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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My cats and cat poo in neighbours' gardens

555 replies

Blahdeblah1 · 12/07/2015 08:52

I moved into my house a year ago and have three cats. My neighbours are all quite elderly and have lived there for decades, they are all keen gardeners and very proud of their gardens.

Several months ago my next door neighbour started complaining to me about my cats pooing on his drive, so every time I go round and clear it up. Although to be honest I'm not convinced that the poo is from my cats.

Anyway, I'm now having complaints about cat poo from people who live way down the street, that my cats are pooing in their garden, although they admitted they hadn't actually seen the cat that did it. I live on a large suburban housing estate where there are loads of cats.

AIBU for thinking that cats are cats and I shouldn't be expected to be picking up any cat poo really, and to tell my neighbours to deal with it themselves and stop complaining to me? I can't control where my cats poo, they are not dogs.

OP posts:
LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:17

How precious do you have to be to "suffer" because of a poo...

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:18

Why can't you just accept that you are in an unethical position? I mean it is indefensible. It is a simple ethical proposition. It is easy to see the right and wrong of it.

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:19

'a' poo?

Why don't you read these posts. Some of us have had years and years of clearing up cat owners' cats' shit.

One poo? One poo and there would be NO thread here. Years of poo, that's another matter

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:21

why don't you be explicit, you don't care about your neighbour's distress. That is what this whole thread is about. You don't care.

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:21

Nigel because you haven't given me any reason to support your view.

You say a poo on the grass is unethical. I ask you if wildlife pooing on the grass is unethical. You say no because wildlife don't have owners. Which proves that the poo itself isn't the issue, your issue is people "letting" the cats poo on the lawn. Which is an entirely different argument and shows that it's just you being grumpy

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:26

No it's not about wildlife poo which is caused by, effectively, an act of god like an earthquake.

Ethically every cat owner whose cat roams knows, deep down, litter tray or not, that having a cat means your cat will shite around probably most aggressively in non cat owners' gardens.

This is what you choose when you get a cat. Everyone knows that cat owners don't care about their neighbours. If they did, they wouldn't have cats.

Domestic cats have owners. So their poo is only in my garden because that cat's owner doesn't care about their neighbours. You can't use the poo of wildlife to ethically shelter your cat's poo unless your 5 and you don't have any understanding of simple ethics.

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:27

sorry, you're 5!

GraysAnalogy · 14/07/2015 17:29

Funny how there's uproar about filthy people leaving dog poo all over the show but some cat people think it's okay to shirk their responsibilities.

PosterEh · 14/07/2015 17:30

My lawn is covered in these patches (I've zoomed in so not too identifying). There's long strips of dead grass along both walls as well. I'll stop feeling guilty about the state of my lawn next to my neighbour's immaculate garden now I've found out that it's probably caused by her cats' wee.

On a positive note I've bought a sonic deterrent thing with reasonable reviews on amazon and I'll get a water pistol at the weekend.

My cats and cat poo in neighbours' gardens
Boosiehs · 14/07/2015 17:30

I honestly am amazed that lashes et al cannot see how utterly selfish they are by prioritising their right to own a cat who shits all over the neighbours' gardens, over their neighbours' rights to use their gardens without having to collect shit.

I think the environmental health will get involved for a persistent shitting offender.

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:32

the OP says
"Although to be honest I'm not convinced that the poo is from my cats. "

She has three cats. Every day those cats are shitting some where. That's a lot of poo.

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:33

Nigel I don't even know where to start with that, perhaps at the point that you've had to fling insults to get your point across therefore reducing what little credibility you had.

What is unethical about poo outside, in its natural "habitat"?

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 14/07/2015 17:35

I don't care that my pet craps up your garden

Hmm, if you have an animal crapping UP your garden, it is unlikely to be a cat. They generally tend to crap in a downward motion. HTH Smile

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:36

So is it ok for me to crap in your garden? Because that is where poo belongs?

Just following your ethical construct here....

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:38

Nigel, presumably you are of sound mental capacity and intelligence to not crap in my garden. A cat is not self aware to the same extent. There is a difference.

GraysAnalogy · 14/07/2015 17:38

There is a complete difference from a bear shitting in the woods and a cat shitting on someones lawn.

Not to the cat, but to the owner of the cat.

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:39

You don't appear to understand that there is an ethical issue that cat owners cause by having roaming domestic cats. It is unarguable. You keep splitting hairs about wildlife. Not relevant.
This is very simple. Your pet causes grief and distress and damage to the property of others. That is neither ethical or defensible, that's it. If you understand ethics then you understand that.
It's not complex.

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:40

Nigel you keep throwing insults to mask your lack of argument. Filling your post with buzzwords doesn't help.

I've asked you time and time again what is unethical about animal poo outdoors and you have failed to answer me.

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:41

Now you're blaming the cat for crapping in my garden. No I don't blame the cat, the cat is not the ethical agent here. It isn't complicated.
The owner chooses to have a pet which is a free range defecator. This is an act of will, an act of choice.

GraysAnalogy · 14/07/2015 17:42

There's nothing unethical about cat shit per se.

It's the leaving of the cat shit that's unethical, and expecting others to tidy it up for you.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 14/07/2015 17:43

Cats tend not to shit on lawns (as has already been said). Occasionally, one might, but it is not the general rule.
Foxes crap on our lawn on a very regular basis.

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:43

Nigel so your argument is by owning an animal that shits outside, you're being unethical?

What is the more ethical thing in your opinion - no one owning cats, causing there to be feral cats, which would still shit on your lawn? Or euthanise cats, which would be cruel and selfish? Keep cats indoors, which again is cruel?

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:44

Grays why is it any different to any other animal shit?

nigelslaterfan · 14/07/2015 17:44

animal poo outside is ethically irrelevant. The poo of wildlife is not a problem, it's not the issue. I've said the poo of wildlife doesn't have an ethical dimension in this argument.

The owner of a cat causes a cost to their neighbours that they are unwilling to acknowledge. It seems childish not to acknowledge that your pet cause distress to another.

LashesandLipstick · 14/07/2015 17:45

What cost - picking up a shit? That's melodramatic