Should owners clean up after cats?

[Sillysausage2]

I'm a responsible dog owner and clean up after my dog. Unfortunately I think the scent of my dog attracts cats to my front garden, I watched 2 come and shit in my garden this afternoon! LO plays in the front garden and apparently cat shit is very dangerous, AIBU to be a bit pissed off with this?

Yanbu
I've never understood why dog owners are on a par with mass murderers if they don't pick it up but cat owners think its perfectly OK for cats to poo in other peoples gardens
I think cats should be kept indoors all the time
They are not wild animals, they ate pets and their owners should be responsible for them

I'm not really sure why so many people have cats. They kill indiscriminately and poo wherever they want. Though if they were kept inside more it would be less of a problem. Going to work? Put the cat out. Going to bed? Put the cat out. Going out? Same as before.

it's quite easy to tell cat and fox shit apart ime (having both regularly in my garden).
cat's are torpedo shaped, fox' dog turd shaped. both smelly and unpleasant.

YANBU cat owners drive me crazy, (and I fully expect some flack) they know the impact on wildlife cats have, they expect sympathy when an animal they've trained to roam the streets gets injured/ goes missing or worse, and they think their cats crapping everywhere is perfectly 'natural'. There are far too many of these predators, being supported to damage the local area (but equally left to fend for themselves against fights and traffic). I feel anger towards careless owners and sorry for them really.

We get foxes too, and their scat tends to be darker than cat poo. I find it on the lawn from time to time and once in my cats dinner bowl! (that was outside the back door). The foxes have also taken three of my cats dinner bowls from outside the back door over the years (one I did find at the bottom of the garden).

And even if they do bury their shit, I don't want them burying it in my backyard, thanks all the same.

yep. I don't want to have to put netting and spikes all over my veg patch so that the cats don't dig up the seedlings and spoil our food.

Catshit is loathsome but impossible to monitor cat roaming. I've tried to cat proof my garden with spiky strips on the top of the fence and wire mesh cross my gate. Not pretty but usually works.

I believe I read on here somewhere that in parts of Australia cats have to be confined to the owners' property because they are killing local wildlife.

I'd vote for a party that made that the law here.

Can't understand the whole 'I hate them, gross things' - just cos they poo, like everything/one else. They don't do it to annoy you, you know. They are generally private, clean creatures.

Mine are litter-tray trained and I think super-soakers are the best/least cruel solution.

super soakers only work when you are there (and are actually fast enough to get out as soon as You see a cat in the garden.

Cats are normally very private and will not poo in the middle of a lawn

HAHA, my neighbours cat is an exhibitionist them, he does not care who sees him, I have even run out and tried to shoo him away when I see him squatting but the bugger won't move until he has deposited, you can almost see him speed up to get it out before I reach him. Then he swaggers off and I am sure he is smirking, little bugger that he is! My neighbour is lovely, BTW, but is in the 'What can I do about it?' camp!

I hate rats as well, patience. Well hate is a strong word.

I don't want them in my garden because they dig up the veggies, shit everywhere and kill birds. Quite a reasonable view, I think.

They should train them to use a litter tray - my dsis had one in her garden - it was like a cat box with a cat flap. He def used it as when the door got stuck once he went in the flower bed next to it till dsis realised what had happened.

But most cats are trained to use a cat flap. If they are away from home most cats won't come home to use the tray but will go to the toilet where they are.

I would vote for a party that brought in that law too.
They should be kept indoors
Its not just the poo. The neighbours cat sits on and scratches our car
It gets in the house and is always in my garden.
It even tried to climb in through the living room window last week

But that doesn't make it ok, fox. Legally I could shoot rats, rabbits and foxes making a mess of my garden but I'm supposed to stand there and let cats shit and dig. What's so special about cats?

Disclaimer - I don't own a gun.

Sorry - trained to use a litter tray.

Perhaps you could legally shoot anything that wants to shit in your garden but I'd suggest anyone who did that may be in need of some specialist help.

Why would someone who shoots rabbits not require specialist help but someone who shoots cats require it? I couldn't shoot either but I can't see any difference, morally.

Well fortunately I'm not of the "there's a paedophile/animal murderer lurking on every street corner" mindset. Instead I've chosen to give my cat the best life for him which I believe is giving him the freedom to go out and about as he wishes. I know this is what he wants as the one and only time I tried to lock him in he ripped apart the very expensive microchip catflap we have. I have a litter tray but I very much doubt that he uses it all the time. I can't follow him around with a bag as he runs faster than me and can jump over fences, so I just have to live with the fact I do as much as I believe I can whilst ensuring he has a good quality of life.

I don't think cats are private shitters, just discreet to their owners and if you have cats you don't get other cats so don't have to deal with cat shit. My neighbour's cat poos in a specific place in my garden. I catch it doing it fairly frequently. On the lawn. Nearish to a wall but pretty much just out in the open on the lawn. It's lovely to have to clean up someone else's pet's shit several times a week. Especially with a baby and toddler in tow.