Obligatory notice: I'm not from an English speaking country, so there will be language issues in this post. Also, not sure I used the right flair. Lastly, I posted this in need advice and it was removed. No idea why.
Backstory: I (34F) live in a house, with my husband, my parents (mid 60s) and my younger brother, weird arrangement but I won't get into that right now. I have a 14 year old female cat, mom has a 4 year old female dog (Maru), and we all together have a 5 year old cat (Dora). This is about Dora.
Next door lives my niece (6F) and her mom Aluminé (20s). We (my mom and myself when I'm available) take care of my niece 4 to 5 days a week every other week. One week she is with her other grandma, the next week she is with us. Aluminé is a cop, who works long hours.
A few years ago, this sweet stray young cat followed my niece into our home. We had just lost another cat I had rescued, she was riddled with skin cancer and only lived with us a year before passing. Before that, we had also lost our dog of ten years unexpectedly to very sudden kidney disease. The point is, we were incredibly heartbroken and though I wanted to bring her in, the rest of the family wasn't ready for a new member. At this point, we didn't even have Maru (who I rescued about a year ago).
A few days passed and Aluminé (my niece's mother) tells us that this cat followed my niece next door too, and was cuddly and sweet. So they thought it would be good to keep her. Dora kept following my niece between the two houses depending on where she was. If my niece was here, so was Dora. When my niece was next door. So was Dora. However, after a while, Dora kept spending more and more time here instead of next door. We fed her, gave her flee treatments, took her to the vet, made sure she was warm and loved. Dora slept with mom and dad, and hang around here. She even learnt how to use my older cat's litter box. And they now share it.
Our assumption is that because my niece was at the other grandma's house when she was not with us, Dora just stayed here. For a few years now, Dora has been our cat (my niece's and ours) who visits next door from time to time. We love her very much and take care of her. Later, I rescued Maru (my mom's dog) and gave her to my mom. That sounds weird, but my mom was very depressed, and it helped her. We call Maru an antidepressant with legs, because she is so adorable. All three of them get along great: my older cat, Maru, and Dora.
Now, I don't love that Dora likes to roam around sometimes, my older cat was raised in an apartment with me so she is a stay at home chonk. However, while Dora loves to lay in the sun in our backyard most of the times, she roams a bit. She goes to the roof and next door. Where else, I don't know. When I go to bed at night, if she is not inside I go out and call for her. She comes back most of the times, and when she doesn't I worry all night long. I mean, that's why her name is Dora, my niece thought it was cute that she is an explorer and named her very appropriately.
The problem: Aluminé and my niece are moving 2 blocks away. Initially, we were just worried Dora might go next door to visit my niece or look for her, and find our new neighbors. So yesterday, my mom notices the new tenant (who has not moved in yet) was out there so she went out to warn her about Dora.
My soon to be neighbor then warns my mom, they are bringing their dogs with them, who are CAT HATING PIT BULLS.Not my mom's words, the owner's words. She called them cat hating. So now, we are bound to lose Dora. If Dora stays with us, at some point she will go over next door trusting this is a safe place and find very dangerous dogs. Even if she smells they are there, she might be caught off guard or slip, or get too trusting and could get mauled to death.
So our solution, which has us incredibly sad, is give Dora to Aluminé. Who, is not inherently great at taking care of pets (because she is not even great at taking care of her daughter, but that's another story), and who is not in her house enough to do so in a responsible way either. Aluminé is not going to take care of Dora the way we do, and there is nothing I can do.
Then my husband points out later that day, If Aluminé and my niece are moving only 2 blocks away, there is a big chance Dora will find her way back anyway. And if she does, then we are risking her to the dogs again. So our solution, is now not a solution at all.
I'm so heart broken, my mom is in tears, I woke up crying at 3 am and have been up since. My dad keeps screaming he will shoot those dogs (he won't, he is loud and old, and incredible cranky, but would never do that plus there is no gun around to do it anyway). We know it's not the dogs fault they are like that, and my neighbors can obviously have whatever dogs they want. But they have torn us apart with this.
So my thoughts are: is there a way to make sure Dora gets scared enough not to go next door ever? What if I keep Dora with us, and put her in a transport cage. Those made out of hard plastic and with a gate at the front. Then ask our neighbors to let us go in their house once they move in, with Dora in that cage. So she can SEE the house now has violent dogs. Maybe she'll get scared enough to not go at all over there. Maybe I can do that a couple of times in a few days, while we keep her inside so she can't go out at all during that time.
We can't prevent her from going to the backyard ever again, while I'm more than willing to make an effort to always take care of her, there are other people in this house who are not mentally ready for that responsibility. My dad is being tested for Alzheimer. My brother has a narcissistic personality disorder, he was committed against his will because of attempted suicide a few months ago. While he is doing better now, with medication, he is not in the right mind set to remember to never leave a window-door open. Plus Dora likes to go out, so she sneaks out when you open a door the second it's open. She is much faster than my father.
Or is the safest option to let her go with Aluminé, and hope she just doesn't return on her own?
TL;DR: New neighbors are bringing cat hating pit bulls, and I don't know how to keep my cat who loves to roam next door, safe. I can give her away to my niece's mother who is moving 2 blocks away, but we are afraid my cat will try to return and come across these dogs anyway. How do I keep her safe?
Please help.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/at4f8u/new_neighbors_are_bringing_cat_hating_pit_bulls/
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