Cat Owners Responsibility
 

Keep your damned cats in your house, or on a leash.

To someone who lives somewhere in the general vicinity of my neighborhood:

Your cat came by my house, through my yard, and approached the open window (with a screen) to my office. That is where MY cat sits, inside, on her perch so she can watch the world go by and chill out.

Thanks to YOUR cat, my window screen is now ruined and we have to buy a new one. We will also never be able to keep that window open again, for as long as I have this cat. The single window in my office, where I do my computing and watch movies while hubby is watching TV in the other room.

Now I'm going to have to worry about this creature showing up outside the lanai when my cat is out there, or in the bedroom when she's sitting on the bureau in front of the window there.

If I see this cat again, I will report it to the police, and the local animal shelter. And if I find out whose cat it is, I'll be having a discussion about the cost to replace my screen.

Lots of feral cats in the Villages

OP, contact the local SPCA (etc.) for a humane trap, hopefully you can trap the offending cat, take it to the local authorities, if the cat is chipped they will find the owner, if not it will probably go to s shelter. There is a very active cat club in the area that will probably correct me, but they will also have much more information and suggestions. As for your screen, there is a product called PET SCREEN which is used in lanais and birdcages (we have it in ours). This is a heavy duty screen product that greatly resists cats claws. It might be possible to have that installed on your screen (use the old frame, new Pet screen material and the correct size spline.

Which cat tore up the screen?

Mine. She was apparently defending herself. I was at work. Hubby reported he heard a crash, he jumped up to see what was going on and our cat jetted out of my room to the living room, hopped on the cat perch there with ears back, eyes fully dilated, hissing (something I have NEVER heard her do in the 3 years we've had her). Then she leapt off the perch and rushed to the lanai, growling and pacing around.

Hubby went outside to see what was out there and saw nothing (this was at night). Came back in. One of my cat's claws was a little ragged from being stuck on the screen but she was otherwise unscathed.

We've had birds in the yard, the big white ones, and she never went off like that. She isn't aggressive against dogs, just other cats.

The only other possibility would be if one of the owls in the neighborhood just happened to be flying very low, between our neighbor's house and mine, and just happened to be going slow enough to happen to notice that my cat was sleeping on her perch in front of the window, under the metal thing that hangs over to keep the rain out. I find this very unlikely.

And I know there is at least one cat who roams the neighborhood because its owner thinks that's a good idea. It has a collar so I know it's not feral.

Could possibly have been a bobcat or whatever they call the big cats, coyotes in this area

If this happens again we'll know, through experience, to check more thoroughly. It's the first time this happened and we were not prepared to deal with it at the time.

Regardless of whether it was the cat I've seen in the past or not...the point still stands.

Keep your cats inside your home, or on a leash. PETS (not ferals, not bobcats, not wild birds) do not belong on other peoples' property without the homeowner's explicit permission. If you can't control your pet, then don't have one.

Even if my cat doesn't tear up the screen defending against your cat, or if it turned out to be an owl...even if those things are true...

keep your cat inside your home, or on a leash.

What can the police do?

Be on the look out for cat burglars.

Get sonic high frequency sound alarms for yard..keeps out animals

***

Lost Cat
 

Someone in Katherine Place has been calling their cat "Georgia" since the 1st of 2nd of January. Maybe the cat is lost and hungry? In any case, the information about the lost cat is posted at the postal building at Carolina.

Love your quote to save one dog

Cat Burglar:1rotfl:

Good point. I'm a pet lover, so I hate to think that a cat may be is lost and hungry. :cry:

If you're letting your cat out on a lanai that is only screened that is a big mistake. Coyotes will go through those screens and grab your furbaby in a heartbeat.

Move cats to a cat house- they will enjoy that.

There are many, many stray/feral cats in this area, enough to have a Trap/Neuter/Release program. I see one almost every morning on my walk. It comes from a golf course, crosses the street and goes behind another house. It is definitely well fed, but I know it doesn't belong to anyone. People put out food for these cats. It could be going to the back of that house for its breakfast.


Any event, I'm just pointing out that it may not be someone's pet. You might have just been a victim of the stray wildlife around here. I hope your cat is not too traumatized.


Do you think that many people let their cats run around outside around here? Honest question--I really don't know. I know I wouldn't, considering all the coyotes, alligators, and hunting birds in this area.

I do know some who moved here and their cat was outdoors back home. Some think that needs to continue to keep the cat happy. Sadly new homes are confusing after the move, and pets get lost.
There are four cats that have collars, and roam our area. One was so frightened She Allowed me to pick her up, and just melted in my arms. I returned her to owner. Not a good meet and greet, I got a earful for something that was not my business. Cat was back at my home the next day. Some either don’t care, or just don’t get it.

