So, for a few months now, on my way home from classes, I've been playing with my neighbour's cat in the street for a few minutes. Except for the last four weeks, her ladyship has well and truly moved herself in... And she really refuses to leave; I've already put her out "by force" four or five times, but she always finds a way to get back in. I'm very fond of her, but I'm starting to have some serious trouble with the neighbour, who is threatening to call the police... I'm honestly at my wits' end with her ringing my doorbell at all hours of the day and night to accuse me of stealing her cat and calling me every name under the sun... I've already asked around, but nobody knows how to make her leave, so I'm turning to you. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it :)
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
Yes, I know this post is a bit old now, but I’m going to reply anyway so that anyone else in the same boat feels a bit less alone 😁. If I were you, I’d start by turning that threat of a formal complaint back on your neighbour, as she has no right to harass you like that.
As for the cat, other than potentially shooing her away (though I don’t think you necessarily have to), I think the one mistake you really shouldn't make where your neighbour is concerned is feeding her.
I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn’t hold it against my neighbours if they enjoyed my cats' company too; however, I’d definitely be annoyed if they started feeding them. It’s so easy to lure a cat (or any animal, for that matter) by offering treats or a type of food their owner doesn’t usually give them.
So, if I can give you one bit of advice: don’t feed her, and ideally, stop playing with her (or at least do it on the sly! 😁)
The microchip is already in my name, it’s one of the first things I did :) Yes, she’s manic-depressive… but I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. Everything’s going well with the new little one for now, except we can't think of a name... I’m going to end up just calling him "the cat".
Yes, it’s so true! My neighbour’s cat actually moved in with me. At first, she used to come and collect him, but over time—since her partner was mistreating him—she just stopped coming. So, he lived with us and we had him neutered! We kept him with us until the very end. The only downside was that he’d kept some of his tomcat habits, but he was such a sweetheart. All these years later and she’s still getting new cats! But I shoo them away because she doesn’t get them fixed. We had him for 14 years and we really miss him. He ended up with cancer. We called him Mendiant. We eventually had him put to sleep so he could have a peaceful end.
See what you can do about getting the microchip transferred into your name, because if he ever goes missing or gets out, your neighbour is the one they're going to call. It’s probably better for both you and him if he doesn’t end up back at hers ;)
Your neighbour isn’t just being irresponsible; it sounds far more serious than that based on what you’ve said. She clearly has some deep-seated psychological issues, which is even worse because it's so hard to manage. Bothering you at all hours... getting a new cat to replace the one that keeps coming to your house... none of that seems normal! Your neighbour is quite simply unhinged. Luckily for you, it’s not contagious, so there’s some comfort in that at least.
There are irresponsible people everywhere; I’ve given up trying to change anything now. I’m just going to try and look after the one she "gave" me as best as I can and not get too close to the new one :)
