CATS IN THE GARDEN

[josarareed]

Our rescue greyhound has been with us for 10 months, he is 7 and to our horror got hold of our neighbours new kitten that had come into our garden. It is badly hurt but will be ok we hope. We are all very shocked and our neighbour initially said it was their fault for letting the kitten stray. Today they have come round to ask us to muzzle the dog when we let him into the garden. This was the first time the dog has chased ,hurt another animal and we are reluctant to commit to doing this as we have children that may let the dog out by mistake. Our neighbor thinks we should pay some of the vet bill £400 at the moment and also thinks we are legally obliged to muzzle the dog. Has anyone been in this awful situation. If so please can you tell us what you think.

[vickyb]

How awful for you all . I'm no legal expert but I fail to see why you should muzzle your dog in the garden or be responsible for vets bills. Assuming that your garden is suitably fenced to keep your dog in, what more can you do? I have heard that even muzzled dogs can harm small furries. Hopefully the kitten will have learnt its lesson. I couldn't muzzle ours as the door is always open in summer and I wouldn't be prepared to muzzle them for maybe 12-14 hrs a day. As far as I'm concerned its enter at it's peril, I know that sounds hard but it's our garden. Obviously I'd be distraught if the worst did happen but what would they do if their cat brought birds and mice home dead? Sadly it's nature whether we like it or not.
Vicky

[Flaperoo]

I was in this position a few years ago

The neigbourhood cats had been wandering into our garden without any problem because Flash never reacted.........Along comes Peggy and within days she has killed foxes and mauled the neighbours cat to within an inch of his life , although to be fair the cat put up a brilliant fight and I'm not sure who came off worse because Peggy still has the scars to prove it.

I am not a lawyer so don't iknow for certain what the legal position is. My guess would be if something wanders into your garden then you are not responsible. That said no one wants to fall out with their neighbours.

I posted this same issue on a forum at the time, it got a very mixed response from those who thought I should muzzle her in her own garden to those who thought I should not. I decided not to, in part because my neighbours were VERY understanding and said how could they blame Peggy when their 3 cats constantly killed mice, birds etc and were only doing what their instincts told them to do.

Your neighbours are probably very upset and will probably reflect on it and take a more ballanced approach.

I do not think you are liable for their Vets bills. The kitten was in YOUR garden. If you had been negligent and not had hound proof fencing, and it had escaped into their garden I would feel differently. Ultimately it is down to you and how much you want to appease your neighbours.

By the way, since that one incident with Peggy and the cat I have not seen another cat in our garden since. I was also at dinner with some neighbours a few weeks ago and they commented how even the squirels go to great lengths to avoid being on terra firma in our garden

Mx

[Nettie]

What a horrible situation. In UK law cats occupy a unique position. They are neither considered wild, nor considered domesticated. In your case I would put up deterrants to the cat, obviously the dog isn't enough but might be now. It is up to your neighbours to keep their cat safe, it is not your responsibility and there is certainly no law that says you must muzzle your hound in his own garden just in case the neighbour's cat comes visiting. Their cat, their responsibility. I think all you can tell your neighbours is that before letting your hound out you will check to make sure the garden is cat free and that is the best you can do.

This might sound really silly but you can buy dried lion poop which works as a deterrant to cats. One of my neighbour's cat had been defacating in another neighbour's garden and she complained to him. Patrick bought some lion poop and gave it to her and it really works, his cat stays out of her garden!

www.earth-systems.co.uk/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1&gclid=CIHmsoKQr5UCFRdqQgodZRSJkg

[Deleted]

It's awful when these things happen but the fact is where your neighbours cat roams is not your responsibility.

You can't be expected to muzzle your dog when he's always in the garden because their cat may pop over. I would deter the cat by using a sonic cat deterrent or by scaring it off if you see it coming over again. Also can you check the garden before letting your hound out so if the cat is lurking it has chance to shift.

Hopefully it's learnt a lesson & won't venture over again, my neighbours cat saunters along the top of the fence in full view of 3 or 4 hounds going bezerk, I'm dreading the day that it misjudges the situation & falls off into our garden.

[Jane and Sara]

I re-homed one of my greyhounds after he had been sent back to kennels because he killed a cat in his new owners garden. I do muzzle him in my garden (most of the I time, I do forget sometimes). I just feel that as I know he has this problem I would feel responsible if he got one of my neighbours cats. I don't muzzle the other two greyhounds. Mind you I was out the other day when a cat pounced on one of my bitches - scratched her neck and cost me £90 for an emergency vet visit.

[Lisa]

I think you would find muzzling one and not the other two would still mean sadly the cat got it in the neck. They are pack and therefore react as pack if one chases the three will go.

I wont muzzle my hounds in my garden and we have had one cat killed sadly the owners of the cats own dogs hated it and chased it into ours. My hounds were good till the cat attacked Rodney my alpha male and he got in a lucky bite we were gutted but the rest of the pack didnt join in thankfully till the cat dropped off Rodneys face. The cat escaped still alive but jumped down and we think had a cracked rib that punctured its lungs. The owners couldnt afford veterinary treatment so we had to take the cat and pay for its euthanasia and disposal only because I wouldnt see the poor bugger suffering. They went off about controlling our dogs and I did point out that they WERE controlled and within their own confines.

