I try hard to get along in the neighborhood, but ...

[Deleted]

Today I opened nextdoor and discovered there are people running around catching cats and calling animal control.

Poor feral kitty just got sent to animal control because it had the nerve to run around the neighborhood. Seriously? How unhappy of a person do you have to be to actually spend your time running after a feral, just so you don't have to see a feral cat? 

To make matters worse someone chimed in about a cat with a collar they want to catch and send away. Who are these horrible people and why do I have to live near to these vengeful azzhats? 

[kritter]

I am glad I live in my Nextdoor rather than in yours, grace. But, I probably would be kicked off because I would go insane with fury.

A member of our Nextdoor group just trapped an injured stray yesterday and it is currently at the vet. Neighbors have already called in donations to the vet for it's care.

Last week a lady found a stray kitten that had been hit by a car and took it to a vet. The kitten didn't make it but donations were called in to the vet to pay for the expenses incurred by the woman who had put it on her credit card at the time of the visit.


This is not the first time that our group has pulled together to help cat/dogs/kittens/puppies with fosters and vet bills for community animals.

There is a dog group in my Nextdoor that is pulling animals from the city shelter into foster. The dogs are scheduled for transfer to an out of state shelter but can't be housed any longer at the shelter because it is overcrowded. If the dogs didn't find a foster, they would be euthanized because they have been there the longest.

It takes a village......

[val2525]

I'm sorry graceful.

[Desire]

What is a "next door" - the same as a neighborhood? Never heard that term used.

[titus730]

Desire, Nextdoor is a social network for different neighborhoods. nextdoor.com/

I'm glad I live on a cat friendly street. Most of the neighbors have a kitty or two and those who don't are tolerant.

[Desire]

Nov 20, 2016 0:16:41 GMT titus730 said:

Desire, Nextdoor is a social network for different neighborhoods. nextdoor.com/

I'm glad I live on a cat friendly street. Most of the neighbors have a kitty or two and those who don't are tolerant.

Thanks!  I just looked at that link.  NO WAY do I want to socialize with my neighbors on the computer.  We don't even know them except to wave hi.  We have so much space between our houses that I'd have to walk quite a ways up the road to the next house on the side of us and no one on the other side of us, just wooded area and open field.   We can see more clearly the roofline of the closest house to our side in the winter when the leaves are off the trees, but we can't see any houses on either side of us in summer.

ETA:  Forgot about the house across the street - but the woman that lives there is a bit off -husband is OK - he waves, she never waved to us in 10 years.

[titus730]

So, I guess that means you don't live in a rowhouse Desire. Lol.

We're cheek by jowl here so it's in our best interest to be friendly.

[Desire]

We came from a new subdivision area and lived at the end of a cul-de-sac.  All the neighbors were friendly there, so I oculd see that Next Door working there. Here, we are just too far out and where our house is situated, it has a lot of open-space land around it down in the back section, and open fields and woods on the sides. Our previous home was a bit off the road with a long drive but we were on friendly talking terms with all the neighbors.  Every summer there was a big neighborhood  picnic get together on the big island cul-de-sac with huge grills and tables all set-up.  It was a nice time living there - about 15 years.

At this stage of my life, I really don't want/need the neighbor company, so it's OK.  We have our friends that live in surrounding towms.

[kritter]

Our Nextdoor thing is not that much a social social thing but more about yard sales, house/car break ins, animal stuff, new restaurants in the area, and the like.

It's not like we are meeting for coffee or drinks or whatever.

[Desire]

I might look into it after reading your post Kritter. I thought it was a socialize type thing.

I'm curious now........ I might find out some of these neighbors names!! LOL

[kritter]

Ours is more like a heads up on things. There is a classified section where you can sell things but even that is usually a porch pickup kind of deal.

I don't know anybody personally that is on ours and there are a bunch of members. I do recognize a lot of names but no clue who they are.

I found a credit card in out neighborhood grocery store parking lot and asked if anybody knew him and if they did to let him know that I found his credit card. He didn't even know it was missing when his neighbor told him that I had found it.

Most of the time I just lurk which is what the majority of members do.

[Deleted]

Nov 19, 2016 20:56:17 GMT @gracefulthingz said:

Today I opened nextdoor and discovered there are people running around catching cats and calling animal control.

Poor feral kitty just got sent to animal control because it had the nerve to run around the neighborhood. Seriously? How unhappy of a person do you have to be to actually spend your time running after a feral, just so you don't have to see a feral cat? 

To make matters worse someone chimed in about a cat with a collar they want to catch and send away. Who are these horrible people and why do I have to live near to these vengeful azzhats? 

Ugh, my street is pretty anti-cat.  But the worst guy moved, thank heavens.

