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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:
digerd · 02/12/2013 20:14

I thought all cats buried their poo. They love my newly built up shallow flower bed full of potting compost. First they dig a hole then poo then cover it back over. My compost bed is usually all over the driveway. They are put off if it is soaking wet thoughWink.

Somebody trained their cat to do it in their loo standing on the seat edge. There was a video on You TubeGrin
They will love a kiddies sand pit, I imagine.

And fox poo dogs love rolling in < to protect themselves from tics and fleas>. It is an orange splodgy looking patch on the ground.

thebody · 02/12/2013 20:15

justForLaughs

here in the UK in sunny Worcestershire we have usually 3 badgers visit per night and at least 1 fox and they all shit in the garden because we watch them!! so there!! Grin

shooting cats with a water pistol, whatever next! shooting badger? Angry

Justforlaughs · 02/12/2013 20:15

I'm just amazed that the same illness that killed the cat that obviously wasn't pooing in my garden, as it would have buried it obviously killed all the non-existent foxes and badgers at exactly the same time, because miraculously we haven't had any problems since it died! Wink

thebody · 02/12/2013 20:16

dogs have owners, cats have staff!

thebody · 02/12/2013 20:18

serious point though, there are foxes and badgers everywhere now. their poo is vile and different to dogs and cats.

I sound like a poo looney. but it's true.Grin

thebody · 02/12/2013 20:18

serious point though, there are foxes and badgers everywhere now. their poo is vile and different to dogs and cats.

I sound like a poo looney. but it's true.Grin

Justforlaughs · 02/12/2013 20:18

thebody I'm really not fussy Wink I'll shoot anything that shits in my garden with my watergun! In fact, I'd not be above aiming at the teenage boys having a piss against the wall on their way home from the pub! Grin

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 20:19

Somebody probably poisoned them Just.

D0oinMeCleanin · 02/12/2013 20:20

Faithful cats Grin

Mine's the biggest hussy going, he has three other "owners" that I know of. There will be more.

They all adopted him as a poor, if rather well fed, stray. He's supposed to eat special food for slightly portly cats, so adopted himself a few well meaning strangers, who keep him up in Whiskas.

Crowler · 02/12/2013 20:21

I have a problem with the law that allows cats to roam. I'm going to write my MP tomorrow. Wink

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 20:23

I am sure the law will be overturned by Wednesday then Crowler.

Crowler · 02/12/2013 20:27

That's right sparklingbrook. funny lady!

digerd · 02/12/2013 20:28

Most of our local dog walkers including me pick up our dog's poo in the fields and there are plenty of bins there to put the bag into.
My little dog does cat sized ones and are firm, always on grass never on concrete paving blocks. She won't go in the garden as needs a while of walking to get her bowels moving and even then is very fussy where does it changing her mind several times Confused.
I don't have cats, but neighbours have 3. They are not afraid of my little dog as they are bigger than herGrin and she loves them but they dislike her friendly attentions.

gamerchick · 02/12/2013 20:29

Fucking cats do not Bury their fucking shit! At least not the shedloads that pay a visit here. They do a squat and then a fffft fffft with their back legs and saunter off Angry

Keep a cat.. let it do its wotsit wherever.. just face the fact there are risks to its life when somebody gets pissed off enough. Mention cat shit to an allotment owner for eg and your toes will curl. Mine did and I don't like cats.

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 20:33

How can you get that pissed off by an animal's bodily function that you want to kill somebody's pet? That is just bonkers and fortunately there are laws against that sort of thing.

LST · 02/12/2013 20:34

Some do gamer.

gamerchick · 02/12/2013 20:40

I don't want to kill anything read my post again.

And quite easily.. I arrange my face just so first.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 02/12/2013 20:40

I'm going to write my MP tomorrow

You know all MP's have a cat behind them, pulling their strings right? Grin

I've had cats my entire life, all 40 years of it. I have never, in all that time come across some of the weird attitudes on this thread. I have 3 at this moment in time (or rather, they have me - I know how it goes) and they all a) shit in my back garden (which I realise doesn't preclude them from shitting anywhere else) and b) bury it (I've seen them do it).

It's honestly never occurred to me that I should be following them with a baggie in hand - Christ, I'd be walking miles everyday if that documentary on BBC2 is anything to go by! But if a neighbour complained, of course I'd go and clean it up. It has just never happened.

In all seriousness though - the fuckwits advocating removing cats or hurting them. Wtf? I mean, the dog owners near me are seriously irresponsible - there is fresh shit all over the pavements on the way to school every single morning. Never, ever, have I thought about how I'd like to hurt the dogs - not their fault their owners are selfish cunts is it?

TeddyBare · 02/12/2013 20:44

Sparkling, it is legal to cull feral cats. It wouldn't be too difficult to argue that a cat no one takes responsibility for is feral. Even if the cat did turn out to have an owner, I suspect most owners would assume their cat had found a new family or been hit by a car.

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 20:49

So all cats that poo in gardens are therefore feral Teddy? i am not sure what you are saying.
A cat with a microchip and collar is seen as feral? Confused

Binkyridesagain · 02/12/2013 20:49

Does anyone want a full description on what happens to a cat when some bastard poisons it? I can give you one, 10 days ago I watched my cat die, painfully, because some bastard decided they didn't like it. How about I tell you what it does to the family, the heartbreak it has caused my children, seeing their much loved pet in agony?

LST · 02/12/2013 20:50

Binky I am sorry for your loss Sad There are some bastards in the world.

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 20:52

I am so sorry Binky, that is really horrible.

Lj8893 · 02/12/2013 20:56

My mum had 3 cats, they never went far but occasionally would shit in her neighbours garden. She always asked to access the garden to clean it up but they always refused and said it was no bother. Thier dog used to always shit in her front garden and they never cleaned it up so swings and roundabouts really.

2 of the cats were poisoned and killed with antifreeze. Nothing could ever be said and proven about it but I had seen said neighbour putting an empty bottle of the stuff in his outdoor bin. Cruel cruel cruel.

In my local newspaper recently there was a story about a cat who came home having he his tail skinned. Disgusting.

ocelot41 · 02/12/2013 20:56

Look surely there is a middle way between the 'Don't care how much crap ends up in my neighbour's garden or how annoyed they are about it' brigade and the 'string the moggies up at dawn' posse? After all this is about, y'know, living as neighbours and all that!

The problem is that cats are getting into your neighbours' yard and pooing. So either woman up and a/do a daily poo patrol and/or b/ work with your neighbour to make your neighbour's yard less easily and comfortably accessible. You'll never be able to keep a determined puss out a hundred per cent, but you can hopefully discourage it so that its easier for it to form new habits. How hard can that be?