Neighbor threatens cat poisoning

-Blanco-

Posting this for a friend of mine who needs advice.

Background:
My friend lives in a reasonably well-to-do area with loads of pet owners, there are at least 6-7 pet cats within a 10 house radius of my friend excluding a litter of newborn kittens a garden across. She has a dog for the past 7 years that has never been the cause of any trouble. Many of the other houses also have pet dogs.

The same friend recently adopted two cats from the DSPCA and has had them indoors for just over a month now. Both are fully vaccinated/neutered etc. Tonight, her mother, on the way in the door was met by their nextdoor neighbor. He said that he had noticed the cats in the window and that he didn't want them in his garden. He said he has an elderly dog and I imagine he doesn't want the cats near it. He went on to say that he will be laying poison in his garden with the intention of causing harm to the cats should they make their way into it.

My friend is now terrified that something will happen to her cats if she lets them out, which she was just planning on doing. I'd advise her to keep them as house cats but they're both old (2 and 5 years old) and used to being outdoors, it's been hard enough keeping them in so far.

As far as I've heard the neighbor in question has never issued any other similar warnings to anyone. Now I understand that it is his own property and he doesn't want cats, these two cats in particular, near it but obviously cats can't be told to keep out of a garden and threatening to poison them seems a bit extreme, especially for someone who owns a pet themselves. I'd imagine the cats would avoid a garden with a dog in it but I'd be worried they could wander in while the dog's indoors and end up poisoned or worse.

I have recommended that this is all reported to the gardai and I'll make sure to have their position on cat poisoning/threatening to do so clarified but until then I'd still be curious to know what other people have been told. I'd like to think this kind of thing isn't legal (or common) but I'm obviously no expert and if anyone could clarify the legality of cat poisoning or offer advice that would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

The Sweeper

I have no idea if it's legal - the man could claim he simply laid posion in his garden and it's not his fault your friends cats ate it. It's his property, he may have a point. For what it's worth, I think it's unlikely he'll put poison in the yard with his own dog (that'd be a bit silly wouldn't it?) but you can't underestimate how much some people hate cats.

In terms of your question about how often this happens, it's not uncommon for cats to be poisoned by people who don't want them in their yard. It's also not uncommon for house owners to trap the cats and turn them over to the pound. Some householders shoot them, or lay poisoned drinks for them.

It may seem like a difficult choice, wrestling with whether or not to let your cats roam, but it really isn't.

1) There are all these horrible things that can happen to your cat if it roams.
2) If you stop it roaming, you nullify all of these threats in one go.

That's what it boils down to. It doesn't have to be cruel to restrict your cat's roaming. You can catproof the fences in your yard. You can create great entertainment for cats indoors and you don't have to spend lots of money on cat trees and scratching posts. Dust off your blue peter badge, get a bunch of cardboard boxes and build kitty condos - play structures where they can get in and out, swat each other with their paws through holes you've cut in the boxes, so on.

By the way, the average life span of a feral cat that survives beyond kittenhood is about two years for individual cats and five years for cats in a managed colony. In contrast, a cat that lives indoors under proper human care has a life expectancy of 15-22 years. The in between life span of an outdoor domestic cat permitted to roam freely reflects the input of proper feeding and vet practices, but also reflects the number of things that can kill an outdoor cat. It's very difficult to find actual statistics on the lifespan of domesticated outdoor cats, because most people simply don't record their cat as a death when it simply doesn't come home one day.

Much of this is probably because it's far more comforting to assume your cat has just vanished into the ether and is off doing cat things, than face the reality that your loved pet most probably died on its own, either quickly or slowly, from injuries incurred through being hit by a vehicle, or being attacked by a dog.

If you allow your cat to roam freely, the one thing I can guarantee you absolutely 100% is that at some point, in the life of the cat, you will be sitting up at midnight wondering why your usually routine cat hasn't appeared for his supper. This anxiety may end at 1am, it may end days or weeks later, or you may be left forever wondering whatever did actually happen to your cat.

If more people restricted their cats from roaming, cats in suburban areas wouldn't be such a menace, and with no nuisance cats their bad rep would fade and you'd have fewer cat haters.

