A Delicate Question About Pussies...

[Boon Mee]

Have you got any workers in the area with a wood chipper?

Reason I ask is a guy I used to work with was home one day and his wife at work when one of the wife's cats jumped/hissed at him.

This is the day he says and grabs a pillow case, stuffs the cat within and jumped in his car headed for the Humane Society/Pound. It seems there were some Mexicans doing some tree work (Houston area) and had this wood chipper going when my buddy says 'whoa...no need to drive all that way downtown' so he piles outa the car, opens the trunk wherein lies the cat in the sack and heaves the poor thing into the chipper along with the Mexican's tree limbs.

Well, you can imagine these boys consternation seeing this drama unfold along with the demise of said kitty. They duly noted this redneck's license plate and called the cops after he got back on the road.

Some major explaining went down when the police caught up with the 'cat lover' while he was having a few brewskies down at the VFW Club later that morning...

[Pattaya_Fox]

Pity he didn`t go in with the pillow case

[Sheryl]

We have a cat problem.

The next door neighbour has cats.

They breed prolifically... shit all over our lawn... never on their lawn 'cos their lawn is concrete... sit on the roof and bonnet of my car... sleep with their fleas on our door mats... lie all over any laundry that may be left outside... and generally give me and my missus the absolute shits.

We hate them... 

And I used to be a cat lover... 

What can we do?

Cat lover that I am, I have been mulling over your dilemma...Looked at from a feline perspective their behavior is totally understandable:

- they have no toilet facuility in their own home so must use your lawn. By instinct catrs will select place with sand or dirt closest to their own home -- they won't go somewhere far away as that would be viewed as a territorial intrusion by any cats already using that territory.

- they can't help having fleas

- the lying about part is normal and if they were flea-less and not defecating on your lawn you might not mind it so much.

Basically the problem is that your neighbor is a bad (or at least, ignorant) owner, not that these are bad cats.

You don't mention how attached the neighbor is to these cats. Could you perhaps:

1) Make a gift of flea collars for them (if you get the brand for dogs can cut 1 in half to serve 2 cats, maybe even 1 for 3 if they are skinny). Available in Lotus, Villa, foodlands etc

2) Introduce the owner to the concept of kitty litter? Perhaps provide a gift of some large bags. Don't need the special boxes if there is a place with covering from the rain (like right outside their house under the awning), can just use an ordinary plastic laundry washing bowl (large, and probably need 2 or 3 given the number of cats). Of course the success of this last approach will depend upon the willingness of the owner to keep on buying the litter & cleaning it. Ordinary sand will also work & is of course much cheaper (you could make them a gift of a huge amount) but won't clump so has to be tossed out and completely replaced regularly.

If the owner is uncopperative you might prefer to go ahead and put the litter boxes in your own yard as close as possible to theirs, taking care of that may be less of a hassle than having your lawn messed up. But of course try to get the owner to deal with it first.

Getting cats to stop defecating in an undesirable place is a whole lot easier to achieve if they have been provided with an alternative place!

Last but hardly least, suggest you approach the owner about neutering them and if necessary pay for it yourself before this gets even moreo out of hand. Worth neutering the males as well as the females as it will reduce urine spraying behavior, but if money is tight of course the females are the priority. It's not that expensive in Thailand.

Yours in the spirit of cat-human reconciliation....

[Scott]

Where I live we have a number of feral cats (or owned but uncared for). Each evening we put food our for them. I have three cats in the house and a dog. The dog only goes out in the garden in the early morning hours, otherwise, she is in the house with toilet breaks in the fenced in back area--quite small. I see these cats all around where I live, but almost never see them at my house--I don't know why. They come after dark, eat and leave.

You probably do need a litter box of some type--Sand will work and may be cheaper and keep the yard clean. Otherwise, grab the female and take her in and get her fixed.

Are there any regulations where you live about pets--(Where I live, they have to be kept inside or in garden and must have a collar). I've gotten a few of the female cats fixed--at my own cost. They were just too prolific (and feeding them probably didn't help).

[Joey Boy]

call me stupid.. but why dont u get a dog which doesnt like cats??

[Insight]

2) Introduce the owner to the concept of kitty litter? Perhaps provide a gift of some large bags. Don't need the special boxes if there is a place with covering from the rain (like right outside their house under the awning), can just use an ordinary plastic laundry washing bowl (large, and probably need 2 or 3  given the number of cats). Of course the success of this last approach will depend upon the willingness of the owner to keep on buying the litter & cleaning it. Ordinary sand will also work & is of course much cheaper (you could make them a gift of a huge amount) but won't clump so has to be tossed out and completely replaced regularly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Reckon this could be the best suggestion so far. Not only are you doing yourself and the owner a favour, you're also sending a clear message to the owner (while saving face etc).