Sunni's Photo's
At my age, I have to
admit that there isn’t a lot to surprise me, but I was a bit stunned about a
conversation that my husband had with the neighbor two doors down. This neighbor has a cat that roamed outside
in his old neighborhood, so of course things haven’t changed here.
We love cats and other
animals as well. We also feed a lot of
birds, quail, pigeons, doves, chipmunks, etc. around here. They have a real haven in our backyard. Our cats are indoor cats and always have
been. I have never understood people who
can let their cats run lose especially with a busy street so close by.
Since moving in, the
neighbor has acquired two more cats.
After some complaints of his cat hunting in people’s yards, he did
install an underground fence last fall.
The cat is over here daily filling up on birds, or whatever it can
catch, which makes my husband quite disgusted.
Even with the underground fence, this cat still gets out.
About a week or so ago
my husband got a picture of the cat in the act and marched down to confront the
neighbor about this again. Usually the
guy never opens the door, but this time he did.
My husband told me the story after he returned. It isn’t as if we would miss a bird or two
because we must have at least a hundred over here at any given time. However, it is the principle, I guess, even
though the cat is only using his inbred instincts.
Anyway, after denying
he even had a cat, the neighbor had to fess up after my husband showed him the
cat’s mug shot on his camera. The guy
said he won’t stay in the $2,000 fence he had installed and he didn’t know what
to do about it. He suggested my husband
shoot the cat. Can you believe that? Of course, there is no way we would shoot a
cat. My husband told him to take care of
it by keeping it inside or taking it to the pound. We have a “no kill” animal shelter here.
Well, after this
incident, we didn’t see the cat for over a week. I suspected the worst, thinking perhaps that
the guy shot the cat himself. I felt
relief when I saw it hunting in the yard again yesterday.
My husband said the
guy would never shoot the cat. He was
only trying to get some reaction by saying that. Why do people do that? I guess I tend to be blunt and just come out
with it, not say something to see what kind of reaction I’ll get. The world is full of all kinds of people
though. This guy and his wife are not
very friendly with anyone.
Meanwhile, the hunt
goes on for a place to move. This move
has nothing to do with this neighbor, although most of the people in this state
are not very welcoming. I love the
scenery and my house and even the cost of living when you are retired and have
to consider that, but the weather is a BIG drawback. Nine years is long enough to put up with
that.
Interesting. The neighbor could put a bell on the cat. That's what folks used to do to warn the birds.
ReplyDeleteHi JAVS,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting. I have no idea why he doesn't put a bell on the cat. It does wear a collar. Maybe I'll take one down to him, but he isn't very friendly. Sometimes he pretends he isn't home.
Sunni
I'm no fan of people having pets in neighborhoods and especially urban areas. Many owners are inconsiderate allowing animals to defecate on lawns and sidewalks or make more noise that necessary. My next door neighbor has a dog that is usually quiet, but often on Friday nights when my wife and I like to enjoy a movie the dog will start barking to extent of being a real annoyance. Maybe the dog doesn't stay there most of the time because I usually don't hear it.
ReplyDeleteIf I lived on a farm out in the country I'd probably have a cat in the barn and a watchdog outside, but they still wouldn't be allowed in the house. But that's just the way I am I guess.
I like the idea of the bell on the cat to warn the birds, but then they couldn't be effective at rodent control.
Lee
A Faraway View
Hi Lee,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting.
I don't understand why people let their animals run lose either. We used to have a neighbor with two dogs that barked day and night every day, but he was just renting and moved thank goodness. At least cats are quiet.
I don't think you'd need to put a bell on a cat in the country. You probably wouldn't see how many birds it caught anyway and it would need to be useful for mouse control.
My husband says this neighbor cat isn't bell worthy because after it gets settled in the bushes, it stays there and waits for the birds to arrive, so it wouldn't be moving around to make the bell tinkle.
I've had cats all my life, although never inside until I had my own house. They are safer inside, after the vet bills I've had over the years from them being hit by cars, etc.
Growing up, we lived in the country and they would catch mice, etc. We had 42 at one time because people would drop them off at the highway and they would wander back to the house. I don't think my parents were against them coming inside, but there was barely enough room for them and us 7 kids in the sharecroppers shack we grew up in.
Sunni
Although I am not a cat lover, I'm allergic, I have owned them in the past and most were outdoor cats. I never had one get hit by a car, but i did have a neighbor that hated them and would set traps in her yard to take them to the pound. In fact, her and I got in a disagreement when she told me she puts out poison so to keep my cat out of her yard. I told her I will turn her into the police if she poisons my cat and it never did happen. After I had a cat that had 4 litters in a year and a half, I developed allergies toward them and eventually I can't be around them now, so I haven't had a cat in 10 yrs. I do prefer dogs because they love you unconditionally and you can walk them and take them along if you want. They are more friendly and don't sleep on my pillow, which is a big plus for me. I don't hate cats, I just like OPC (other peoples cats) lol!
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiing and your comments.
It is my husband who gets disgusted with the neighbor's cat because we feed the birds and it comes over here and hunts them. It's not like we would miss any of them. We have hundreds, but it's the principle I guess. He was going to take it to the pound, (we have a no-kill shelter here). I told him not to stir things up, but you can't tell him anything about anything. Anyway they had this discussion when the man finally came to the door. I was shocked that he told my husband to just shoot the cat. Good grief! That is being rash.
I hate when people poison animals. That is terrible. We used to have a cabin in the mountains years ago and someone poisoned the squirrels who lived in our wood pile. That really made me mad. Of course, we never found out who did it and why. They were minding their own business doing what squirrels do.
I am all for people getting their animals spayed or neutered, so there are not so many unwanted animals roaming around and having to deal with the hardships that people put them through.
I am glad I'm not allergic to cats, although I do have asthma, but I haven't let that stop me from owning at least one cat all the time. Yes, they sleep on your pillow and in your face and hog the bed. They also walk in front of the monitor and step on your keyboard while you're typing, making things take twice as long, but I still love them to pieces. Sometimes, I feel like they are my only friends because they accept me no matter what kind of mood I'm in and are there to lay a paw on me when I'm sick, showing their concern and support.
I could never have a dog because I am not the type of person to go out and walk it twice a day and put up with the barking and jumping around. At least cats are stealthy and quiet and I'd rather change litter boxes.
Sunni
Our two cats are what one might call indoor/outdoor. They have their pet doors so they can come and go as they please. Of course, we live in a rural area so there is not a problem with neighbors right under our nose. Really hate to keep them shut indoors all the time because of their natural instincts. They can be quite comical when catching a field mouse. Neither kill it but simply play chase with it around the around. A site to behold!
ReplyDeleteHi Sharla,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and posting. This neighbor used to live in a more rural area before moving into the neighborhood two doors down. His cat has always run loose. I can understand all this because we had lots of cats on the farm where I grew up and they caught mice and things.
Now we live on a fairly busy street, especially since they built a school a few blocks down the road and people use our street as a cut-through road.
I'm more afraid for the cat's safety than how many birds it kills. My husband is upset over the birds, but we have so many we will never miss a few and the cat is only doing what cats do. I'm just surprised it hasn't been run over yet because cars go too fast down our road, even though we are residential. I hate to see animals get hit.
I keep my cats in the house. I have had too many vet bills over the years from broken legs, broken jaws, and a broken pelvis, etc.
Sunni