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AIBU?

Cats in my garden AGAIN...

66 replies

fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 14:44

Some of you may remember a recent thread on here where I said that my neighbour (semi detached) had acquired 4 kittens (as well as having an older cat already) and they were all shitting in our newly done up garden. It has been a big problem often up to 5 deposits a day. I couldn't clear them up as I was pregnant and have a 3 year old who couldn't play out over the summer as the garden was full of shit and he has eczema. WELL, the problem has now escalated. We started spraying the cats with a hose to keep them out. It was working, then we noticed that the neighbours were not talking to us (including their kids).

I hadn't sprayed any cats for the last few weeks as I'd had the baby and had been ill too but today I saw one trying to poo under the tree where my son always plays so I got the hose and squirted it.

Next thing a voice SCREAMS, 'Don't you squirt my cats you fat fucking bitch!' and she is hanging out the upstairs window with her son. I said, 'Don't tell me what to do in my own garden.' She started screaming more stuff at me but I walked inside shouting, 'That is anti social behaviour I am going to report you to the council.' and shut the door.

Flaming hell, I don't want to start a whole 'thing' with our neighbours but the woman is nuts. I've seen her having ding dongs in the street with the neighbours on her other side and don't want to start all that. Plus she is really a nasty piece of work, very big build and very aggressive (She called the other neighbour's son a black bastard to the mother's face.' Should I report her to the council (we are not council tenants ourselves so not sure how it stands.) But seriously, I can't believe she just screamed at me like that. The woman is a bully! So what now?

I don't think I can cope witht he stress of all this right now. I have a new baby, an infection in my section wound and my son is beinginvestigated for epilepsy. This is just the last straw.

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honeybehappy · 31/10/2009 14:48

she sounds vile, we have the same problem with the cats in our road and i'm sure they all use our garden as a fucking toilet. Its not gonna hurt the cat is it so i dont understand what her problem is.

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 14:49

The irony is that their garden is lovely (has won council prizes) but she is happy to let them shit in ours when we have two small kids. I think she is a bully pure and simple.

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alicet · 31/10/2009 14:51

I think spraying the cats with water is a perfectly harmless thing to do to try and stop them pooing in your garden (and I say that as the owner of 3 cats who I love dearly!)

You can also buy a spray from garden centres which is called 'catapult' which is harmless to cats and children but puts them off as it doens't smell nice (to cats - I couldn't notice it) so that might be worth a try

Your neighbour is mad. The only reason i would hesitate to report formally is that if you do it will be on record and then if you want to sell your house you will have to declare it. If you are renting I would go right ahead!

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 14:52

The house is ours.

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emsyj · 31/10/2009 14:52

Cats will shit in gardens, that's life. There's nothing your neighbours can do about it. If you don't like it, best defence is to get your OWN cat, then they will defend their own territory and won't shit in their own back yard (as the saying goes). I think there are other alternatives also, such as tops for your fences that the cats can't walk on but I have no idea how effective they are. I think orange peel is also supposed to be a deterrent as cats don't like the smell. Have you tried any of this or did you just go straight for the option of trying to hose down the poor cats?

If you sprayed either of my cats with a hose (which won't deter them from doing a dump and is just cruel) I would react the same way. You don't like cats. A lot of people do. Your neighbours probably get fed up with hearing your children. We all have things that we have to put up with when we live in close proximity to others. Seek out HUMANE steps to try and deter the cats that do not involve hosing them and don't start rows with your neighbours or else you will make your own life miserable and will never ever be able to sell your house in future.

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MintyCane · 31/10/2009 14:52

Put paprika on the garden it doesn't harm them and they hate it. Pet corrector spray is also good. Sorry to hear about the horrible neighbours !

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alicet · 31/10/2009 14:53

Fwiw I would be mortified if my neighbours were bothered by my cats pooing in their garden. unfortunately not a lot you can do about it as they tend to be able to get anywhere but i certainly would be suggesting (and buying for them) the catapult and telling them to spray them with water. We dug a flower bed for them to use as a loo in the hope they wouldn't go next door when actually we didn't really want one!