Before owning hounds I was a cat owner and understood the risks to any of my cats that were allowed out. Growing up our cats were always walked on a lead (we had siameses) in the same way a dog was, that way we could guarantee they came to no harm. Every cat roaming takes its chances with cars and dogs and every cat owner should understand that.

We have a sonic deterrant that works well in the main and we always see the difference when its switched off with cats starting to slope back in. We have two that sit on the top of the dog run and taunt the dogs then seem to think its funny occasionally to run a gauntlet through the garden I know one day one is going to come unstuck.

We also always run one hound out first when opening the door the one I know least poses a threat that way should there be a cat there isnt the full pack out there wading in.

If I do see a cat in the garden im afraid I turn the house pipe on it. May sound cruel but if it deters them in the long run its safer than losing their life to one of the dogs.

[josarareed]

Thankyou everyone!
It's helped to know that we've got somewhere to go with our concerns & not to feel like public enemy number 1!

Thanks again!

[Nettie]

Aug 28, 2008 10:15:34 GMT -5 Lisa said:

If I do see a cat in the garden im afraid I turn the house pipe on it. May sound cruel but if it deters them in the long run its safer than losing their life to one of the dogs.

Just to add, we are cat owners and our hounds are fine with their own but we do have a super soacker water gun which is always full which gets turned on neighbourhood cats who taunt the dog - one in particular - however his owners are in full agreement that its better Larry gets a bit of a soaking rather than coming to grief in our garden. He's still a stubborn bugger and comes back time and again, I also have a tiny waterpistol that lives in my pocket which I can grab to hand quickly. The other evening we were watching the box and Bertie's eyes were standing out on stalks, bloody cat is sitting on the window sill peering in at us.

[Jane and Sara]

Lisa - I do realise the muzzling only one of my three is not the answer - I think I don't really agree with muzzling in my own garden but feel that I could excuse myself if the others killed a cat but not if Bob did because of his record if you know what I mean - illogical I know. Also Bob happily wears a muzzle, whereas the others don't. Do the sonic deterrants work against foxes too? I've always been a bit put off these because some of them give off a slight hum which annoys me.

[snogadog]

MY lurcher had my neighbours cat and my next door but one neighbours in our garden ,luckily I was out with him both times, and both times somehow the cats managed to escape without serious injury, both times it was when he was out for a last wee. After that i used to open the back door and shake my keys or something to at least give the cats a warning. I don't think either of them have been in the garden since. Luckily both sets of neighbours were ok about it and blamed their own cats for coming into a garden were there are dogs.
hope their little kittens ok but i don't think they should expect you to pay the bill maybe you could take them some wine or flowers as a peace offering

[julie]

My new neighbours are b****y useless with their cats. They even got annoyed when I put up an extra layer of fencing to deter them from coming into the garden even thought it was for their cats safety.

Worse still we now have another 4-5 different females using our garden to get to their male cats and it's driving my dogs potty.

I agree with Lisa and now throw water on them as a painless attempt to stop them coming back. It's not nice but it is the only option I have.

I don't see why I should have to muzzle my dogs as again I leave my back door open all through the summer so they would have to have muzzles on all day.

[alexandsteve]

Hi,

I am very lucky that Cerys my whippee x girlie is good with MY cats but she does get rather excited when she sees others .

My grandparents have one of those sonic deterants like Lisa has mentioned and they do work really well so maybe that would be a good option for you to start off with rather than muzzling, I also know that cats hate white pepper, so this could be an extra deterant too! and if all else fails the water gun/hosepipe idea is always a winner .


Ive always had my cats insured as I know what dangerous situations they put themselves into.
One of my cats recently had to be put to sleep as it ran infront of my neighbours car, the bill was over £500 (mostly covered by insurance) as we tried to do all we could before making the decision to PTS - but I would never dream of expecting my neighbour to pay - thats the risk you take with having a cat - they are totally unpradictable and will take daft chances - I think that thats why they have 9 lives too !!!

You do whatever puts you at ease but dont be forced into anything that your not happy with - at the end of the day, its your dog in your garden,
hope your ok,
Alex xxx

[josarareed]

we have agreed to muzzle the dog when we are not with him in the garden until our neighbour has decided whether to rehome .She has done nothing to secure her boundary with chicken wire for example, which would stop the little kittens escaping. The shock of the incident is wearing off now and I am beginning to feel really angry now. Our neighbour through her own negligence has caused this kitten to suffer. We now know that they had taken their eyes off the kitten on a previous occasion and it had come into our garden, yet they still didn't take any action to prevent this happening. It was we now realise an accident waiting to happen. What really upset us was that she rang the RSPCA and Greyhound rescue who so she says wanted or name and address as they thought it was disgraceful that we havenot muzzled the dog after this incident . Unbelievable ! I think her initial reaction of it was "all their fault ,and they dont blame us" has gone now that the vets bill has arrived and she is like a woman possessed. I must stop this now as it is taking over my every waking thought so thank you all for your comments it has helped. Jo xx

[kats-n-greys]

As a cat slave (think the user name might give it away ;D) I agee that you cannot be held responsible for the injuries to their kitten, it's like asking a car owner to pay if they are unfortunate to be hit.

How old is the kitten?
Hoping it recovers well and they keep it safe.

Don't believe that you should have to muzzle your greyhound in it's own garden either