streetcat attacks my dog.

If you're too busy or not a fan of cats I am happy to contact a shelter ran by volunteers and get them to take care of the cat and her kittens.

I hope that somebody in the neighbourhood takes the initiative and neuters this cat once her kittens are old enough and that this is her last litter. TNR is not perfect but it is the only way that the cat issue will eventually get under control. Over the last 5 years we have neutered every stray that has wandered into our compound and there is now a happy healthy and non-growing group of residents and no rats to report!

water worked fine; i am happy, cat is happy - issue over.

IzzyOnTheSeat, after watering them do they still continue displaying that naughty behavior not necessary immediately but in a few days? Nope - she no longer uses the corriander plant as a bed.....:D Great if it stopped her from using the pot as a bed, I would have placed her bed near the pot, sprayed some catnip and let her sleep/chill next to the pot, this way I know that in my absence she does not use the pot as a bed but chooses her bed to nap on. As Joyce has mentioned, a simple 'Tssss' can set out an alarm bell in a cats head which is based on fear, why use fear when you can make a cat understand certain behavior is not called for with the use of clicker, treats, fun and positivity. Plus every time a squirt gun is never available when required unless you carry one 24x7. Daza, It's worked like a charm for us :) our bougainvillea's have grown over the wall, guess it's just difficult for them to climb over.

IzzyOnTheSeat, after watering them do they still continue displaying that naughty behavior not necessary immediately but in a few days? Daza, had a similar problem last year even though we have 3 dogs, the neighborhood cats still came into our garden to poop and munch on my vegetable garden, I planted bougainvillea's around the perimeter wall and no more cats inside the garden. Citrus peels never worked so I agree it's a waste. Nope, our front garden is ringed in bougainvillea and there is often a cat hanging out there. My children don't play there so I leave them to it :)

IzzyOnTheSeat, after watering them do they still continue displaying that naughty behavior not necessary immediately but in a few days? Nope - she no longer uses the corriander plant as a bed.....:D

IzzyOnTheSeat, after watering them do they still continue displaying that naughty behavior not necessary immediately but in a few days? Daza, had a similar problem last year even though we have 3 dogs, the neighborhood cats still came into our garden to poop and munch on my vegetable garden, I planted bougainvillea's around the perimeter wall and no more cats inside the garden. Citrus peels never worked so I agree it's a waste.

I too have had cats and our current little madam had the odd squirt of water to her backside as a kitten to stop her scratching furniture or clawing my Indian silk rug!! Worked well and now, if she does something unacceptable, all we have to do is make a "tsssss" noise and she stops immediately. Squirting gently is still advised by the UK cat protection league to help with correcting unwanted behaviour. The tap on the nose and firm NO, didn't work with our wee madam as she just batted us back with a sheathed claw!! Hilarious and we tried hard not to laugh, the way you do when a toddler gets a row and everyone tries hard not to laugh at the defiant wee face! :D

I have an elevated sunny garden and we were having a big problem with the neighbourhood cats hanging out in our garden and using my children's sandy play area as a litter box. I'd tried chasing them off, citrus peel and my sons weeing in the garden to try to keep the cats away but nothing worked. I asked advice on here and was advised to squirt them with water. I did and within a few weeks, no more cat poo in the sand and my outdoor furniture stopped getting scratched and covered in cat hair. Every time a cat chances it again, I squirt them and they get the message. I don't enjoy having to squirt the cats but it's preferable to my children playing in cat poo, especially as I currently have one child in the 'everything in the mouth' phase. So ecochic, I disagree that 'it's incorrect to squirt cats, period'. And Marroosh, if you reported me for spraying a cat who was invading my garden I doubt you would get far with your complaint. After all, I'm just a mother protecting her babies as well. <em>edited by Daza on 09/04/2014</em>

i spray my cats with water when they are being naughty.... I have even "watered" one when she insists on using my corriander as a bed. All three of them are no worse for it and none of them are in the least bit fearful - i wish they wore a little more fearful to be honest.

Gorobattie, I apologize, I read your comment hastily before going to bed and all that stood out was children + water gun + squirting a cat. So my comment was harsh and uncalled for. It's still incorrect to squirt cats, period. You squirt a cat when they are aggressive only after you have ruled out any medical issues or distress they are undergoing and you are protecting yourself or another. This cat however was in distress as she was just protecting her litter. To stop any other unwanted behavior, squirting cats is just a lazy approach which is cruel and only makes a cat frustrated, fearful and most of the time will not stop the cat from continuing that behavior in your absence. So apologies once again and please read about +R methods for cats. You will never need a squirt gun every again.

