Hi all. This is likely going to be more of a rant than anything- I’d love some cat lover commiseration and any ideas you all have on what to do here would also be welcome.
In December my family and I moved from an apartment into a house with a yard. We knew many neighbours have cats, and had gotten accustomed to seeing them through the windows. We even exchanged notes in the mailbox with one neighbour, as our cats would often look at each other through our adjacent windows. As it’s warmed up though, that neighbour allows their elderly cat, Butters, to free roam. Now, this is something I’m opposed to on lots of levels. I feel it’s irresponsible, unsafe for the cat and local wildlife, and on top of that it’s against city bylaws. The most frustrating part has been that I’m limited from taking my harness trained cats on their walks, because Butters will come right up to them. I don’t want my cats getting too close to him because I don’t know his vaccination or medical history, and most frustratingly, my eldest cat Mindy is very stressed by other cats. I can’t even take her for a walk in my own backyard without making sure it’s clear of Butters first.
At the same time as I’m frustrated with how he’s being cared for, I’m a cat lover, and I can’t help but love Butters! He’s very friendly and he has a silly little meow.
Recently I was out gardening and he came over and drank from my watering can for like five minutes. Since then I’ve been putting water out for him at the property boundary, and I’ve found him sleeping on our steps a few times lately. I know he’s an older guy, and I know his excessive thirst could be a sign of kidney issues. Especially because his owners don’t monitor him and he goes to the bathroom outside, I’m concerned they could be missing signs of illness.
I mentioned to his owners in a very carefully crafted note with a very friendly tone that he’d seemed really thirsty and in older cats that can be a sign of kidney issues so they might want to look into that, and they simply told me that they’d leave a bigger water dish out for him, which is of course not the issue.
Overall I’m feeling really frustrated for him. I think he deserves better care than he’s getting, and I also wish he wouldn’t constantly be in our yard. I really wish there were more I could do, but I’m unsure what else I can do while maintaining a civil relationship with his owners.
In December my family and I moved from an apartment into a house with a yard. We knew many neighbours have cats, and had gotten accustomed to seeing them through the windows. We even exchanged notes in the mailbox with one neighbour, as our cats would often look at each other through our adjacent windows. As it’s warmed up though, that neighbour allows their elderly cat, Butters, to free roam. Now, this is something I’m opposed to on lots of levels. I feel it’s irresponsible, unsafe for the cat and local wildlife, and on top of that it’s against city bylaws. The most frustrating part has been that I’m limited from taking my harness trained cats on their walks, because Butters will come right up to them. I don’t want my cats getting too close to him because I don’t know his vaccination or medical history, and most frustratingly, my eldest cat Mindy is very stressed by other cats. I can’t even take her for a walk in my own backyard without making sure it’s clear of Butters first.
At the same time as I’m frustrated with how he’s being cared for, I’m a cat lover, and I can’t help but love Butters! He’s very friendly and he has a silly little meow.
Recently I was out gardening and he came over and drank from my watering can for like five minutes. Since then I’ve been putting water out for him at the property boundary, and I’ve found him sleeping on our steps a few times lately. I know he’s an older guy, and I know his excessive thirst could be a sign of kidney issues. Especially because his owners don’t monitor him and he goes to the bathroom outside, I’m concerned they could be missing signs of illness.
I mentioned to his owners in a very carefully crafted note with a very friendly tone that he’d seemed really thirsty and in older cats that can be a sign of kidney issues so they might want to look into that, and they simply told me that they’d leave a bigger water dish out for him, which is of course not the issue.
Overall I’m feeling really frustrated for him. I think he deserves better care than he’s getting, and I also wish he wouldn’t constantly be in our yard. I really wish there were more I could do, but I’m unsure what else I can do while maintaining a civil relationship with his owners.