To be furious that some cat has sprayed our pushchair.

[WillYouDoTheDamnFanjo]

Left the pushchair folded on porch last night as weather has been good & our house is cluttered busy.

Just unfolded it to find that has been sprayed by some cat.

I have to take the whole thing apart and wash it in something antibacterial. It might not survive this.

I am sick to death of cats pooing in our garden & having to watch my kids every second in case they roll in it (or in toddler's case, give it the mouth test ), but this has tipped me over the edge, I am FUMING.

Honestly I might just start letting my son wander through the neighbours' front gardens with his nappy off, pissing and shitting at will.

I don't understand the appeal of cats at all, really I don't. If you are a cat owner and you don't know where your cat's effluent goes, then you need to have a fucking word with yourself because it's quite likely that someone, somewhere is having to deal with it for you.

Can anyone tell me how to dismantle and wash a Quinny Zapp and how to humanely keep cats away from my open-plan garden?

And help me to calm down

Of course all animals have a right to roam and poo where they want to.

What I fail to understand is why someone would choose to own an animal and absolve themselves of any responsibility for their poo. This seems to be unique to cats. There are plenty of irresponsible dog owners out there of course, but letting your dog poo anywhere is generally frowned upon, whereas with cats it seems to be "Just chill out and TAKE THE POO!"

YANBU, ALL the local cats seem to use my garden as a toilet, it's vile, it stinks and means I can't grow veg etc without fear of it being trampled or shat on.

I've tried a couple of things with varying success:

I've tried a couple ofg things with varying sucess:
this seems to work but needs to be used regularly esp after rain

ordered these last week

my friend swears by this

YANBU - my garden is over-run with cats, and they don't always cover it up. Bane of my life. There's no way I could keep them out without spending a huge amount of money (or getting a dog)

If a dog was shitting in my garden I'd be well within my rights to report it to the dog warden who would threaten the owners with a fine, I don't see why I should have to 'put up' with cat fouling. It's irresponsible of the owners and I consider the culprits vermin.

FWIW, this is an inherited property (my mum's) and maybe I'm a bit sensitive at the moment, but I'm trying my damndest to keep her garden nice, and it's like a blow to me everytime I see cats squatting. Especially considering I'm heavily pregnant. Makes me paranoid about tox when all I want to do is a bit of gentle weeding.

One shat right beside the rose bush mum's colleagues had bought and given me about a month after she passed, maybe this is what's set off my rage??

Either way, giant rant, sorry. YANBU!!!!!!

So, you have an issue with the local cat population yet you still left your Zapp outside overnight...?

Anyway please excuse me for an hour, I have someone else's cat's (probably) mess to attend to.

From this thread so far I have learned why it's best to continue my policy of not leaving things outside, that Quinny Zapps survive dismantling and washing, and that I still think cats are a pooey choice of pet.

use bio washing powder to wash it in, otherwise the smell will stay

But whatever you think about cats the reality is that in this country the culture is that cats are allowed to roam free which includes pooing and peeing in other people's garden. Please try not to focus on this too much as it will simply eat you up and achieve nothing.

"I still think cats are a pooey choice of pet."

PMSL... I love that gentle form of crossness. :o

Lisa is right, btw, biological washing powder is the best thing to get cat smells out of fabrics and doesn't have an amonia smell to it so doesn't attract a repeat performance.

I'm not a cat owner but I can never get my head around people moaning about the shit of a free roaming animal.

Cats shit, foxes shit, badgers shit, hedgehogs shit, birds shit...it's part of bloody life.

I'm sure if they could get themselves a Moben bathroom they would. Until such time as they can...just deal with it ffs.

The Zapp covers are a nightmare to get on and off.
I have vowed I would never do it again after broken nails and lots of cursing last time.

I'd scrub in garden with bio washing powder probably.

You're right Lesley, (I'm back already, the stench was overpowering) - normally I am quite chilled about it - hell, I have tolerated cat-poo-striped children for 5 years in this place and am even feeding my neighbours' cats at the moment while they are on holiday for a fortnight - so I am tolerant.

But having my day totally cocked up by the pushchair being out of action, plus a bit of Mother Tiger (yes, a cat, I know) on behalf of DS's bumcheeks - and I have tapped into a fountain of surpressed rage about cats.

Hopefully people can tell I don't take myself too seriously - but it's got me thinking about the double standards that operate around dogs & cats. I had no idea I was so cross about putting up with this.

