My neighbour has asked me to pick up my cat's poo from their garden. Literally she wants to be able to call on me to come and pick it up on an as and when basis.

[pingu2209]

I have 2 cats. They have only just started going outside, about 1 month so far. I still have a litter tray at home and they do use it but they are also beginning to 'go' outside too.

My view is that cats should not be locked in doors. I had to keep them indoors for the first 6th months because I was told by the shelter that they needed their injections, be neutered and micro chipped before they could venture outside and all that wasn't done till they were 6 months old.

I keep my cats up to date with their injections and worm/flee ointment - well they are only 7 months old at the moment, but I fully intend to keep them up to date.

There are other cats in the area. The house behind mine has 2 big cats and we are in a rural area with foxes. Also, my neighbours have a dog. Nice dog, sometimes it barks but it isn't really a problem if I'm honest. I like dogs as much as cats, I'm not anti dogs or anything.

Am I legally obliged to pick up my cats poo?

I've spoken to my mother and she has told me that I should pick up my cat's poo if the neighbour asks. The thing is, I may have to go round there each day or two to do it.

I love animals but don't have time to look after clear up after them with a busy life so we chose not to have them, we encourage birds in our garden and have frogs in our pond and DD syas these are our pets. We have new neighbours and now we have a cat which poos in our garden , kills birds and leaves them on the lawn and climbs up our trellis damaging our roses which have finally come to fruition after 3 years of hard work and TLC.
So pIngu YABU - it's not fair that you should make choices which impinge on other people so much and them be upset when they complain.
(Does sound like she's looking for reasons to be annoyed with/ rude to you, but in this case I'd say she had a point.)
'No one cleans up cat poo' unless it's in your own garden and you don't want to stand in it or have the DC drag it through the house.

I have no legal obligation to help old ladies cross the road, let cars in or use manners. But if I never did any of those things I would be a bit of an arsehole.

I choose to encourage wildlife in my garden, an accept it's presence. I live in the country. It's nature. However, I don't consider cats as nature. They are pets. The responsibility of an owner. Passing wildlife is one thing, regular toileting by the local moggies is quite another. Cats go repeatedly in the same area. If I wanted to clean up 365 cat shits a year from the gravel under my kitchen window, I'd buy a fucking cat! It stinks. It's unpleasant, unhygienic and the product of someone else's pet. I have horses. I encourage them to shit in the paddock. I clear it up myself. Doesn't mean I welcome dog shit from trespassing walkers. If you deliberately pick a pet because you legally don't have to clean it's shit up when it goes on someone else's property, YABU!
And I dont need to get a grip, or stop whingeing. I just need for other people's pets to stop shitting in my garden!

Cats aren't nature? Really?

Personally I can't stand stepping in other peoples cat and dog poo in my
own garden then trailing it through my house so she is definately not bu.

No. They are domesticated pets. (unless they are British wildcats, and I bet they don't shit in people's flower beds!) And if you can't be bothered to clean up after them when politely requested, you shouldnt have them.
I bet you clean the cat shit up in your own garden.

I consider ALL animals to be part of nature, whether they happen to live in the wild, a zoo, or in someone's house!

Well bully for you! I however do not. My garden, my choice of who gets to shit in it. My dog does a great job of chasing cats away!

'Good for her. You own a cat, it's your responsibility not hers! I'd be chucking back over your fence or leaving it on your doorstep, frankly.'

I'd be posting it back through your letterbox

Your choice of who gets to shit in your garden?! Seriously that had me laughing so much! So you dictate which animals get to be considered to be nature on your land and if they are considered (by YOU) nature they are allowed to poo! Your a bit er . . . what's the word? Nope, only non pc ones pop to mind.

You do realise that all those going on about moral obligations bla bla bla but then saying you will post poo through letter boxes, shoot cats, put down poison etc are showing yourselves to be no more moral then the OP?

For what it's worth I have cats of my own, and I have also had trouble with cat poo in my garden. My cats are trained to go in my own garden but unfortunately chose an area really close to the house. There was soooo much poo as neighbouring cats (plus there were fox poos etc) took to this spot. It was so stinky due to volume alone. I can't smell the odd one here or there (you lot must have a keen sense of smell) only when there is loads of it unburied.

The only reason it was unburied was because of lots of snow we had when all the cats couldn't dig, so poo'd on the snow and then it melted!

The solution was to cover the toilet area in every cheap pot I could find leaving absolutely no room for them to squat and so no more poo. They started going further down the garden, which is fine with me.

I have nearly always had cats and have NEVER had a single complaint or heard of anyone in real life complaining about cat poo and asking for it to be removed. Which is why I agree with the OP that it is a very unusual request.