Actually the first person to suggest moving the cat fostering and TNR was in fact me. I go round the cat, most people on this forum would go round the cat. BUT we live in Dubai, a place where the municipality policy is to destroy feral cats. A place where there is very little guidance on animal welfare. A place where there are hundreds of different nationalities all mingled together with different views on animal welfare, some of those views are wholly negative. A place where recently someone who was feeding a stray that had been TNR and was very friendly saw someone purposely kick that cat in the face right in front of her because it 'ran' too close to them. The best thing that can happen for this cat is that it will be fostered and the kittens will be adopted. But I question if this does not happen and this cat continues with this aggression with passers by is someone going to go down there and put up signs stating 'FERAL CAT WITH KITTENS - PLEASE USE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE'?! Because if it attacked the OP's dog walking down the street minding her own business not once but twice, and the second time the attack escalated, then who is to say it will not attack someone else, someone who is not as much of an animal lover, someone who will kill this cat or call the authorities to have it removed. Therefore as previously stated. If it cannot be fostered then stopping it from coming onto the street is hugely beneficial for its own safety. I will try to simplify this: Favourable option 1) Move/foster cat save kittens TNR Unfavourable option 2) Keep cat from coming onto street attacking passers by as human contact at this stage could be dangerous for the cat Other option 3) Municipality or security remove cat with negative fate As for my dog picking a fight, my previous posts and the OP post explained the cat picked a fight with the dog 'passing by' and that my dog has already had a tussle with a feral that attacked my other dog. She is a Labrador yes, but she is also trained to hunt and flush prey to field trial standard. Field labs are nothing at all like show labs, it is almost a different breed, we have one of each and they are so completely different. This said said would not flush a cat, she cannot smell cats, until this tussle with a feral she had zero interest in cats, she would see them run, give chase for about three steps, smell that they were not game and walk off in disgust. Her nose is very focused whilst our typical lab finds anything he can on walks, biscuits, leftover trash etc. she walks straight past them (until she gets upset seeing he has something), she can only smell rodent, fox and game bird, a very different dog altogether. But if she was attacked she would not run like our other dog did, she would fight back and she already has when our other dog was attacked a few years ago. We must remember not everyone is like us, I personally find it cruel that someone would use aversion training methods in the home. That's my opinion, with a home trained animal you have the relationship, bond and time to use positive training. But this cat is in a public place, 'coming our of nowhere' attacking passers by she feels threatened by and not all passers by are going to be as patient and understanding as people on this forum. The OP, someone who clearly likes animals, her first reaction was of shock and disbelief. She did not understand why the cat was doing this and there are plenty more people in this region who would not only not understand but also not care, they would just want the animal removed, they would be afraid. Animals in the wild are trained to stay away from people for their own safety all the time.

RuthM you don't train feral cats with aversion training, you respect mother nature and walk around the cat. I doubt your dogs would have a feral highly protective mother cat for breakfast either, there aren't many dogs stupid enough to get involved in such a situation regardless of what the owner believes (esp Labs). The reason for this is mother nature, one of the strongest and most powerful forces there is. The OP has been fantastic and assessed the situation and will now act accordingly, the issue is done with. To deliberately go and distress and pick a fight with a feral animal is cruel.

Well sorry Gorobattie, but many of us are already TNRing and taking care of stray cats in our own communities - we can't cover everywhere unfortunately (how lovely of you to ASSUME - incorrectly - that we do nothing!)

I agree with some of your points RuthM But still can't get my head around deliberately spraying this mother when there are other options, as someone suggested trap her and move her.Street cats in general shy away from people unless they are regularly fed they keep a healthy distance from most things. A mothers instinct to protect her young is fierce ( you will appreciate that once you LO arrives ) I say don't punish her rather be proactive. <em>edited by Nomad on 09/04/2014</em>

Sorry I am kind of with Gorobattie on this. On the downside she obviously hadn't read the post properly but then the same can be said for others earlier on this thread. Luckily for the OP she can take another route, however if this was not possible (i.e. the cat was right outside her front door) and this problem cat with or without kittens had to be passed daily then Gorobattie's advice is sound. It is not cruel it is a standard negative reinforcement aversion training tactic to deter the cat. The cat may not like it but that is the point. But you simply cannot have a feral cat with or without kittens attacking dogs passing by and if the cat is this close to the street who is to say that an unsuspecting toddler may startle it and receive the same aggression. Children are unpredictable which is why animals fear them in a different way to adults and why children are more commonly bitten and scratched by animals. Removing this cat from her current location to a foster home where she can then be neutered and the kittens put up for adoption is the preferable option. However if this is not possible then deterring her from coming onto the street whilst she is this aggressive is not a bad thing to do. It may not be the OP who disturbs this cat next time, it may be someone who hates cats, they may kick the cat, injure her or even call the municipality to have her destroyed immediately. It may be an aggressive dog, frankly if a cat attacked one of our dogs he'd yowl his head off, but the other dog would have it for breakfast. Changing the route is helpful for the OP but it doesn't actually help the cat. I would not advocate negative reinforcement for a pet cat but this is not a pet this is a feral cat. Conditioning her, even using negative reinforcement, to not come onto the street when there are passers by would actually help her, protecting her from people who may see the aggression and actually do her some harm. The very best thing for her to learn at the moment (if she cannot be fostered) is to stay away from humans and their pets. For her and her kittens own safety.

