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Welcome to the *Gransnet CafƩ. This is a non-judgemental space for you to pop in for a cuppa with some virtual friends, seek out advice for a particular problem, or share an update on your life - important or trivial. Feel free to have your say and chat about your day, but please leave any arguments at the door. If you're struggling to find someone to talk to in real life, or are simply looking for a bit of a chat, this is the place for you.

Cat / Neighbour Dilemmaā€¦ šŸˆā€ā¬›

(59 Posts)
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FannyCornforth Fri 03-Mar-23 05:56:14

Hello smile

Just venting /moaning I suppose.

One (well, it could be both) of my neighbourā€™s cats keeps coming into the house at night.

Letā€™s call him Muppet, itā€™s not his real name, but thatā€™s what I call him.

Anyway, Muppet eats Rosieā€™s biscuits (she only eats at night, so I leave a dish out for her) and sleeps in the living room.
He runs out when I go downstairs.

The cat flap that we have is a magnetic one, so if only works for Gracie (ddog) and Rosie (dcat).

But thatā€™s when itā€™s not broken, however it has been broken for a while now, probably because of Gracieā€™s robustness in going in and out.

Muppetā€™s activities really get on Gracieā€™s nerves, but sheā€™s a wuss and he pays no heed to her (following an unfortunate incident behind the shed).

I feel really sorry for Muppet as our neighbour really isnā€™t a good cat mum.
Heā€™s often locked out of the house in the cold.
You can regularly hear him crying to go into his house.
When we had a load of snow a couple of years back, he was crying in the snow sad
She often shouts at him and kicks him out of the house when she goes to work.

Weā€™ve got a little shelter in the garden which MrC has encouraged him to use.

But the thing is: Iā€™ve noticed that Gracie hasnā€™t been herself for a few days, and yesterday I realised what the reason could be.
Weā€™ve got a few foxes in the field at the bottom of the garden, and I think that she is worried that they will be able to come into the house too.

She is extremely, massively territorial and hyper vigilant and very protective of me.

Iā€™ve realised that Iā€™m going to have fit a new cat flap so that Muppet canā€™t come in, but I feel so sorry for him.

Am I being a horrible cruel woman, or am I being a total wuss?

(Sorry that this is a bit rambling, Iā€™ve just had my painkillers!)

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JaneJudge Fri 03-Mar-23 11:28:40

Gagajo, Rosie is the cat and Gracie is the dog smile

grin at Steptoe and Son van!

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LadyHonoriaDedlock Fri 03-Mar-23 11:30:19

FannyCornforth

Anyway, insults aside, whatā€™s wrong with my cat going outside at night?

The problem it seems is with bats. Cats love bats ā€“ they don't catch them to eat ā€“ there's no substance to a bat ā€“ but the way they move makes them a jumping and catching game. Also when caught they make ideal cat toys as they try to make a break for it. The cat doesn't have to actually kill the bat, even a tear to a bat's delicate wing stops it flying so that it can't eat and it will starve to death.

www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/threats-to-bats/cat-attacks

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ExDancer Fri 03-Mar-23 11:37:13

I understand most pet cats are 100% indoors in the States, but they do have more cat-predators over there, whereas we only really have foxes (and traffic). I live totally rurally but have had visits from strays during the night, usually entire toms marking their stolen territory (MY kitchen) and would love a magnetic flap but my cats (semi feral) won't tolerate collars.

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AGAA4 Fri 03-Mar-23 11:40:16

My soft hearted neighbour ended up with a cat sanctuary by giving an outside home to a stray cat in his outhouse. His own feisty cat wouldn't let the stray in the house.
It must have gone on the cat grapevine and he attracted lots of strays. He fed and cared for them all much to the disgust of Chrissy his own cat.

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FannyCornforth Fri 03-Mar-23 11:52:43

Thanks LadyH, thatā€™s interesting. Fortunately I know for a fact that Rosie doesnā€™t have a predatory bone in her body.
She is a big hippy. Very zen

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GagaJo Fri 03-Mar-23 11:57:55

My granny had a tiered homing system. There was the house cat. Then there'd be one in the shed. One lived in the outhouse and there were random others who she fed and who would sleep on the bench outside the outhouse.

When one moved on, they'd all move up a level. So from shed to house. From outhouse to shed, etc.

We scattered her in her garden, where the cats would sit and watch the birds.

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BlueBelle Fri 03-Mar-23 11:58:52

I donā€™t like the idea of indoor cats at all so not with USA on that one I hate the way they often declaw them over there too I hope they donā€™t here never heard of it being a thing but who knows
I think cats need to be able to be free and I see it as cruel to go against their natural personalities and as for garden cages think thatā€™s awful they are prisoners and it must be purgatory to see other cats birds etc all being free

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FannyCornforth Fri 03-Mar-23 12:05:14

I totally agree BlueBelle
Rosie had to go to a Cattery in the. Autumn (there was no other option) and I really worried about her mental health. She was sooo affectionate when she came home šŸ˜Š

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