We have a big male cat (he is 18+ months old). He is a big lazy softie. He is neutered. He is not into fighting or anything at all. He just plods around to find a comfy spot and then sleeps. When he is active he plays with Roxy. He is a mostly outside cat since he is Roxy's buddy and she is an outside dog. So 9 times out of 10 both sleep outside, often together.
Anyway, our neighbour has now started complaining about him - not that he sprays, fights, makes a noise or anything, but get this - that he sets off the alarm beam in their yard when he walks around. And I am pretty sure he is walking around on OUR wall since they have a few biggish dogs so I don't think he is strolling on the lawn, KWIM?
So the neighbour's request is that we KEEP HIM INSIDE. Like all the time. Or at least at night and then I guess when they are not home too..? Because else their alarm triggers too much and ADT doesn't like it.
I am thinking WTF! REALLY!?
It is just not feasible or practical to suddenly lock him up in the house... and really should this be MY problem? I am thinking they can either build up their wall so he can't stroll over or make their alarm system less sensitive so it is not triggered by a freaking CAT walking around. Besides he is not the only cat in the world there MUST be others around in the neighbourhood.
Would you feel obligated to react and try to control your cat? (as if a cat is in any way controllable anyway)
(And just for more context these are actually nice people so they are not mean, or unreasaonable in general and we have had no issues before. However their special needs son used to climb over to our side all the time and would make a mess, and/or throw our things over the wall into another neighbour's yard, or just walk into my house etc etc. He was sweet but a bit of a pest/ inconvenience and annoyance at a times. But I never asked them to lock him up or stop him from coming over... because he was just being who he was and I worked with that.)
So what would you do? What should I do??
Just say them what you suggest to your readers: "I am thinking they can either build up their wall so he can't stroll over or make their alarm system less sensitive so it is not triggered by a freaking CAT walking around."
ReplyDeleteOr suggest they build some net around and above their building so not even some birdies would trigger the alarm. :o)
(and please don´t make the mistake to check their son with your cat - not everyone will agree that a cat would/ could be a full-member of your family with equal rights if you set it in a "Your kid do this and that so my cat should be able to do it the same way"- level)
(just my 2 cent...
Thanks keizkicker.
DeleteI think I am going to chat to them to see if they can adjust the beams. The wall is covered and surrounded with trees and vegetation and we have a play house on stilts right there too, so it's going to be very hard to barricade it. Just this week-end the children were again climbing back and forth over the wall. It's actually one of the things we like about the place is that the neighbourhood friends are just over the wall! :)
And no I am not really proposing comparing their special-needs child to an animal nor trying to play tit-for-tat with them. It was just for context. :)
Thanks for the comments though! Appreciated.