It's world war 3 when my DD visits as she often has to bring her pest of a dog with her and we have a cat who is terrified of him. The dog is a Jack Russell and chases cats all the time. Our poor cat vanishes for the day and is nervous for long periods after our DD has gone home taking her pesky mutt with her! Fortunately we have a large house and garden with plenty of shelter. A mother cat will definitely attack anything or anyone who gets too close to her babies. Oh Joyce I just had to add....I fostered a JR a while back, a tiny little thing who thought he was a Rottie...he had all my cats either up the barn rafters or at the top of trees. I played fireman up the ladder for months. Now have a huge Dobie rescue and the cats scare her off her bed so can relate to both sides ,attack cat and attacked cat:) edited by Nomad on 08/04/2014 LOL! I should add that my DD's dog, called Alfie, is actually great fun, just a pest around our wee puss cat. He's not so brave around my sister's neutered tom mind you!! Leo is huge and in spite of being "de manned" puts up with no nonsense from any dog. He whacks my sister's Border collie on the face if she annoys him and snarls and spits at Alfie, who for some reason, doesn't dare chase him!! :D

Gorobattie in many posts I too have suggested to people who have had issues with problem cats to spray them but only in certain instances....jumping up on counters, cats marking your patio furniture, some non cat people don't want them in their yards etc. In these cases it is acceptable but to suggest that OP to spray a feeding mother with water to teach her a lesson is not acceptable. Not saying that it is the case but maybe you didn't read all the posts before replying and you missed the fact that she was merely protecting her babies and OP only found that out when she went back to check. I think what we might miss here is that English is not your first language and your post may have come across a bit stronger than you intended.

Gorobattie how rude. If You had taken the time to read the thread properly you would have known the cat has kittens and was acting out if instincts. Your post is really uncalled for, telling others to get as life, but I suspect you don't care.

Why would you put kids in a summer camp when you can lock them up in your ivory tower?

Wow! I did read on so many blogs about cats, and in several time poped up using the water gun to stop cat(s) from scratching leather sofa or carpets or tearing curtains....etc.. now everybody assumed this is a mother cat? now everybody thinks that I have no heart? everybody wants to serve me well!!!! seriously grow up a little, if you have that kind heart, why not each one of you who cares about mother nature go and re-home this cat and what assumed have kittens? Right none of you wants to take responsibility, but ready to jump to accuse me of not having a heart?!!! I do foster couple of cats and have my own cats, I do have responsibility toward the cats in my neighbourhood, but each one of you sitting there have nothing better to do, judging others and then think they are very good women - LOL for that - well, if you don't like me fine, I don't care about any one opinion, I gave the advice, and each are welcome to take or just leave it, I did not ask each one of you to do so, someone asked the question and as like any other poster I give the advise I did not force any of you to take it, but still each one is hiding behind her screen, having her botox, asking about the new restaurants offer brunches, letting the maid do the chores, kids are in their summer camps, husbands are at their jobs, checking out the latest hair dressers in town, and judging the whole world based on their ivory tower they are living in. I really don't care about any of you, go ahead and thumb down me, at least I know that each one who keeps thumbing me down is just have nothing better to do in her life but waiting for my comments to rate it down, in fact that shows how you have nothing better to do just sitting on this board. this is my last input, so go ahead, say what you want, rate as much as you want, I don't care, I have my life and you are just lurking over here to rate others. Grab a life.

Yesterday when I was walking my dog, he came to close to a street cat and it tried to scratch my dog. This morning walking the same route the same cat jumped on my dog screaming and properly attacking him. My dog is the sweetest thing and does nothing to defend himself, so I have to pull him away with the leash. Where can I report this cat, as I'm worried about diseases? Have children water gun - the small one - fill it with water, then take your own rout as usual, then once this particular cat try to approach him squeeze the water gun toward the cat, do the same for a week, then this cat will mind it's own business after that, just seeing the water gun - no need to spray anymore - will just remind that cat to stay away from your do. HTH Why would a mother teach their children to harm any other living being. Not just shameful but also cruel. To all the ladies who have posted below against this kind of cruel act, thank you. The world needs more people like you to speak out for these poor, helpless animals.