I read a click-bait thing the other day headed "Cat Scratch Fever Can Kill You."  It turns out that something like 4 in 100,000 people contract it, and a tiny fraction of that number die.

So yes, it CAN kill you, but it really, really, probably won't.

Irresponsible shite like that just gives the cat-haters more fuel for their (irrational) fury.  They just see the headline and it imprints on their tiny brain.

[titus730]

Desire, I think most of the Nextdoor sites are as Kritter described. I was reading mine yesterday and it was mainly offers for free furniture left on the curb, announcements of events, people asking for recommendations for house cleaners, etc. None of the names are familiar to me.

[kritter]

Good point about the recommendations, titus.

Much better than Angie's List because you know these are opinions about somebody who has actually worked in the neighborhood.

We had a lot of "heads ups" in regards to roofers after the hail storm repairs started being completed. Both good and bad reviews of roofing companies.

No matter what you need done, there is always somebody in the Neighborhood that has already had it done at their house.

Lots of free stuff for curb pickup too.

[zoesam]

I don't use Nextdoor b/c it has huge privacy issues, but it's not a social app at all. It's useful for neighbors to band together in support of or against whatever the HOA is trying to do, or to fight the 'world class' sports complex the city is trying to put together that will be entered via a residential neighborhood, for sale & giveaway stuff, recommendations, crime info, etc. It's pretty commonly used in my area. I would use it in a heartbeat, had I not researched it & found that it is considered worse than FB for privacy issues.

Now, I'm gonna ask the dumb question. I'm not a cat person & the few times I've tried to catch a cat, I haven't been successful, but what is wrong with catching them if you can & taking them to animal control? I certainly don't want cats in my yard, I know my neighbors have hated having cats in their yards. Luckily, where we live, most ppl don't allow their animals to roam, but if they do, I try to pick them up & find their owners or take them to the Humane Society so they don't get hit by a car. How would the average non-cat person know if a cat is feral or not? I think I even posted that ? here once when I had one visiting my backdoor? And what difference does it make? I don't want them in my yard, feral or not. Though right now, they'd probably help with my mouse problem LOL.

[kritter]

Yes, they would help with your mouse problem.

[Deleted]

Zoe, if the cat's feral you won't get anywhere near it. If it's stray you might, with some coaxing. If it's someone's current pet it probably will come to you. That's where the problem lies.

If the US is anything like AU, taking it to Animal Control or wherever is very likely giving it a death sentence. My state has THREE micro-chip registers, which are not linked. So as the registered owner I might not get contacted if my cat turns up there.

So they'll see if my cat can be re-homed. They're all over 12, so no, they won't get that chance. Two of them are too anti-social, so it's the needle for them. Lydia behaves okay but she's old and not very "pretty", so the needle for her. Kewpie might have a chance because she's wantonly friendly and very attractive. But she's old.

So basically, because my neighbour doesn't like my cat wandering across their lawn, maybe sitting down for a minute in the sun, my cat is dead. I understand that you don't like finding poo in your garden beds, but unless you've seen the cat doing it it could have been the work of any cat.

The vile neighbour complained about my cats sitting on his cars and scratching them (he'd never seen MY cats doing it, he just somehow KNEW). IMO if you park your car in the street things like that will happen. Why's he parking on the street? Because he has six cars for three adults and the garage is full. Do I complain about his cars making the narrow street narrower? No. Do I complain when I can't get a delivery because someone has parked on the opposite side of the street and the truck can't get through? No.

If a cat has a tag, contact the owner. If a Momkat has a litter on your property, try to find a rescue.

But mostly I don't get all the hate. It's not as if the cat brings its suitcases and moves in forever.

[kritter]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^




I could like Petti's post 1,000 times

[Desire]

I wouldn't pick up a cat in my yard because I would probably think he wandered on over and is only there for awhile.  Why would you take the cat far away from his area? He'd never find his way back home.  Unless he decided to set up house in your yard, and that would bother you, maybe it would be best to just shoo him away.

We have deer coming through here all the time and they eat the shrubs, and leave their big mess in my shrub beds. Nothing I can do about it. We also have raccoons, possum, squirrels and skunks in the yard all the time. They are way worse than cats.  My pool house is a mess each year in the Spring.  Have no idea now they get in, but they must squeeze in where the trap rock is loaded where the piping from the filter goes underground to the pool.  Talk about a mess!   We think it's a squirrel because the place was loaded with acorns each Spring.  Too big for the mice to bring in.  We filled that area to the top with new trap rock and covered it up before storing all the pool furniture this Fall - hope that they can't get in this winter.

