Your neighbor has presumably put blood, sweat, and tears into a place he calls home. His rights as a property owner FAR supercede your property's (i.e. your cat's) fondness of wandering around and doing "what cats do".

He did the right thing and talked to you about it. It would have been far easier and less confrontational if your cat just disappeared. He seems like a stand-up guy to me. Do everything you can to keep your animals off his property. If you can't, expect him to make the next move.

It's really very simple.

Next question!

If you have zero issue with cats, then why do you take issue with rats and coyotes. I've never seen a pack of rats savagely attack anyone. I've seen alot of coyotes in my life; very timid around humans.

And yes you are mostly alone here.

Well put.

Spin City has got it right!!

We have three cats, ages 3, 14, and 17. All indoor cats. Healthy , no injuries, no problems for or with the neighbors.

Called 'taking responsibility'.

Tom

Toxoplasmosis is something you likely dont want.

I'm fine with that. I enjoy most animals - but admitedly dislike the reptile/serpent & rodent variety. I don't take issue with Coyotes, I love hearing them at bark/howl at night, successful hunt I presume...I wish the domestic feline were more successful in staying out of their jaws as they help keep the rodent population in control around the home base.

I like cats because they have personality. They don't just immediately acquiesce to their master as most dogs do. A bit of a challenge if that's your speed. You can't control a cat. Much less you can't control the birds that s*(t on your car/house. If the neighbor is truely ticked over a cat poop then I'd think I have more worrisome issues at hand...

I think that most of you missed what I had said earlier. There are a lot of strays in our neighborhood, I mean a whole bunch!!! Simply taking my non-stray cat out of the picture will NOT solve his problem. Plus, I also mentioned that he was never caught in the act of taking a dump in his yard. Although it is a good assumption, he hasn't proved to me that my cat is a troublemaker. On a side note, he has a litter box here and he does use it.

Oh, and for it's my responsibility, lock them indoors all the time to keep them out of the neighbor's yard, Yeah Frickin Right!!! My cats are "not" indoor cats. And if I kept them indoors their whole life, in our small house, they would become really aggravating real fast. Ask any cat owner that lets their cats outside. A cat will let you know that it wants to go outside and it won't stop bugging you until you comply.

Man cannot control nature! So this pissed off neighbor of mine needs a serious reality check! If poo bothers him this much, I can't even begin to imagine what else makes him tick.

i feel sorry for your neighbor. just yesterday i watched a dickhead neighbor of mine allow his unleashed dog to take a whizz on my mailbox and the $30 in plantings that surround it. I made sure he saw me watching through the window; next time i'll be outside having a face to face and if that doesn't work i'm calling animal control (this dumbass apparently doesn't believe a leash is necessary for his special doggy).

it is beyond me how some people feel the rest of the world owes their little fuzzy poo or tinkerbell the ability to wander freely and whiz/crap at will. can't control nature my ass:mad:

You need to have a little chat with your local P.D. about what your a-hole neighbor told your father. I think theft of a neighbor's pet and chucking it to the four winds a couple of towns away is criminal. It may even well rise to the level of animal cruelty, especially if it can be proven that it led to the demise of the animal (which it probably did).

Idiots like this need to spend a few nights in pound-me-in-the-ass prison. Simply knocking on the neighbor's door and saying, "look, I think your cat is running around my yard and I'd prefer that you keep an eye on it - I'm tired of stepping in cat crap on my own property" would have been appropriate. If ignored, a call to animal control would have been appropriate (and a wake-up call to an irresponsible pet owner). What he did was neither justifiable nor appropriate. It's the kind of thing I'd expect from someone who delights in the torture of animals and is on their way to becoming a serial killer. The sort of reaction on this guy's part is a pathological affliction. Yes, he has a right to enjoy his property, but let's put it in perspective here - to the point he feels it's right to give him the right to kidnap or kill someone's pet? Especially when it belongs to a kid? WTF?

If you didn't get anywhere with the P.D., I'd ring his doorbell and when answered, lay him flat on his own doorstep with a broken nose. Jackass. No justification for what he did. None.

When my parents got divorced Mom moved us into an apt for 4 years. Our outdoor cat was now an indoor cat and dealt with it just fine. Later when we got back into a house she became an out door cat again. No issues.

I stopped letting my cats out when one got hit in the street in front of my house and my little sister had to watch it die on the front lawn.

I currently have 4 cats. All stay indoors. One is having a medical issue that is making her a bit incontinent. Cat waste STINKS. Pure and simple. It's foul.

Right now your neighbor assumes it's your cat and you don't think it is. Neither of you know for sure. I think taking your cat out of the mix for a while will answer the question.

I love animals and if I was the neighbor in this situation I would never harm the animal but rest assured you'd find every "packge" returned to you.

Whenever my mother caught a neighbors dog crapping on the lawn she'd go out, pick it up, go knock on the neighbors door and hand them a steaming pile of crap. And always with a smile and warm greeting.

