New tenants have moved into the house next door and one of their cats is persistently jumping the boundary fence to hang out in our garden despite being beaten up twice by our cat. Now this thread isn't about cats wandering or tenants' rights (we own) it's about extending the height of the boundary fence which is just wire netting and concrete posts and only 1 metre high at present. There are dense mature trees where blackbirds nest on our side and we're fond of those birds.
We are thinking about adding a trellis or something to bring it up to the max height. In our neighbourhood, people are breaking boundary fence rules left, right and centre (sheds actually attached to fences etc) so we are leaning towards just doing it and dealing with any grumbles from the neighbours later - as other neighbours have failed to ask our permission on several occasions, this seems to be the way to go. Can we extend the existing height without getting agreement from the neighbours' landlord? Would you do it anyway?

Edited by toomanyhats at 9:21 pm, Fri 26 Feb

toomanyhats - 2021-02-26 21:17:00

Would do it,have done it.No problemo.

bottynoodle - 2021-02-26 21:25:00

Would that stop the cats, though? Especially if there are tall trees close to the fence that they could scale.

sarahp24 - 2021-02-27 00:06:00

We have an electric fence around our section. Keeps the dogs, cats & kids where they need to be: in/out.

thumbs647 - 2021-02-27 06:51:00

neighbours have a 4month kitten-it walks along the top of the high fences(max allowed height) around its property-nothing stops them-they will find a way

Edited by wine-o-clock at 7:04 am, Sat 27 Feb

wine-o-clock - 2021-02-27 07:03:00

wine-o-clock wrote:

neighbours-
have a 4month kitten-it walks along the top of the high fences(max allowed height) around its property-nothing stops them-they will find a way

Could spray the fence top with a cat deterrent. I stopped a cat pooping in my garden with chilli flakes and wandering in with citronella.Surprisingly fast, came back once or twice months later. Rinsed and repeated. Job done.

artemis - 2021-02-27 08:11:00

There are rollers you put along the top of your fence 1.8 metres, that nothing can get in, plus electric fence is ace,. We have cat netted our property, for our cats protection, the neighborhood slum dwellers and their cats can't get in.

gabbysnana - 2021-02-27 08:51:00

Electric fence would be cheapest and effective.

tony9 - 2021-02-27 15:12:00

Tell the neighbours that if It frequents your property there is a risk it will get killed in your possum trap and you wouldn’t want that

raf4 - 2021-02-27 15:33:00

Thinking about some cheap netting with storm pipes fixed to the top so cat can't grip. Cheaper version of the fence top rollers. No to electric fence near birds' nesting area.
Want to make it more difficult for cat so he looks elsewhere. Of course he will get in if he is determined.
Would most just put up the fence extension without mucking about contacting neighbours' landlord?

Edited by toomanyhats at 3:50 pm, Sat 27 Feb

toomanyhats - 2021-02-27 15:47:00

Cat trap. Catch it and ..............................-
.......

keys - 2021-02-27 18:09:00

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kittycatkin - 2021-02-27 18:19:00

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kittycatkin - 2021-02-27 18:22:00

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kittycatkin - 2021-02-27 18:32:00

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kittycatkin - 2021-02-27 18:48:00

My daughter just fixed an arm to each post angled inwards to keep her cats in and safe (they live on a corner section) and fixed chicken netting over the top. Cats can’t jump up onto the fence and no neighbouring cats can get in. In 3 years her cats have never got out and she has never had a cat get into the fenced area.

camper18 - 2021-02-27 21:49:00

kittycatkin wrote:

Most people don't live in slums, so electric fences are not needed to keep the neighbours out.You will be liable if anyone is injured by one, and I think that there are regulations about them.

Good point. I turn my fence down to just under 11,000Kv. ????????????

thumbs647 - 2021-02-28 06:14:00

kittycatkin wrote:

...be prosecuted for animal cruelty...

Why?

....and take to SPCA.

smallwoods - 2021-02-28 09:37:00

kittycatkin wrote:

Most people don't live in slums, so electric fences are not needed to keep the neighbours out.You will be liable if anyone is injured by one, and I think that there are regulations about them.

She lives in Hamilton, so its quite possible.