I've only seen one stray cat so far. It was definitely not feral, it was a stray (it had a collar). I've also seen one owl, and a neighbor says they've seen a different owl as well (one is brown, the other is white).

I've also seen a couple of dogs off their leashes - again, not feral, just stray.

I use stray in the traditional sense: it belongs to someone, but isn't with them or contained at their own property at the moment.

My cat would not react that way to dogs, so I already ruled them out. Birds, no idea. She watches the woodpecker in the tree from her perch and doesn't go nuts, and she's seen those white birds (egrets, or sand-whatevers?) pluck ants from our yard under her window, and she hasn't gone nuts then either.

I know absolutely positively she is not friendly toward other cats.

That's why I concluded it was most likely a cat, as opposed to anything else it -could- have been.

If it roams onto your property, it becomes your business. Tell her next time it happens you'll take the cat directly to the animal shelter.

What we need, are leash laws extended to cats. Currently Florida law is that they are free-roaming animals. But currently, Florida law also has trespassing laws that are enforced.

If YOU allow YOUR cat to roam onto MY property without my permission, YOU should be held accountable for it. Your dog can't roam on my property, your kid can't roam on my property, you can't set up chairs and a table on my property, and you can't be on my property - without my permission. Why should your cat be any different?

If there's a Villages-located organization trying to get pet laws extended to include cats, I'd love to be a part of it.

So, it may have or may not have been a cat. Right?

My understanding of TV rules is that cats are not allowed to roam free. Honestly, I don't understand why any cat should be allowed anywhere to roam free. Not everyone loves your pet nor wants their feces or paw prints or getting scared because your animal jumped out from under the car, etc. Rules of consideration for others should always apply.

I live at the end of Kathrine Place, and on several occasions we have seen a dark longer haired tabby cat walk past our house.
We have called to it, but it will not come over too us.
Just been to the postal station but could not see any notice regarding a lost cat.
If the owner of the lost cat is reading these posts, please PM me and we can show you the regular route the cat seems to travel when it passes by.
It looks in good health and from its visual condition, has found a regular food source.,

The two posts just seemed contradictory...….no further explanation is needed.

Coyote are canine.

This fearless cat is staying indoors.

Surveillance video shows cat taking on trio of coyotes - CNN Video

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Does matter, If the cat had collar was running loose. Cats always get free pass cause they don’t bark

Plus the hundreds of song birds and baby rabbits that are killed.

Cats do kill birds, but more rats, mice and other vermin that are easier prey.
As for baby rabbits, who cares, they are capable of breeding totaly out of control, and turnning a fertile land into a desert/
Research Australia and out of control rabbits!
Cats do not kill as many birds as humans do, who spray insecticides without any thought that they deplete the birds natural food resources.

My cats live in a fully glass enclosed lanai....enjoying watching all the creatures that walk buy.

And the OP worries about his/her cat ripping the screen...wait till a coyote rips the screen and takes the cat away.

She wasn't on the lanai when this happened. She was in our guest bedroom on her perch. She doesn't go on the lanai unless one of us is there - the sliding doors are a little too heavy for her to push open by herself :)

You are sure you do not have a parrot? :)

Heh it's one of those carpet-covered "cat condos" with sissal sides. She never uses any part of it other than the top where she can curl up and watch the world go by or sleep, so I call it a perch.

Also to Barefoot: a coyote can rip a screen open to get inside anyone's house, if they happen to enjoy opening their glass window when the weather's nice. I don't see anyone keeping their windows closed 24/7 "just in case" a coyote happens to come by.

Down the street from my neighborhood in Connecticut there were bears and deer and coyotes, we had skunks and bats and turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks living in our back yard, and we NEVER thought even once, ever, that we should keep our windows closed "just in case" one of them decided they wanted to rip the screen and come in.

It's just not a thing. Or it shouldn't be. I won't barricade myself up in my house "just in case." People who do that are people who dig bunkers in their back yards and stock them for Armageddon.

Honestly, I never open my windows. I do that to keep the house cleaner. I have 2 dogs and an enclosed lanai. I feel they are totally safe.

Update - it's definitely a cat, it's happened a few times since then and we've seen the interaction between our indoor cat and this outdoor cat. Thankfully we were home to keep the screens from being torn again.

Just as an fyi - in Lake County (and in Sumter county) it is against the law to allow a cat or dog to be "at large." This is more clearly defined in Sumter ordinances but you can check online for the definition of the term, for anyone who wants to pick nits.

Here's the section of the Lake County ordinance that applies:

And that's from Municode Library

So - yes I can absolutely call the police and file a report - so that IF we find out whose cat it is, we can prevent further damage to our property and possibly injury to our (or their) cat.