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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

neighbour scaring cat off from her garden

254 replies

DanHumphreyIsA · 27/08/2017 20:46

Ok not by being physical but just chasing him off with a water pistol or shooing him away.

I am not being arsy about that, by the way but wondering if IBU to offer to buy her some cat repellants or something? OH thinks we should leave it and thinks she's just mean lol.

We have only recently moved to this area, have never spoken to her. We said hello a few times, she's not interested, fair enough. We've also put a note through before when we had work done to the house to apologise for the noise (she's quite old, I would say 70+) so I atleast hope she knows we're not mean people.

We can't keep the cat in as he was a stray so used to outdoors and goes crazy if hes kept in. I have tried shouting him when he goes over the fence, but, well he's a cat Grin

I dont like it as he's my baby of course, but if she doesn't like cats or whatever and aslong as he's not hurt I can't exactly say anything.
I'm not really sure whether to just let it be and let her chase him off? I'm just worried he might piss her off enough to start chucking stones at him or something.

She's obviously not fussed about us being 'neighbourly' so I dont know if it would be overstepping to go and offer her some cat repellents or similar (open to suggestions on something 'similar' btw)

OP posts:
5foot5 · 27/08/2017 22:22

You could get her some of this Silent Roar Lion Manure. Grin

Or maybe give her some spoons to throw at it.

MyMorningHasBroken · 27/08/2017 22:25

n elderly family member made a point of going into his garden to chase away cats, well he fell down his steps so he soon stopped chasing them! I'd maybe suggest offering her something to keep them out of the garden but she would probably just laugh at you, some people are just like that. It wouldn't phase me if a cat was shitting in my garden, I'd clean it and if it really bothered me, get a repellent. I know it can be annoying to someone who isn't a cat owner and it's usually the elderly who are like this! (I have cats myself) ageist crap.
You do give cat owners a bad name. there are plenty of decent ones who do actually care and my comments are not aimed at them. Just the ones who don't give a shit.

AlpacaLipsNow · 27/08/2017 22:25

I squirt next door's cat. Bastard thing thinks my gravel is a litter tray and its horrendous how much shit I have to scoop before cutting the grass.

Runningyogabooze · 27/08/2017 22:25

I deal with cats who shit in my garden in this way.

YABU. And so is your DH thinking 'she's just mean'.

I hate the way other people's cats shit in my garden and then my children get it on their hands. For this reason I leap into action the minute I see one of the cats who do this come into my garden.

MissJC · 27/08/2017 22:32

No problem I hope it works as well for you as it did for me. My neighbour didn't mind me popping it in her garden and she was just pleased that I was being proactive about it. The only thing that bothers me is it took her so long to knock on my door, I wish she had done it sooner and not sat worrying about speaking to me about it.

Original poster
DanHumphreyIsA · 27/08/2017 22:45

So it seems most people have not read the OP never mind the FT

I said in OP Im not arsy about her doing this, I know I cant say anything to her and would it be ok to offer a cat repellent instead (under the circumstances that she doesn't seem to be fussed about talking to us, which again is her choice) to stop the cat going over. I've also said I'm happy to take suggestions on similar solutions to 'repel' the cat from her garden.

If that wasn't clear enough I have reiterated it several times in the thread that the reasoning is to actually stop the cat going over, not to reprimand NDN (how stupid would that be). This way it saves her having to come out of her house every time it goes over. She's ignored us before we moved in anyway so I dont want to make the situation even more frosty.

I have even said I'd be happy to clean the garden if it was necessary. But is it overstepping to approach her (to offer to HELP) if she hasn't wanted to communicate with us before (before we and the cat even moved in).

Sorry that most of you have shit neighbours who aren't bothered about these things but that's exactly the opposite of what I'm trying to be.

Thanks to many of you for the suggestions, I think I'll see if she seems to get more irate before approaching her, if it comes down to it, I'll be looking at the ultrasonic thing, but the water pistol seems to be the best solution for now, until we can sort the cat fence out.

OP posts:
Original poster
DanHumphreyIsA · 27/08/2017 22:50

@missjc that's what I'm worried about, I don't want her to leave it so long and it cause tension, as it seems to for a lot of people here! The previous woman who lived here mentioned she can be a bit funny (wary I think she meant) of people around so at the same time I don't want to go knocking and her think its to have a go or something.

OP posts:
shouldnthavesaid · 27/08/2017 23:01

Move to the countryside - haven't got a neighbour who doesn't have some form of animal . At least 15/20 outdoor cats (plus feral visitors) on my mum's street , you'd never know which one had pooed where. They tend to disappear off to the fields behind and do it there anyway so doesn't bother anyone (often watch dpuss on his travels from the window).

Bananamama1213 · 27/08/2017 23:05

I have a cat and I wouldn't be annoyed if someone squirted him with water if they didn't want him in the garden..