-Blanco-

Thanks Sweeper for the reply.

The Sweeper wrote: »

I have no idea if it's legal - the man could claim he simply laid posion in his garden and it's not his fault your friends cats ate it. It's his property, he may have a point. For what it's worth, I think it's unlikely he'll put poison in the yard with his own dog (that'd be a bit silly wouldn't it?) but you can't underestimate how much some people hate cats.

Yes, I understand it's his own property and he can do what he wants and also that it's possibly an empty threat. (I'm not sure but can you get cat poison that dogs won't eat?) I still was a bit taken aback that someone would threaten to harm two cats in particular in an area with so many. Then again the amount of cats there are probably making it worse.
In fairness I can see why people don't like cats roaming. I have two cats myself and I've had these two other cats come into my house and spray and sit outside in the garden meowing at all hours and fighting with my pets during the day. Thankfully as my two got older they eventually chased off the problem cats.

I'd have no problems spraying these "problem" cats with a hose or something else that wouldn't actually injure the animal but as a pet owner I'd never poison/kill the animals. I would've thought that someone who owned a pet themselves wouldn't be into hurting animals but fair enough, their own property to do what that want etc.

The Sweeper wrote: »

It may seem like a difficult choice, wrestling with whether or not to let your cats roam, but it really isn't.

My friend is going to keep them indoors for the immediate future after this incident but I doubt she will indefinitely. They are rescued cats from the DSPCA which have been uptil now been allowed/been outdoors for most of their lives. I know it's possibly to keep them indoors but I don't want to debate whether all cats should/shouldn't be kept indoors.

The Sweeper wrote: »

If you allow your cat to roam freely, the one thing I can guarantee you absolutely 100% is that at some point, in the life of the cat, you will be sitting up at midnight wondering why your usually routine cat hasn't appeared for his supper. This anxiety may end at 1am, it may end days or weeks later, or you may be left forever wondering whatever did actually happen to your cat.

If more people restricted their cats from roaming, cats in suburban areas wouldn't be such a menace, and with no nuisance cats their bad rep would fade and you'd have fewer cat haters.

Yes, I understand this, As mentioned I have cats of my own that are allowed out. I accept all that as a risk of having an outdoor cat. I wouldn't allow my cats to roam freely all day and night but I accept still that they may be hurt outside, that's life.

What I'm worried about is this neighbor seems to have taken a dislike against my friends two cats. They haven't been outdoors at all and the guy has already issued a threat. I mean they could be indoor cats for all he knows. If the cats had of been outdoors and in his garden, fair enough, it's his property. But I just find the knocking to the door threat abit over the top and was wondering if, legally speaking, this was a verbal threat?

Now as a cat owner myself maybe I'm overreacting. But whatever the cause, any pet owner would dread the thought of their animal being hurt. So having someone call to the front door for no reason (the two cats haven't been out of the house or near his garden) and threaten to hurt my friends cats should they be let out to seems, to me anyway, unnecessary in the given context.

Cheers again Sweeper, very informative post.

johndoe99

Firstly:
Ring the Gardai, and tell them the story, see what they say. They may send a guard around and have a word with him.

Secondly:
Having several cats myself, I know that they dont eat anything thats not food, if he is laying poison on food, what about his dog.

ppink

-Blanco- wrote: »

Thanks Sweeper for the reply.



Yes, I understand it's his own property and he can do what he wants and also that it's possibly an empty threat. (I'm not sure but can you get cat poison that dogs won't eat?) I still was a bit taken aback that someone would threaten to harm two cats in particular in an area with so many. Then again the amount of cats there are probably making it worse.
In fairness I can see why people don't like cats roaming. I have two cats myself and I've had these two other cats come into my house and spray and sit outside in the garden meowing at all hours and fighting with my pets during the day. Thankfully as my two got older they eventually chased off the problem cats.

I'd have no problems spraying these "problem" cats with a hose or something else that wouldn't actually injure the animal but as a pet owner I'd never poison/kill the animals. I would've thought that someone who owned a pet themselves wouldn't be into hurting animals but fair enough, their own property to do what that want etc.



