Finally lost it with neighbours

[FinnalyCracked]

There’s four houses on the close - and none for miles (converted country barns - hence the being so close together and yet nothing for miles).

Neighbour A has three cats and all are outdoor cats. Me and Neighbour B have dogs. Neighbour C is irrelevant to this pet debacle.

Neighbours A’s cats, since they moved in, have constantly shit in everyone’s garden. Don’t come at me and tell me it’s not them as the closest village is six miles and no one else has sodding cats!! They sit on the garage and hiss at anyone who goes by and are, quite frankly, obnoxious.

I’ve bitten my tongue but neighbour Cs and B have not. Neighbour B has taken much delight in having their dogs chase the cats off. Neighbour C has invested in barbed wire and other such things to keep the cats out

Yesterday, neighbour A knocked on my door and asked me to call my dogs in as they were ‘destroying her enjoyment of her garden.’ I was very polite - but very firm - and told her to fuck off (not quite that frank, but you get the idea). I’d just finished work, so the dogs had been inside with me so they’d been out about five minutes when she appeared. She launched into a a bit of a diatribe about how B and I have been ruining her summers for years now with our dogs barking and running around.

I snapped. Said her cats constantly shit in my garden and I had to pick it up as I had small children and that her fucking hot tub was obnoxiously loud, so was their music and their shitheaps of cars (her partner always has a rotation of them that he tinkers with) all over the driveway lowered the tone and created exhaust fumes, and that if I ever saw her cats in my garden again I’d be taking a leaf out of neighbour Bs book and setting my dogs on them. Then I told her not to come onto my property again and slammed the door in her face.

It’s a first world problem, I know. But I am just so fucking sick of biting my tongue and being a good neighbour )including taking her fucking parcels) and she has the bloody gall to tell me my dogs can’t be in the garden, as their playing ‘ruins her enjoyment.’

WHAT ABOUT MY FUCKING ENJOYMENT, DEBBIE?!?!

That’s it. That’s all I wanted (just a place to rant)

Deranged comment Jane......

Deranged I say, batshit bonkers, Kirsty......

Orange peel or cat repellant pellets do work. I will send you my pain in the arse barking dogs for a few days @FinnalyCracked

Wtf?? ALL animals have a right to be here and have you watched any wildlife docs recently.. there are some right menaces there behaving like animals killing wildlife!!🤣🤣😂.
We don't get to decide these things. If you don't like cats that's okay but you can't use that to dictate how they live.

Maybe all humans should be walked on a lead too. It would solve the problem of growing violence and theft 🤷‍♀️

Nobody can control where a cat with outdoor access decides to crap. The only way is to shut them in, and if a cat is used to being outdoors, it's cruel to then confine them.

Not true. You can design your garden so that they can't get out. Most cat owners are unwilling to do this.

I.have two dogs. We regularly get cats in the garden. One used to come and call for them to come and chase her.

They can make their garden more attractive for their cats to poo. They can cat proof their garden.

Id rather hear dogs bark than wake up to cat shit that rots brains.
I love dogs but cant have one because DH is allergic. Cats are fucking vile

I'm totally with you on this, cats are a bloody pain as are cat owners who let them wonder like strays. Tell her to build a big pen and keep her cats in there and she can clean up there shit herself. It's probably the cats that are making your dogs bark.

That would have more impact if you had used the requisite punctuation.

What is the actual legalities if a cat is on OPs/neighbours land and their dog kills it? Its not a nice thing to think about but I’d be terrified letting my cats out knowing two neighbours have big dogs.

A yappy, barking dog outside on a sunny afternoon really DOES spoil a person’s enjoyment of their garden, OP. And you have more than one dog out there barking.

Contr your dogs’ barking.

Cats only tend bury their poo in their own territory, they are much more likely to not bury their poo when they're not on their territory.

When we went on holiday with our cat she'd poo on the property's lawn and leave it.

@FinnalyCracked
Go you! Totally agree with you 💯%.
Ignore the haters and enjoy your garden without having to stress. 🙂

Well said! Although from experience, it's not cats or cat owners that are aloof.

Yep. At least with cat shit it's obvious and you can pick it up. Imagine how much bird dropping and mice droppings and other types of wildlife droppings we not only walk through but breathe in.

Humans are the biggest menace to wildlife. Maybe humans should be kept inside and on a leash outside.

Dog shit rots brains, and dogs are fucking vile and dog shit is the most vilest rankest smell that exists.

Oh OP. I'm so sorry so many posters have piled on on this thread
Regardless of the issue, it's just upsetting to feel got at on Mumsnet by so many. It's not even AIBU!

I've got a slightly different take. I'm a massive animal lover, so very tolerant really of all that comes with four-legged neighbours of all kinds. I also can't bear conflict; and my desire to have a peaceful relationship with neighbours would be so important to me.

Well, I get very upset by cat attacks on wildlife, but of course they can't help it. So nobody to get upset with specifically, just that aspect of nature itself.

I can cope with cat poo (I can remove it in seconds) and I'm fine with dogs barking, providing it's happy barking, which your dogs' clearly is. I did have a neighbour once whose dogs would howl due to separation anxiety when she was out, and it was very distressing to hear. I gently spoke to her to suggest she gets a dog sitter, no quarrel.

But anyway, the point is, to me, harmony with neighbours is so important, that I'd tolerate all sorts! Within reason. But, it sounds like you did. 'Debbie' started the standoff by hassling you about the dogs. Sounds like they don't bark much, and are quiet indoors mostly, so I think she's unreasonable. Persistent excessive barking would be a different matter. Dogs bark, cats poo, and I just see both those things as facts of life 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, I think in your shoes, I'd actually try peacemaking, so it doesn't get worse. Good neighbours are a gift, and life's too short to quarrel with neighbours unless it's something enormous. Though I totally understand why you snapped at that moment. You were goaded.

You take care anyway, and I hope it all works out 🐾🐕😺

Most cat owners are obnoxious and throw their hands up and say they can't do anything when they could cat proof their own garden. We've had next door's cat shitting in our garden and killing birds for years. I had to stop feeding the birds in my garden because that cat is a fucking menace and would kill them. I took to spraying it with the hosepipe every time I saw it and that does seem to have deterred it a bit.

Dogs barking in gardens is also a nightmare for neighbours. I think this is six of one and half a dozen of another to be honest. And it's the main reason I can't understand why people buy rural properties that have very close neighbours. What's the point of living in the middle of nowhere if you then have to deal with other people?.🤣

There are a lot of cross comments.
Issue is the cat poo, I've experienced this, and it is soul destroyed and it turns your stomach over to clean. Why are there no legal or kind suggestions on how to deal with this? The owner needs to take responsibility, cats should be trained to poo where the owner can dispose ie litter tray. Dog owners take responsibility and so should cat owners. If not then take the cats to a cat charity to train then - no one would like to wake up and smell cat urine and poo daily. I agree, shouting and blaming door is not great or allowing dogs to continually bark is unfair, but the cat poo and the idea of her toddler pick that up is very stressful for a mum.

I sure am glad I no longer live in the UK. What a country of disrespectful people, which includes everyone in this story. No way to respectfully resolve any issues. Whoa!!

I hate dogs, my neighbours have the bloody things only the owners don't hear the constant barking ? Drive you mad I imagine shooting the things .