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 14:54

I thought the hosing WAS humane that's why we did it! We were going to get one of those sonic things but heard they were cruel. Actually we do like cats but just like our kids being healthy more!

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MintyCane · 31/10/2009 14:55

I think the hose is fine and I love cats.

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emsyj · 31/10/2009 14:56

I would be astonished if hosing worked - we got a plant sprayer to try and deter the cat from scratching the stair carpet and gave up on it as it made zero difference. Try the orange peel.

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MintyCane · 31/10/2009 14:59

You can put plastic netting over the top as well so they can't scratch the soil. They don't like that either.

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Stayingscarygirl · 31/10/2009 15:00

How about getting some gloves on and lobbing the poo back over the fence?

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 15:00

Actually it had been working really well. I am still going to do it as I do not think it is cruel. We pay £700 a month for our mortgage plus just pent 2k on landscaping our garden - why shouldn't we be able to use it for our kids? Why are their cats needs more important? I am really really angry right now.

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emsyj · 31/10/2009 15:01

I think what you are still not grasping though is that they are not in control of where the cats go. There is no point being angry.

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Stayingscarygirl · 31/10/2009 15:02

I've got a cat, and if it was causing a nuisance like this, and the home owner got the hose out, I don't think I'd get cross with them. I'd just hope that the cat learned its lesson and went elsewhere.

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 15:04

I am not angry with the cats - they are just cats. What I am angry about is getting such abuse from my neighbour whom I feel has cated in a very aggressive and unreasonable manner.

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fattybumbum · 31/10/2009 15:04

Acted - not cated. I am so cross I can't see to type right. And as for calling me a fat fucking bitch! I had a baby 4 weeks ago!

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almostreal · 31/10/2009 15:09

YANBU in fact your being VERY controlled. I would have poisoned them by now. You have chosen not to have cats, therefore you shouldn't have to deal with it.
Alternatively tell the neighbor the alternative is for her to come around and clean up after the cats as soon as you notice the cat poo, meaning she must be on all to you 24/7. If she wont agree to that then tough luck to her she should have got house cats.

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emsyj · 31/10/2009 15:20

But equally, almostreal, I have chosen not to have a dog so does that mean I should poison next door's dog when it barks and irritates me? Or should I have poisoned the next door neighbour's baby in the flat we lived in previously, which cried in the night and woke us both up repeatedly, night after night? Actually, I think the answer to both of those is 'yes', so forget that...

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Stayingscarygirl · 31/10/2009 15:22

I don't think that's a good comparison emsyj - the OP is squirting the cat with the hose, which isn't life-threatening, whilst poisoning the next door neighbour's dog would be.

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emsyj · 31/10/2009 15:24

Yes, which was rather my point Stayingscarygirl.... read almostreal's post.

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Stayingscarygirl · 31/10/2009 15:26

Oooops - sorry emsyj.

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WhereYouLeftIt · 31/10/2009 15:33

OP, using a hose IS humane - although personally I prefer a water pistol, one of the big pump-action rifle types with a large range. I used to use one both on my two cats (to keep them off the big houseplants) and on local cats in my garden (because my two cats were too timid to claim their territory).

Emsyj, I think you're being a bit unreasonable towards the OP. Just because a plant sprayer didn't work with your cat (well it wouldn't - not enough water) doesn't mean a hose won't work - OP has said that it was working. And she is grasping that her next-door neighbour cannot control the cats, which is why she is using the hose and not asking neighbour to do something about the cats. The problem is not the cats - it is the neighbour being an arse, thinking that the OP should just put up with catshit all over her garden.

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Cluckyagain · 31/10/2009 15:38

A hose is humane, cats don't like it but it's not painful! Your neighbour sounds delightful....poor you.

I happily hose the cats in my own garden in a feeble attempt to stop them going on the lawn and instead go onto any of the 3 fields which surround us.....they like my lawn instead....gits! P.S. They're my cats! x

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bodycolder · 31/10/2009 15:47

I have 2 cats and I wouldn't mind someone giving them a good soaking to se them off.She sounds dreadful Does she know what they are doing?And that your dc has eczema etc

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