Of Cats & Neighbor Guy

A few years ago our next-door neighbor came out while we were doing yard work and asked who cut our lawn. David proudly admitted that he was responsible for our lovely lawn. Neighbor Guy was a bit disappointed because he was looking for someone to cut his lawn and hoped we’d give him the name of a service. I pointed out that he had a high school aged son and he might be compelled to push the lawn mover around once a week. Neighbor Guy’s response? “I love my son. I won’t make him work.” I blinked. David blinked and we all went our own ways.

Fast-forward a year. Two wonderful kittens arrive in our front yard. Neighbor Guy’s daughter comes out of the house to let us know they belong to her. Cute kittens. A couple weeks later I point out to her that her kittens are sitting on the ledges of windows and really bothering our Princess Kitty and maybe she should keep her kittens in the house. Her response? “You could keep your blinds closed so your cat can’t see the kittens.” She also told me that keeping cats indoors in unhygienic. Um, ok. So why exactly did you get the cats?

About a week later Neighbor Guy tells us a “funny” story about how he took the kittens to the pound, but his daughter – who didn’t ask permission in the first place – threw a hissy fit. He paid $95 a piece to spring the kittens from the pound.

Six months later David goes next door and complains that the cats are using our backyard as a litter box and it is not only disgusting, but it’s killing our plants and herbs. Neighbor Guy says he’s sorry, but he didn’t want the cats in the first place. David mentions if they put a litter box outside the cats would use that, instead of our yard. That worked for a week. By then the sand was not only wet, but the box was full of feces.

Two weeks ago I caught the cats killing the birds in our yard. Birds that are in our yard because we have a plethora of feeders that attract them. Now I’m feeling incredibly guilty by leading the birds to their death. We catch Neighbor Guy outside and explain the problem. He tells us that the birds are doing us a service because people don’t want birds in their yards. I tell him that we want the birds – that’s why we put out seed for them. That’s why we planted the plants that we did. To attract the birds.

Neighbor Guy mentions that his daughter has moved to Los Angeles and her apartment doesn’t allow cats so she left them with her parents. He mentioned taking them to the nearest shelter. I pointed out that we don’t have any no-kill shelters, so the cats face almost certain death. David suggested bells around their necks. Neighbor Guy agrees.

Another tidbit of information we get from Neighbor Guy is that the while the girl cat has been fixed, the boy cat hasn’t. David blinks. I blink. I ask why not fix the boy cat and point out we have a huge feral cat population as it is. Neighbor Guy says any kittens wouldn’t be his responsibility because the girl cat is fixed. Boy cats aren’t responsible for kittens. More blinking and we walk away shaking our heads.

Yesterday afternoon, when he knew David was at work, Neighbor Guy knocked on our door. He told me that he tried bells on their necks, but they just slid them off. I said the collars need to be tight enough so you can only get two fingers in them. He said he wasn’t going to buy any more collars. He has decided the best way to fix the cats eating our birds and peeing all over our yard is for us to call the animal shelter. “Um, they aren’t my cats so I’m not calling the shelter. You are going to need to figure out how to keep your cats out of our yard.” Neighbor Guy goes on to tell me that he can’t call the shelter because they will kill the cats and he loves his daughter. You know, the daughter that just left her cats. He tells me that he doesn’t believe the cats are his anymore. He only feeds them out of compassion. I, again, explain that they aren’t my cats and I’m not going to call the animal shelter to have them killed. He needs to handle it. He tells me he’s washing his hands of the situation and he just walked away.

Seriously? How are people this irresponsible? And isn’t it wonderful that he is passing this wonderful trait of irresponsibility onto his children. Doesn’t make them do chores. Doesn’t make them take responsibility for the animals they bring into their lives. All because he “loves” them.

Then I look at my Princess Kitty and I think of how much a part of our family is she. How she sits on our laps and watches television with us. How she sleeps at the foot of our bed. She eats her supper when we eat ours. She is never more than a few feet away from us at any given time. I think this stuff and I am, again, boggled by how people can be so irresponsible with their pets.