And yes, setting traps is covered by S202 of the Crimes Act with up to 5 years imprisonment.

sparkychap - 2021-02-28 09:44:00

smallwoods wrote:

Why?

....and take to SPCA.

The cat in question is a neighbour's pet. What do you think the SPCA is going to do?

kitty179 - 2021-02-28 10:14:00

camper18 wrote:

My daughter just fixed an arm to each post angled inwards to keep her cats in and safe (they live on a corner section) and fixed chicken netting over the top. Cats can’t jump up onto the fence and no neighbouring cats can get in. In 3 years her cats have never got out and she has never had a cat get into the fenced area.

Do you know what sort of arms please? I need something similar for my chicken run. Narrow area down the side of the shed. What to get rid of the chicken wire set up that is attached to the shed. Looks ugly.

joanie04 - 2021-02-28 11:46:00

kittycatkin wrote:

And possibly illegal in a residential area, as well as making the owner liable if anyone's injured by it.

Not illegal in NZ, except some local authorities have some controls on their use near public land. Should put up notices, but the cats will ignore them.

tony9 - 2021-02-28 14:29:00

thumbs647 wrote:

Good point. I turn my fence down to just under 11,000Kv. ????????????

It is not the voltage that does damage, it is the current. The amount and duration is controlled so it will not harm a mammal.

tony9 - 2021-02-28 14:34:00

kitty179 wrote:

The cat in question is a neighbour's pet. What do you think the SPCA is going to do?

If it's not chipped, re home it?
If not re homed, put down.

Either way the cat is gone

If it is chipped, then the owner will pay SPCA and after a while get sick of paying.

Edited by smallwoods at 3:55 pm, Sun 28 Feb

smallwoods - 2021-02-28 15:55:00

smallwoods wrote:

If it's not chipped, re home it?
If not re homed, put down.

Either way the cat is gone

If it is chipped, then the owner will pay SPCA and after a while get sick of paying.

Does not apply in this case - it is a neighbour's cat, not a stray.

kitty179 - 2021-02-28 15:58:00

My cat could jump a 1.8m fence from a standing start.

lythande1 - 2021-02-28 20:41:00

kitty179 wrote:

Does not apply in this case - it is a neighbour's cat, not a stray.

If it has strayed onto another person's property then it is a stray.

tony9 - 2021-02-28 20:59:00

tony9 wrote:

If it has strayed onto another person's property then it is a stray.

Nope - SPCA define "stray" cat as being one that is un-owned, abandoned or lost.

Nipping over to shit in your vege patch is annoying, but doesn't make it a stray.

sparkychap - 2021-02-28 22:10:00

get a dog

gph1961 - 2021-03-02 05:07:00

tony9 wrote:

If it has strayed onto another person's property then it is a stray.

Some councils classify cats as wild animals, so no such thing as straying, but animal cruelty laws still apply. If you had ever had a beloved pet go missing without resolution you wouldn't consider inflicting that cruelty on other people.

And aside from the meanspiritedness of it, rehoming someone else's pet is plain theft.

oh_hunnihunni - 2021-03-02 11:58:00

oh_hunnihunni wrote:

Some councils classify cats as wild animals, so no such thing as straying, but animal cruelty laws still apply. If you had ever had a beloved pet go missing without resolution you wouldn't consider inflicting that cruelty on other people.

And aside from the meanspiritedness of it, rehoming someone else's pet is plain theft.

Note to neighbour "keep your cat out of my vegie patch"
Repeat 3 times.
Then cage catch and take to SPCA.
Neighbours problem.

smallwoods - 2021-03-02 18:23:00

kitty179 wrote:

Does not apply in this case - it is a neighbour's cat, not a stray.

Does apply, because it's not controlled, so off to SPCA it goes.

smallwoods - 2021-03-02 18:24:00

smallwoods wrote:

Note to neighbour "keep your cat out of my vegie patch"
Repeat 3 times.
Then cage catch and take to SPCA.
Neighbours problem.

This is laughable, actually, because no laws have been broken. Cats are not required to be 'controlled' as dogs are. The issue of the mandatory restraining of cats on their own property is always a lively debate, however try your method at the moment and it is likely to just make you look silly. My cat is allowed outside only during the day when I am at home, but does visit my neighbours' gardens even though he has a litter box inside. My neighbours do mention it in passing but never in a complaining way, and it's not a huge problem for them. We remain on good terms, and I have told them to feel free to discourage my cat in ways that do not endanger him or hurt him. If they ever trapped him or catnapped him I think I would find the law would be on my side.

