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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:
SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/12/2013 08:56

There's only one thing more obtuse than a cat owner on MN, and that's a fox lover! Hmm I have absolutely no idea why I open these threads, but I do it EVERY time! Confused Confused

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 08:56

No colinbaker I want cat owners to TRAIN their cats. That's it. Just train them, in the same way people train dogs to walk to heel and not follow their instincts to chase everything that comes into sight and not to shit in the house, in the same way people train their children to use a toilet and not to snatch etc, etc. TRAIN them, it is or should be part and parcel of owning a pet. What's so hard to understand

vtechjazz · 04/12/2013 08:57

No just, shit is a part of life, and we should graciously enjoy our shit smeared shoes/faces/worktops because to be annoyed by this makes us loons.

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/12/2013 09:00

In fact, the best thing to do is to buy 19 cats yourself and share out the shit/garden ratio!

LST · 04/12/2013 09:01

Just my cats are 'trained'. They have litter trays that they never ever use, and they shit in the garden but I can't stop them changing their mind one day and going to shit somewhere else.

LST · 04/12/2013 09:02

I love foxes too saggy.. I'm just a disgraceful human being Hmm Confused

LST · 04/12/2013 09:03

How many cats have shit on your face and worktops jazz? You must be one unlucky person!

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 09:03

I wonder if the same people who are so up in arms about their cats right to shit everywhere and their right not to have to clean it up, because shit is a way of life are the same people who have a heart attack if someone dares to leave a public toilet without washing their hands a million times. Hmm

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/12/2013 09:04

Or, own the stupidest dog in the world. He works himself up into a frenzy over the word 'CATS', runs outside barking manically, scaring any cat within hearing distance half to death, then wanders back into the house to go and Google 'cats' because he actually has no idea! Never caught so much as a cold in his life! Grin

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/12/2013 09:05

Yes LST you can stop them. You build a cat run and contain them. Simple.

Crowler · 04/12/2013 09:07

I don't see this as a PFB issue. It's an issue of property rights.

LST · 04/12/2013 09:09

Not a life for a cat. They would be better off being put in a room with no windows. Cruel to confine an animal that is used to roaming.

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 09:11

LST Like rabbits and pretty much any other pet you can of then, all animals in zoos etc.

Binkyridesagain · 04/12/2013 09:11

I bet those that are saying that cats should be confined to the house or cat runs are them same ones that tell me my birds shouldn't be kept in aviaries they should be flying free.

sandfrog · 04/12/2013 09:13

Cruel to confine an animal that is used to roaming.

So the cat isn't suitable as a domestic pet then.

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 04/12/2013 09:13

Thats a load of bollocks! Every species of animal roamed at some point! Why do cats have priority. That's just a crap excuse from a cat owner for inflicting their choice of animal on everyone else.
What's no life is being cut loose to be shot, poisoned or run over by a 10 tonne truck, all of which happen round here on a regular basis.

LST · 04/12/2013 09:14

No just not at all. My cats are all used to roaming. Unless you are a fucking idiot I doubt you let your pet rabbit who has always lived in a hutch out for a wander?

And who said I agree with zoos?

LST · 04/12/2013 09:16

Sand - I don't think cats should be kept in no. My cats are completely different of you have to keep them in for any reason.

LST · 04/12/2013 09:18

Saggy - no it's not bollocks. Which animals are you referring too? If you are talking about dogs that is completely different.

GoatyFucker · 04/12/2013 09:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Justforlaughs · 04/12/2013 09:20

LST, so you think it would ok to keep newborn kittens in cages then as they wouldn't have known any different Confused at least it would stop the problem in the future I suppose Hmm

Birdsgottafly · 04/12/2013 09:20

"I don't see this as a PFB issue. It's an issue of property rights"

There is no such thing as property rights, when it clashes with wildlife and cats are treated as wildlife, under the law.

In terms of foxes, we need to stop building on their territory, for staters.

There is a new estate being built not far from me, on what was an old LD institutions grounds. I know of three foxes that cross those grounds, I watch them year in year out and any successful young.

The estate is going to have to have fox proof bins, but I doubt the new residents will be informed if this.

They should be, before any if them get rabbits, at least, from an animal welfare POV.

That's if the houses sell, we have plenty of new build empty houses. People buy them on the mortgage deals and cannot hang on to them.

During the summer months, my cat can bring upto three rats a day home. We would be over run, if we didn't have a decent hunting cat population in my area.

LST · 04/12/2013 09:22

My cats wouldn't touch a rabbit... Foxes do though I imagine. .

LST · 04/12/2013 09:22

Yes just that's exactly what I meant. Hmm

Birdsgottafly · 04/12/2013 09:23

You can't let rabbits out because of all the cats....

Rabbits are pretty tough fighters, you would be surprised at the damage a healthy rabbit can do to cat. That's why ferrets don't always come off best.

No doubt there will be a few Welsh MN'ers that can vouch for this.