To chuck water on their cats?

[Softlysoftly]

Next door neighbours cats I have discovered havebeen using our top bit of garden as a toilet.

I'd planned for that to be a swing/slide area for the 2 dds, had saved their Christmas money to buy toys for summer, now it is coated every step in shit. They aren't even burying it. I'm going to have to shovel it all out and it stinks.

I know they can't control their cats, we've tried lion stuff, , pepper, plants they are supposed to hate, blocking fence gaps and nothing has worked.

AIBU to lob a jug of water over them every time they venture shitwards until they stop coming in the garden?

[Rosesforrosie]

Yes, but the real question Midnite is,do you feel aggrieved by the kangaroo/koala/wombat poo?

[MidniteScribbler]

When I woke up this morning, I could see about a dozen kangaroos in my front paddock where they were grazing. There's a koala in the big tree at the front of my house. In the late afternoons I get a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos (which are classified as a highly at risk species in my area) in the trees at the back of my house. The old tree down the back paddock houses a wombat and her offspring each season. I have a nature reserve on my property (a specific amount of the property required by law) where native bird attracting species are planted to encourage native birds.

Cats do NOT fit in to this environment at all.

There are plenty of urban areas of Australia where cats are able to roam at will, although many local councils, even in urban areas are increasingly putting curfews in place for cats to try and protect native wildlife. Cats remain one of the most popular pets in Australia.... for those who keep them secure on their own property. But it's becoming more and more the law for cats to be confined to their own homes.

[PigletJohn]

cats are somewhat environmentally-unfriendly, especially in Australia, where the native species have evolved without needing to deal with such a predator.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

It's kind of put me of OZ too LST.
My cat's are totally outdoorsy, cats have been running around free in the British countryside like forever.
Didn't they used to be kept for keeping rats and mice away from the grain or summit.

[LST]

Good job im not in Australia then midnite

[Latara]

YANBU - Water is harmless.

Except.... some cats love water (like my cat) and will actually run towards you thinking you want to play (my cat is that silly)...!

[Jestrin]

you'd better go round with a trowel and bucket and offer to collect it then.

I take it thats aimed at me? It's not just words, I would and will.

[goldenlula]

I have 2 cats and have told my neighbours to spray them with water if they need to. I would rather that than some other things people do. Last year I got a cheap water gun to spray a cat that was coming into my house (even climbed in an open window in the middle of the night and came into my bedroom) and also spraying everywhere in my garden and up my front door.

[PigletJohn]

you'd better go round with a trowel and bucket and offer to collect it then.

Giving the neighbours a squirt gun may well do the trick.

One of my few undying regrets is that when I was standing next to someone who threw a stone at my cat, and hit it, I didn't belt him.

Unfortunately the old git is dead now so I won't get another chance.

[Jestrin]

But please can I ask you not to 'fling the shit back over the hedge'. It is upsetting for all concerned and causes bad feeling. Owners cannot help where their cats go. We have provided litter trays and a patch of earth In our garden. We have two cats BUT there are numerous other cats in the neighbourhood. Our neighbour has done this and I thought we had a good chatty relationship. Now I just feel sad that they couldn't speak to me about it. I would happily dig the garden and dispose of the poo.

[Jestrin]

I'm a cat person and I say do it. You've tried other things and hopefully they'll get the message!

[Estherbelle]

YANBU.

The next door neighbour's dog kept shitting in my dad's garden. He left a bucket outside all week until it filled up with rain water and other other rancid stuff.

Next time the dog fowled the garden, dad chucked the contents of the bucket all over it.

The dog never did its business in my dad's garden again.