My friend is going to keep them indoors for the immediate future after this incident but I doubt she will indefinitely. They are rescued cats from the DSPCA which have been uptil now been allowed/been outdoors for most of their lives. I know it's possibly to keep them indoors but I don't want to debate whether all cats should/shouldn't be kept indoors.



Yes, I understand this, As mentioned I have cats of my own that are allowed out. I accept all that as a risk of having an outdoor cat. I wouldn't allow my cats to roam freely all day and night but I accept still that they may be hurt outside, that's life.

What I'm worried about is this neighbor seems to have taken a dislike against my friends two cats. They haven't been outdoors at all and the guy has already issued a threat. I mean they could be indoor cats for all he knows. If the cats had of been outdoors and in his garden, fair enough, it's his property. But I just find the knocking to the door threat abit over the top and was wondering if, legally speaking, this was a verbal threat?

Now as a cat owner myself maybe I'm overreacting. But whatever the cause, any pet owner would dread the thought of their animal being hurt. So having someone call to the front door for no reason (the two cats haven't been out of the house or near his garden) and threaten to hurt my friends cats should they be let out to seems, to me anyway, unnecessary in the given context.

Cheers again Sweeper, very informative post.

Perhaps it was a friendly warning of the action this guy intends taking to stop other peoples pets entering his garden. He could have said nothing and just put out the poison or got rid of them some other way, at least your friend got a warning.
It is funny the way Sweepers post identifies many different ways harm could come to the cat at large yet you "accept all that" as "thats life". I really cannot fathom that at all, but more than that do you not think that you cat should not be a pest for someone else?
I dont think anyone has the right to inflict their choice of pet on anyone else....but thats just my opinion. Fortunately for many cat owners I do not live in the city.

Rockery Woman

johndoe99 wrote: »

Firstly:
Ring the Gardai, and tell them the story, see what they say. They may send a guard around and have a word with him.

Secondly:
Having several cats myself, I know that they dont eat anything thats not food, if he is laying poison on food, what about his dog.

agree! also I dont think a cat would eat poison as they are quite fussy eaters! I have 2 cats and they live outdoors. My neigbours lay poison in their fields for roaming dogs and have done this for years - none of my cats ares stupid enough to eat that stuff.

Acoshla

My last cat died of kidney failure caused by licking anti freeze out of a discarded bottle in someone's driveway. The vet said many cats die from this as anti freeze tastes sweet so they always go for it and it causes serious internal damage. So it's not just straightforward poison he could use, there are other possible ways for him to harm the cats.

MarkR

If he lays poison he's as likely to kill his own dog surely?

johndoe99

MarkR wrote: »

If he lays poison he's as likely to kill his own dog surely?

he could put it somewhere cats can only access, such as the roof of a coal shed or windowsills.

i hope he forgets to wash his hands after using it.

smokin ace

what people are forgetting the man dont own cats and he dont want cats on his property he might own a dog but at least a dog can be controlled by the owner if the will is there by the owner

but cats are a different story if they are outside cats they cant be controlled do and go every where they want go to the toilet into peoples flower beds get into peoples houses through a open window how would a cat owner like it if the neighbours dog was doing all this i bet they would not like it at all

i dont like cats because i am a very responsible dog owner and the neighbour a few doors up from us has 3 cats and dont really bother about them apart from throwing out a bit of food to them the cats drive my dogs nuts walking in front of the dog pen teasing them they rip up the flower beds and siht in them along with other things and i have said it to the owner many times about the cats and the only response i get is sure they are only cats what damage can they do

so if you cant control a cat dont get one as us dog owners have no other choice but to control our dogs

Butch Cassidy

Someone poisoned our cat a few years ago. Whatever it was it nearly killed him and the vet said he suffered the cat equivalent of a human stroke. Never found out what happened or who. Don't think the cat's realy been the same since but he's still alive and kicking.

-Blanco-

There seems to be many ways to poison a cat which wouldn't harm his dog.

