# Yeah, I moved in next to the Crazy Cat Lady **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548 "2009-06-12T14:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/161 "2009-06-26T20:44:39Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > And it’s apparently your and his assertion that the racoons that move in won’t do the same things? Have neither of you ever met one? I think your assumption that raccoons would move in and do the exact same thing is completely without any basis in fact. Mongeese that move in might present a very similar problem, but then we have no indication that’s likely to become a problem, either. Meanwhile, you continue to avoid addressing the problem he has _now_. And yes, I’ve met some raccoons; some of my best friends are raccoons. > [@](#): > > Well, that’s why I object to his behavior. He has been offered other solutions, he just isn’t interested in them. He’s made a very mild inconvenience into a potential neighborhood situation, with the cats the loser whichever side wins, for no real good reason. In my accounting, that’s a terrible way to behave. You continue to minimize his concerns (“a very mild inconveniece”) without making any attempt to actually address them. _He doesn’t want the cats in his yard because they are a nuisance._ Thus, of course, anything that doesn’t remove the cats from his yard is not going to satisfy him – because it’s not a solution. That’s why TNR is not a solution, as I’ve already said. But you elevating his objections to “a terrible way to behave” because he just must “hate cats” sounds irrational, like you’re a little hysterical on the subject. Sometimes around here it’s like no one can say anything negative about teh kittehs! without the shit hitting the fan. > [@](#): > > I look forward to his next thread about getting the mice out of his house, and the accompanying confrontation with the neighbor with the birdfeeder. Yeah, well, you can hyperbolize all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve chosen to demonize him rather than actually address his problem. And for all you know he’ll be good friends with the neighbor with the birdfeeder once the feral cats, known agents of songbird depredation, are removed. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/162 "2009-06-26T20:47:18Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > Sure - I actually agree with all of that. I don’t think that the next door neighbor feeding wild cats (if that’s what they actually are - I’m not sure that’s been established) is a good idea, but I do think now that they’re there, a solution that leads directly to the death of the cats for the sin of behaving like (reasonably well behaved, actually) cats doesn’t help anyone. Especially said cats. It obviously doesn’t help the cats – it sucks for the cats. But it obviously and immediately helps **THespos**. > [@](#): > > But killing cats because they leave dead mice on the porch for you? There are plenty of owls and such nearby that will take over doing the same thing the week after the cats are gone. In the meantime, the cats will have paid the price for nothing. You keep saying things like this, but there’s absolutely no proof for them. I’ve lived for years in places with both cats and owls, and with one or the other but not both. I’ve never in my life had an owl leave anything on my porch. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/163 "2009-06-26T21:02:09Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > I think your assumption that raccoons would move in and do the exact same thing is completely without any basis in fact. Mongeese that move in might present a very similar problem, but then we have no indication that’s likely to become a problem, either. I have no idea how to respond to this. I assert that it’s most likely going to happen because I’ve _frequently seen it happen_. I’m not sure where to google for studies, however. > [@](#): > > You continue to minimize his concerns (“a very mild inconveniece”) without making any attempt to actually address them. That’s because his list of reasons are very mild inconveniences. I wasn’t kidding about the chipmunks either, by the way - those little fuckers run past me at night all the time, and I jump every time. Which of his list of nuisance behaviors do you think rates as higher than that? > [@](#): > > Sometimes around here it’s like no one can say anything negative about teh kittehs! without the shit hitting the fan. Well, I’d probably have fewer objections to getting rid of wild dogs, but that’s because, being larger, they can do more damage. I’m not putting teh kittiehs up on some sort of pedestal, though I’d probably be less vocal about complaining if he was trying to get rid of rabbits - if only because I’d probably get dogpiled because many people do make a distinction. > [@Jodi](#): > > It obviously doesn’t help the cats – it sucks for the cats. But it obviously and immediately helps **THespos**. From his mild inconvenience. Sucks to be the cats, I guess. > [@](#): > > You