[zoesam]

Nov 20, 2016 20:23:06 GMT @misspettigrew said:

Zoe, if the cat's feral you won't get anywhere near it. If it's stray you might, with some coaxing. If it's someone's current pet it probably will come to you. That's where the problem lies.

If the US is anything like AU, taking it to Animal Control or wherever is very likely giving it a death sentence. My state has THREE micro-chip registers, which are not linked. So as the registered owner I might not get contacted if my cat turns up there.

So they'll see if my cat can be re-homed. They're all over 12, so no, they won't get that chance. Two of them are too anti-social, so it's the needle for them. Lydia behaves okay but she's old and not very "pretty", so the needle for her. Kewpie might have a chance because she's wantonly friendly and very attractive. But she's old.

So basically, because my neighbour doesn't like my cat wandering across their lawn, maybe sitting down for a minute in the sun, my cat is dead. I understand that you don't like finding poo in your garden beds, but unless you've seen the cat doing it it could have been the work of any cat.

The vile neighbour complained about my cats sitting on his cars and scratching them (he'd never seen MY cats doing it, he just somehow KNEW). IMO if you park your car in the street things like that will happen. Why's he parking on the street? Because he has six cars for three adults and the garage is full. Do I complain about his cars making the narrow street narrower? No. Do I complain when I can't get a delivery because someone has parked on the opposite side of the street and the truck can't get through? No.

If a cat has a tag, contact the owner. If a Momkat has a litter on your property, try to find a rescue.

But mostly I don't get all the hate. It's not as if the cat brings its suitcases and moves in forever.

I call them on dogs that I can't catch too & I'm a huge dog lover.  It's not about hate for cats, it's about not wanting them to die a grisly death.  All pets should be kept in their own homes & yards & around here, they are.  Most of my neighbors have cats, but no one ever lets them outside (they become coyote dinner), so if I see a loose cat or dog, I assume it's someone's lost pet.  But IDK how I'd know if it was feral or not, but it's very unusual to see a loose dog or cat, period.  I'm guessing we don't have too many feral cats cuz we have a huge coyote population.  Loose small animals get eaten quickly.  So if I see one & I can't catch it, I call.  It's true, I'm not a big fan of cats & I don't want them in my yard, but mostly I don't want them run over by a car or eaten by coyotes. 

Here, animal control takes them to the Humane Society.  Unfortunately, it is a kill shelter, but they are put up for adoption first.  I've always thought that a euthanasia is far more kind than letting them get hit by a car or be eaten by coyotes.  I get so upset every time I see a lost dog or cat sign in the hood, b/c I know that means the coyotes will eat that night.  I'm thinking they are similar to your dingos.  They are wild dogs & they are very smart. 

So I should do nothing?  Leave them to get eaten?  I can't bear the thought of them getting eaten or hit by a car, so I've always called animal control thinking it was more humane.  I've always thought I was doing the kindest thing by calling.  Esp since I hear the coyotes "celebrating" all the time.  I can tell when they've made a kill & it's pretty much a nightly occurrence.  I guess I'll have to rethink that. 

[Deleted]

We have a couple of neighbors that hate cats, I think they're just nasty people in general. But I have never seen anyone call animal rescue, none have ever shown up. Most people seem to like cats that are free roaming or wild. They aren't bothering anyone so I don't know why people would call up on them.

[zoesam]

Huh, interesting. It would never occur to me not to call on a loose animal. But we don't have loose cats or dogs in the neighborhood. Maybe it's b/c of the coyotes, if it's loose, it's more than likely someone's lost pet & they would be thankful that you called. We had a renter across the street just before we moved & their cat got out & it was a big deal, they knocked on everyone's doors late at night & spent hours searching everyone's backyards, etc. I used to call in Mpls too, even though we didn't have coyotes. I've always tried to reunite lost pets with their owners & have succeeded countless times with dogs, but I've never been able to catch a cat.

I call b/c I want to see lost pets reunited with their owners & if they are strays, they at least die a humane death, rather than a grisly one in the mouth of a coyote or under a wheel :-(. I've never had animal control not come, here or in Mpls. I always try to reunite them myself first. I frequently spend hours trying to catch lost dogs & I've never had an owner not be grateful for my efforts. There have been times when I've had to take a found dog to animal control & eventually found the owners later. Again, they've always been thankful. A couple have been annoyed that they had to pay a fee to get their pet, but it was their fault for not having a tag on the animal. If there's a tag, I just take it back home.

[titus730]

Nov 20, 2016 19:52:38 GMT kritter said:

Yes, they would help with your mouse problem.

Just having them in your neighborhood, feral, stray or a pet, would help with a rodent problem.

