AIBU to think that as I don't own a cat I shouldn't have to clear up cat sh*t from my garden every other day??

[Magicpaintbrush]

I choose not to own a cat, and yet once again I find myself this morning in my front garden shovelling up big smelly piles of cat poo. If it was my own pet I wouldn't mind, but I'm really getting the hump with being up to my elbows in sh*t because someone else's pet thinks my garden is a toilet. I love animals -usually - but it's so gross, so stinky and really unhygenic. It was cat diarrhea on my rock plants at the weekend just as we were expecting visitors, just caught the little sod squatting on my plants despite me banging on the window in a rage. Does anybody have any suggestions of cat deterrants that actually work? We've tried all sorts but they just ignore it. We even had a deterrant containing lion scent called Silent Roar (!!!!) which is supposed to make them think a big hungry predator is nearby - they didn't give a toss. Ideas anybody...?

Yeah, I think the apologists don't realise it's generally the shit rather than the cats people take issue with. I'd be equally unimpressed if someone's DH went feral and shat on my lawn. Fortunately the ones on my road all appear to be house trained.

As an old gimmer I would say there are more pets around than there used to be in years passed ie the 70s/even 80s.

People are better off and have what they want I suppose. And maybe more people working so the cats roam more.

Your 'nice garden' is not that important that it's worth making an animal sick for.

I'd argue that nobody's right to a pet they refuse to keep under control overrides my right to enjoy my property. I'm also not sure that cat owners have the right to demand people stop using household products as deterrents because if their roaming cat gets in on them it might make them ill!! There no higher levels of entitlement than the ones cat owners expect.

It's not about pet owner entitlement, it's about avoiding animal cruelty. It's not only cats that will suffer if you start putting bleach or other toxins out.

Pets can be a contentious issue. I'm a cat lover, I have a kitten who will go out soon. But I do worry about her doing the toilet in neighbours' gardens. I do understand that people shouldn't have to clean up animal poo.

However I disagree that other pets are inoffensive. Ihate it when dogs jump up and lick me or my kids. The cycle track near us is full of dog poo. If I see an aggressive breed of dog come anywhere near my kids I tell the owners to keep it the hell away.

I would never be cruel to a dog though, of course not.

Not sure what the solution is? I might offer to clean up my cat's poo if she's seen doing it and/or buy deterrants. Hopefully she'll go in the big empty field behind us though!

I'm a cat lover but a cat shit hater

Today 15:33 WeAllFloat

The poster said she deliberately sprayed bleach and jeyes fluid at cats in her garden.
That's what the comment was about.
Hopefully this was not true and the poster was just being a gf and trying to get a rise out of people.
Seeing as they have been banned twice ( atleast today!) then it would not surprise me.

I used to have a very keen on his garden type neighbour and it made him so angry. I think it's probably better to suck it up and not give yourself palpitations.

Shiny things, screechy noise things, bang on the window when you see the little blighters.

One of the best solutions though is to live on a busy road where nobody has cats.

We rarely see one here. But we do have to contend with fox, pigeon and hedgehog poo.

Of course it's about pet owner entitlement. I'm not planning to start spraying bleach at any cats in the vicinity. Quite apart from anything else we no longer have a cat shit problem in our garden, and anyway I don't mind cats being there per se (which is, incidentally, rather understanding of me considering they've been imposed on me without anyone asking if I was ok with it). But the issue wouldn't arise without people thinking they were entitled to own animals that they either can't or won't prevent from shitting on other people's premises. The selfish, entitled, arrogant behaviour of the owners doesn't excuse whatever cruelties people want to perpetrate on the cats, of course. Clearly not. But it absolutely is about entitlement because without that entitlement, those cats wouldn't be there.

No it's absolutely not to do with entitlement. You really think that's the view of people who own pets? What a very odd way of perceiving things.

So, if all the cats were gone, what would you move on to next? Me, it's those fucking massive wood pigeons who shit all over my car, patio, lawn, washing and garden furniture. Entitled bastards, I own that land and they think they can just shit where ever they like.

I can't see how it is entitlement - people choose a cat for lots of good reasons and very often it chooses them. Cats are independent - they wander. The person who thinks they trained them to use a tray can't know whether they were going elsewhere in addition.
Dogs stay in a garden unless taken out. You can't keep a cat in a garden and you don't take them out. It is very cruel to keep them indoors and never let them out.
I don't actually have a cat, don't intend getting one - but it is a perfectly reasonable choice for me to get one.

It is entitled, when owners of the shitting machines sit back telling the people suffering from their pets crapping in their gardens, how they should buy the deterrents, wait about with water pistols, get over it, relax...it's only shit etc, while doing absolutely fuck all themselves to solve the issue....and then get pissy when a chosen method of deterring them is scowled at in case tiddles licks his paw later and gets a poorly tum-tum.

If my kid was bullying yours, and my attitude was it was your job to get counselling for your bullied kid, change school, ignore it as its just what kids do etc, there would be uproar.

Exactly weallfloat. It's about entitlement and will be for as long as there are people who think themselves entitled to keep cats they can't or won't stop from shitting on other people's gardens. The mode of acquisition and reasons for doing so don't alter this. The only thing that would alter it is the cat not shitting in other people's gardens.

And this is why the wood pigeon analogy doesn't work. Nobody, in my neck of the woods anyway, is choosing to keep them knowing they're going to shit in other people's gardens. If they are in yours, fair enough. The only comparison is with animals people are choosing to keep knowing they either can't or won't prevent them from shitting outside their property. So no, not pets per se slightlyjadedjack. Very silly of you to think so. Our goldfish never, to my knowledge at least, indulged in that particular vice.

What exactly are the (understandably) pissed off garden owners asking for?

Apart from "don't complain if I shoot your cat with a Supersoaker" which is absolutely fair enough.

Is it that all pet cats in urban or suburban areas should be kept indoors as house cats and not allowed to roam unless in their owners' escape-proofed garden? I honestly think that's the only way to eliminate the problem. It's not a crazy suggestion but it would be a big ask in the UK because keeping cats indoors all the time is widely seen as being cruel.

Wtaf. I cant believe this thread. .
Bleach?! I live in an area of animal lovers. Its also really rough. If anyone was heard to be doing that shit they would have a angry mob at there door.
Awful, vile person.

Anyone who would intentionally hurt animals, just because there annoyed needs a fucking kick in the arse. Shocking.

Ignore bleach poster, deleted GF.

I'm sure you think you're very witty with that response Liedel but you just sound like a patronising twat. Plenty of people keep animals, including pigeons, that shit outside of their owners property but my point was if the cats are gone are you happy for other animals (such as a wood pigeon) to shit in your garden?

But actually don't bother answering that, because I'm off to watch GBBO which is far more entertaining than debating cat shit with odd people.

Stop breeding outdoor cats. Only allow indoor breeds to be kept. If your cats are the Problem, YOU stop it. It's the attitude that you get all the fun bits of cat ownership while literally leaving the shit to someone else that makes people hate cats.

Have you made your cat pose in front of a fan!? Why is it so....swishy!?

You flatter yourself jaded: it really took only the application of a small modicum of common sense to point out the great big fuckoff hole in your argument. It's so very silly that even someone in possession of no wit whatsoever could skewer it. So let's spell it out again: if an animal shits in my garden and it's a wild animal, there's nobody for me to be annoyed at because no human has taken the decision to impose them on me. They're just there. It's really very simple. Do stick the flounce though, yeah?