Edited by kitty179 at 6:31 pm, Tue 2 Mar

kitty179 - 2021-03-02 18:29:00

smallwoods wrote:

Does apply, because it's not controlled, so off to SPCA it goes.

Law says owners are not responsible for containing cats within their own boundary.

sparkychap - 2021-03-02 18:34:00

sparkychap wrote:

Law says owners are not responsible for containing cats within their own boundary.

What does it say abut the cat eating the neigbours finches or chooks?
I shot the neigbours cat for getting into my chickens, they have a right to be non molested and the cops told them that.

smallwoods - 2021-03-02 21:02:00

smallwoods wrote:

What does it say abut the cat eating the neigbours finches or chooks?
I shot the neigbours cat for getting into my chickens, they have a right to be non molested and the cops told them that.

why were the cops talking to your chickens?

Attacking livestock is different to a cat just hanging round your place.

sparkychap - 2021-03-02 21:32:00

kitty179 wrote:

This is laughable, actually, because no laws have been broken. Cats are not required to be 'controlled' as dogs are. The issue of the mandatory restraining of cats on their own property is always a lively debate, however try your method at the moment and it is likely to just make you look silly. My cat is allowed outside only during the day when I am at home, but does visit my neighbours' gardens even though he has a litter box inside. My neighbours do mention it in passing but never in a complaining way, and it's not a huge problem for them. We remain on good terms, and I have told them to feel free to discourage my cat in ways that do not endanger him or hurt him. If they ever trapped him or catnapped him I think I would find the law would be on my side.

This

loose.unit8 - 2021-03-02 22:02:00

sparkychap wrote:

why were the cops talking to your chickens?

Attacking livestock is different to a cat just hanging round your place.

Only things that talked sense?

smallwoods - 2021-03-03 08:45:00

kitty179 wrote:

This is laughable, actually, because no laws have been broken. Cats are not required to be 'controlled' as dogs are. The issue of the mandatory restraining of cats on their own property is always a lively debate, however try your method at the moment and it is likely to just make you look silly. My cat is allowed outside only during the day when I am at home, but does visit my neighbours' gardens even though he has a litter box inside. My neighbours do mention it in passing but never in a complaining way, and it's not a huge problem for them. We remain on good terms, and I have told them to feel free to discourage my cat in ways that do not endanger him or hurt him. If they ever trapped him or catnapped him I think I would find the law would be on my side.

You would find out you are not right.
Cage trapping is humane.

The end result in my case was one shot cat, as the neighbours considered their cat was allowed to "roam"
They were asked, warned, paid SPCA and still it kept coming back.

Yes, we are not direct neighbours, as there is some distance between houses here.
The cat had plenty of cover from their place to ours.

smallwoods - 2021-03-03 08:51:00

smallwoods wrote:

You would find out you are not right.
Cage trapping is humane.

The end result in my case was one shot cat, as the neighbours considered their cat was allowed to "roam"
They were asked, warned, paid SPCA and still it kept coming back.

Yes, we are not direct neighbours, as there is some distance between houses here.
The cat had plenty of cover from their place to ours.

The advice you are saying is not correct is in fact what the SPCA advised me. If it is registered to a local or belongs to someone it cannot be classed as a stray.

How horrible that you felt you needed to shoot it. Hopefully you did not shoot it while it was trapped in the cage.

Couldn't you have just used a large water pistol or turned the hose on it until it got the message. This was the advice the SPCA gave me after I had a wondering cat. I trapped it, SPCA found it was registered, they did a quick home check of the cat's owners to make sure it was not being held in bad conditions and then suggested the above advice. It worked.

I wonder what terrible thing the cat was doing that deserved shooting.

Edited by shanreagh at 10:38 am, Wed 3 Mar

shanreagh - 2021-03-03 10:33:00

shanreagh wrote:

The advice you are saying is not correct is in fact what the SPCA advised me. If it is registered to a local or belongs to someone it cannot be classed as a stray.

How horrible that you felt you needed to shoot it. Hopefully you did not shoot it while it was trapped in the cage.