My cat is a treat thief.. he goes into my neighbours shed and steals their cat treats. They told me they'd sprayed him once and I didn't mind!

He goes there every single night, they see him jump the fence and go in. He used to do it with my neighbours over the road - they sent me a picture once haha.

Honestly he's a pig! But I can't stop him from going in other people's gardens. If they want to try then go for it!

MissJC · 27/08/2017 23:11

Maybe pop a note through the door? You could write on there that you have noticed your cat in her garden and just say don't hesitate to pop round for a chat if it's bothering her. Stick the old smiley face at the bottom and a "my name is.... and if you need anything at all just let me know".

Mellington · 27/08/2017 23:46

We've had a HUGE decrease in the amount of car shit in our garden since getting free range chickens. Sadly this has meant they now shit on our neighbour's lawn... she's just out in sonic cat repellents, maybe they'll eventually work their way back to their own gardens! 😎

Mellington · 27/08/2017 23:47

CAT shit! No car shit here!!

Original poster
DanHumphreyIsA · 27/08/2017 23:50

@mellington haha maybe i'll buy all of my neighbours chickens, just to be on the safe side.

OP posts:
TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge · 28/08/2017 00:00

Be thankful you don't live next to me OP.

The cats here are brazen. The noise they make at night seriously distress and wake my severely autistic son, causing him to hurt himself.

Fortunately my dog doesn't like cats. So when I know one is there I take her out to chase it off - job done in seconds, the cats leg it scared. Tough.

Funnily enough, it isn't deemed acceptable for any other pet to make a noise and disturb people at night, but fine for cats?!?!?!

stonecircle · 28/08/2017 00:18

You haven't told us how old you are op. Surely relevant to the story right? Hmm

Original poster
DanHumphreyIsA · 28/08/2017 00:22

@stone I addressed the apparent 'ageism' earlier thanks.

OP posts:
stonecircle · 28/08/2017 00:27

@Tinydancer not a dig at her age, I mentioned that being a reason why we put a note through, due to noise disturbance otherwise I imagine people would have said why on earth did we put a not through her door.

How does this ^ explain your ageism op?

Original poster
DanHumphreyIsA · 28/08/2017 00:33

Because IME people of that age (so my relatives, friends relatives, people I just know) generally are up earlier, in the house more, and have mentioned being unhappy about loud noises (like drilling) more.
Disclaimer: this is people I know, this is not a statement about every person of that age.
The age was not mentioned in any relation as a reason for her spraying cats, but in context of her ignoring communications from us.

OP posts:
NK493efc93X1277dd3d6d4 · 28/08/2017 00:38

Well you've said that you can't keep it out of her garden and she doesn't want it there. Hopefully after a few soakings the cat will stay out of it of its own accord.
She'd probably prefer you kept a lookout and sprayed it yourself when it tried to go in there. Failing that she's doing it herself. YABU.

Oops4 · 28/08/2017 00:40

My cats decided they liked my previous NDNs garden better than ours. We saw them merrily going in her flower beds so we went over with a preemptive apology and gave her a water pistol and cat repellant. We also cleared some of our own flower beds and left them as turned over soil with some of their old litter mixed through to try and tempt them back to our garden. Can't say it made much of a difference but the NDN definitely appreciated the gesture and I think she even started to grow fond of her daily ritual of chasing our cheeky cats away.

NK493efc93X1277dd3d6d4 · 28/08/2017 00:40

Suggestions? - How about a lead as far as your own fence.

Spadequeen · 28/08/2017 00:45

Wow. You've come on for a really hard time on here DanH. Yanbu. If people bothered to read what you've said, they'll see that you want to help the neighbour. I think it's a nice thing to offer. Good for you.

vikingprincess81 · 28/08/2017 04:59

I'm so sick of clearing up cat shit from my garden, and my kids have slipped in it before now. Dh is allergic to all things cat, and has a very severe reaction - can put him out of action for days.
So, if a cat comes into our garden (as they do because that's what cats do) I scare it away. No need to buy repellant etc, just not everyone likes cats (I do, I just choose not to have one, for obvious reasons) and it's mildly irritating when they shit in the garden, and very irritating when they think an open door (yes I could keep my door shut but it's warm so why should I?) means that can come in the house have to get the hoover out for no good reason at all, don't they know I've done the cleaning already and I have to de-cat before DH is affected he's a nightmare when he's poorly so that's the reasoning from the other side of the coin. I'm not mean, or a cat hater, just think pets are like kids, not everyone likes or wants them, so keep them under control as much as you can I fail spectacularly most days Grin

vikingprincess81 · 28/08/2017 05:00

Not getting at you DanH my post is lighthearted in case that doesn't come across well Wink

SabineUndine · 28/08/2017 05:05

I'm not sure cat repellent works. Squirted water does. I say this as staff to a cat. If I could choose, he'd never leave my garden but cats know no boundaries. Water won't harm him.