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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:
Heartbrokenmum73 · 02/12/2013 20:57

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.

Oh, well, that makes it ok then, doesn't it? Because when my cat disappeared a few years back I just dusted my hands together, cheerfully went 'oh he's found a new family or been hit by a car!' and got on with my day Hmm I wasn't upset at all at losing my cat who'd been with us for 17 fucking years.

The not knowing is often worse than knowing.

gamerchick · 02/12/2013 20:58

Isn't antifreeze going down on the roads now? My Facebook is full of warnings for pets atm.

I'm not sure how you could protect a roaming cat from it like you can dogs.

I'm sorry to hear that binky.. It must be upsetting to lose a pet like that. :(

thebody · 02/12/2013 20:58

Binky that's absolutely vile. I know we would be fevers rated if anything happened to our cats and I shudder to think how dds would take it.

justforlaughs oh definatly teenage boys having the outdoor piss, go for it. Grin

MidniteScribbler · 02/12/2013 21:00

I've moved to an area where cats are not permitted to roam, woohoo!! I've seen lots of cat enclosures in back yards so the cats are keeping their shit where it belongs, and not in my garden beds.

If people want a pet of any species, then it should be confined to their own property, not annoying the rest of the neighbourhood. And I'm not a cat hater by any means, I had one that lived until she was 19 years of age and had never set a paw outside our property because she was either indoors or in an enclosure, and I'm currently looking for a new cat to join us who will live under the same rules. Happy, safe, and not being a nuisance to the neighbours who did not choose to have a cat and should not be expected to pick up after mine.

TeddyBare · 02/12/2013 21:00

Sparkling, I think it would be easy enough to argue that a cat is feral if the person culling it has attempted to find an owner and there isn't one. If there is someone claiming to be the owner but they're not taking responsibility for the cat (i.e. cleaning up behind it when requested, keeping it inside at dawn and dusk to minimise hunting etc) then it would be within the definition of feral, as it would be living at least partially independently of humans. The definition is here: www.gwct.org.uk/research/long-term-monitoring/national-gamebag-census/mammal-bags-comprehensive-overviews/feral-cat/ Any potential cat culler would be obliged to do it humanely.
The loss of a loved pet is surely a risk you take when you get a pet which roams. It's still must more likely to die by getting run over than being mistaken for feral. I suppose the obvious way to avoid that would be to keep it inside or in a run and if you find that unethical get pets which can be kept inside ethically.

MrsBennetsEldest · 02/12/2013 21:01

Now I dislike a soft pebble as much as the next person and as my cats are indoor cats, I know for a fact that,

A) my cats never crap in anyone else's garden.
B) every turd that==sticks to my gardening glove==I discover in my garden belongs to someone else's cat.

It's disgusting but it's not the end of the world. Yes, cats do kill birds ( not just song birds) but they also kill vermin.

For all potential cat attackers, hell hath no fury like a cat owner riled.....be warned. ;)

usualsuspect · 02/12/2013 21:02

Risk to its life when someone gets pissed off enough?

What the fuck?

MrsBennetsEldest · 02/12/2013 21:02

Aargh...strike through fail

ElfontheShelfIsWATCHINGYOUTOO · 02/12/2013 21:04

I had to stop growing veg last year and I couldnt go in my pots for months, I came out one day and the pots were literally covered in cat shit. I was aghast Shock. Pregnant.....

Imsosorryalan · 02/12/2013 21:05

Surely most cats poo after food? Isn't it possible to keep them in until they use their litter tray and then let them out?? Oh sorry, then you might actually have to clean it up Wink

froubylou · 02/12/2013 21:07

I don't like cats and dislike their shit even more.

So I got myself a little whippet pup. Whippet doesn't like cats. Cats don't like my garden anymore. Neither do the squirrels either. Whippet is quick.

The whippet is lovely though.

sneezecakesmum · 02/12/2013 21:09

YANBU. However loathsome cat poo is (dog's poo too) and a potential health hazard it impossible to collect.

my garden is cat proofed with spikes along the fence, impenetrable wire mesh over the metal gate and every small hole blocked! Job done!

sneezecakesmum · 02/12/2013 21:10

NB plastic spikes not metal so it hurts but not injures!

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/12/2013 21:13

It's disgusting but it's not the end of the world. Yes, cats do kill birds ( not just song birds) but they also kill vermin. Vermin that might also be food animals for raptors, for example. It also feels like the end of the world when my DD (2 yo) digs in her garden with her little gardening tools and shit is everywhere.

WelshMaenad · 02/12/2013 21:14

I wish my cats would shit in my neighbours gardens. Sadly they all love the litter tray and will happily pop home to shit in it then go back outside to carry on deratting the neighbourhood.

Anyway, you folk think you have problems, I get sheep breaking into my garden and shitting everywhere. The farmer doesn't seem to give a monkeys either.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 02/12/2013 21:15

So I got myself a little whippet pup. Whippet doesn't like cats. Cats don't like my garden anymore. Neither do the squirrels either. Whippet is quick.

You sound delightful. Hope your whippet doesn't meet a bigger dog in the park. Bigger dogs might not like whippet.

Sparklingbrook · 02/12/2013 21:15

You need to get him over to shovel it up Welsh.

MrsBennetsEldest · 02/12/2013 21:18

Raptors take birds....sparrow hawk ???

AutumnStarOfWonder · 02/12/2013 21:20

This thread has been fairly reasonable, give or take the odd comment about people hating cats so much they have no choice but to kill them Hmm.

I have three cats. They mostly shit in their tray or the woods. If one of my neighbours said they had done it in their garden, I'd go and pick it up. But if it were me, I'd probably just pick it up myself. Not saying people should. I'd just find it easier.

Happily, as Sparkling said earlier, I've never come across some of the more extreme MN attitudes to mogs in real life.

Sorry for your loss Binky. Thanks

ITCouldBeWorse · 02/12/2013 21:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thebody · 02/12/2013 21:20

midnite where do you live? no cats roam???

TeddyBare you sound a very scary person to be honest.
and I hope you don't really do this.

to most people their animals are family members and to talk about 'culling' a beloved pet is chilling in the extreme.

MrsTerryPratchett · 02/12/2013 21:20

Kestrels, for example, take small mammals.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 02/12/2013 21:22

Bloody hell, MrsTP - I thought it was a typo when you put raptors.

I was honestly thinking 'dinosaurs?' Grin

Sallystyle · 02/12/2013 21:23

I do not allow my cats to go outside.

  1. It's not fair for others to have cat shit in their garden.
  1. I don't want them to get hit by a car and my pedigree cat is way too dumb to handle outside life.
  1. I don't want them killing wildlife.

They have never known outside so they are happy to be indoors. They are kept very occupied by many different toys and a big house to run around in.

Binkyridesagain · 02/12/2013 21:24

Thank you for the flowers and kind words.