Couldn't you have just used a large water pistol or turned the hose on it until it got the message. This was the advice the SPCA gave me after I had a wondering cat. I trapped it, SPCA found it was registered, they did a quick home check of the cat's owners to make sure it was not being held in bad conditions and then suggested the above advice. It worked.

I wonder what terrible thing the cat was doing that deserved shooting.

It had killed 3 chooks, don't they have a right to a peaceful life within my boundaries?
How about thinking about them being hunted down and choked to death!
I don't have a chip scanner, SPCA do.
SPCA won't give out address details, privacy(?) reasons.
But told them enough that they came to see me(?)

smallwoods - 2021-03-03 13:13:00

I am sorry for the loss of the chooks. My sister keeps hers in their hen house at night and for periods during the day when she & husband are away from their farm. This is because stray cats come around at night and when they sense no-one is home.....So my sister is sensible when/where the hens free-range.

Nothing in my post said anything about you having a scanner.

My post was about what you can do to keep stray cats at bay. Sure trap them and take them to the SPCA. If they are strays ie no chip then usually they are euthanised by SPCA. Many families I know make a donation to the SPCA to do this. Some younger and healthier strays are fostered kept for adoption.

If the stray cat is not a stray but a chipped domestic pet then you had no legal right to kill the cat. That is when you try other methods, hose, water pistol, etc.

shanreagh - 2021-03-03 14:21:00

The member deleted this message.

kittycatkin - 2021-03-03 14:57:00

toomanyhats wrote:

Now this thread isn't about cats wandering

Sorry.

sparkychap - 2021-03-03 17:30:00

Joanie04, The arms are just 2” x1” timber battens bolted onto the timber fence posts at a 45 degree angle then the netting laid over the top and stapled on. It has been most effective and even the neighbours kids can’t climb over it to retrieve their toys/balls. Feel free to PM me and I could send you a picture.

camper18 - 2021-03-03 17:34:00

shanreagh wrote:

I am sorry for the loss of the chooks. My sister keeps hers in their hen house at night and for periods during the day when she & husband are away from their farm. This is because stray cats come around at night and when they sense no-one is home.....So my sister is sensible when/where the hens free-range.

Nothing in my post said anything about you having a scanner.

My post was about what you can do to keep stray cats at bay. Sure trap them and take them to the SPCA. If they are strays ie no chip then usually they are euthanised by SPCA. Many families I know make a donation to the SPCA to do this. Some younger and healthier strays are fostered kept for adoption.

If the stray cat is not a stray but a chipped domestic pet then you had no legal right to kill the cat. That is when you try other methods, hose, water pistol, etc.

Mine are in a run about 20 mtrs by 6 mtrs and fence is 2.4mtrs high.
They were chickens at the stage they were killed, not quite laying.
It was a cat I kept catching, a ginger tabby from across the creek and down a few houses.
As they weren't laying, they stay enclosed. Only let out in late afternoon when laying, as they will return to roost at night.
The same cat was caught up the side of the shed it kept getting into the chook run, I struggled to squeeze in there to set the cage.
3 times caught and the owners didn't give a toss at having to pay SPCA , they could scan it, I couldn't.
SPCA wouldn't give me the owners details, but when the cat disappeared for good, SPCA gave them my details or good clues to where I was.
It all boiled up and the police were involved and the rest is history, as I previously said.

Edited by smallwoods at 6:21 pm, Wed 3 Mar

smallwoods - 2021-03-03 18:20:00

At what point did you shoot the cat?

sparkychap - 2021-03-03 18:42:00

My cats have about 20/30 wild mallard ducks for company most days and just ignore them.But the ducks will try to eat the cat food if they can.

androth2 - 2021-03-03 18:49:00

androth2 wrote:

My cats have about 20/30 wild mallard ducks for company most days and just ignore them.But the ducks will try to eat the cat food if they can.

Yes my sisters chickens forage around strange thing too like peck pecking at her beekeeping gear, cats crunchies, even the cat gets a threatened peck peck if it does not get out of the way quickly enough. Lot of truth in the 'ruling the roost' saying.

shanreagh - 2021-03-03 21:01:00

sparkychap wrote:

At what point did you shoot the cat?

In the pen with the chooks.

smallwoods - 2021-03-03 22:05:00