Dogs and/vs. cats - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BAVBMW · #1 08-21-2007, 03:45 PM

How is this all supposed to work?

We, my girlfriend and I, have dogs. Mine is a "mixed breed" (read: mutt) and hers is an Australian Shepard. They're both fairly good dogs, esp when you consider their ages, 3 and 2 respectively. Mine loves people and gets along with other dogs when properly introduced (we go to, say, my parents house and their dogs and ours play, as well as the neighbor dog once we explain that it's ok for her to come over), he barks at strange dogs walking down the street, but I'm ok with that. Hers is afraid of most people at first, but likes other dogs.

Mine loves children, and that does cause some concren, as parents yelling at children, or worse yet, hitting them, or making them cry causes my dog to become upset. He's never attacked a parent, but he has positioned himself between a parent and child. He also "rescues" them from the pool at my parents. This can cause alarm from both child and parent as he swims out and latches on to them, gentlely, but with his mouth none-the-less and returns them to the steps. Once we explain that this is unwelcome, he'll let them be, unless they get to screaming or the like, then they get rescued again...

Hers will bark at people when first meeting them, but once he sees that we're all friends, he'll calm down. Unless some gets out a fly swatter. Fly swatters seem to be evil beyond belief and must be destroyed. That's ok, my dog like to bite and spit out flies...

The thing is, I live in a neighborhood with cats. Lots of them. Some are pets and they don't pose much of a problem. But there are lots of strays. Which would be bad enough, but my neighbor seems to encourage them. They leave food out and water as well. I'm not sure if they consider them all "their cats", but their house is always crawling with them. They don't seem to let them into the house, or tag them, license them, fix them, or provide them with veterinary care at all.

And then the problem. The cats will get into my yard (fenced backyard). My dog, or hers either for that matter, doesn't like cats. Especially tresspassing ones. I won't go into details, but suffice to say, dog vs. cat, doesn't usually favor the cat.

What to do? I don't want the cats in my yard, I'm fairly ok with that aspect, but I don't want to make my neighbor mad, or sad for that matter. I wish the cats would just learn, but every time there's a "new" batch, they come around again. I know cats aren't easily controlled, but the fact is, they are in my yard. It's not like my dog goes into others yards after cats.

I take good care of my dog, vet visits, he's fixed, gets love and attention, road trips, pay my city fees...

They do nothing with all the cats. Just put out food in bulk. The cats lay around wherever. I've got scratches on the hood of my vehicle, hair and footprints all over, they pee on everything, and poop in the flower boxes...

Geez, the more I type, the more I want to bite the cats!

I dunno, anyone got any ideas?

MV

aklim · #2 08-21-2007, 04:03 PM

Call animal control.

Mistress · #3 08-21-2007, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAVBMW

How is this all supposed to work?

We, my girlfriend and I, have dogs. Mine is a "mixed breed" (read: mutt) and hers is an Australian Shepard. They're both fairly good dogs, esp when you consider their ages, 3 and 2 respectively. Mine loves people and gets along with other dogs when properly introduced (we go to, say, my parents house and their dogs and ours play, as well as the neighbor dog once we explain that it's ok for her to come over), he barks at strange dogs walking down the street, but I'm ok with that. Hers is afraid of most people at first, but likes other dogs.

Mine loves children, and that does cause some concren, as parents yelling at children, or worse yet, hitting them, or making them cry causes my dog to become upset. He's never attacked a parent, but he has positioned himself between a parent and child. He also "rescues" them from the pool at my parents. This can cause alarm from both child and parent as he swims out and latches on to them, gentlely, but with his mouth none-the-less and returns them to the steps. Once we explain that this is unwelcome, he'll let them be, unless they get to screaming or the like, then they get rescued again...

Hers will bark at people when first meeting them, but once he sees that we're all friends, he'll calm down. Unless some gets out a fly swatter. Fly swatters seem to be evil beyond belief and must be destroyed. That's ok, my dog like to bite and spit out flies...

The thing is, I live in a neighborhood with cats. Lots of them. Some are pets and they don't pose much of a problem. But there are lots of strays. Which would be bad enough, but my neighbor seems to encourage them. They leave food out and water as well. I'm not sure if they consider them all "their cats", but their house is always crawling with them. They don't seem to let them into the house, or tag them, license them, fix them, or provide them with veterinary care at all.

And then the problem. The cats will get into my yard (fenced backyard). My dog, or hers either for that matter, doesn't like cats. Especially tresspassing ones. I won't go into details, but suffice to say, dog vs. cat, doesn't usually favor the cat.

What to do? I don't want the cats in my yard, I'm fairly ok with that aspect, but I don't want to make my neighbor mad, or sad for that matter. I wish the cats would just learn, but every time there's a "new" batch, they come around again. I know cats aren't easily controlled, but the fact is, they are in my yard. It's not like my dog goes into others yards after cats.

I take good care of my dog, vet visits, he's fixed, gets love and attention, road trips, pay my city fees...

They do nothing with all the cats. Just put out food in bulk. The cats lay around wherever. I've got scratches on the hood of my vehicle, hair and footprints all over, they pee on everything, and poop in the flower boxes...

Geez, the more I type, the more I want to bite the cats!

I dunno, anyone got any ideas?

