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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask how often you get cat poo in your garden?

94 replies

redmarkone · 16/02/2018 13:12

just that really.

we dont have pets, yet 3 or 4 times each and every week, i find myself picking it up before letting the children out to play.

how many cat poos do you get per week or it is just me who has this issue?

what do cat owners think their cats do if no indoor litter tray?

do they ever have to pick it up from their garden or do cats tend to mark territory in neighbouring gardens?

how do i solve this problem ( i cant have my own cat or dog mark their own terratory)?

What will deter cats from leaving their waste in my garden?

I haven't started this thread to cause a fight or offend but looking for anecdotal evidence and practical solutions.

Thanks.

OP posts:
mimibunz · 16/02/2018 14:39

I’ve read that sprinkling chilli flakes is deterrent.

itsmeimcathyivecomehome · 16/02/2018 14:50

None - but luckily our neighbours have a gorgeous big dog who must scare them away!

DB had terrible problems with this, as did his neighbours. Meanwhile the cat owners put a cat scarer on their OWN lawn - and refused to do anything to help anyone else (I know you can't stop cats shitting, but if you see them doing it on your neighbour's front path/lawn, you could clear it up!).

So they all had to buy cat scarers and that did the trick. But I couldn't believe how selfish the owners were when he told me!

SilverySurfer · 16/02/2018 15:01

Quite a bit but fox poo is far worse. There really is only one solution which won't suit you, which is to have a cat of your own.

JacquesHammer
I lob stones. It does deter them after a while. And before anyone suggests I’m being cruel, I’m a great shot and I never aim to hit them, only to scare them. We had a much better summer last year.

That's really horrible. I'm sure you're a great shot until the day you miss and hit the cat - what then? Not that you probably give a shit.

itsmeimcathyivecomehome · 16/02/2018 15:03

I think the cat scarers are sonar. Is that cruel, does anyone know? Confused

DB lives on a circular culdesac so if all the houses have them, I'm now wondering if the cats are constantly subjected to the noise!

(On the other hand with 3 kids under 3 needing to play in the garden, I guess that's going to be his priority.)

JacquesHammer · 16/02/2018 15:08

That's really horrible. I'm sure you're a great shot until the day you miss and hit the cat - what then? Not that you probably give a shit.

Oh give over. I lob a stone at my metal shed. Which is nowhere near the bed next door’s cat chooses. The big clang scares it. So unless it morphs into a 20 foot cat we’re pretty free from animal cruelty here 🙄

Original poster
redmarkone · 16/02/2018 16:13

thanks for the comments. i really like animals but cant have one as i'm not committed enough and know my limits!

OP posts:
KurriKurri · 16/02/2018 16:24

Every day . My garden has become virtually unusuable and gardening is what keep me from sinking into a really bad depression - it is important for me. I;ve tried every single supposed deterrent and none have worked - I am now thinking about going dwn the cat net route even thought I can't really afford it.

Worst offender is next door neighbours cat - they got it in November shortly after neighbour became pregnant, so of course she doesn;t want to be dealing with litter trays. It has been out all day and all night since it was a small kitten, it is unsocialised and very bold and vicious. Even though it isnt fully grown yet it tries to attack my dog (a small poodle X) and he is terrified of it. I can't let him out to play in his own garden because of this animal, he's often firhgtned to go to the toilet because it will hide behind things and jump out on him. It hisses and spits.

I would never hurt an animal and I feel sorry for the creature - it is outside all night whatever the weather and I live in a very cold part of the country, They have no cat flap so it can get inside. But ridiculous as it sounds it is making me miserable, i do not know what to do about it. (It also yowls and growls outside my window every night so I can't sleep, it fights anything that moves) It is an absolute horror. through no fault of it's own.

scaryteacher · 16/02/2018 16:30

Every day when I let mine out. One will come in to use the tray, but the other has his favourite spot in a pile of leaves in the garden under a tree. We have no kids at home; dh doesn't mow that bit of the garden, so I am not too worried!

fairgame84 · 16/02/2018 16:32

At my last house I got loads. There were loads of cats in the neighbourhood and my garden was one of the few that wasn't a yard. The only thing that worked was getting them with a water gun but of course you can't be there 24/7 watching out for them.
I moved 2 years ago and don't get any at all. I've got a dog but even before I got him we didn't have any. There are very few cats round here but loads of dogs.

MoonlightKissed · 16/02/2018 16:35

Thankfully, where we live now, none of our neighbours have cats as we're along a busyish connecting road. It would be irresponsible to have cats here & let them out.

We have cats ourselves, and they are (and always have been) house cats that either don't go out, go out on harnesses, or only go out into cat secured areas. We obviously have a litter tray indoors.

