathy for the owners, i have sympathy for me. i'm upset all the time, losing sleep, and tired of chasing that dang cat. i guess it's time for me to stop complaining and do something. i just hate being put in this position.

i really appreciate everyone's input.