It all started out so innocently. He came to our door. He was hungry and so we fed him. Then my girls, they got attached. He was so sweet, and would let them carry him around. They made him a cardboard box home on the front porch. He didn't mind. He never scratched, he just wanted to be loved and fed.
I didn't mind. Hey, he could stay outside, the kids could have a pet and Momma was happy. I decided to make it legit and get his shots and get him neutered. Then came the city licensing. Not a problem. We are all happy, well that is with one exception. My neighbors. Not all the neighbors, just one set of neighbors. SIGH. They don't like his kind. He is a KILLER, of birds. :(
They have a SERIOUS problem with him. Who could be mad at him? He is so cute! One of God's creatures and as soon as you pick him up he purrs. This is not a feisty cat people, this one of the most friendliest cats I have ever encountered in my life.
I do understand that they don't like him killing birds. I don't like it either to tell the truth. We have a ton of beautiful song birds in our neighborhood. So, we are taking steps to please or at least try to please the neighbors without having to get rid of our new friend.
A series of events that leads us to today. Here is what happened:
1. Cat came to our home.
2. We adopted cat.
3. Neighbors complained to city cat was in their yard.
4. Neighbors curse and yell very loudly about cat in their yard. We determined who complaint is.
5. We got shots and scheduled neutering for cat. Applied for a permit to build a fence around our property.
6. Neighbors complained again about cat to City.
7. Neighbors chase cat with weed-eater and yell very loudly at cat.
8. We were issued a ticket for a nuance cat. Including a pending court date, notice to be sent by mail.
9. We neutered our new companion and put him in lock down in the downstairs bathroom.
10. Neighbors put a trap in their yard.
11. We started building a fence around our property. Cat is still in lock down. He is definitely an outdoor cat and only uses the cat box when it's completely clean otherwise the tile floor or any towel is good for him to potty on.
12. Started praying for neighbors, and the cat situation.
13. Neighbors are civil to my husband, but we can tell they are still not pleased. Our other neighbor is working on the fence, and doing his best to make friends with them. They seem to soften.
14. The fence between our property is going to be 8 feet high. Now that the neighbors see the posts and realize this, they very angry once again. So far, at every step of putting in the fence, my husband has went to their house to let them know what we were doing. He told them we were getting a permit, then let them know we would be taking out brush, putting in posts, etc. Not once did they seem to care (nor offer to help pay for that section of the fence), but they did let us know they did not like us taking out the brush- on our property.
15. Yesterday, my husband was talking with R (our friend and neighbor who is building the fence) about design and placement. The couple walks up, complains about the fence being so high and is mad we never asked them if it was ok. My husband prays (silently), and is nice as pie. He explains how it will increase their property value and keep the cat out. They are snide, and say they have to deal with this because we can't control our cat? Maybe not that nicely. They storm off.
16. Meanwhile cat is unhappy in the bathroom because I can't trust him to not potty on the floor. I am stressed because I am cleaning up the messy bathroom and dealing with a crying cat. I'm just not sure of my rights and how the heck am I going to keep the cat in the yard?
I ordered a cat bib last week for the cat. It's designed to prevent the cat from catching birds. I found it here: http://www.catgoods.com/. How can I make my fence cat savvy? I found this: http://www.hssv.org/docs/behavior/cat_fence.pdf . My only issue with this is the front of our fence is not that high and opens to our front door. I'm not sure how we can make this happen. Maybe we can only make part of the yard accessible to the cat.
Another side note, that I can't do anything about, is the neighbor has a bird feeder about 4 feet off the ground. It's virtually a cat lure. Even if we get the cat to stay out of their yard, another one will find it and they will be faced with the same situation. A cool idea I found to keep cats out of you yard is to install a motion activated sprinkler system for about $100. From what I read it works really well. I thought about getting one for them as a gift, but I can only imagine the response "Are you going to pay our water bill?". I know! I have a negative view, but my husband agreed they would probably say that.
I also have been looking at cat enclosures online: http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm
I just don't see us doing this to the cat. It looks too sad.
So that doesn't leave us a lot of options. So this is where we are at. The saga continues!
Blessings, Rachel
Our cat was Mitten. Our neighbor hated her and us. Thankfully we were never written a ticket b/c her other neighbor was an animal control officer and was not fond of her hate for animals. I am so sorry you are going through all of this. We tried bringing Mitten in too, but she was an outside cat and she destroyed our blinds (rental home). Mitten went to live out her days on a dashcund rescue ranch to catch mice in the barn b/c it too got very ugly with neighbors.
ReplyDeleteThat really stinks, Rachel. I've not had cat problems with neighbors, but had a lot of *other* problems with neighbors. I'll be praying. That can be so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThank you ladies! Kristi- I sure hope it doesn't come to that. Joy, I sure do appreciate your prayers!
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