Depression Support Group

On Sunday, at around 1.30pm, I heard my neighbours shouting at something. I listened. I found they were shouting at my other neighbours.

'It had it by the throat!'

'It's just a cat!'

'Never mind it's just a cat.........it's not even ours. It's next doors!'

I raced downstairs and out the back to see what had happened. I didn't see it, but the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (similar to a Pitbull) had my eldest cat, Stimpy, by the throat.

This dog had been jumping into my garden time and again and had often chased our cats and next door's. On one occasion it even chased my other neighbour's cat into their house!

My reaction was purely in the heat of the moment. I told the dog owner that if it came in the garden again then it's had it. They replied in kind with regard my cat. One of his friends seemed to take exception and got in my face saying he'd cut my cat's head off if I did that. When I had calmed down he told me that my cat, as she stupidly does time and again, was in their garden to begin with. And that he'd just come home from football (soccer) practice and the dog raced out to greet him, saw my cat laying by a bush, then chased it round to my side. I've no idea how my cat couldn't outrun the thing.

Anyway, bizarrely, as we were trying to talk calmly, she trotted back round to the same spot in THEIR garden! It's as though she's purposely baiting the dog, as an act of defiance/authority. She then, after delayed mental reaction, ran off at speed into another garden.

The neighbour thinks, because the dog's in it's own garden, it needn't be to blame for this. I agreed. He doesn't want to put a muzzle on the dog, or even tie it up, because 'it should be allowed to run around'. That's all well and good, but it continues to get out and run amock in our garden.......though not as much as before. I could see from my neighbour's face and voice that he was distressed too.

The cat didn't come home until about midnight, after laying low. There was a blood stain round the throat, though it seemed superficial. She was growling and moaning a lot, through pain and trauma. I could see that her stomach was red and something appeared to be dangling. She wouldn't let me even touch her there because she got violent. I had to leave her in a box overnight, with some liquids. Well today, after hoping time would heal, she hasn't changed, so we took her to the PDSA (vets for poor people). She was terrified on the car journey and was panting by the time she was in the surgery. She'd also urinated herself in the box, which leaked onto me and the cab seat.

She's going to remain there overnight because they want to check her internal organs for damage, and also for broken ribs. There were three puncture marks where the dog mauled her. Dried blood.

Hopefully they will clean her up and she won't be too damaged (physically, anyway) and we can get her home.

The problem then is the neighbour. He says he will make sure he never gets in our garden again, though still refuses to tie the dog or muzzle it. As I said earlier, if my cat strays on their 'turf' then it's her own fault. But if that dog attacks from his side I don't know what to do, because I know this guy will just apologize again and again. The vet told me if it keeps getting in then by law it should be muzzled, or the owner risks a fine. I plan on telling him this, though without proof I know he will deny it.

This will one day end up with a dead cat, with the belief that a dog has more rights due to it's greater 'value'. 'It's what dogs do.'

Hope Stimpy comes home tomorrow, gets better and stays well.

If anyone else has had similar situations can you advise me on how best to resolve it?
Posted on 06/30/09, 12:06 pm