MV

I am a cat lover but will say this- people need to keep their cats indoors for this very reason. When fluffy comes home tattered and torn the owners have this stupid look on their faces like "Oh what happened?" Check county regulations in your area for rules governing animals. If your on good terms with the cat neighbor have a little chat with them and let them know your dog is the master of his back yard...

Dubyagee · #4 08-21-2007, 04:22 PM

cscmc1 · #5 08-21-2007, 04:27 PM

My nutty neighbor does the same -- puts food out for his "one or two" cats, which attracts every feral cat for blocks. Several other neighbors and I complained to no avail, so we started trapping and releasing them elsewhere. This worked for a bit, but now several more have appeared. No big deal except that they crap all over the yard and walk all over our cars. I don't want to kill the damned things, but geez, there aren't many more options I can think of. Catching and releasing is a major PITA, and animal control wants no part of our complaints.

Good luck!

Mistress · #6 08-21-2007, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cscmc1

My nutty neighbor does the same -- puts food out for his "one or two" cats, which attracts every feral cat for blocks. Several other neighbors and I complained to no avail, so we started trapping and releasing them elsewhere. This worked for a bit, but now several more have appeared. No big deal except that they crap all over the yard and walk all over our cars. I don't want to kill the damned things, but geez, there aren't many more options I can think of. Catching and releasing is a major PITA, and animal control wants no part of our complaints.

Good luck!

Call animal control and let them know your neighbor is feeding them and let them take care of it. The old lady who used to live own the street from me thought she was doing a favor by feeding the strays- I ended up with two of them and couldn't take them to the pound- so I ended up with five cats. I am now down to one....

Dubyagee · #7 08-21-2007, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mistress

Call animal control and let them know your neighbor is feeding them and let them take care of it. The old lady who used to live own the street from me thought she was doing a favor by feeding the strays- I ended up with two of them and couldn't take them to the pound- so I ended up with five cats. I am now down to one....

I have four due to the same.

One five year old male (Grayson) that is hating the three kittens. All he wants to do is have a nap. They pounce on him when he least expects it and he hits the roof.

We have taken an ad out in the paper to find them homes and have talked with the neighbor.

Mistress · #8 08-21-2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubyagee

I have four due to the same.

One five year old male (Grayson) that is hating the three kittens. All he wants to do is have a nap. They pounce on him when he least expects it and he hits the roof.

We have taken an ad out in the paper to find them homes and have talked with the neighbor.

I was thinking about getting the Czarina another cat to keep her company but don't know how she would act- I tried about a year ago and she sat like a troll at the bathroom door so the new cat couldn't pass. Kittens need to be with an older cat to learn socialization they grow out out of the jumping phase pretty quick. If i lived near you I'd be tempted to take a look see....

BAVBMW · #9 08-21-2007, 08:29 PM

Animal control in our area doesn't care. All cats are someones pets as far as they care. I can't blame them, they're stretched way too thin, and have bigger concerns than stray cats. Just getting around to picking up roadkill is a strain. And of course, they have no where to put whatever they do pick up so...

As for catch and release, well, I used to live out in the country. Where people did the "release" part of catch and release. It's not pretty. I don't know what cityfolk think will happen to the cats when they dump them, but it's just not a good idea. My neighbor, who was closer to the main road got the bulk of them, but they'd reproduce faster than he could deal with them. He had a local vets office that would fix them and knock an ear so he'd know which ones were fixed for $10, and he couldn't keep up. I'd turn down my road at night and see over 50 cats looking at me. And then they'd have kittens. Litter after litter of unhealthy uncared for kittens. That was sad. Out there though they'd boom for a while, then coyotes would come by and thin them out. Or if need be, a .22 would do the trick. But no one "claimed" those cats. No one missed them, or even really noticed. These are different.

So far the neighbors haven't seemed to have noticed that cats keep coming up missing, but I'm sure they will eventually. I suppose I should have mentioned earlier, these cats aren't going home tattered and torn. These cats aren't going home. They might have come over the fence with nine lives, but my dog is ten times the match for a cat.

As for talking to the neighbors, I'm afraid that is easier said then done. For starters, I don't know exactly who the neighbors are, I can't tell who lives there and who is just staying for a while. It seems anytime anyone makes it a permenant home, the SWAT team comes by and changes their minds for them. So, they come and go a lot. There's only one guy that seems to be constant, and he doesn't seem to like the cats much so...

In any case, I just wish the cats would stay in their own yard. I don't want them in mine, but I'm tired of dealing with it. And not looking forward to any confrontations about it.

MV

Dubyagee · #10 08-21-2007, 08:49 PM

Yeah, we get the abandoned cats here as well. My closest neighbor is 1000 feet from me and used to put cat food in the street. 40 cats would fuss and fight to eat and then howl all night. 3 kittens showed up under my MB and I had to help them. I talked to the neighbor and he quit putting out food. The numbers have dwindled to a third.

The bad thing is that the remaining third are starving and raiding trashcans. They are making a mess and their "scenting" is hard to take on a humid day.

truckinik · #11 08-21-2007, 08:55 PM

"Dogs rule, Cats drool !!"

My favorite thing about dogs is they are loving, caring, smart, loyal and friendly.

My favorite thing about cats is the way they sleep in the street...LOL

My least favorite thing about cats, is the spark, a BB, or Pellet makes as it bounces off of the street near a cat, because that means I missed, and that's very counterproductive..