Neighbour's Cat Causing Problems

[hawaii500]

Hi,

My neighbour has a cat that basically lives in my backyard now. At first it would just pop up on the fence, but now it's there every morning waiting at the back door. It's only a kitten (maybe 1 year) and has made my older cat (13), not want to go outside.

It's not super aggressive, though will run at my cat and swipe and generally get in his personal space when he just wants to sit in the sun and wander around quietly. My cat will either run back inside or they'll swipe at each other and then he'll run back in. I've tried shooing it away with loud claps, which works temporarly, but it'll just climb back over the fence essentially straight away.

I've mentioned this to the owner of the kitten to workshop any possible solutions, who seems nice enough, and said they would try to keep their cat inside more - though this was very vague and I didn't want to push it at that point. So far they haven't kept it in at all. It roams free during the entire day. I can speak to them again to see if they can agree to specific times that I know I can let my guy outside. I'm not confident it'll be much of a permanent solution though.

Just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas? My cat really loves going outside and I basically moved where I am because it's great for him in every other way. So it's frustrating now he's bothered and not able to enjopy the garden.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That's a tough one, and as my cat is indoor only, not something that I'm sure how to handle. Your cat definitely needs to be able to enjoy his garden in peace, but you can't afford to start a feud with your neighbor. The only thing I can currently think of is to make up a schedule of sorts, go back to the neighbor, ask her/him if that suits their schedule, and if not, to suggest better times for their kitten to be in. And if THAT doesn't work, and it may well not, come back and we can try to think of something else.

 

[maggiedemi]

Can you pet the neighbor cat at all? Is he friendly? I was wondering if you could distract the neighbor cat and play with him while your cat enjoys his time outside. Maybe if your cat saw you playing with the other cat he wouldn't be so afraid. But if you don't want the cat around your cat, I agree that the schedule thing might be a great idea, if your neighbor will really stick to it.

 

[bluebirdy]

Could you use some techniques for introducing cats since it seems that they'll be together outside (playing together, feeding together). If you had to you could install cat fencing that work to keep your cat in and others out, but that is very expensive so it's be worth it to see if you can use introduction techniques).

 

[maggiedemi]

I agree, it would be nice if they could play together. The neighbor cat is probably lonely and wants somebody to play with. My boy cats loves other cats. He escaped once and was playing with the neighbor cats. He cries out the window when he sees them.

 

[sargon]

You may want to consider an enclosure for your cat, or making the yard its self into one. That way your cat can be outside without the other cat being able to get to them. Additionally, at thirteen years old, you may want to look into providing a more structured and protected outdoor experience for your cat, in any case.