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I’m look to gain advice for an Animal welfare issue regarding a neighbour of ours that we’ve been in dispute with for a while now.

I own a Neutered Male Cat who is apart of a 4 cat household all of which get on and do not display any aggressive tendencies or behaviour towards each other or as far as I’m aware other cats. the neighbour of our owns 2 un-neutered males. In which she refuses to neuter but that’s a completely different story.

Both of which have continued to roam free, and attack all 4 of our cats. 2 of our cats are 10 year old seniors who have been outdoor cats most of their lives and it’s very unfair for us to have to take that privilege away from them. Same goes for our other cats. I’m writing this because one of my cats in particular has now suffered more injures as a result of her aggressive cats. One of which is now resulting in him needing Veterinary treatment for an Abscess on his head. I am now fed up, we had previously tried to approach her in a friendly manner about the behaviour of her cats, and we did not receive a very nice response. We offered to help her with the neutering of her males and even gave her the resources to access information on why Neutering is beneficial. We were willing to help if I meant that all of our cats could enjoy the outside space.

Our cats rarely roam outside of our garden, however her cats now regularly come into our garden just to attack our cats sometimes multiple times a day when she allows them outside. They are let in through a window as she’s on the ground flat next door. We aren’t sure in which the state she takes care of them as she has told us in the past she feeds them on a diet of just prawns, one cat is much larger than the other so the cats definitely need to be look at by someone which is another concern of ours. The larger male is very aggressive and is definitely the more dominant one out of the 2, and the other is much much smaller and is actually pleasant when we’ve approached him.

I understand cats are free roaming and there’s no law regarding cat behaviour but her cats behaviour could be prevented or at least lessened if she was a responsible pet Owner. We would not mind her cats coming into the garden if they were friendly. Our cats have come in with scratches, fur missing, blood on them etc. and there hasn’t been a week where we haven’t heard a cat fight outside.

She has acknowledged her cats are aggressive as she stopped us on the street one to apologise for one of her cats as it had attacked one of my cats and he ended up with part of his ear torn off.

Surely if she has the aggressive cats then it’s her cats that need to be kept inside because the rest of the neighbourhood cats the come over get on with our cats. Every time there has been a cat fight it’s involved one of her 2 cats. Sometimes both. Just to name one incident her Biggest male, had my cat pinned to the floor of the car park in which I can see from my bedroom window (I’m situated in the attic) I witnessed the neighbour attempt to spilt up the fight by kicking my cat. Until I shouted over at her and called for my cat to come back in.

We’ve tried to keep our cats in, and even gone outside to check if her cats are out before letting ours out. It just feels completely unfair. Sorry if this is whining, I’m just not sure what to do other than keep our cats in. But as I say 2 of ours really enjoy going out side and it’s not within our means to cat proof the garden due to money and the fact our house is rented. If she’s neglecting her cats at home by not feeding them enough at home etc could that be the reason her cats are aggressive? Or perhaps why ones significantly smaller than other due to dominance? Because we’ve caught one of them trying to eat from one our bowls in the kitchen before. We’ve since switch to a cat flap that they can’t get into.

Any advice/information will be greatly appreciated

Very frustrating, but as you say legally I don't think there is much you can do, if you are in the UK anyway. Defence is probably your best form of defence though, as you have done for the cat flap, can you secure the garden? If yours don't leave the garden much anyway it shouldn't be too great a loss, and investing in catproofing should pay for itself in not incurring more vet bills.

Yes after I wrote that I started looking. I’m in the uk. So I know it’s extremely difficult. I’ve made a report to my council, along with some other neighbours as I’m not the only one who’s having issues with her cats, even if nothing can be done to stop them, I’d rather someone check up on the cats to make sure they are getting adequate care at home. And for the meantime we are keeping our cats in, and adding in some new things to make their space more enjoyable inside.

I've been thinking too. Hopefully not but you might end up with anxiety or territory marking inside the house, or inside a secured garden, if the other cats are still aggressive outside. If yours are happy indoors for the time being, or venturing out supervised, perhaps that could work?

Neutering their cats might not solve the issue though, as you know neutered cats still fight over territory. It only stops the fights over the ladies and can but doesn't always calm them down generally, but if they are already in the habit of attacking yours on sight it might not change much, unfortunately.

Unfortunately yes that is the case. Update on the vets £83 down with antibiotics and anti inflammatories for my boy. We’ve wrote a letter to her with the numbers and information that can help her with her cats. As unfortunately we do believe they aren’t being looked after.