Neighbors' outside cats (Vienna: landscaping, yard, dental)

[CAVA1990]

Maybe it's just me but I'd bring them in to live with the 15 other cats I've rescued from my neighbors.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Maybe it's just me but I'd bring them in to live with the 15 other cats I've rescued from my neighbors.

I knew it! You are one of those crazy uncles/aunts with a horde of cats running wild in the house!

[hilsmom]

For the record, our dog is always leashed on walks. I was just pointing out that the cat covered his poop - the dog does not, and we clean it up. I had hoped when we moved that the fence would contain the cat, but it does not because he has his claws and can leap/climb just about anything. He also probably would stay in our yard more if we didn't have the dog - they don't get along and likely never will.

This is the first time I am hearing of animal trespass laws, and I have spoken with our vet and animal control officials in the past about our cat who roams. I will look further into it. As I said, at this point, if this cat is that much of an issue, we will send him to live somewhere that roaming isn't a problem.

People seem to want to lump me in with free range parenting/pet owning or something. That is not me. I probably would take in 15 cats (hopefully indoor) myself if my husband would let me. My first cat in NoVA had been a stray in our condo complex and my roommate and I had been feeding her for months when we figured out she was pregnant - we brought her inside and she never attempted to leave after that.

[themommy]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

My dog poops ON lawns - my cat digs holes and poops INto them. There is no way of knowing where those covered poops are, so I can't really go around cleaning them up. If I knew where they were hidden, I would.

And this is my exact issue with outdoor cats. Our kids play in our yard and dig in the garden. I don't want them digging into poop. If I did, then I would acquire my own cat and send it out to bury poop in the garden for the kids.

I also dig in the garden, as it's my garden. I don't have cats, so I don't expect to find random cat poop in the dirt, and it really ticks me off when I do. Especially when I'm pregnant.

Our neighbors' cat used to come over and poop in our garden all the time. I couldn't reason with the cat, so I tried reasoning with the neighbors; unfortunately, none of them spoke English and I didn't speak their language, so that was a no-go. Had they not moved away and taken their cat with them, I would not have hesitated to call animal control when next I saw the cat roaming the neighborhood.

Maybe it's selfish of me, but I put my family's health and safety -- and our ability to enjoy our yard -- ahead of somebody else's cat's right to roam and poop at will. Oh, wait, that's right. The cat doesn't have the right to do that.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Some of your neighbors may not know for sure that it's your cat. I'm betting some of them just come home from work to find animal excrement on their property. They're infuriated at this but don't know whom to blame.

Quite likely true, if not in this case, in a lot of cases. When we've had cats wander the neighborhood, I never knew whose they were. And I know all my neighbors, which is somewhat unusual for this area. But most of the time we chat outside, in the yard or sidewalk or cul-de-sac, so I have no idea if they have cats or gerbils or fish or whatever.

In a previous neighborhood, a dog would frequently come running out of the woods behind my house in the afternoon, poop in someone's yard, scare whatever small children were around (and some of the adults), and then bolt back into the woods. None of us knew who he belonged to. When I finally tracked the owner down, after months, he was shocked and apologetic when I complained. His teenage children were assuring him that they were walking the dog on a leash every day after school. Instead, they just opened the door, let him out, and made sure he was back before the parents got home. When the parents walked the dog, they took him on a route in the opposite direction, which is why no one here knew who he belonged to.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Question for the group here:

Unfortunately, there are at least three semi-outdoor cats in our neighborhood of Arlington--including the one who terrorize my neighbor's indoor cats. And yet almost everyone here on the forum is as opposed to this practice as I am. I know the NoVa forum is not a random sample of the population, what do you y'all think accounts for the difference? My neighborhood is mostly middle-aged with a few seniors here and there. The "free kitty" contingent's known members have been on the younger side, far as I can tell. Are C-D folks just inherently more outgoing and thus more interested in others' perspectives? Are we just older and more mature?

We do in Arlington seem to have this annoying segment of young (30s) hipster parents--the same people who think they can let a toddler play in the middle of a street at rush hour.

Younger people are more likely to tweet, facebook, and blog than to use message boards. And while we get a lot of traffic on this site from new folks who are looking into moving, the longer-time "regulars" such as ourselves who are doling out the advice are more likely to be settled homeowners in the area. Not that everyone is, of course -- which helps keep it interesting and varied and helps alleviate the curmudgeon factor .

[ersatz]

I guess I will go ahead and chime in.

Hilsmom - I think you need to listen to the consensus. You should not let your cat have free run of the neighborhood. It is against Fairfax County law, his poop and pee are offensive, his clawing up the area does damage, his poop can carry diseases such as toxiplasmosis and he could potentially pick up rabies or fcv. Yes, you really are being selfish by deciding that your neighbors rights and concerns are worth less than the opinions of your cat.

For what it's worth, I have had several cats (one at a time), three of whom were domesticated feral cats who formerly spent a lot of time outdoors. Sure it was irritating to hear them howl and cry and tear up the place trying to get out. After a while, they became strictly indoor cats who were terrified to go out. When they accidentally got out, each huddled by the door and screamed to come back in, and ran under the bed and hid for days for the stress of being exposed to the outdoors. I had one cat, one, who would do anything to be outside. I called his bluff and put him on a leash and took him for walks. Most cats are not wild about walking on a leash but will tolerate it if handled gently. This guy behaved like a dog, charging around on the end of the leash. All I had to do was announce that we were going for a walk and hold out his harness. He would come running and actually climb into the harness. All other cats walk short distances and skulk and sniff and lolligag on the end of a leash. This guy would trot alongside me for a mile or so. I never tried jogging with him but he probably would have obliged. It certainly gave passers by something to talk about to see a cat romping ahead on the end of a leash. It takes patience and understanding to train a cat onto a leash but it can be done. Even with an adult cat because I have done it more than once.

If all else fails and you are determined to air your cat in the great outdoors, google "cat stroller". That will REALLY give your neighbors something to talk about.

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" Eliza Bennett

[Dazed&Confused]

Let's not forget about the danger to outdoor cats from coyotes. There are getting braver by the day. A while ago I read where one, can't remember where, actually ran up to a woman with her small dog (on a leash) and snatched the little doggie/leash right out of the womans hand. I would be afraid to let an animal out around here, even in the city.

[elacklen]

To the OP:
Pour human urine around the perimeter of your porch/yard. This should help. Another solution is to put down aluminum foil in the areas the cats hang out. When a cat steps on it, it usually keeps them away from that area in the future. Not pretty while you have it out there, but cheap.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by elacklen

To the OP:
Pour human urine around the perimeter of your porch/yard. This should help.

She has a husband--no pouring necessary!