@ ppink
Yes I know the guy could have just put out poison without warning but the real issue for me is this guy threatened my friend who hasn't "inflicted" anything on anyone so far unlike many of the other neighbors who have outdoor cats in the immediate area. He took it on himself to threaten her for something she "might" do. Had the cats been in his garden or destroying his flower bed etc then that would be a different story altogether, but they haven't been allowed out at all. Had he politely explained "look I don't want them in my garden and if they do come in I'll be forced to take further action etc etc" fine. Also there are other ways to deal with cats which I talk about below which sound far more humane and effective.

As far as you not being able to fathom my views on cats being injured as a result of being outdoors maybe I should rephrase. For example, if a pet cat is allowed outdoors and gets knocked down then so be it. The same thing could happen a person or a dog. On two separate occasions I've seen dogs knocked down whilst out on walks with their owners. I still wouldn't agree on keeping dogs indoors because it's safer. I know many people who have had outdoor cats for years that have not been killed or poisoned. Granted they are exposed to more dangers. This has nothing to do with my views on whether its right to let cats outdoors. I was just stating that I accept an outdoor cat faces more danger then an indoor cat.

You believe cats should be kept indoors and not forced on other people and that's your opinion and that's fine.
But as I stated I'm not looking for a discussion on whether it's right or not to let cats out, I'm concerned with this man behavior and attitude towards my friend and her pets who have caused him no harm.

@ smokin ace
I'm sorry to hear about your situation and of course you have every right to be angry at your neighbors who judging for your post don't seem to pay much attention to their cats at all. Have you tried any cat repellant techniques that I mention below?
My friend is also a very responsible dog owner and amateur gardener and if she were in your situation I'm sure she would feel the same.
But I can assure you, as can be read in my previous posts, that her cats are very well controlled, they haven't been outside the house.

A quick google search shows the availability of many cat repellants aswel as cat repellant techniques that don't involve poisoning. Example from about.com:

"One of the commercial cat repellents available is a powder called, "Shake-Away." Shake-Away bears the scent of the urine of predators that cats fear, namely, the coyote, the fox and the bobcat. This commercial cat repellent comes in a granular form, which you simply sprinkle around the problem area. The product is advertised as being organic, making it an acceptable option to use around children and pets. Nor will it harm your plants."

A quick search of amazon shows many products all designed to keep cats away:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cat+repellent&x=0&y=0&sprefix=cat+re

Many are priced cheaply, similar to the cost of antifreeze.
Using one of these methods would theoretically prevent all cats from messing with the guys garden without hurting his dog or someone else's pet cat. Poisoning a cat wouldn't stop one coming into the garden next week-
Poisoning a cat doesn't solve the guys problem. Not having any outdoor cats would, but thats never going to happen.

I personally think if the neighbor really wanted a cat free garden he should at least try a cat repellant instead of a cruel method that won't remedy the problem, especially when the costs involved is equal to what he'd probably pay for a poison. To be honest it's not as if he has an out door cage/kennel for his dog, it is allowed free run of his garden. I doubt any cat would step foot there in the first place. He may be concerned about that cats entering during the night when the dog is indoors. (But if my friend were to allow her cats outdoors it would not be during the night. Again he made up his own assumptions about how she will control her pets and threatened to possibly kill the animals with no due reason).

The way he has handled the whole situation leads me to believe that he would rather someone's pet suffer a painful death then actually employ a method which would rid him of the problem. Also he threatened my friend with no reason. I believe he is acting on emotion rather then logic.

Thanks for all the replies.
It'd be great to hear of anyone who has any experience with cat repellants as I'm now curious to how successful they are.

mymo

Your friend could cat proof their garden.
Its just a matter of fencing all round will something like avery wire and at the top bend the wire in at a 45degree angle so it overhangs her garden. It has to be high enough the cat can't jump to the top, and there should be nothing high they can jump from onto the top of the wire.

BrianD3

If cats want to go outdoors they should go in an enclosure or some other escape proof area on the owners property. End of.

Google images cat + enclosure to see what others have done.

