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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think local cat owners

239 replies

WoTmania · 14/02/2011 12:39

could make their own gardens more appealing for their cats so said cats don't come and poo in my vegetable garden and use their own instead?

It drives me up the wall. We end up have to put netting everywhere and sticks and upturned crtaes and still the poxy things manage to dig up everything and poo. Angry

So, AIBU

OP posts:
ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:11

The ridiculous bit is people choosing to have loads of cats living in towns in the first place. Living as pets. Although of course they are actually wild animals and can't be trained. but of course they're not real wild feral cats because that would be really bad. No, just wild enough to poo where they like.

LibraPoppyGirl · 16/02/2011 22:11

Hee hee thanks DreamsInBinary Blush.

I really do not understand cat owners who take no responsibility for their cats. There are things we can do to make it better for our neighbours, no matter whether they be right next door or streets away.

I have never not had any of my cats who haven't taken to this routine. Like I said, they're already used to the litter tray and they have just continued using it. Why should someone else have to put up with my cats poo?? They're my cats, my responsibility. They also soon get used to being in at night and realise that it is sleep time and not let's go hunting/run amok in the neighbourhood time.

I adore cats and as for my neighbours well, that all comes down to a little bit of respect, as far as I am concerned. Smile

DreamsInBinary · 16/02/2011 22:12

A biscuit would be just the ticket, thank you!

Not being silly. Or ridiculous. You are responsible for your pets, and are responsible for their behaviour. You can't play the wild card when that behaviour is unacceptable.

ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:13

[Applauds Libra whilst celebrating that responsible cat owners do exist after all emoticon]

vintageteacups · 16/02/2011 22:16

the trick is to become a cat owner yourself and then no other cats will poo in your garden and hopefully, unless it's my dozy cat, they will go and poo in other peoples' gardens Grin

MrsSparkle · 16/02/2011 22:16

I honestly have never come across anyone in my life who has moaned about cats and cat poo. Nore have i ever stood in it, ever. Not even as a kid playing in bushes/trees/dirt and various neighbours gardens!

I am sorry if you have cats poo in your garden but for the zillionth time, even if no one had them as pets, cats would still poo in your garden. Only then you would have no one to blame!

LibraPoppyGirl · 16/02/2011 22:18

DrNortherner IME which is long and experienced, as far as cats are concerned, you are one unlucky cat owner then, if neither of your cats would use a litter tray.

Even as kittens you will only have to put them in the tray once and they'll find it again.

If you are a pet owner of any animal you have a responsibility to do whatever to ensure that your pet does not, to the best of your ability, cause a nuisance.

If you already have the attitude you have, then you are quite obviously not going to even try.

DrNortherner · 16/02/2011 22:19

What do you want a world with no animals? We have to share our outside with nature. Cats are part of nature.

I am sure most cat owners provide a litter tray, and that's great if the cat uses it, but we can not make it use it and we can not stop them from pooing outside.

Btw, if you have a moment google 'cats and the Bubonic Plague' and see what happens to rats when cats are in short supply due to being persecuted.

Arneb · 16/02/2011 22:21

I do not hate cats. I would love to have one - but I am allergic to their fur and I have a DC with asthma so pet fur is not a good idea. I do not think me not being able to use this 'solution' negates the sheer frustration and upset when once again one of my under 5 falls over or runs though cat shit which can be just in the flower beds which are huge and they like to stomp through, the pots we grow veg in, hidden under leaves or partially buried or more bloody usually hidden by/next to or in the DC plastic play house where ever the thing is put.

I know it is cats - because we occasionally catch them and more occasionally hit them with water. Cat deterrents are expensive and/or expensive/time consuming and do not always work. We also have 2 meter fences enclosing the garden and foxes have never been seen.

I do not see dogs roaming with out owners where we live. So the dogs that shit in our front garden, drive way and along all the pavements that the local DCs use to get to school, presumable are with their owners.

I understand that pets bring a lot of joy to people but I am starting to wonder if some kind of vetting procedure should be employed - so people understand that owning pets come with responsibilities to others and the animals.

DrNortherner · 16/02/2011 22:21

Libra, all the cats I have ever owned (4 as an adult) have had a litter tray and were introduced to is as a young kitten when they did in fact use it. Then when they were allowed out, they stopped using it apart from when old or ill. Does that satisfy you?

There is nothing wrong with my attitude thank you.

ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:22

"I honestly have never come across anyone in my life who has moaned about cats and cat poo. Nore have i ever stood in it, ever. Not even as a kid playing in bushes/trees/dirt and various neighbours gardens! "
And that's great for you, but please don't just dismiss so readily the rather different experiences that others have had. Besides, you're obviously a cat-lover, so what would be the point in complaining to you about how frustrating most cats/cat owners are?

LibraPoppyGirl · 16/02/2011 22:24

MrsSparkle if you have never come across anyone in your life who has moaned about cats and cats poo then you must have been living on a completely different planet.

Goodness me, pick up any cat owning book and you'll read about things you can possibly do to minimise the effects your cats wandering can have on your neighbours and tips and ideas. Don't take my word alone, go to your local library and have a look in the pet section.

As for not being able to train a cat to do anything because it is a wild animal...poppy cock. Take a look at the multitude of tv adverts and films that have cats in them, that have been exactly that, trained to do something. They're not dumb animals, they may be quite free spirited and independent to some extent, some of them, but they can be taught. They know exactly where to go for their food, they know the sound of the tin opener, they know the best places to sleep, they know the warmest places to sleep. Give them a litter tray and as many weeks inside using it as it takes and they'll know where to poo too!!

Arneb · 16/02/2011 22:25

DrNortherner
What do you want a world with no animals?

Possibly if that means I can have one day when my time with the DC is not dominated by other peoples pets shit every time we step out the front door.

Even the bloody park with small play area where dogs are not allowed -( rest of park they are and it big) is usually full of dog shit.

MrsSparkle · 16/02/2011 22:25

Have i really been talking about cat poo for over an hour?

I guess we will agree to disagree. I have stated my points and made it clear that stopping people from owning cats will not solve your poo problem but clearly no one wants to lisen because they need someone to blame. I get it.

Off to bed.

ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:27

Ah but Libra, don't forget - many cat owners will insist that their cats are wild - but not too wild, you understand, they're actually doing us a favour by saving us from the really wild ones......

MrsSparkle · 16/02/2011 22:27

LibraPoppyGirl i guess i have been on another planet thenWink

night.

LibraPoppyGirl · 16/02/2011 22:27

Of course you don't think there is anything wrong with your attitude DrNortherner, it's your attitude. Who of us ever comes across with an attitude that we can see in ourselves??

DrNortherner · 16/02/2011 22:29

Me too Mrs Sparkle. I'm sure I have better things to do than talk about poo Grin

ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:29

I know, MsrSparkle, we're sooooo irrational about other people's pets poooing in our gardens, aren't we just the daftest things, really? [Twee twinkling laughter. Headbutts wall hard emoticon]

Arneb · 16/02/2011 22:29

MrsSparkle
I have stated my points and made it clear that stopping people from owning cats will not solve your poo problem

I do not believe we have a feral cat population in the area we live in and we do not seem to have foxes. So in my garden if next door cat stopped shitting in it - and the other neighbours cats did not start - it would solve all my problems.

ClenchedBottom · 16/02/2011 22:30

"Have i really been talking about cat poo for over an hour? "

I know! Anyone would think that it's a real issue for lots of people! Fancy that!

Arneb · 16/02/2011 22:32

ClenchedBottom - the yellow crystals you can buy do work and apparently do deter for quite a while - or so a lot of people who I know who have used them say. I just have to wait till the DC are old enough to understand not to touch or eat them. Though buy that time they may well have sense to avoid the shit anyway.

Arneb · 16/02/2011 22:33

I think it these things:

www.deteracat.co.uk/cat-repellent-crystals.html

DrNortherner · 16/02/2011 22:34

Libra I think you should go and polish your cat owning halo Wink

As cat owners you and I are no different in that we provide them with a place to poo indoors. Your cats use it, mine preferred the great outdoors. I tried talking to them and showing them books from the library but clever as they were they could not read.

It is instinct for a cat to eat an to know where food is plentiful. It is instinct for a cat to sleep and to seek out a warm, safe bed.
It is not instinct for a cat to shit in a plastic box, indoors, that is full of gravel and barely big enough to swivel around in.

Of course it would be great if they did do it in a litter tray, but that is not the way of the world.

LibraPoppyGirl · 16/02/2011 22:34

If you own a pet then it is YOUR responsibility to do your best to ensure that it is not a nuisance to your neighbours.

If you can't do that, or don't want to, then don't own a pet, any pet.

Yes Cats are a bit harder to control, but it is not impossible and I have had cats in my childhood home and my adult life, all my life.

It all boils down to a bit of respect for others IMO (humble as that may be).

Now my DP wants a cuddle and to watch the film on the telly so I'm off Wink.