keep saying things like this, but there’s absolutely no proof for them. I’ve lived for years in places with both cats and owls, and with one or the other but not both. I’ve never in my life had an owl leave anything on my porch. Again, you’ve been lucky and/or not paying attention. Though in all fairness, it might have been the hawks leaving the mouse heads behind, but what they were doing out at night I wouldn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/164 "2009-06-26T21:05:35Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > I have no idea how to respond to this. I assert that it’s most likely going to happen because I’ve _frequently seen it happen_. I’m not sure where to google for studies, however. Your personal experience can hardly be assumed to be universal. > [@](#): > > That’s because his list of reasons are very mild inconveniences. Oh, I see – you’re just here to sit in judgment. Carry on, then. > [@](#): > > I’m not putting teh kitties up on some sort of pedestal, though I’d probably be less vocal about complaining if he was trying to get rid of rabbits, if only because I’d probably get dogpiled because many people do make a distinction. So you’d be more okay with rabbits, and more okay with dogs. Judgey, judgey, judgey. > [@](#): > > Again, you’ve been lucky and/or not paying attention. Or you’re wrong, because contrary to your egotistical assertions, your experience is not universal. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/165 "2009-06-26T21:08:51Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > I look forward to his next thread about getting the mice out of his house, and the accompanying confrontation with the neighbor with the birdfeeder. I am kinda looking forward to fallout as well. At least it will be entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/166 "2009-06-26T21:19:58Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Yes, intentionally inflicting emotional distress on a child is likely illegal. . So, your position is there is NOTHING in this world I could do that would be totally legal that would get the parents irate because their precious child had to suffer experiencing it? Nothing at all ? Maybe they are Muslims and I put out a big “Believe in Christ or you (and your parents) will burn in hell FOREVER”. And of course, you’ve missed the fact that they would have to prove it in the first place, even if it was illegal. And even IF I did something stupid enough that I ended up in the slammer, the damage is still done to kid and the parents are still upset about it. Was little Sally wearing a wire the first time we had our little talk ? The method is beside the point anyway. Something is done that really pisses of the parents for a nuisance. Hauling of the cats without trying other options (or just growing a damn pair) is quite likely to piss someone off. How anyone can’t see this is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/167 "2009-06-26T21:21:57Z")
> [@THespos](#): > > . . . > They leave gifts of dead moles and mice on the back patio. They stalk the wildlife in our back yard. . . > > . . . There’s really nothing they’re going to be able to do, short of getting rid of the cats, to satisfy me. They’re going to tell me that the cats are wild, and that they can’t control them. Yeah, but they FEED them. Re: the moles and mice - they luuuurve you! They are welcoming you to the neighborhood with gifts of food! Enjoy it becuase in this day and age it’s the closest you will get to a neighbor wiht an apple pie. Would you settle for the problem ending with this generation? the very best outcome I can think of is for you to A) take responsibility for spaying/neutering the cats (local SPCA will help you get them trapped, and find a cheap provider) then B) get a couple of squirt guns and carry them with you when you’re outside, squirting the cats and thus teaching them to leave you alone. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/168 "2009-06-26T21:30:22Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > Your personal experience can hardly be assumed to be universal. True. So I’ve been trying, with so far limited success, to turn up some cites. [This](http://www.wildlifeincrisis.com/faqs/index.htm#14), [this](http://www.theskidiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7400), and [this](http://www.aallanimalcontrol.com/fox_coyote_removal_denver_colorado.cfm) are about animals under porches - hardly sounds uncommon. (Those are the top three Google hits for “foxes under porch” - there are tons more.) [Here’s](http://www.enaturalist.org/question/1529) one about owls making messes near homes. > [@](#): > > Oh, I see – you’re just here to sit in judgment. Carry on, then. Ah, the old “disapproving of my behavior is bad because it’s judgmental and judgmental is bad” strawman. You couldn’t even try to come up with a good reason that an item on his list is actually important, instead? > [@](#): > > So you’d be more okay with rabbits, and more okay with dogs. Judgey, judgey, judgey. No, I said that I’d argue for the lives of more than just cats, depending on whether or not they’re causing an actual problem or not, and how up to taking internet abuse I felt that day. Nice misquote, though. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/169 "2009-06-26T23:28:12Z")