Stick it in the shower and really drench it in water, wash in bio washing powder then give a final scrub with neat, white vinegar.

I feel your pain and i'm a cat owner, I do think people who refuse to have a litter tray are selfish gets tho, for not trying to take some responsibility

Ahem gits

Male cat urine when spraying is the absolutely the worst to deal with. Use "UrineOff" to take out the smell. It is the best one I found on the market but it is still not 100% effective (well, nothing is, unfortunately). Also very expensive (8-9 GBP per bottle). You may wish to try first BIOLOGICAL washing powder. Take a good cup and soak it in warm water, then leave the fabric soaked for a good few hours, maybe even days if you can. The enzymes should do their work but there may still some residual smell.

Foxes also spray and it may be a fox.

There is no point fuming about the existence of cats, their ownership will not be banned and as owners have no control of their roaming, they cannot be help responsible. Just do not leave stuff outside.

Anti-cat things are not effective and are waste of money in my opinion. Best thing is to get a cat yourself or leave next to a neighbour iwth a cat, so at least only one poops, rather than all of the local ones using your garden as a communal WC.

"Take a good cup and soak it in warm water"

a generous measure of powder per bowl of warm water (fgs!!)

cats have as much right to roam as do birds,foxes whatever!!

Foxes, birds etc are wild animals. Cats, in 99.9% of cases, are a choice. You make a decision to buy one and then let it out to piss in other people's gardens so yes, you should take some responsibility for the animal that you have chosen to have. You are the one that has opened the door of your house to let it go God knows where and in most cases, unless it doesn't come back, you don't give a toss where it's gone.

Don't ask me what should be done, I'm realistic enough to realise that probably nothing can be, but that doesn't mean that cat owners have no responsibility. So OP YANBU but there's not much you can do about it.

I quite like cats actually, wouldn't think so from that post . Don't have one though...

Shower is a good idea, thanks ApocalypseCheeseToastie, I will stop pacing around it with a screwdriver.

Will give it a shower rinse, go out with DS on reins (I have mobility probs too, sorry to AIBU by stealth but it's becoming relevant as I try to figure this out) and buy some bio as we never normally use it (see what a palaver this is turning into)

Then if that doesn't work, will invest in the UrineOff.

Thinking about it, my neighbours' cats (ones I'm looking after) don't have a litter tray. Would it be unreasonable of me to ask them if they know where their cats poo?

(not saying it was the neighbours' cat that sprayed, but Apocalypse's post has got me thinking... why wouldn't they provide their cats with a toilet? Am I cat-feeding, cat-poo receiving mugster of a neighbour here)

Don't blame you for being angry, OP, but there's not much point in blaming cat owners is there? Other than keeping their cats in or putting nappies on them, what can they do?

We don't have any pets but before we could go in the garden with the DC yesterday to enjoy the little bit of sunshine there was, I had to go round with a shovel to clear up all the animal poo first, which was v annoying. Have a bit of a poo mystery now as thought it was cats but have been told they don't just poo on lawns?

It may be that there is no point.

Our cat will only use a litter tray if he is not allowed outside. I've even currently trying an experiment where I put a litter tray in the garden to see if he (or any other neighbourhood cat that fancied it!) would use it. But no luck.

I will clean it out and put it away in a few more days.

No, cats don't generally poo on lawns. Although some do.

Generally they prefer a patch with a bit of loose debris to help scoop over the dirt. So, yes, flowerbeds! Under bushes, that kind of place.

Cats do poo on lawns.

Unless they follow their cats around, which is difficult unless they are able to jump fences and dont mind trespassing, then I doubt they know where their cats poo.

You would sound nutty if you asked them.

Dogs can be kept in your house/garden and poo where you can see it and where you can deal with it.

Cats do not.

Its part of life. Sure, have a rant, but there's nothing you can do except move to a flat or leave your things inside and try and get over it.

Maybe petition the government to stop ownership of cats being legal if you feel that strongly about it? They will probably laugh at you but it sounds like you need to channel your annoyance if you can't unclench.

MooMooFarm, I see various cats poo on lawns & flowerbeds. In my (admittedly limited) experience, cat owners tend to believe that they cover their poo, because that's what they do on their own territory or in trays. On other properties they are less fussy, might do a token swipe with the back leg in the general direction of the turd, but not a proper cover-up.

Makes a job a tiny bit easier, actually - nothing worse than digging into a surprise treasure trove of poo, or getting it caught in the lawnmower blades.