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.

Dogs shit on the road, that has to be cleared up!

and the majority of people do.

and you havent explained why the op (or any cat owner) shouldnt clear up the shit. dont lie.

I shouldn't clear up the shit (in no particular order) because:

1. it is not a legal requirement to do so
2. a cat bury's its poo (in the main) but a dog does not
3. a cat is deemed to be 'free roaming' and a dog is not, so a cat's owner has less control over it, and therefore less responsibility (morally and legally)
4. a cat is not deemed to have an owner as cats will and can walk off at any time
5. an owner knows when and where the dog has done a poo, the same can not be said of a cat

Well I can list 5 reasons quite quickly. I'm sure there are more if I give it any thought.

I guess the neighbours reaction to OP's solution proves that the issue was never really the poo anyway. Maybe if the neighbour hadn't been such a bitch to OP prior to this request, the OP may well have been inclined to clean up the poo.

If i were in the same position and the neighbour was nice then i would go and clean the garden but if the neighbour had been bitchy to me all the time then i wouldn't.

op don't give your twit of a neighbour any more thought.

You are not in control of when and where your cat poos,it would be futile to even try.

Leave it for now and see how it plays out...

If she tries to comunicate over the fence,tell her "I am done talking about poo!"

You may need to repeat it a few times though

1) it is not a legal requirement to do so
you are using that as an excuse. the law just requires me to not kill people, but most people try to actively be nice. it may not be a legal requirement, but it is certainly a moral one.

2) a cat bury's its poo (in the main) but a dog does not
actually, not true. and of the poo's that a cat will bury will be in someone else garden, next to their vegetable and flowers. you state that you dont garden, your neighbour does. so she spends time, effort and money creating a garden she can enjoy in her own space to have it ruined by your cats shitting in it, but its ok because they scrape a bit of dirt over it.

3) a cat is deemed to be 'free roaming' and a dog is not, so a cat's owner has less control over it, and therefore less responsibility (morally and legally)
bollocks. I assume that you would be upset if your cat was run over, or poisoned, or attacked. all animals would love to be free roaming, my dog would love to run around the fields by use, shitting and chasing rabbits... but I dont let him, because I have a moral responsibility to others as well as my pet. you want apet, you cant pick and choose when you are their owner.

4) a cat is not deemed to have an owner as cats will and can walk off at any time
see above.

5) an owner knows when and where the dog has done a poo, the same can not be said of a cat
noone is saying you have to follow your cat and clear up its poo all day, but you know that your cat is using someone else's garden as a toilet and that is upsetting them. this thread shows how many people are upset by cats crapping in their garden. the owner of the property has asked you to sort something out, presumably before she takes matters into her own hands. because, I guarantee you will be a devastated owner if your cat comes back with glass in its paws or a pellet wound, horrified that someone could do that to your cat.

the law does not absolve you of responsibility (as much as you think it does) you are behaving like a child and trying to score tit for tat.

Pingu, do you therefore not own your cat? You are really splitting hairs here.

Yes the neighbour is a nasty piece of work, but there is undeniable evidence of Pingu's cat's presence in her garden. I think with cats it is the buried aspect that is the most irritating when it comes to poo, if you're gardening. Cats rarely poo in the grass. They seek out a flowerbed or vegetable patch. So therefore the neighbour has possibly come across a deposit while gardening. Can you not see how this might be very unpleasant?

To suggest that leaving the cat poo in situ is a good way of teaching a neighbour a lesson about nastiness, or getting your own back on her for her 'tude is a bit imo.

math then how on earth is OP sopposed to find it?

she can't go around digging up the daisies now can she?

exactly math, I would be pretty rude to a neighbour who's cat crapped in my garden, and when I tackled them about it had the type of attitude the op has. it wont get any better, in fact the situation will get a helluva lot worse with resentments on both sides.

but the ops attitude stinks.

joy, in the flowerbed. where most of us find it.

But its buried though...

Your neighbour is spot on. When I broached the subject with my neighbours, whose cat regularly craps in my garden, they told me to "kick it" (the cat) if it happens again.

joy, it isnt. its covered with a tiny layer of dirt. big difference. and dominant cats wont even cover it.

OP - why can't your DH go and pick up the poo for her?

Putting aside all the legal bits and the fact that cats are some kind of weird anomaly to rule of domestic pet ownership.

If you were agreeable to picking up the poo, why have we had 24 pages of argument discussion about it without a mention of him putting on the marigolds and nipping round with the pooper scoop?

Would that not be a way to thwart her evil plan to humiliate you?

Although I still think the sonic do-dah would be the best idea and you haven't said anything about that yet. Would it really not be worth it to you to take the upper hand and put a stop to this in a completely different way?

I think the neighbour could probably mark it with garden spikes as she encounters it while gardening?

My own cat doesn't bother covering hers at all, but she doesn't go outdoors. And she pees in exactly the same spot in the litter every time. Makes it easy to pick it all out of the litter box with the scoop on a daily basis.

Ok,then ...I will leave it here.

I still don't see how the OP will be able to recognize it as her cats?

I think this case stands alone, mainly as the the neighbor sounds like she is picking on OP... and making her fiddle about in the garden just to be an ass!

tbh, I think the buying the neighbour a repellant idea is the best one yet.

I just really dislike this attitude of "when its not in my house, its none of my business" and the thought that we should just suck up and not moan about cat shit.

op, my best friend has his own landscape garden company and 3 cats, I can ask what he uses if you like.

OP, you are clearly not interested in finding a solution. You appear to just want justification for stamping your foot and going 'it's not fair, she's picking on me, therefore I can't clear up my cat's shit'.

As you have repeatedly said, if you don't want to pick up your cat's shit, no one can force you. Unfortunately.

Math. The problem with buried poo found as and when she finds it whilst gardening, is that there is no guarantee that it is my cats' poo. There are at least 3 other cats, that I can be 100% sure of, go into her garden. I am pretty sure that this is one of the reasons the law does not make anyone pick it up.

That is why I have said to her, okay I will pick it up once a week if you can get the other cat owners in the area to come round and do their 'share' too on the same basis (ie once a week).

I know for a fact that the neighbours, with 2 big black cats, do not have a litter tray. At least I have a litter tray! Also I lock my cats in at night, whereas the other cats roam whenever they want as they have a cat flap.

I know the owners of the black cats because my husband goes to church home group there, so I know they don't have a litter tray.

We are still going in circles then. Yes you might pick up the odd turd from someone elses cat but that means you are probably leaving a turd from your cat somewhere else.

It all balances out in the end.

Someone somewhere posted a cat shitting average per day (three each per day was it?) so could you perhaps say that you will pick up two per day on the assumption that at least one each is also going in the garden of the neighbour to your other side and they do another one each in the litter tray? Making their three per day.

Still no thoughts on the sonic repellant device as a compromise to both get her off your back and annoy the hell out of her?

Yes, I acknowledge there is a problem of fairness, but you can't prove it's not your cat's either. I do think it's fair to have the other neighbours involved, just for the sake of spreading the task in a generally just way.

I also think the cat repeller idea is a good one and that leaving this neighbour with less of a rod to beat you with would be wise in the long run. She is very uncivil about your children but taking the high road hardly ever leads to regret.

Sorry but I wouldn't pick up the poo either. By not asking the other neighbours, she has proved that this actually isn't about cat poo.

CurlyBoy nasty post

needanewmane I agree.

True, but I've been following this thread for days getting more and more pissed off!