I had a new neighbour who pulled this passive-aggressive “I have rights” shit on me. So I ensured she got her rights fulfilled. And then set about ensuring she fulfilled her responsibilities. Cost to her: $600K + Worth to me: Priceless **Thespos** just be careful with this situation. You said that you would rather have unfriendly neighbours than cats. Just be aware that with rights comes responsibilities. And also that your neighbour could be as nuts as I am. Nice will get you everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/170 "2009-06-27T05:00:50Z")
This thread brings back so not-so-fond memories of when I lived on acreage. When a house was sold, we could almost always tell if the new neighbors were going to be trouble just by looking at them. Yuppies, young families and anything wearing a suit would immediately start complaining about every little thing that wasn’t the same as when they lived in the city. Yes, it’s a bitch when the power goes out during a storm - that’s why you have a wood stove and should have taken your realtors advice to buy a generator. Yes, it’s inconvenient that there is no city government to come plow the roads - that’s why we all have 4 wheel drive trucks. But to complain because there are animals on your property??? I don’t care if they are cats or that they are there because your neighbors are feeding them. You live out in the sticks now, things will be different and intelligent adults learn to deal with the minor inconvenience of things like mouse guts on the porch and the wife getting startled. What you don’t do (but far too many people did try to do) is demand that everyone around you change the way they live to suit your Johnny-come-lately tastes. Cats wouldn’t even be there if you bloody city folk didn’t dump them in the country when your kids got tired of them anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/171 "2009-06-27T12:24:01Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > So, your position is there is NOTHING in this world I could do that would be totally legal that would get the parents irate because their precious child had to suffer experiencing it? Nothing at all ? Also somemthing I never said. I’m happy to address your points, but you have to claim them as your own. I’m not defending anything I never said, and I’m also not defending ridiculous extrapolations from what I did say. > [@](#): > > The method is beside the point anyway. Something is done that really pisses of the parents for a nuisance. Hauling of the cats without trying other options (or just growing a damn pair) is quite likely to piss someone off. How anyone can’t see this is beyond me. There is an enormous difference between intentionally fightening someone’s child and removing feral cats – such an enormous difference, in fact, that comparing the two is ridiculous. Yes, the neighbors might find them both upsetting, in the same sense that I might be “upset” to find the store is out of milk and “upset” when my parent dies. Attempting to analogize between the two is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/172 "2009-06-27T12:38:03Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > True. So I’ve been trying, with so far limited success, to turn up some cites. Of course you’re having limited success. Just because something is not uncommon doesn’t mean it’s universal, as I already said. I was YOUR assertion that getting rid of the feral cats automatically means he’ll have a raccoon problem and that’s hardly proven. > [@](#): > > Ah, the old “disapproving of my behavior is bad because it’s judgmental and judgmental is bad” strawman. Oh, it’s not a strawman; it’s right there: I find your emotionally-based judgmentalism obnoxious. > [@](#): > > You couldn’t even try to come up with a good reason that an item on his list is actually important, instead? You didn’t bother to come up with any good reason that any item on his list is actually _un_important before snottily posting _I was obviously attributing logic where there was none. You just hate cats? That’s a good reason to kill them? Damn, man, that’s kind of sick._, so why should I allow you to hold me to a higher standard than you hold yourself? If we’re actually backing up our opinions before throwing them out there, you’re several posts too late. Though as it happens, I think the justice of his complaints are obvious. He doesn’t like himself or his family to be startled. He doesn’t like mouse parts messing up his porch. He doesn’t like the _other_ wildlife in his yard (maybe squirrels or songbirds) being killed off. You didn’t bother to respond to any of those, you just decided they weren’t good enough, decided he must hate cats, and accused him of illogic and being a sicko. > [@](#): > > No, I said that I’d argue for the lives of more than just cats, depending on whether or not they’re causing an actual problem or not, and how up to taking internet abuse I felt that day. Nice misquote, though. This reduces down to YOU deciding if “they’re causing an actual problem or not,” and deciding how you wiill respond accordingly. So how come you can’t grant **THespos** the right to do the exact same thing? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/173 "2009-06-27T16:59:49Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > … I’m not putting teh kittiehs up on some sort of pedestal, … Good. I thought maybe you were indeed putting the pussy on a pedestal. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_in_South_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/174 "2009-06-27T17:44:16Z")
“Big F” would probably not jump out at Thes and wife; they would hide from all humans. Possibly “medium f” – some level of trust of humans, may or may not have shots or be neutered. I hope the talks with the neighbors went well. C > [@billfish678](#): > > The big question is are these feral cats with a big F or a little f ? > > Little f…they have all the shots, are well feed, are fixed, and just don’t quit trust strangers, and barely trust the “owners”. > > Big F…damn wild and just happen to be feed sometimes. > > As others have noted, if they are big F, it aint that big a deal to make them much closer to the little f end of the spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_in_South_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/175 "2009-06-27T17:51:04Z")
> [@THespos](#): > > . . . It’s really irresponsible to support a population of former house cats that aren’t spayed or neutered and will continue to grow in number uncontrolled. And it’s annoying as hell. Yes, absolutely. You must be sick of the thread by now, but please tell us how it went with those nice (but probably misguided) neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/176 "2009-06-28T12:33:31Z")
This whole thing is getting much more interesting… I talked with the neighbor yesterday. (Well, the guy anyway.) My brother in law and I were working outside and saw him pull up, so we invited him over for a beer. He turned the beer down, but decided to hang around and give us a brain dump on the neighborhood and what he knew about the history of our house and its prior occupants. So I then asked him to refresh my memory on the deal with the cats. He could tell that they were starting to bother me, so when he was done telling the story about how they found the litter in their window well, he said he’s never really been a big fan of the cats. So (as someone postulated earlier in the thread) it’s the wife who’s the culprit here, and he’s just enabling. He’s going to speak to his wife about what they can do about the cats. Everything was friendly. He gets it. I’m not sure that he’ll come up with any options we haven’t already thought of, but at least he acknowledges a problem and that he does need to do something about it. I didn’t mention to him that the cats are now under my camper clawing away at the insulation. If he agrees to get rid of them, I probably won’t mention it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Carol\_in\_South\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_in_South_Shore)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/177 "2009-06-28T13:36:25Z")
Score one for rational discourse. Here’s hoping even the wife is not 100% crazy. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/178 "2009-06-28T17:35:35Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Oh yeah, I am sure I’d get thrown in the slammer for that one. > > Maybe I’ll just stand in the back yard, and when she looks my way, I’ll violently rip the heads off stuffed bunnies. Billfish, you are now my favorite poster! The visual I get of this has had me giggling half the morning. I hope you don’t mind if I steal the idea… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/179 "2009-06-29T03:32:55Z")
> [@dragonlady](#): > > Billfish, you are now my favorite poster! The visual I get of this has had me giggling half the morning. I hope you don’t mind if I steal the idea… Go for it. If you could use it on Jodi’s kids I would appreciate it. I also hope a big male tomcat sprays in her car vents. Whatever you can manage… ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548/180 "2009-06-29T12:23:21Z")
So many people said the Scarecrow was a good option that I figured what the hey and ordered two. If they work, maybe I’ll run some 1" poly lines to them so I don’t see the hoses. If not, well I’m sure I can find another use for Robosprinkler. If anyone else is considering the same, be warned - the only shipping option on the website y’all sent me was $25.99 for priority domestic. For 26 bucks, that better get here last Friday. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-moved-in-next-to-the-crazy-cat-lady/499548.md?page=10)