Whenever you let your cat be an indoor/outdoor cat you take the risk of losing your cat, having it injured, killed by dogs or cars, getting poisoned, picking up diseases and parasites. The cats may adapt, but with two dogs next door with access to their backyard under the fence is a risk I would not take. You can still stimulate your cats hunting instinct by going outside and catching grasshoppers yourself and then letting them loose in the house, or buying live crickets from a pet food store.

 

Speaking as a dog owner, it drives me nuts when the neighbor's cats come through the fence and into my yard. My dogs are drivey and will chase cats outside and have come very close to catching a few. My older dog will recall in chase but my pup is still leaning and I'm certainly not keeping him leashed in my own backyard so that he can't chase a cat that shouldn't be there. If anything ever goes wrong I'll feel bad, but it's not the dog owner's responsibility to keep someone else's pet safe who is being allowed to wander into their yard.


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I agree with the above. Except for the releasing crickets and grasshoppers in my house! Yikes! No way! Ha. Before we bought a house we had a super old duplex that had windows that never closed completely. Inevitably we'd always have rogue crickets make their way into the house and never leave alive.

An idea is maybe having a play date with your neighbors dogs and your kitties. See how the dogs respond while supervised and that may give you a clearer idea of what you should do. Even if you need to keep the kitty/ies in a kennel while doing so, at least you'll know. Just a thought.

 

If I were you, I'd be extremely worried that something may happen to the cats in the yard next door. No matter whether the dogs seem aggressive or not, that's their territory and if (I really hope it doesn't happen!) they did happen to attack one of your cats, I don't feel that the dogs could be at all to blame. Just remember that as an owner, it's your responsibility to keep your cats safe.

 

As a former dog owner I would take the stance that "Its my yard, cats enter at their own risk:. Its your job to keep them safe. I wouldnt let them out if they cant stay out of teir yard. As a former home owner I also hated having a cats poo in my backyard. Boy, it stinks when you hit it with a lawn mower!

 

I agree. Pit bulls are undependable and you run the risk of your cats getting severely wounded or killed. Unless ths guy lives with cats himself he has no real idea how his dog will react to a scampering cat. I would not only plug up the hole, I would also put up chicken wire to increase the height of the fence. I read that if you tilt the wire 45 degrees into your yard the cats will not try and jump.

The dog owner has not obligation to protect your cats - you do.

 

Pit bulls are illegal here but I had a Staffie which is the closest we get (and a JRT at the same time which in my opinion is more dangerous to cats) but the JRT loved them and actually fostered some kittens who assumed she was their mother and he at worst wanted to herd cats (not in his DNA at all!!!) so generalities can be difficult.

 

We already had a thread locked recently for getting into dog breed specific discrimination, no need to go down that road again here.

Back to the original question...I would not allow my cats to roam freely under these circumstances. Secure your own yard by filling in the fence area and installing some chicken wire or netting at the top of the fence that leans back into your yard to prevent them from going over. There are also something called coyote rollers that might also work too.

 

I completely agree with all the above. It's your responsibility to keep your cats safe, not the dog owners. And what's the purpose of having a backyard if you can't let your dogs run loose because the neighbor cats "might" come through? No, keep your cats out of their yard as they keep their dogs out of yours. Just common courtesy.

 

I agree with everyone here. I have a dog and three cats. There are several dogs and cats in my neighbourhood. Since the nice weather is here a lot of people are letting their cats out. They always come into my yard and I hate it. I usually chase them away because they torment my cats. I occasionally let my cats in the yard on a harness supervised and my dog is out occasionally too. She's very friendly and loves cats but if I she was aggressive and killed one of the cats who came into our yard I wouldn't be upset but I'd be furious at the owner for letting them out. I already brought one of the neighbours cats to the shelter to be re homed and I won't hesitate to do it again. It's neglect if you ask me.


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Agree with the comments above. I really hope you are able to take the advice of adding the chicken wire to the fence and plugging up the hole. Even if a dog lives with/generally likes cats, it doesn't mean it will be happy to see a strange cat in its territory.

 

I have a small dog that has to go out the doggie door and it is off my bedroom. It is impossible to keep the cats in without really confining them to another bedroom which I feel would be inhumane. My ex husband had a cat that went from an outdoor cat to a indoor cat out of necessity. When I saw him after a couple of years he looked like a cat that had lost all his life. He was very unhappy. I took him back and he went back to an indoor-outdoor cat with me and lived a full life. I agree with all that is said about the cat going into someone else's yard. Since I haven't had cats for 13 years, I have had many cats in my yard pooping, etc. My little dog is no threat but has barked and chased a few until he got too old to do it. I think the cat is going back to the house where he lived until I adopted him and it is 2 houses down. He cuts through the neighbor's yard. I have a fairly large yard and many ways to get out of it. I will patch up the holes but I don't think I can chicken wire my entire yard and then there is the front gate. Last night the cat was on my roof when I called him in. He checks in with me but runs if he thinks I am going to confine him. At least I have been able to keep them in at night. When I first was aware of these two, it was kitten season last year and no way to get rid of them. They were going to be ferals outside and fed by a different neighbor. That wasn't going to work out so I started drawing them to my house and then letting them in and now this. My cats always lived outdoors my whole life, even as a kid. I guess I have been lucky and they have since they all lived long lives. I just seem to worry a lot more now after reading all the things that can happen. I wish he would hang around my yard more but due to the fact I keep up my yard, there are not a lot of bugs or critters in it. I called a couple of rescue places and they didn't call back. I think there is a stigma about people giving up their pets but I didn't go out to get these cats. I do care about them a lot. Last night I was out in my robe calling him until he meowed on the roof. I got a ladder and was trying to entice him over when he just jumped onto the fence and came down himself. But I had to trick him with food to get him in.