Yesterday when I was walking my dog, he came to close to a street cat and it tried to scratch my dog. This morning walking the same route the same cat jumped on my dog screaming and properly attacking him. My dog is the sweetest thing and does nothing to defend himself, so I have to pull him away with the leash. Where can I report this cat, as I'm worried about diseases? Have children water gun - the small one - fill it with water, then take your own rout as usual, then once this particular cat try to approach him squeeze the water gun toward the cat, do the same for a week, then this cat will mind it's own business after that, just seeing the water gun - no need to spray anymore - will just remind that cat to stay away from your do. HTH You can't be serious. The cat is acting upon her instinct, to protect her kittens. If I ever see anyone spray a cat with water for whatever reason, I will report it. It's animal cruelty.

It's world war 3 when my DD visits as she often has to bring her pest of a dog with her and we have a cat who is terrified of him. The dog is a Jack Russell and chases cats all the time. Our poor cat vanishes for the day and is nervous for long periods after our DD has gone home taking her pesky mutt with her! Fortunately we have a large house and garden with plenty of shelter. A mother cat will definitely attack anything or anyone who gets too close to her babies. Oh Joyce I just had to add....I fostered a JR a while back, a tiny little thing who thought he was a Rottie...he had all my cats either up the barn rafters or at the top of trees. I played fireman up the ladder for months. Now have a huge Dobie rescue and the cats scare her off her bed so can relate to both sides ,attack cat and attacked cat:) <em>edited by Nomad on 08/04/2014</em>

So true Lolacat....as OP mentioned she is not a ' cat person ' but took the time to go back to investigate. You don't have to like a particular animal , there will always be the cat versus dog debate;), but animal welfare should be universal.....now I will get off my soap box.....:) <em>edited by Nomad on 08/04/2014</em>

Hopefully this thread and the last responses will serve as education to Gobattie and anyone else that mother nature is a powerful force and should be respected. Well done to the OP for taking the time to find out the root cause of the issue, a true animal lover!

Totally agree SueB. I think it was a shameful and poorly thought out suggestion. On the other hand it does seem to be, from most of the threads she has participated in, that Gorobattie's default response to any situation is to go on the attack. Perhaps, Gorobattie, you should think longer before you respond.........before we rechristen you "Gotobattle". <em>edited by Livelytrish on 08/04/2014</em>

Gorobattie wrote: Have children water gun - the small one - fill it with water, then take your own rout as usual, then once this particular cat try to approach him squeeze the water gun toward the cat, do the same for a week, then this cat will mind it's own business after that, just seeing the water gun - no need to spray anymore - will just remind that cat to stay away from your do. HTH oh gosh Gorobattie,,,I think when we see unruly children we should use the big water gun. I sure know a few kids in my area that pass through that could benefit from a strong spurt of the water gun to make sure they stay away!!!... seriously Goro....that was not a helpful response considering the situation and the OP has gone the extra mile to find out why the cat is aggressive.....shame on you.

Yesterday when I was walking my dog, he came to close to a street cat and it tried to scratch my dog. This morning walking the same route the same cat jumped on my dog screaming and properly attacking him. My dog is the sweetest thing and does nothing to defend himself, so I have to pull him away with the leash. Where can I report this cat, as I'm worried about diseases? Have children water gun - the small one - fill it with water, then take your own rout as usual, then once this particular cat try to approach him squeeze the water gun toward the cat, do the same for a week, then this cat will mind it's own business after that, just seeing the water gun - no need to spray anymore - will just remind that cat to stay away from your do. HTH Sorry but that is just plain mean.......the cat is only trying to do what ANY mother would....she is a street cat who knows what her life has been like up to now. Have a bit of compassion. Yes it's okey to use a spray bottle/water gun to discourage a cat from your garden or spraying etc. but totally unacceptable to harass this mom. OP has been given any number of positive options and from her follow up post she took the trouble to investigate further after her dog was attacked,hopefully this little family will have a happy ending. <em>edited by Nomad on 08/04/2014</em>

I totally agree with Geordie expat.......give her a break! Why go out of your way to stress her out and scare her even more when all she is trying to do is protect her babies. You can't blame her for that. Her job is going to be difficult enough as it is. Whether you are a cat lover or not, don't inflict unnecessary fear in any animal, especially one that is just trying to be a good mother. Just change your route for a while, or if your dog is small, hold it in your arms for that particular section.