A neighbor just came by to say that I have too many cats...

[zanne]

He just left. I've never seen this guy before, but he said there are too many cats in the neighborhood and they're pooping in his yard. These are the cats I worked to trap for a month so they could be spayed, neutered and given their shots. I have three cats and there are five barncats, all neutered and disease free. He said "I was gonna call Animal Control but I decided to come and talk to you first". The barncats are ferals, and I've been working hard to make sure they have shelter, food and medical care. I don't know what this guy plans to do if they "poop" on his lawn again. I'm a little nervous about it. Has anyone ever had this kind of problem with a neighbor because of cats?

[WI_DEM]

1. you say barncats?

do you live out in the country?

[zanne]

3. Barncats are strays or ferals that people take care of...

They're provided with shelter outdoors. I don't know where the term comes from.

[LisaM]

2. Our neighbors' cats come and poop in my roses

and I don't know what to do about it.

[zanne]

4. LisaM; Cat poop is good for roses!

Or, just get rid of it.

[SiouxJ]

12. Give it back to her

:evilgrin:

I've been tempted to do that as I have the same problem. Either that or collect up my dogs' poop and toss that over the fence. So far I haven't done it, and I have even rescued his cat when my dogs have treed it, but I still get tempted. Chances are a coyote or mountain lion will solve the problem, but then he'll just get another cat. Not that I want that to happen but it DOES tend to happen to cats around here.

[LisaM]

22. Well it may be good for roses

but it's good for ME or for my dogs! Worse, they half bury it so I turn it up while I'm weeding. I like my neighbors, and I like cats for that matter, but similar behavior by my dogs would not be tolerated. Somehow cats get away with it.

[MissMillie]

5. I can't imagine what he thinks can be done....

if it were squirrels, rabbits, fox, birds.... what would he do?

It's not as if the animals are pets--they're feral. And lucky for him they're fixed and disease free.

He can rake his yard.

[jswordy]

6. Kill them.

[crispini]

7. LOL. Because, you know, they eat songbirds.

:eyes:

[The empressof all]

16. hee, hee

You are sooooo evil! :)

[jswordy]

19. NO, but LOL. Because they are CATS! Drowning in a sack works.

[Dave Reynolds]

26. Ruh roh,

now you've done it...hee hee hee

[MnFats]

to my knowledge, barn cats..

...are farm cats that mostly live in and around the barn. they're not true pets in that they rarely come inside. they might come up on the porch but they're not going to climb up in your lap and purr.
farmers like them because they get ride of mice and scare bunnies and such away from the vegetable garden. generally they are lean, tough, muscular kitties. "kitties" is probably not the right word.

I once worked on a farm bailing hay. there was a barn cat that had a litter of black/white cats about the same time as this fancy angora cat given to my family by an uncle who owned a pet store. very pampered and aristocratic.

anyway, when we started putting hay up in the loft, the mom barn cat left and didn't come back. the kitties were almost ready to be on their own but not quite. each of us on the haying crew took one of the little ones home.

my grandmother scoffed at the idea that the angora cat would accept the homeless stray -- the angoras were a deep orange while the barn cat offspring was black and white, a few days older than the angoras and thus bigger.

the angora was nursing when i set the b/w barn cat in her basket. She sniffed it for a moment, then lay back down and let the barn cat nurse. it was one of the family from then on, but when the kitties played rough, as kitties do, the b/w pretty much kicked ass on the angoras at will.

sorry, that's off topic but your post jogged my memory...

[demosincebirth]

8. I had a problem with neighbors cats attacking my cat and going in to

my garage and making a mess. It cost me over $600, on two occasions for vet bills for my cat. Didn't know who owned the cats, but I trapped three of them and took them down to the animal control. Had no problem with cats since.

Too many cats in an area, whether feral of domestic, can cause problems.

[Der Engel der Katzen]

9. He's lying.

Cats do not poop in the open. "Pooping in his yard," my ass.

Tell him to bring you the scat. Tell him to photograph it first.

Tell him to prove it.

Don't worry. If you can show the cats' medical records you probably have nothing to worry about.

BUT:

Document, document, document! Write down what time he came to talk to you and the conversation as close to verbatim as you can get it, including your replies. Keep all your vet records. Keep track of any future conversations you ahve w/ him or any other neighbors on the issue. Etc.

And remember: cats do not poop out in the open! But don't tell him that until push comes to shove, because he obviously doesn't know it.

[Lisa0825]

13. um, yes cats do poop in the open...

at least some of them do. I drove up last week, and a neighborhood stray was taking a dump in my front yard.

[Der Engel der Katzen]

15. I've never seen it.

Didn't know.

[ucmike]

14. my cat goes right in the middle of the yard.

he does it all the time. when the back is wet he goes in the front. the neighbors cat does it too, they are engaged in a territory marking spat.

[mongo]

10. I had a neighbor who had recently moved on the block

and he trapped my cat. He brought it by and said it was crapping in his yard, yadda, yadda, yadda, and next time he was going to take it to the shelter.

I flyered the neighborhood to warn them about the guy. I think I made him look like a fool. Everybody lets their cats roam.

Although I haven't let poor cat out since them. It was a couple of years ago, and he's still depressed.

[zanne]

24. Mongo, I feel so bad for your cat.

Do you have a trap big enough for your neighbor?

[DemExpat]

11. My back garden used to be the neighborhood cats' toilet

so I can empathize with the guy...at one time there were 4 or 5 of them.
It was just awful, for the more it was used, the more cats came to join in. Cleaning up was a joyless and thankless task, and my anger level was almost unhealthy at the time...:-)

I don't know what you should do about this, I love animals, have had cats too which I kept indoors, and I so appreciate your concern.

Is there any hope to find the wilder cats a home somewhere out in the country?

:hi:

DemEx

[Guy Fawkes]

17. The city is trying to pass a law..

that will allow people to shoot stray cats. Oh, did I mention I live in Red-Neck central?

[zanne]

25. Do you live in Hell?

And how can people be allowed to discharge a weapon in the city?

[Guy Fawkes]

27. Hell? Close- it's Wisconsin

[roguevalley]

18. some people 'take care' of animals like this. If you can keep them

inside, do. Watch out for them. He's probably harmless but you never know. People who do what you do are angels on the earth. Helping an animal without a home is a true act of human compassion. I salute you.

[kedrys]

20. My neighbors are buttheads too

And I'm being overly polite. Some people left their cats behind when they moved out, and we've been taking care of them (and their occasional offspring) for almost 5 years now. We've had all but 2 spayed or neutered, and they all have their shots.

My neonazi next-door neighbor complains that his dog keeps eating cat poo that he finds in their postage-stamp yard, but our cats are not the only ones around. We're moving out of this part of town, and we're taking all of them with us - and getting a house with a fully-enclosed yard so they're not bothered by idiots.

[DS1]

21. Sounds like a threat to me

:shrug:

[flvegan]

23. You obviously hate the songbirds and endangered species in your yard.

Because you let them roam and they kill, Kill, KILLLLLLL!!!!!