[titus730]

Nov 20, 2016 23:40:55 GMT @martha11234 said:

We have a couple of neighbors that hate cats, I think they're just nasty people in general. But I have never seen anyone call animal rescue, none have ever shown up. Most people seem to like cats that are free roaming or wild. They aren't bothering anyone so I don't know why people would call up on them.

If they were in my neighborhood they'd probably be visiting my yard to check for Purina handouts. 

[Deleted]

I put food out too, that's how I got the cat I have now living in the office that only lets me near him. No one else. He was showing up for food and us sort of Wild.

[Deleted]

I've called my equivalent of Animal Control twice. Once was when a bull was running along the side of a busy road. It had a heavy chain around its neck attached to a VERY inadequate metal post.

The second time was when a dog camped on my lawn for hours. I went out and talked to it and gave it water but it obviously wasn't well - it was an old dog and the day was hot. Turned out some nincompoops around the corner were meant to be looking after it while the owner was away. But by law in my state all dogs have to be in secured yards at all times, and when they're walked they have to be on a lead.

It's not the same with cats (YET!). Our local govts just "recommend" we keep them inside.

But I can't stand the human threat anymore. If I ever get a new set of cats they'll be indoor-only until I can build them a sexy cat run.

[zoesam]

Nov 21, 2016 0:52:50 GMT @misspettigrew said:

I've called my equivalent of Animal Control twice. Once was when a bull was running along the side of a busy road. It had a heavy chain around its neck attached to a VERY inadequate metal post.

The second time was when a dog camped on my lawn for hours. I went out and talked to it and gave it water but it obviously wasn't well - it was an old dog and the day was hot. Turned out some nincompoops around the corner were meant to be looking after it while the owner was away. But by law in my state all dogs have to be in secured yards at all times, and when they're walked they have to be on a lead.

It's not the same with cats (YET!). Our local govts just "recommend" we keep them inside.

But I can't stand the human threat anymore. If I ever get a new set of cats they'll be indoor-only until I can build them a sexy cat run.

A bull, wowza!  That is scary!  I had never realized how big bulls were until I drove by one dead & upside down on the side of the road.  It was larger than the Jeep Cherokee I was riding in! 

Interesting abt the govt "recommendation".  I guess IDK for sure, since I've never owned a cat, but I assumed it was the law in most city/suburban areas to keep it in your house or yard.  That's what I saw as the difference between the other annoyances you had posted earlier MissP.  I've had those neighbors with 6 cars cuz they have teenagers & while they apologized for the unsightliness, it was perfectly legal (in most areas) to have them & park them on both sides of the street or in front of your home.  I assumed it was not legal to allow your pets to run loose.  I'll have to check into it, you've got me curious now. 

I've probably called 4 times in 15 years, it's really rare to have loose animals in the hood, but I've probably found & reunited 30 lost dogs all over town, since I've lived here.  My motivation has always been the well being of the animal, dog or cat.  I just can't seem to catch a cat to save my life. 

[kritter]

We have what are called Community Cats here which include the ferals as well as homeless cats that are not totally feral.

The larger colonies have designated feeders who also monitor the colonies and any new joiners are spayed/neutered immediately.

Community cats do a service to the community as they hold down the rodent population which is greatly appreciated here.

Dogs must be leashed here if out of the yard but free roaming cats are not against the law.

[jandsknight]

Yes, cats will keep the rodent population down, but I don't want them stalking birds at our feeders. A couple of years ago a neighbor's cat killed a rare painted bunting at their feeder. I don't think you should have both cats & bird feeders. Our neighborhood has large lots (we have 4 1/2 acres) so we rarely see a neighbor's cat. Since we are rural we do have cats dumped out here. As zoesam said, they are food for coyotes.

[Deleted]

Zoe, I'm not commenting on your intentions at all. I'm sure they're good.

Here's something to think about, though. Say a local pet cat is going for a stroll and something (or someone) scares it. Say, by trying to catch it. In a panic it runs away and loses its bearings. It might find its way home eventually, or it might be eaten by a coyote.

Yes, lots of things scare cats, but they'll be used to the usual local ones, like the big dog at #7, or the ice cream truck or the noisy kids on the corner. It's the unusual scares that will panic it.

For example, if I think a storm's coming I get Kewpie Doll inside because she's terrified of them. If she's nearby she comes in on her own, but the last time she went missing I think she was too far away when the really terrifying thunder set in, and she just lost it. She was gone for eight days and came home looking like a wreck, with a limp. That's what I mean by the difference between "usual" scares and things that really send them out of their mind.

Yes, I know, none of this would be an issue if they were indoor cats. But it's too late to change them. I was putting the bins out the other night and Kewpie came strolling up the street in preparation for dinner. She was sauntering along, practically whistling. I don't think I've ever seen a happier creature.