While this neighbour's poision threat seems cruel and misguided, it might just wake up your friend to the fact that cats should not be outside to roam where they please. They cause nuisance to other people, kill wildlife and the cat is also exposed to serious dangers. If I had a cat roaming outside right now and I knew the neighbours had poison set, I'd still be much more worried about the road than the poison

TBH the OP comes across as a troll to me. If a cat gets run over then "so be it"??? And a 2-5 year old cat is described as "old". Generally the people who regard a 5 year old cat as old are the ones that let their cats roam all around the place and in that case I suppose 5 years is a good innings alright :rolleyes: No wonder I see so many dead cats on the road every day.

John Mason

if your friend isnt willing to be a responsible pet owner why doesn't she buy all the cat repellents for the neighbour ??????? why should he be out of pocket ?

mind you they dont work

HealthNWealth

My cat was poisoned by the neighbor last year. He died in my arms in the sitting room. It nearly broke my heart. Try to keep the cats in if you know your neighbors are that nasty.

I want to get a kitten in the next month and I was just wondering if anybody knows where they put cats to sleep. I want to get my kitten from the places where it would otherwise have no chance of survival rather than from a place where it will be rehomed anyways.

Can anybody advise? Perhaps all shelters/pounds etc. are equally good to rescue a cat from?

bryaner

BrianD3 wrote: »

If cats want to go outdoors they should go in an enclosure or some other escape proof area on the owners property. End of.

Google images cat + enclosure to see what others have done.

While this neighbour's poision threat seems cruel and misguided, it might just wake up your friend to the fact that cats should not be outside to roam where they please. They cause nuisance to other people, kill wildlife and the cat is also exposed to serious dangers. If I had a cat roaming outside right now and I knew the neighbours had poison set, I'd still be much more worried about the road than the poison

TBH the OP comes across as a troll to me. If a cat gets run over then "so be it"??? And a 2-5 year old cat is described as "old". Generally the people who regard a 5 year old cat as old are the ones that let their cats roam all around the place and in that case I suppose 5 years is a good innings alright :rolleyes: No wonder I see so many dead cats on the road every day.

Jaysus there's heaps of cats in my estate, I can't see the problem the use the walls as their roads.

Have the odd sh1t in me flower bed but hey no biggie

TooManyDogs

-Blanco- wrote: »

I'd imagine the cats would avoid a garden with a dog in it.

Not always, a neighbour's cat insists on playing russian roulette by coming into my garden and I have 6 dogs. One of these days I won't be around to save it

johndoe99 wrote: »

Firstly:
Ring the Gardai, and tell them the story, see what they say. They may send a guard around and have a word with him.

Since when did it become illegal to lay poisin on your own land that's fenced off?

irishbird wrote: »

if your friend isnt willing to be a responsible pet owner why doesn't she buy all the cat repellents for the neighbour ??????? why should he be out of pocket ?

Totally agree

bryaner wrote: »

Jaysus there's heaps of cats in my estate, I can't see the problem the use the walls as their roads.

Have the odd sh1t in me flower bed but hey no biggie

Why should anyone have to clean up sh1t from a pet that doesn't even belong to them??? It's not like it's anyone's favourite part of pet owning but the correct thing to do is be responsible for your own pet's sh1t and pick it up yourself or prevent it sh1tting on someone else's property

It seems alot of cat owners want it everyway ( I know there are some very responsible cat owners here on Boards ), they want their cats be allowed wander like wild animals but everyone around to treat them like beloved pets. If you let your animal become a pest it will be treated like vermin, unfortunately it's as simple as that.

Zapperzy

HealthNWealth wrote: »

My cat was poisoned by the neighbor last year. He died in my arms in the sitting room. It nearly broke my heart. Try to keep the cats in if you know your neighbors are that nasty.

I want to get a kitten in the next month and I was just wondering if anybody knows where they put cats to sleep. I want to get my kitten from the places where it would otherwise have no chance of survival rather than from a place where it will be rehomed anyways.

Can anybody advise? Perhaps all shelters/pounds etc. are equally good to rescue a cat from?

Kittens are rarely put to sleep in shelters because they are so easy to rehome, everyone who wants to get a cat wants to get it as a kitten. It's the adults that are in danger of being put to sleep especially those with health issues such as being FIV+, elderly cats with other health issues and from my experience anyways cats with unusual colourings are easy to rehome but plain black cats are hard to rehome. So if you want to rescue a kitten all rescues are equal really, but please consider taking on a harder to rehome cat if you can.