I was trying to think what I would do in that situation. If mine were the only cats in the area I would possibly try to come to some agreement with the neighbour or suggest they water pistol my cats etc. The problem is in this case that the neighbour is clearly only mentioning it to be vindictive. She looks down her nose at the OP and clearly thinks she shouldn't be living where she is as she looks like she left school at 16. Unlike the other neighbours with cats who have a massive house.

The poo isn't the problem, it's that the neighbour doesn't like the OP!

I agree with prettymeerkat, I actually think that the neighbours problem is with OP not the cat shit and is using it as an excuse to belittle her. I think pingus suggestion of all the other neighbours mucking in with the poo patrol is a very good one considering her neighbours demeanour and past comments. It at least would prove if the problem was genuinely cat shit or the neighbours issue of looking down on the OP. If she won't ask the other neighbours then her problem is not the cat shit
tulip I know you were having a rant but if you shot a cat with an air rifle or pellet gun you would have the rspca and police knocking on your door. That is much worse than putting a cat in a wheelie bin and that lady didn't get away with it

It was so stinky due to volume alone. I can't smell the odd one here or there (you lot must have a keen sense of smell) only when there is loads of it unburied.

but you have cats, therefore you wont smell it. I have no doubt that our house smells of dog, just because we cant smell it doesnt mean that others cant.

tbh, i think the neighbour hating her "thing" is a bit of a red herring. they might not get on, the neighbour might be a bitch, but things wont be helped by the op's attitude to her cats crap. and have you seriously never heard anyone complaining about cats crapping in their garden? buried or not (and lets assume for the sake of argument that all cats bury their poo) they bury it in the flowerbeds. not good for flowers and not nice for the owners of the flowerbeds. noone is responsible for hedgehogs, or foxes, or badgers. I dont know anyone who would keep a fox or other wild animal as a pet. they are different to cats.

You should pick up your cat's poo if it does it in your neighbour's garden. Why should your neighbour have to put pick it up? Your cat. Your responsibility. I think it is disgusting that cat owners take so little responsibility for their cat's poo.

So I am to be laughed at, because I don't want other people's pets shitting in my garden, the garden of the property I pay the mortgage on, and choose to actively chase away cats who try. But the op who specifically gets cats because she is too bone idle to clear her own Pets shit up, and is happy for those pets to crap in her neighbours gardens, is NBU?!
Well I don't give a shit what you think.
I am country born and bred and appreciate nature. I also have two dogs, five horses and several small pets. All of which I bear full responsibility for.
the definition of nature is not really the issue here, the issue is whether the ops neighbour is BU to ask her to take responsibility for her animals.
IMO the neighbour is NBU. If she wanted cat shit in her own garden, she would get her own cat.

but you have cats, therefore you wont smell it. I have no doubt that our house smells of dog, just because we cant smell it doesnt mean that others cant.

But your house doesn't smell of dog poo. Neither does my house smell of cat poo so why would I be immune to the smell! It's not like a smoker not smelling smoke because they are covered in it . . . I am not covered in cat poo!

My neighbour has asked me again. I was out putting rubbish in the wheelie bin and she called my name over the fence. I said that it was unreasonable to expect me to come round at her beck and call when one of my cats pooed in her garden. It was also unreasonable for me to regularly search her garden for any poo that may or may not be my cat.

I suggested to her that if she were to speak to the neighbours behind us and the owner of the black and white cat then perhaps the 3 households can do it once a week each.

She said that she couldn't ask the other houses as she didn't know them.

meerkat, but your garden has cat shit in it. so you wont smell it as much. I know when a cat has crapped in my garden because I can smell it. I dont have super nostrils, I dont own a cat, so I notice the smell more readily. why are you so intent on refusing to believe that cat shit is an issue for a lot of people?

pingu, maybe offer to go with her to see the neighbours.

Reminds me that a colleague of mine was furious after discovering her moggy coming back with glass in its paws (her neighbour had put broken glass in their pot plants).

Hopefully she replied that it will not be unreasonable of her then to just lob it over the fence into your garden for you to clear up in your own good time.

Maybe we could find out where Meerkat lives, then go round and shit in her garden. See how she likes it?!

I could send my dog round, after all, they are all animals and its only poo...

Haven't read entire thread but, to me, OP's neighbour sounds like a loon.

Who would ask this of a neighbour? I mean, really!

Cats crap indiscriminately in gardens - that's a fact of suburban living.

The idea of asking my neighbours to pop over to scoop up some cat turds is absolutely ludicrous.

Cats crap indiscriminately in gardens - that's a fact of suburban living

well, thats ok then!
I mean, how dare the neighbour be upset that the garden she has spent time and money on is being shat on daily by her neighburs cat! maybe dog owners should stop clearing up their dog's turds when we walk them, after all.... its a fact of urban living isnt it?

I wish I'd had the nerve to do what the op's neighbour did! just because its not usual, doesnt mean its not right.