He has every right to be pissed. YOUR cat is getting into his garage and making a mess. YOU are responsible for your cat. YOU need to make sure your cat doesn't go onto his property. If YOU don't take care of the problem, he will.

It really is that clear.

Correct me if I'm wrong (oh, and I'm sure somebody will...), but isn't an unleashed and untagged animal roaming around freely and without supervision classified as a stray?

And isn't it the job of animal control (or a similar service) to round up these strays and take them to the pound?

Why do you people think that your pets should be allowed to roam freely on other's property and infect/spawn/scratch/pee/poo at will? I really don't understand how you can think this is right and not a big deal.

guys, guys...it can't be that bad, really. i have the neighbors dog craop in my yard...know what? i don't care. as long as i don't step in it, then it sucks. why would i call animal control? I love animals, i certainly would not want to hurt any. I simply grab a shovel and scoop it up and toss the offending crap in their yard...no need to be crass. also, you guys have no room to stand, I get black bears crapping in my back yard..and we are talking steamers that are a foot high...makes you wonder what they ate... frigging things stall my mower when i hit them....all in god fun, they were here before me and i don't mind as long as they leave some tomatoes in my garden for me.(they eat/ate my string beans already and most of my peppers)

Ok, I feel as though I am getting a lot of one sided responses. Let me set a few things strait.....again.

He has NOT proven my cat has pooped on his property.

He doesn't like cats and proved that by stealing his own cat and dumping it off 4 cities away. He still has not told his wife and kids about this.

The sold called hardship that has befalled him is a little pile of poop in a corner of his yard next to his garage.

No property has been destroyed and no one has been hurt.

Both of my cats are still here, so he has not taken action against them.

My father and I have confronted him about this whole problem, and he assures us that he will not take our cat.

I have compromised by keeping the cats in at night. Both of them don't seem to mind because they just sleep anyway.

On a legal note, according to the state of California, cats are not pets or else they would have to be registered. Therefor, no leash laws apply to them and they are not required to be with their owner at all times.

.

to me this isn't about what's legal or not but being a good neighbor.

think of the birds! keep your cat inside. safer for the cat, too.

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/cats.htm

The Effects of Cat Predation on Wildlife
from the USFWS Migratory Bird Mangement Office

Americans keep an estimated 60 million cats as pets. Let's say each cat kills only one bird a year. That would mean that cats kill over 60 million birds (minimum) each year - more wildlife than any oil spill.

Scientific studies actually show that each year, cats kill hundreds of millions of migratory songbirds. In 1990, researchers estimated that "outdoor" house cats and feral cats were responsible for killing nearly 78 million small mammals and birds annually in the United Kingdom.

University of Wisconsin ornithologist, Dr. Santley Temple estimates that 20-150 million songbirds are killed each year by rural cats in Wisconsin alone.

Feline predation is not "natural." Cats were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians and taken throughout the world by the Romans. Cats were brought to North America in the 1800's to control rats. The "tabby" that sits curled up on your couch is not a natural predator and has never been in the natural food chain in the Western Hemisphere.

Cats are a serious threat to fledglings, birds roosting at night and birds on a nest. Research shows that de-clawing cats and bell collars do not prevent them from killing birds and other small animals. For healthy cats and wild birds, cats should not be allowed to roam free.

Work with your local humane society, veterinarians and state wildlife agency to enact and enforce free-roaming cat regulations. For more information:

Free Roaming Cats. American Backyard Bird Society, PO Box 10046, Rockville, MD 20849.

Cats: A Heavy Toll on Songbirds. by Rich Stallcup. Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline Hwy., Stinson Beach, CA 94924.

Is there a Killer in Your House? by George Harrison, National Wildlife Magazine (October/November 1992).

Beware of Well-Fed Felines. by Peter Churcher and John Lawton, Natural History Magazine (July 1989).

Why do a lot of you think I'm the bad guy? My neighbor comes over making an accusation at my cat, which he couldn't prove. And for a short while there was a threat to kidnap my cat. Although he said he wouldn't do that to us, now I keep my cat indoors at night. So how am I the irresponsible one???

Your neighbor is simply voicing to you (in what sounds like a not-so-neighborly way) what several of us are saying, and that is that free-roaming cats are causing him some personal issues. It is not up to you to decide how trivial or not those issues may be. He came to you because he has seen your cat on his property and is trying to tell you that he is about to do something about the situation (kidnapping) and is warning you in advance. At this point, it doesn't really matter to this guy if it was in fact your cat that committed the actual offense. It sounds like he has finally had enough of the cats and is going to act.

My guess is that you are about to see a lot fewer stray cats in the neighborhood.

We don't think you are the bad guy. Problem you are having is there are multiple perspectives on the subject. Not all of them will align with yours.

Obviously what is not a big deal to some is to others.

Does not make them right or wrong.

You can't dismiss your neighbor because you don't see things his way.

Could he have handled it better? Sure.