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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:
vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 07:55

Oh, I'm sorry! Not wanting a blinded child is being pfb is it!!?? I guess you would just suck it up if your kids were blinded and smile indulgently at the dirty fucker cat who shits all over your garden would you?

Colinbakergotfat · 04/12/2013 07:57

Oh FFs. I know nothing about cats. But I do know that they have territories, enjoy roaming, cause very little menace to society and rarely get killed roaming the neighbourhood. That is what they do. What they have done for hundreds of years. Confused

Let's start giving them asbos and/or curtailing their natural behaviour. Jeeze.

Colinbakergotfat · 04/12/2013 08:00

There are 400 cases of toxoplasmosis a year. Mostly contracted by immunosuppressed people via infected meat.

So yes, pfb. You can't mitigate for every single illness - you can protect your kids by doing a quick sweep for obvious cat shit. No biggie.

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:01

yes hear it all the time, children blinded by a cat!
very very rare.

bitten by dogs not so rare. doesn't make me hate dogs.

utter crap.

HedgehogsRevenge · 04/12/2013 08:07

You know vtech you really should teach your dc not to go around eating shit. It's not difficult. I have dc, they have never had the inclination to pick up shit and eat it.
The majority of responsible cat owners worm their cats. If as some people are suggesting we stop keeping cats as pets, what do you think would happen? The entire species ceases to exist? No, the streets would become overrun with unneuetered, unwormed, disease ridden wild cats and the impact on wildlife would be devastating.
Oh and you are far far more likely to contract toxoplasmosis from the meat you eat so best put your dc on a vegetarian diet.

vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 08:07

So when you buy a cat you do so knowing it compels every neighbor to 'sweep' for shit every time they want their kids to play? Nice.

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:09

yes hear it all the time, children blinded by a cat!
very very rare.

bitten by dogs not so rare. doesn't make me hate dogs.

utter crap.

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:11

in all my years as a nurse and mother I have seen many children injured in garden accidents, especially trampolines but never ever one blinded by cat shit.

utterly ridiculous.

teaching children to be cruel to animals is child abuse.

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:20

if kids are little enough to see cat shit, pick it up and rub it in their eyes then I suggest you need to be out there with them anyway.

vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 08:21

Its still a risk, caused by selfish people who are too lazy to mitigate the risks themselves.

vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 08:24

Your kids might rub shit in their faces thebody, mine dont.

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 08:29

MoominMammasHandbag I couldn't agree more about not understanding why people want to have pets in the first place - don't get it at all; but frankly don't care, providing I'm not expected to take responsibility for it. There are some very strange people on here. I also find the double standards of: cat kills birds - natural behaviour; dog chases cat - arghh, dangerous dog; quite laughable. I'm not pfb but I'll admit to not wanting any poo, cat or dog or even fox trapsed through my house or car. Anyone who sees the mess that their pet makes as being someone else's problem needs their head read. Child isn't toilet trained, you put nappies on them and train them to use a toilet. Train your pets to use litter trays - not rocket science is it?
Loving the thread though Grin Totally mad bunfight

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:30

Vtechjazz life is a risk. every time your child gets out if bed there's a potential risk.

to blame cats adding to the risk of injury is frankly daft.

please don't teach your children to be cruel to any animal.

it's not nice. not just you but other posters.

it's not good for the child as a child cruel to animals is generally a nasty piece of work.

Canidae · 04/12/2013 08:30

The cats only shit in my front garden which I rarely use. Ideal? No, but I can't change that. Only the very stupid ones hang around the back garden.

The cat shit isn't a concern for me, no PBFs or lovely flower/veg garden here!

But I am getting sick of the fighting. I was awake again at 3.40am by the screaming under my window. It was big-fat-ginger tom and next door's black-and-white-patchy with two more watching. It happens around 3x a week.

If I was woken up by dogs barking duing unsocial hours I could complain but it seems I just have to put up with the territory wars from too many fucking cats.

thebody · 04/12/2013 08:34

justforlaughs and moonmins

Poole have pets for many reasons. because they are lovely, good company for the lonely, child substitutes for empty nesters or great for children who are disabled or traumatised.

we got our new kitten for dd who was involved in a fatal school coach crash. she and her friends were badly injured and a teacher killed.

so you see kitty helped to heal her, she keeps her calm in the night when she's scared.

that's why people have pets. not to puss you off or spoil your flower beds but because they are much needed and much loved.

like your children need a teddy perhaps?

GoatyFucker · 04/12/2013 08:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 08:44

thebody I'm sorry that your daughter (and you) have been through such a traumatic experience and I'm genuinely glad that a cat has helped. Without meaning to sound harsh and upset you, I still struggle to see why that would make me happy to see a cat shit in my garden Confused

babybarrister · 04/12/2013 08:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LST · 04/12/2013 08:48

God almighty get a grip. I have 3 cats a dog and an unblind child. He plays in the garden where they all shit and piss and still he lives!

Fuck me you lot need to get out more. The world is bigger than your cat shit filled back gardens you know.

Colinbakergotfat · 04/12/2013 08:48

Oh FFs people do not revel in a cat shitting in your garden. Don't be so pig-headed. Do you want to ban cat ownership? Or do you want people letting themselves into your garden to clear up what may or may not be their own cat's shit?

The body did not say she was happy that cats shit in your garden. She said that owning a cat is therapeutic for her child. Stop conflating these two things.

vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 08:49

Actually, thebody, animal cruelty is a symptom of an already existing mental imbalance....you don't create a psychopath by scaring cats away. Clutching straws much??

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 08:52

Can we start on dog owners who insist on letting their dogs shit on playing fields now? Please? Where children play sport and will land head first on the floor when tackled.

Morgause · 04/12/2013 08:55

In some parts of Australia cats are not allowed to roam. They have to be confined to their owners' land.

I live for the day when that becomes law here - I don't think it will be that long. Dogs laws have been tightened up a lot in the last decade.

Cat ownerships is a personal choice but an anti-social one if it's allowed to roam and shit where it likes.

LST · 04/12/2013 08:55

My dog shits on playing fields. I pick it up though. As he does it in front of me.

Normally surrounded by 100 piles of other types of shit though.

sandfrog · 04/12/2013 08:55

And no, I do not wish animals any harm - I just do not like cats in my garden - surely I am also entitled to that aren't I? I don't stop you having them in your garden!

Exactly babybarrister.