OP it strikes me as being a bit odd that he would threaten this one person with cats and not the other cat owners on the street. Has your friend talked to the other cat owners and asked them have they been issued with similar threats? Also has there been any cats that have just 'gone missing' or died of mysterious illnesses in this area, perhaps he has laid out poison before but not told anyone?

bryaner

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Not always, a neighbour's cat insists on playing russian roulette by coming into my garden and I have 6 dogs. One of these days I won't be around to save it



Since when did it become illegal to lay poisin on your own land that's fenced off?



Totally agree



Why should anyone have to clean up sh1t from a pet that doesn't even belong to them??? It's not like it's anyone's favourite part of pet owning but the correct thing to do is be responsible for your own pet's sh1t and pick it up yourself or prevent it sh1tting on someone else's property

It seems alot of cat owners want it everyway ( I know there are some very responsible cat owners here on Boards ), they want their cats be allowed wander like wild animals but everyone around to treat them like beloved pets. If you let your animal become a pest it will be treated like vermin, unfortunately it's as simple as that.

Go handy there's a lot more important things in life than a bit of sh1t in
the flower bed (actually works good as a fertilizer).

Love and peace dude.

Cherry Blossom

bryaner wrote: »

Go handy there's a lot more important things in life than a bit of sh1t in
the flower bed (actually works good as a fertilizer).

Love and peace dude.

There is nothing more important in life, if you happen to have small children in your posession that could go blind from playing in their own garden, dude!:rolleyes:

Boxoffrogs

I sympathise with you but you really should try and make sure that your cats are not regularly on someone elses property whether they have pets or not. I live in a ground floor apartment. The tenant above me has two cats and they use my wall as a way of getting up to the balcony. A couple of times, I've had to clean up cat sick and cat poo (like really sloppy diarrhea) from my garden and it's not pleasant. Also, the smell of cat wee can be overwhelming at times.

I'm not a cat lover but I'd never harm them, just be aware that while they are your pets, they can be someone else's pest.

Fox McCloud

Tell her to go to the guards and emphasize the point that the cats have been indoors all the time, and that this threat came out of no where. If theres plenty of other cats and dogs in the area that he has no problem with it could nearly be taken as a personal threat to the owner rather than just a cat hater, the guards might take a bit more seriously if its an irrartional personal threat.

blondie7

People do you no how hard and cruel it is to keep cats from roaming. Its in there nature, its what they do! Im a proud cat owner and they go out and roam the estate in the evenings and if one of my neighbours said they were going to poison my cats id bloody poison them!!!!! I dont like my neighbours kids kicking there ball over the wall every ten minutes but i dont threaten to kill them if they dont stop. Its easier to get along with your neighbours than fight with them!

evolutionqy7

lol well if there was 6-7 cats walking around my cat garden and ****ting all over it id so the same...

but yet again im too lazy to go and get it and probably end up just throwing something at them to get them away or get them frightened around my garden

Pudding11

I agree people dont necesssarily want cats roaming around their garden and doing their business there etc but surely there are better ways of asking your neighbour to try and keep their cats out than threatening to poison the cats?! Hardly very neighbourly behaviour. might be best to put up some sort of enclosure so they can go outside but not too far, thats what I have at my place (more to keep cats safe from cars etc than anything else) but then if they are older and already used to roaming where they want they might not be very happy with a small area.
regardless, if there are that many cats in the area already why choose to pick a problem with these specific two. Keeping these two out isnt going to make a difference to all the other ones.

Qualitymark

http://www.ispca.ie/Legal-Chapter-7-2.aspx

Lots of information on the above page; a sample:

Q.1 Can a person lay poison for animals?


As a general rule it is illegal to lay poison for animals. Section 8 of the 1911 Act (as amended by Section 7 and 14 of the 1965 Act) makes it an offence for a person to lay poisonous substances for animals save for the control of insects and vermin. It is also an offence to sell poisonous grain and seed except for legitimate agricultural purposes.

