The neighbor told my son, not myself nor my spouse, that our cats ate 10 of his goldfish from his pond, and he wants us to keep the cats out of his yard. And he would hate for something to happen to our cats. He was the rocketscientist who built the pond, all the while the cat was up in the tree watching him, and he pet her and visited with her. Now common sense dictates if you don't want a cat in your yard shoo it away with water or whatever. We don't have leash laws for cats and I don't know what to do, it's over 100 degrees (great temps for pond fish). I'm sorry about his fish, and I'll buy him some more, but I'm not going to lock up my cats. And for his sake I hope nothing happens to my cats either, since he has such an emotional attatchment to his fish. Am I crazy?

Well, I would give your neighbor a squirt gun and some cat repellent. Tell him that you understand that he doesn't want your cats in his yard and he has your permission to squirt them with water if he sees them in his yard but ask that he not pet your cats so they don't get mixed messages. I'd also ask that he speak with you about any problems, not your son. Then offer to replace his fish when the weather gets better for the fish.

Julie

Thank you Julie, great advice!