In our last house, it was in a quiet housing area, and it seemed like everyone had cats. One of our neighbours had loads of them. Because we have big dogs, we didn't get the cats coming into our back garden very often, but they were forever coming in the front garden & pooing in the flowerbeds. Which is disgusting, and dangerous to human health. The only things I found I could do were to cover the earth in the flower beds, so the cats couldn't get to it. That did cut down how much they used the flower beds to shit. But they would sometimes just do it on the front lawn. We even had a ground floor kitchen extension, and one of the neighbours cats used to come up there & crap right outside the bedroom window - too far to reach from the window, but close enough to stink every time you opened the window. I am certain of which cats it was, so I sometimes returned the poo to the owners of the cats - usually in an airbourne fashion.

I have cats, I love cats, but I think it's disgusting to allow your animals to foul someone elses property and just shrug it off as being natural and nothing you can do about it.

phoenix1973 · 16/02/2018 16:35

Constantly. Daily.
I've to do battle with the shit covered borders in the back garden. Disgusting.
Then there are the shits in the shingle along the side alley of the garden.
We've had a cat for 5 years but had issues before we got a cat. Its very bad now and it depresses me. Once the heat comes the smell of cat shit will mar our bbq's.

NoFuckingRoomOnMyBroom · 16/02/2018 16:36

All the fucking time Angry I really wish we still had our dog-was never a problem when we did.

blondiebonce · 16/02/2018 16:47

Citrus peel is working at the moment!

I hate cats and really loathe cleaning up after other people's pets. I choose not to have a pet but feel like I do when I'm bagging up several turds a week. I have a young DD so if I don't check it can get unpleasant quickly. As long as the cats have somewhere to shit in peace, eh?

But yes, I save the peel from satsumas and sprinkle it around. I also bang on my window when I see a cat in my garden. Last few weeks clear thank goodness.

fairgame84 · 16/02/2018 16:47

I also used to stick bamboo skewers into my flower beds. If they can't sit down the can't shit. It looked stupid but it deterred them. They are clever and knew not to sit on them.

SwishswishBiTCH · 16/02/2018 16:49

Never. And we have alot of cats around here. And rats, Because there's a beck behind our house!! Hmm I'm surprised we haven't had none actually.

SpitefulMidLifeAnimal · 16/02/2018 16:52

Same here. Hate having to pick up shit all the time, just because of other people's choice to get a cat. Pisses me off having to spend money on deterrents too, again, because of someone else's choice.

snash12 · 16/02/2018 16:53

My NDN has a problem but it is my cats doing it :(

We have three litter trays in the house. He told me he bought one of those sonar deterrents and I apologised a lot but I can't do anything!

Apparently the cats don't get bothered by the sonar thing. I saw him a few weeks ago and he just said "I really hate your cats".

I said sorry again but I really don't know what to suggest.

KayaG · 16/02/2018 16:56

Pigeon spikes on the top of the fence and anti climb paint works for us.

UpstartCrow · 16/02/2018 16:58

We have 6 use our garden and its vile. I've tried everything to keep them off and nothing works. One of them doesn't bury it.

Sparklesdontshine · 16/02/2018 17:01

I can't let my children use our garden it's that minging. My husband has 2 cats, I can't stand them, they shit all over the garden multiple times a day it's disgusting Angry

Nomad86 · 16/02/2018 17:14

Same problem! The whole neighborhood seems to have a cat and our garden is their toilet. We had a veg patch last summer and read somewhere that male urine deters them so we poured some around the edge and it seemed to work. I don't think my DH could manage the whole garden though! Perhaps I'll potty train DS out there.

londonrach · 16/02/2018 17:15

Every day! They a pest. And its cat poo not fox! Cats do not bury.

Cuppaoftea · 16/02/2018 17:32

NDN has a cat he lets out all day while he's out at work. We live in a city, he lives alone and works full time, ought to have a house cat or none at all.

Our house was empty for months before we bought it and the cat had claimed our garden as it's own. It's taken months of chasing it off and chucking water when she won't move to get her to at least spend less time on our property. One of my daughter's is allergic to cats so I have to keep it out even without the poo problem!

Doing a lot of work in the garden this spring and annoyed I have to factor in making it unfriendly to someone elses animal, starting with not planting the shrubs I wanted along the boundary fence as it will just use them as a toilet and be difficult to keep clear.

namechange2222 · 16/02/2018 17:34

None since having a terrier. Previously I got to the stage when I was having fantasies about killing every cat in my neighbourhood. I actually loathe the animals

Mormont · 16/02/2018 17:37

All the time and right on top of the grass with no attempt to bury it. Front and back lawn; it's everywhere.