However, Section 7 and 14 of the 1965 Act have placed some limitations on the scope of this section; Section 7 states that it will not be an offence for a person to place poisonous gas or substances in a rabbit hole. (Section 14 is dealt with below.)

Back to an Overview of Animals, Poison & Illegal Substances



Q.2 Can an occupier or an owner of land lay poison on his own land?


An occupier of land may not lay poison on land except in accordance with the stringent provisions set forth in Section 14 of the Act of 1965.

The 1911 Act had given a blanket exemption to all owners and occupiers of the land to lay poison as they saw fit, Section 17 of the 1911 Act. This section was repealed by Section 14(6) of the 1965 Act. It provides that an owner or occupier of land may must abide by the following provisions if he wishes to lay poison:-

"14 (2) A notice or notices of the laying of such poison or poisonous matter shall be posted and properly maintained on the land so that at least one notice shall be clearly visible from every public road and other public road adjoining or being upon the said land.

(3) Notice in writing of the laying of such poison or poisonous matter shall be given to the Garda Siochána station for the sub district in which the land is situated.

(4) No poison or poisonous matter shall be laid within one hundred yards of any public road or (save with the consent of the occupier) any dwellinghouse.

(5) All poison or poisonous matter shall be staked or otherwise securely affixed to the soil. ....."

Vegeta

Irresponsible cat ownership drives me bonkers

I have recently gone to a lot of effort and expense in completely re-doing my whole back garden and reseeded it about a month ago

The damage done to the young grass by my neighbours cats is driving me crazy. Between piss (which kills young grass), sh1t and burying their crap I have huge patches I will have to completely re-do

And the problem is that it is now a habit for the cats. They come across the road and use my garden as their lavatory

:mad:

Qualitymark

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Procter-Bros-Ltd-Spray-SprayAway/dp/B000FII3ZQ

This motion-activated attachment sends a spurt of spray from your garden hose - very effective in dissuading unwanted cats, birds, etc.

hollypops

<snip>

Banned!

bryaner

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

There is nothing more important in life, if you happen to have small children in your posession that could go blind from playing in their own garden, dude!:rolleyes:

I'd be interested to see the stats on how many kids go blind from cat dump per year.

My kids never really enjoyed playing in flower beds tbh.

evolutionqy7

hm that reminds me i brought the indoor carpet outside one day to dry out after washing and hung outside...what a relief it was to find out a freaking cat pissed on it when i got to it...

i don't a steam washer to clean the carpet and i would hardly want to waste my own money bringing it to the dry cleaners to get it cleaned cause some one cant look after their pets...if your a good neighbor do buy the cat repellent and give it to the neighbor...no one else should suffer cause of your untrained pet!

poor neighbor probably had to pay for that rat poison

Cherry Blossom

bryaner wrote: »

I'd be interested to see the stats on how many kids go blind from cat dump per year.

My kids never really enjoyed playing in flower beds tbh.

My cousin had a severe allergic reaction caused by toxocariasis at 2 years old from playing in his sandpit in his garden, the culprit was cat faeces, he was taken straight to A&E when large red blotches started appearing all over his whole body, while waiting to be seen he started swelling up to the point that his windpipe became blocked and he would have suffocated to death had he not already been sitting in A&E. His parents have never had a pet. Fortunatly he made a full recovery, had his symptoms not been so server then action may not have been taken so quickly and who knows what would have happened during the night when everyone was asleep! Some people show no symptoms at all.

I could not find any Irish 'statistics' for you to entertain your self with but here are some UK ones for you

http://www.cks.nhs.uk/patient_information_leaflet/toxocariasis

bryaner

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

My cousin had a severe allergic reaction caused by toxocariasis at 2 years old from playing in his sandpit in his garden, the culprit was cat faeces, he was taken straight to A&E when large red blotches started appearing all over his whole body, while waiting to be seen he started swelling up to the point that his windpipe became blocked and he would have suffocated to death had he not already been sitting in A&E. His parents have never had a pet. Fortunatly he made a full recovery, had his symptoms not been so server then action may not have been taken so quickly and who knows what would have happened during the night when everyone was asleep! Some people show no symptoms at all.

