Question:
In the year 2000, we had some new neighbors move in across the street with a male cat that they neutered and declawed. They kept him outside most of the time. I had a female cat that was spayed and kept indoors at all times. Our city animal control requires cats to be kept inside or on the owner's property. In 2001, the male cat started coming around and spraying all around my house, including my porches.My cat started hissing, growling, throwing up and most of her hair fell out. My cat was put on amitriptyline. After several tests it was determined that nothing was wrong with her. Her thyroid was tested three times, and all tests were normal.After asking the owners several times to contain their cat and being told, "Hell, no, we won't," animal control was then called out twice, but the neighbors chose to ignore the warnings from the officers, too. I tried to run the male cat off with water guns and by throwing cans at him. In 2003, my cat had gone from 14 pounds to 7.4 pounds. She was skin and bones, as she
S.H., Chesapeake, Va Mar 21, 2004
Answer:
I am publishing your letter in the hopes that all cat owners and animal control authorities will take note. You give another reason why cats should never be allowed to roam free. It is illegal for dog owners to let their dogs wander the neighborhood, and the same law should apply to cats and their owners.I agree that your cat died of psychosocial stress, essentially by being terrorized by the invasive presence (sight, sounds and scent) of a threatening cat. Even if the neighbor's tomcat wouldn't have harmed a whisker on your cat had the two met out in the open, the fact remains that indoor cats are stressed by outdoor cats who come around their homes. They often begin to soil the house, fight other cats in the same home, attack their human companions and, in rare instances, become terminally ill, as happened to your poor cat.
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