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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it is totally reasonable for cat owners not to pick up poo

746 replies

PMDD · 02/12/2013 18:17

I mean how can they?

I have 2 cats and now 1 puppy. I watch my puppy when she is out and know where she is, I can see if she is pooing. If she disappears under a bush I check (with my sense of smell) and pick up if necessary. I carry poo bags everywhere.

However, my cats come and go as they please. When they were kittens I had a litter tray that they used, but as they started to go outside with a cat flap, they stopped using the litter tray.

My (ex) neighbour asked me to come and pick up after my cats, but as there are lots and lots of cats in the area, there was no knowing that it was my cats.

I am not a bad pet owner. But I think it is unreasonable to expect cat owners to have the same poo pick up responsibility as dog owners.

OP posts:
Rhubarbgarden · 02/12/2013 18:20

Yanbu. Obviously.

hiddenhome · 02/12/2013 18:24

It's impossible to pick it all up because cats wander in and out of other people's gardens.

maillotjaune · 02/12/2013 18:25

YANBU, it's just not practical.

I get that it's a pita when your garden has cat shit in it but that's just what cats do. Ours is regularly full of fox shit and there are no owners to complain to Angry

(I have no pets and our journey to school is plagued by dog mess fwiw)

pinkr · 02/12/2013 18:25

Oh these threads rapidly go wrong...good luck op!

D0oinMeCleanin · 02/12/2013 18:26

YABU to have a cat and in a built up area/not train it/make it wear a nappy/they're related to tigers you know? etc.

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 18:28

YANBU

However give it a while and people will be along to explain how YABU. and there will be tales of animal cruelty and poo flinging.

Crowler · 02/12/2013 18:28

Yes, I do not know who decided that cat owners get a free pass.

My batty hoarder-old lady next door who has brought mice into my life has also brought tons of cat poo into my life. She calls her cat "her majesty" or "madame" and says that it's not her poo even if I see madame pooing in my back garden.

NoAddedSuga · 02/12/2013 18:30

I have two cats that shit in my garden. Bloody sick of it

They try to come in my house everytime i open my window.

The problem with cats is that they are a nuisance to anyone but their owners.

I ve told dh that if those cats continue to scratch at my window, or get their paw inside the window to open it wider, then im going to take them about 10 miles away, then let them go. Im guessing they wont be able to find their way home from 10 miles.

issey6cats · 02/12/2013 18:32

YABU i have cats and my next door neighbours have a toddler and a baby and they get cat poo in their garden so even if it isnt my cats (lots of cats in our close) i will go out with a polythene bag and pick it up as i prefer to get on with my neighbours, it takes ten seconds to pick up and put in the bin

D0oinMeCleanin · 02/12/2013 18:32

You're guessing wrong, then NoAddedSuga, my Dad had a kitten when he was young that my Gran hated, so she gave it to a passing tradesman who lived in Blackpool. About 6 months later, the kitten returned home to my Dad in Stockton on Tees Grin

She still talks about how much she hated that "Devil Cat"

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 18:32

See. Animal cruelty. Told you. Thank goodness for microchipping.

Joysmum · 02/12/2013 18:35

Far worse is car owners who won't allow neighbours to scare cats out of their gardens! Too many cat owners are too previous about kitty and less thoughtful of neighbours. Oh, and I have 3 cats atm

I love the people who think that horse owners should get off their horses, stand with them in the road and pick up their poo!

A) dangerous and will hold traffic up
B) horses don't come with somewhere to site a shovel and a bucket!

People are fuckwits!

Joysmum · 02/12/2013 18:35

*car = cat

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 18:36

I am not previous about my cat. Grin

D0oinMeCleanin · 02/12/2013 18:38

My cat is too lazy to be scared of anything, seriously. We use him to cat test (leashed and muzzled) sighthounds, he would honestly rather be eaten than run away Hmm

If you do find a way to scare him, do let me know.

Whathaveiforgottentoday · 02/12/2013 18:40

My cat shits in our own garden generally right in the middle of the lawn. I was always under the impression that they went elsewhere to do their business but she's not too bright so she probably hasn't figured that out.

WilsonFrickett · 02/12/2013 18:40

YANBU but as the owner of a garden which is some sort of shit mecca for the neighbourhood cats, your neighbour is NBU either. Cat shit is unpleasant and while you know in your heart of hearts its unreasonable to ask someone to pick up cat shit, equally it is really fucking unpleasant scraping it off your child's shoes simply because they decided to play in their own gardens.

Justforlaughs · 02/12/2013 18:45

It might be unreasonable to expect anyone to pick up cats poo, it is not unreasonable to expect cat owners to train their cats to use their own litter tray. Lots of people manage to do so. Surprisingly, children don't automatically learn to use a toilet, they need to be trained. As do animals. Not that difficult. I hate the way that some cat owners seem to feel that they can just abdicate all responsibility for what they do when not on their own premises.

Crowler · 02/12/2013 18:48

I don't understand this. If your cat wanders freely around the neighborhood pooing in your neighbors' gardens, are you not worried that someone will hurt it?

sue52 · 02/12/2013 18:48

All the neighbourhood cats think they have a perfect right to poo in my vegetable garden. I do fantasise about my dogs to crapping on their owner's lawns in retribution but I have not acted on it (so far).

harticus · 02/12/2013 18:49

Of course you can't pick up your cat's shit.

But that doesn't stop me wanting to collect all the feline shite in my garden (which is now some kind of cat latrine) and shove it through the letterboxes of every cat owner in my street.

Before we attempt to do any gardening we have to do a "shit sweep" and clear the cat crap out of the borders - it's usually a Tesco carrier bag full at least.

MoreThanChristmasCrackers · 02/12/2013 18:49

I would sling it over your fence if you didn't pick it up. Why should other people put up with the mess of your pet.
You are the owner and responsible.

LST · 02/12/2013 18:51

No because not everyone is a cunt crowler.

specialsubject · 02/12/2013 18:53

water pistols are marvellous inventions. I also think there is something you can spray around to deter cats (and no, it's not poison..)

cats do normally bury.

notso · 02/12/2013 18:55

YABU you want a cat, I don't. You like poo, me not so much.
Cats should be like dogs and not allowed to roam around the place.