To Tell My Elderly neighbours about their cat shitting in garden.

Australian here - while there are councils which have rules about cats its not at all universal. We have two cats - one goes into our back garden and does their business. The other does roam more - but he was a stray and that it what he is used to. I don't think he poos on anyone's front door step - he also does his business at home. More Australians use kitty litter though. It just doesn't seem to be as big an issue here

Cats poo in my garden all the time, I simply remove it, there is no great effort required What do you expect your neighbours to do? Unless they keep the cat indoors - which is no life for a cat in my opinion - it will just do what cats do.

It's like "cats shitting in the garden" bingo around here at the moment. I've nearly got a full house.

I think you should mention it to them. If they’re in their eighties they are of a generation where cats were routinely put out at night and indoor litter trays were not provided, so it’s worth checking what arrangements they have.

What they need to do is provide an indoor litter tray and a cat flap so the cat can come and go. You can’t really stop cats shitting where they choose to unfortunately but they should at least provide “facilities”.

Would you installing a KittyLitter tray be better?
You could set it up just inside neighbours' fence.

Do you have a friend who wants their little dog minded for a few weeks?

Yes it is harmful to cats.

Sprinkle or spray the area with jeys fluid

its not harmful but cats don’t like the smell

spray the area they come onto the lawn and the area they relieve themselves

It is actually ‘that unpleasant’ ! Why do you think it’s not? Maybe you’ve never had to pick it up?

I picked up my neighbour’s cat’s sloppy cat shit from my lawn most days for an entire summer practically and it was absolutely disgusting. Far worse than dog shit for some reason. It always went on the grass so I couldn’t pick it up ‘cleanly’ and it smelt so bad.

And it isn’t a minor inconvenience each day, it’s disgusting and a bit soul destroying after a while tbh.

I’ve a dog and picking up after him when out and about is nothing like that.

They should keep their cat in as should all cat owners and no I don't believe millions of Americans and Australians are cruelly mistreating their cats by keeping them indoors they're just responsible owners willing to put effort into their animals.

That is not happening and it is not true - apart from cat owners who live in cities perhaps?

I very much suspect the OP is not coming back for a while.

I wouldn’t chuck it over the fence but I would put it in their bin wrapped up in a couple of nappy sacks.

Absolutely. Asking them to keep it in at night is perfectly reasonable.

Yes, tell them. Elderly people do t need any more protection from the consequence of their choices than anyone else. I would chuck all the poo straight back onto their side of the garden. It needs to be their problem to clean up, not yours.

I would chuck the poo over the fence to their garden for them to deal with but not much else

Just get a motion activated sprinkler. Don’t stress out your poor and sick elderly neighbours who probably got a cat for a tiny bit of joy and company in their small lives.

Complain continually to the council about the smelly bins.

This is the third cat shit post in as many days

Odd

I thought you aren't supposed to flush animal poo down the loo? )in response to pp)

Batshit

Having a Jack Russell terrier has alleviated the catshit problem in my garden somewhat but I dislike the attitude of cat owners who maintain that cats are free to roam and defaecate where they like. In deference to your neighbours' age and frailty I would bag up the droppings and leave them tidily on their doorstep . They can then put them in their own bin.

Just deal with it. It’s about 3 seconds out of your day and cat poo isn’t usually that unpleasant.

Yes it bloody is.
Why do cat owners always expect me to clean up my garden, without complaint, after their horrible pets?

Next doors cat kept shitting in our garden and it could t be scared away it then decided it owned our garden and would attack dd every time she tried to play , our other neighbours were having similar issues it had even gone into their house through a window and attacked their dc ! They told us they were going to use jeyes fluid on their patio and path and that we should do the same as it repels cats ? It was amazing the cat didn’t even shit in the garden anymore ! They must hate the smell

Just deal with it. It’s about 3 seconds out of your day and cat poo isn’t usually that unpleasant. The cat presumably gives them joy.

My friend had a cat that was a total escape artist and liked to poo on her neighbour’s conservatory roof. Now that was awkward.

I bought Pet Shield from Direct Retail Outlet. Been using it for about three weeks now and touch wood, not a single poo on the front or rear lawn

Could you get a tray of soil and put it in their garden? Ive never had cats that poop on grass but have always had earthy areas for our outdoor ones to use instead of the neighbours gardens.

There was a story in the paper yesterday about a man who had a cat repeatedly coming into his house and terrorising his 2 cats. He asked neighbours, no one knew who's it was. He (bizarrely) catnapped it one day and drove it 5 miles away and left it in a woods. Owner found out and took him to Court as it never came back. I'm not advising that obviously, but thought a solidarity post might help. It clearly happens a lot. Only advice I can give is to get a dog...

I am just about to tuck into dinner but I will come back to you to discuss the laws around animals and shit when I have finished eating.