I could not find any Irish 'statistics' for you to entertain your self with but here are some UK ones for you

http://www.cks.nhs.uk/patient_information_leaflet/toxocariasis

Glad to hear he made a recovery, still should be a cover on the sand pit when not in use, apart from cats ants, earwigs bird sh1t (which is dodgy too)

Cherry Blossom

bryaner wrote: »

Glad to hear he made a recovery, still should be a cover on the sand pit when not in use, apart from cats ants, earwigs bird sh1t (which is dodgy too)

I agree and there usually was . . except his mother was away for a week due to work commitments, his father didn't much see the point of it :rolleyes:

bytey

my cat is kept inside always , never let out
if you let them out in a city - they will disappear one day.
lost two myself to this before.

those high pressure kids water guns are great for scaring cats out of gardens and the hissing makes them very reluctant to return

may be you could ask your friend to give the neighbour one of these and come to a compromise that he will squirt at them until they learn to avoid his place.

or an auto sprinkler .

your friend should also seal the garden so they cannot get out over the fences if possible.

evolutionqy7

so he has to buy a water gun for ur cats lmao

pugsnotdrugs

I'd be interested to see the stats on how many kids go blind from cat dump per year.

My kids never really enjoyed playing in flower beds tbh.

My younger sister got toxoplasmosis and as a result is now blind in one eye. Apart from going blind, she was very sick for months after being diagnosed as the drugs she was given as treatment had some nasty side affects. We never had a cat growing up and my parents were always really careful about covering over our sandpit etc. but it still happened to my sister.

I'm not sure how common toxoplasmosis is but I know that they routinely screen pregnant women for it in France so I assume it's common enough.

Much as I love animals, it really gets to me when people allow their cats to use their neighbours' gardens as toilets. I wouldn't dream of not picking up after my dogs and I don't see why it should be any different for cats. I would never dream of poisoning someone's pet though

barbiegirl

I can see people getting very upset about cats wandering, but I don't see how you can stop them. I have a dog and if she was as agile as a cat I'm sure she'd be over the wall. It's not training, in her case anyway, it's ability.
If the guy did threaten to poison the cat, purposely, he is evil and I'm not sure he would respond well to being given cat away spray. However could he possibly just have been warning that, maybe due to mice/rats etc. he was about to lay poison and hence it was a friendly warning?
All poo is dangerous, and being pregnant I don't garden, pick up doggies poo, or do anything like this without gloves, even though we don't have a cat. Kids can get sick from any poo, so covering sand pits and having them wear gloves if they are helping you in the garden is very important. Think we are never far from a rat, and they are as dangerous, and probably in your garden too. At least a cat will keep them away and you can see their waste.
Just as an aside, there are a lot of cat haters on here.

spix

Acoshla wrote: »

My last cat died of kidney failure caused by licking anti freeze out of a discarded bottle in someone's driveway. The vet said many cats die from this as anti freeze tastes sweet so they always go for it and it causes serious internal damage. So it's not just straightforward poison he could use, there are other possible ways for him to harm the cats.

Superbump.. 8 years later my cat died from anti freeze poisoning. He was brought to the vet but they didn't diagnose it till after they put him down. Told me the morning he died that he was 'improving' than called soon after to say he was having seizures and had to be put down. Once they said they suspected anti freeze I remembered a supervet episode where they saved the cat by putting vodka in an IV and it was having seizures at the time. The antidote is simple.. alochol, the kidneys process the alcohol instead of the anti freeze so it is not converted into dangerous byproducts. Its amazing how little knowledge some vets seem to have. How they didn't suspect anti freeze considering the cold weather + symptoms I don't know.

I'm also sick of hearing antifreeze reminders on the radio when the weather gets close to freezing, yet they never give a warning to listeners to be careful not to spil it considering how deadly it is to cats. I contacted one station but never heard back and they continued to play the same ad.

Cherry Blossom

spix, this thread is 9 years old. Im sure you are on boards long enough to know that bumping up old threads like this is considered poor etiquette. If you want your post split away into a new thread please pm me or report the post.