 

Have you considered building an outdoor enclosure for your cats? That's likely to be more feasible (and economical) than cat-proofing your entire yard.

If you don't think that's going to work... then frankly, I think you just have to decide whether their freedom to roam is worth the possibility of sad ends. If it is, then you'll need to accept that they may indeed be attacked by another animal - that could happen to any outdoor cat.

I don't see how rehoming them would help. This could happen anywhere; it isn't a unique situation. Are they just going to be passed on to a different owner every time a potential hazard is spotted? What about the hazards you can't see and predict? At some point, someone is going to have to make a decision about whether it's worth letting them go outside in spite of the risks. I guess I just fail to see how it helps the cats at all to pass that responsibility on to someone else instead of making the choice yourself. I'm not against rehoming in all circumstances, sometimes it's truly best - but in this circumstance, I don't think it would make things better.

I'm not saying this to try to push you toward a certain decision on whether to let your cats outside. You have to make that for yourself. What I'm trying to get at is: the situation hasn't really changed just because you can see a specific animal that might menace them. Dogs (and other things) would be a risk no matter where they were going outdoors. If you feel it's important to your cats' mental health to go outside, then I think you just need to accept that it may also reduce their lifespan, and adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

Without re-reading the whole thread, have you tried making them indoor only? Some cats make that transition flawlessly and it's always the humans who allow their feelings to get in the way.


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One is pretty much indoors on her own desire. No issue there. The other I kept in when he had a bandage on his foot and he had too much energy and meowed all the time and tried to get out every chance he could get. He pretty much stays outdoors all day and has found some good places to have fun. He just brought home a grasshopper, played with it in the yard and left. He moves away from me because he doesn't want to be caught. He will even will get a little wet and doesn't mind it. He just loves being outside. I thought it was an accomplishment to get him to come in every night. When he is in, he tends to chase and bother his mother who then has to hide or wants to go out. I just looked up to see if I could purchase grasshoppers and believe it or not, people have them as pets.

 

One is pretty much indoors on her own desire. No issue there. The other I kept in when he had a bandage on his foot and he had too much energy and meowed all the time and tried to get out every chance he could get. He pretty much stays outdoors all day and has found some good places to have fun. He just brought home a grasshopper, played with it in the yard and left. He moves away from me because he doesn't want to be caught. He will even will get a little wet and doesn't mind it. He just loves being outside. I thought it was an accomplishment to get him to come in every night. When he is in, he tends to chase and bother his mother who then has to hide or wants to go out. I just looked up to see if I could purchase grasshoppers and believe it or not, people have them as pets.

The are also used as food for other reptiles. They are easy to find in some exotic pet stores.

 

As I have been thinking about it today, I am wondering if I actually really have this cat! He eats in the morning and leaves immediately. I don't see him until dinner and then he wants to go out again. He doesn't like me to brush him and hasn't even wanted petting lately. I was so happy to see him last night and he just laid on the sofa and bit me as a warning when I tried to pet him. I am now starting to think that the only time he has been nice to me is when he wants something.

 

Lol. I had a kitty like that once. She lived to 19. It was because of her (bless her sweet heart) that I didn't have cats for so long. I was afraid I'd get another cantankerous kitty! She was mostly outside and only started coming inside longer when she got older. She turned into a sweetheart at the end. Sigh. Almost 20 years ago and I still miss her.


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A smart cat will stay away from dogs it doesn't know.

The boy friend of Hey Cat, the stray gay cat I fed lived next door. They had a very dangerous dog. Give it half a chance and it would lick you to death.

Anyway, Hey cat would never enter their yard. He would wait for me to give him his morning feed before going to the hole in the fence to call to his boy friend.

Then they would adjourn to my sundeck.

Hey cat died when he tried to defend another cat from a German Shepherd.

 

Was the cat really gay? Luckily the dog doesn't seem to be out without an owner and even then it is not out much. It makes a lot of noise when it is out so hopefully the cat is learning. I am going to try and follow the cat's movement if I can. Sometimes I think he is gone and then he will come out from a big bush in my yard. I do feel bad that he doesn't seem to need me more.

 

Was the cat really gay?

I don't see how it could have been more so. Both of them actually. Sorry, no description of behaviour, but I'm not into writing porn.

 

Could happen. MowMow uses his brother to .....be happy.....

 

Well he just came because it is getting close to dinner time and gave me a meow and went on my second sofa instead of being with me. Stinker!

 

Is it possible that my house and yard is not his territory? He left as soon as he ate again. Maybe he claimed where he grew up as his territory and I am just the feedbag. I usually can get him back at night though but I do lock him in.