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?

Even their shit? Weird neighbours you have.

If cat owners are aware of the issue then it would be considerate to offer to clear it up. There was one cat in our cul de sac of 5 houses and we had loads left on our front lawn. Spent lots on alarm things which did work (lots of evils from cat!) They have now moved out no more poo.

Cat shit doesn't bother me - it's just one more thing to clear up in the grand scheme of things but I did object strenuously to the un-neutered Tom who used to piss up our front door and then came in the house and sprayed all over the kitchen. I made his owners pay to have my house cleaned after that and in the end took him and had him done myself. I also made the owners of the cat who attacked my dog pay for the stitches he needed - both owners tried to use the fact that their cats were roaming as a reason why they weren't responsible but I was able to put pressure on them and in the end got the money. Your pet may be classed as a wild animal in law but that doesn't absolve you of the moral responsibility if other people are incurring costs.

On the flipside when the neighbours cat came into our house through the open back door my dog killed it. This is despite warning the neighbours about her past (ex-racer who had killed things before we adopted her), havin a baby gate across the back door so the dogs couldn't get into the garden unsupervised, having screens across windows and door which I stopped replacing when the cat ripped through them, offering to go halves on cat proofing either mine or their garden and doing everything I could to discourage the cat. I am afraid in that case I did not offer to pay the vet bill. It was horrible and I felt awful but I am afraid that the owners had the attitude that you can't train cats (here's a hint: you can) and that they couldn't control where the cat went. In the end only the animal suffered.

"Can't afford to put up a fence? Don't get a cat

Can't afford to put up a fence? Don't get a cat.

My cats nearly fell off the top of the eight foot fence around the garden with laughter on reading this"

You obviously don't have cat fencing then! Why not? You obviously think it is perfectly acceptable for your neighbours to have to put up with your cats and their shit.

I thought cats buried their poo.

they dig up my veg patch but shit next to the hole...

What is a cat fence? My ginger tom will happily run straight up and down the pine trees behind my house, would have to be an interesting design!

Cinnamon - it is a tall wire fence that slants inwardly at the top. Would make any garden look like a prison camp. Most unsightly (and totally impractical for most gardens). Ours has a lot of trees and outbuildings, so would make absolutely no difference to any climbing creature wishing to enter or leave the garden, whatsoever.

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I hate cats, and am always surprised that I'm supposed to accept certain things about them just because that's the way cats are.

Like the fact that there will certainly be certain kinds of poo in your garden, so you should accept cat poo as a fact of life. Well, how would you feel about a dog owner telling you that?

Or, that cats are resistant to training. Doesn't this mean they're not well-suited as domestic pets?

Or, that it's cruel to not allow them to roam. What if I decide to keep pet mice or rats? Doesn't this pose a threat to them?

I loved the story a while back about cat owners complaining about the gardener who put down gravel to prevent cat poo. That squares nicely with my experience with my insane cat-owner neighbor, who calls her cat "her majesty" and will frequently stop me on the school run to tell me about the cat's health issues.

I would so love to meet an uncaged rodent that would willingly come home at the end of the day for its supper

What is the threat to a domestic rodent if they are in a safe enclosure)? If you let a domestic rodent out into the wild, I can pretty much guarantee you will never see it again.
Wild mice and rats, however, (ie, filthy disease-carrying vermin) have their numbers restricted, thanks to all the lovely cats out there doing a marvellous job

you should accept cat poo as a fact of life. Well, how would you feel about a dog owner telling you that

Yet we do have to accept some dog owners who do not collect their dog poo. As the law stands at the moment, it is a fineable offence to leave dog poo lying around. Maybe this is the reason why so many dog owners leave their dog poo bags hanging so decoratively from trees, little poo baubles - because it's safely bagged and not lying on the pavement. Even though there are dog waste bins all over the place.

I imagine that rats and mice are probably really easy to train to come home of an evening or to poo in their designated rodent toileting area. It's just a big fat lie that they can't be trained just like it's a big fat lie that cats aren't always responsive to training. Afterall, that would mean that they, along with guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and fish wouldn't be suited to being a domestic pet based purely on receptiveness to training.

Obviously there is no solution to this.

Cat owners are happy to have a pet which craps all over other people's property.

Non cat owners think that is a revolting thing that they have to put up with because Cat Owners are obliged to have cats for some reason.

Ipso facto - cat owners are selfish.

So at least APOLOGISE TO THE REST OF US and then say as little as possible because the fact is we have no choice and we have to indulge your self indulgence. Say sorry.

Say sorry - Erm, let me think ......... NO!

Of course - fit them all with GPS collar and then spend your days tracking cat shit all over the area. Highly practical. Of course, whole cats can shit in the wrong place, they tend not to on pavements, which is a huge difference from dogs.

*on the whole,

Foxsticks - That would make for an interesting experiment, actually.
All those rodent keepers brave enough to set free the rodents after vigorous training to come home to use their weeny little toilets, against cat owners trying to set in place the same training!

See who comes home first!

We have two cats, sisters. One will ONLY go in her litter tray, the other never has. The first is happy to be in the house, the other is not. I've tried keeping them both in, and whilst the first is in her element, the second breaks her way out as though this is a prison camp. I've locked the cat flap at night, she just bashes it open (and has broken it several times). I've put barricades in front of it - in the middle of the night we hear a huge great crash as it all comes tumbling down where she's pushed everything out of the way. She just stands on her hind feet, pushes the obstacles out of the way with her front paws and crashes through the locked cat flap, breaking it yet again. It's not for want of trying - she is totally untrainable.

Say sorry Evans! You know you are ashamed of yourself and your hairy indulgence!

I have never had a cat but have never been bothered by cats in my garden. We used to live in cat central (urban area of family houses that weren't really suitable for dogs). Except for once finding a dead cat in the garden (I think it expired of old age), they weren't a problem.

Foxes and pigeons were more of a bother.

and parakeets and squirrels.

and rats.

Shan't, so there :P

Yup they should. And I'm well within my rights to kick said cat up the arse when it shuts on my garden.

I don't have rats or mice as pets, incidentally. (no way) But what if I would like to keep them in a cage in my back garden? Isn't that my right as a property owner?

Or, a rabbit?

I don't accept dog poo any more than I do cat poo. But there seems to be some disagreement among the cat owners as to their obligation to clear up cat poo. You won't find dog owners saying the same, for certain (even those who don't clean up their dog poo).