[quoteunquote]

get a sprinkler system laid out around garden, put in motion sensors, so anything on the move in the garden gets a shower, and the cats will go else where, just remember to turn it off before you go in the garden,

we put this in for a client, she has a couple of switches by the back door, to turn it off before she goes out, her garden (features in the open gardens RHS program)was getting destroyed by cats, as she has an extensive walled town garden, with lots of beds, they were uprooting plants, pooing on pea shingle paths,

it took a little fine tuning with the sensors, but you rarely see a cat in there now, and if you do it's moving fast, as the sprinkler heads in each area go off as soon as anything moves, and stop as soon as the movement has stopped.

the monition sensors also after dark put lights on in each area, so when it was first installed you would see a running cat lit up moving at speed across the garden, great burglar deterrent as well.

keep an eye on Lidl as they sometimes do a good Hozelock compatible sprinkler sets, it really didn't cost much to buy and install all the bits,

well worth it if you want a cat free garden, hers runs off rain storage butts, so once installed it cost very little to run.

sprinklers bother cats more than rain as it is coming upwards in a flinging motion.

[tedmundo]

I am the proud owner of a mahooosive British shorthair. He goes in many, many gardens. Some people like him. Some don't. He has to learn!

On the odd occasions he has slunk in all wet, we simply point and laugh at him.

YANBU. At all. Soak away!

[MidniteScribbler]

I'm in Australia, and no one is going around shooting animals for sport, they are protecting their livestock and will take action if their own animals are under threat. It's in our local law that cats are not permitted off your premises, and as we live bordering a national park, they really aren't welcome in the area at all. People who keep their cats indoors or in a run have no problems at all with their pets safety. The neighbour who moved in next door had problems the first two times I caught her cat in my chook pen. The $220 fine each time wasn't enough to convince her that she needed to take responsibility to keep her cat locked up. The third time I caught her she'd already killed four chickens and was starting on the fifth. The council seized her cat after that. They really will noti tolerate wandering animals. It's the owners responsibility to make sure their pets are not a nuisance to neighbours.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

In what farming area are you Midnite, where the locals go around shooting and trapping cats ?
I live in the middle of nowhere where chickens and sheep abound, loads of incomers as well as locals have cats and they wander around freely.

[JollyPurpleGiant]

We have a brand new super soaker which is working a treat. Haven't managed to get the worst culprit yet, but got two others.

I don't like those high pitched things as I can hear them and I worry about what effect they have on children. Pepper didn't work, nor did lion poo, nor did chilli powder. The water pistol appears to be the most effective.

[andubelievedthat]

Next time u are sitting on your "Crapper" (indoors ,of course) ponder ,once you have flushed ,and have a niece sanitised white? bowl to admire ,just where exactly your smelly ,germ filled poo is ? in the ocean maybe?being digested by the fish you are going to buy and eat /feed your family with? Food for thought ? >>>funny previous post"deter cats , buy a dog" ,oh, really ?!! dogs are a sense of amusement for cats, really really NIMBY, but it has to be somewhere !(here kitty kitty)

[MidniteScribbler]

LST, this is a farming area, but a lot of the smaller places are getting sold to 'townies' who don't read the council bylaws which state that cats (and all other animals) must be confined to their own property. Owners of any animal caught off its property will be fined, and you actually have the legal right to shoot an animal on your property that is 'chasing, worrying or mauling livestock'. There have been quite a few dogs shot because they are chasing sheep, and cats are often trapped or shot when caught in a chook pen. Townies learn pretty quickly to either build a cat run or decide their cat should be an indoor pet. There is no excuse for not knowing the law,or choosing to think that the law doesn't apply to them.

[LST]

Toad I am with areyoumad... It doesn't mention poo

[CMP69]

YANBU I told my neighbours to do this to our cats, I couldn't bear the fact they would shit in someone elses garden. Mostly they come in the cat flap to use their litter tray!

[EasilyBored]

I'm a cat person and I wouldn't mind a bit if you sprayed my cat with water for shitting in your garden, you won't hurt it. Go for it!

[WhispersOfWickedness]

I'm a cat owner and would be fine with water being used as a deterrent
Orange peel works well too, we have used it on our vegetable patch to stop ours going in there

[Wallison]

I suggest you get on with the job of slapping ASBOs on your neighbours' cats then, Toadinthehole, instead of wasting your time on here. I mean, surely it's an urgent matter.