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)

Firstly, as a pet lover I cannot understand how anyone who loves animals of one kind can be so mean and cruel about another species

Secondly, i have never ever owned a cat that didn't fastidiously bury its poo, cannot imagine a cat pooing on a drive or similar. Cats are incredibly self regulating and clean, this cat poo on surfaces is really strange to me

It's strange to me too! I mean they do spray everywhere, even the neutered ones, but I've seldom found poo in my garden!

But no worse than dog owners who walk their dogs everywhere but in their own gardens and stand watching the dog peeing on someone else’s gate, and leave dog poo. Ever seen what it’s like when a child walks into school with poo on their shoes? So if we are saying cats must be confined the the owners garden then so should dogs. Problem solved

But the impact on the mental health of the victims of the irresponsible pet owner doesn't matter?

"Victims"??? It's a little bit of cat poo. Not like they've been blown up in Ukraine!!

It's a serious nuisance if small children area picking it up or if you're coming across it while gardening. It's a serious nuisance if they're crapping in flower beds close to the house/patio/etc which end up stinking.

Fox shit is vile but I've only ever found it in the garden a couple of times. My neighbour's cat used to crap in one of our flower beds and the stench from the patio was unbelievable.

Absolutely, that is irresponsible pet ownership. However, a dog on a lead with a responsible owner is very different to a cat or dog roaming free.

None of my three small children ever picked up poo.

That's wonderful for you. Doesn't mean other small children don't.

Small child "helping" parent plant stuff/pull weeds, it's very easily done.

Yeah right. Don't supervise your children 101.

Right. Of course. Total helicopter parenting with supervision to the nth degree is a sure fire way to raise independent children.

And you're not seriously trying to claim you have never taken an eye off your dc?

Our next door neighbours cat regularly shits on our gravel drive, front garden grass and other neighbours flowerbeds and doesn't bury it at all. I've watched him do it. I've been out tonight and had to pick up a turd sitting right on top of my newly planted flower bed. So these cats do exist (sadly for me!). The temptation to shovel it all up and fling it into their garden is strong, but I won't because they are actually really nice people. Their cat is just an arsehole unfortunately 😁

Not to the extent they picked something up that was harmful to them, no. "Helicopter parenting" my arse!

My three adult children are very independent, so you don't need to concern yourself.

I haven't heard any of my friends, family or colleagues whose child picked up catshit in the garden. Plenty have walked in dogshit!

Some of you just hate cats, full stop!!!

That's actually better because at least you can see it to remove it!

Not really, it absolutely stinks to high heaven, is regularly runny, and people stand in it. It's not great opening your front door to a reeking turd virtually on your doorstep and having to not only pick it up, but hose it off. I'm starting to think the cat has a bloody vendetta. Plus the other neighbours are very elderly and the gentleman put his rubber stoppered cane right in it the other day and into their home. It gets old quickly.

I don't hate cats. I hate irresponsible pet ownership.

If your dc have never picked up anything harmful to them, you're a very rare parent. Proper supervision will generally ensure they don't suffer any harm from it.

That cat needs its diet changed. A healthy, properly fed cat shouldn't be poo'ing like that. I've had 8 cats over the last 25 years and all of them did firm poos. My latest adoptee did theeee most stinky poos and soft enough to get all over his bum (he's long haired!). I changed his food and he's great now. I swear by Scrumbles dry food. Are they people you could have a conversation with?

They genuinely haven't. They have come a cropper in other ways but never picked up anything they shouldn't.

I just don't see having outdoor cats as being an irresponsible owner. My NDN who has three outdoor/indoor cats loves and takes care of them. She thinks it's unfair to keep them confined and I can see her POV. Sometimes when the sun is shining I feel a bit bad for mine, because they can only sunbathe through a window. My neighbour is just doing what she thinks is best for her cats, as am I. All of mine are rescues, and all of them were used to being outdoors. One was a stray in a city centre, one was neglected by her horrible owners, and the third had indoor/outdoor access. I have a cat flap they could have used from my last cat. The eldest one freaks and runs away when someone opens the front/back door! I think my princess has had enough of living rough. Neither of the other two has shown any interest in going outside, and I'm delighted.

Personally I think I would have got a catio if they did want out because there are so many dangers out there for a cat and I couldn't bear it if something awful happened to them!

Not everyone can afford a catio or to catproof their garden and I don't see them shitting as all that awful. As I've said, lots of animals and birds shit in your garden. DC1 has been shat on directly by three large birds on separate occasions flying over her!!!

I think you would be better directly your ire at the irresponsible dog owners who leave their dog's shit all over the show which is a far bigger problem!

Give yr head a wobble, u r the issue.

My neighbour has an anti cat sound device installed in her garden to deter cats from walking on her property! so the cat just does its business in my garden instead!

If you had outdoor cats that would roam, you wouldn’t really know what they get up to or where the shit. There used to be a cat a couple of doors down that would do it’s business in my front garden on the grass and didn’t seem to try to cover it, so I removed the grass as I was sick of cleaning it up and had it gravelled. Guess what? It still done it in the gravel too! One time on the grass I picked up 13 shits, absolutely vile.

It was obviously marking its territory and boarders because there are other cats about to and it may but have been the same cat.

They are great, they do deter them but in a humane way. You should get one

You all sound like farmyard animals.

What charmers you and your fellow dog-owning neighbours are! You're actively encouraging dogs to chase cats and potentially attack them. This is illegal, as is allowing your dogs to bark and upset others.

Glad you're not my neighbour.

Do they actually work?

It’s going to rain later this week and don’t really want the dogs tracking mud in front the garden over my carpets (or sitting in the rain because then they’ll smell).

That being said, still not a peep from the cats, so maybe I am worrying needlessly.