To wonder what you would say to a neighbour complaining about your cat weeing and pooing their prize vegetable garden?

[Upthepong]

Just that really. I'm a bit non-plussed about it all

It’s clearly roaming through other people’s gardens. I’d be furious

where else would you expect it to roam? On a high street? Pop to the local gym instead?

I would be pissed off if I was the gardener. Cat poo is horrible.

I actually think having cats it’s a big problem. They poo everywhere and no one cleans up after them but, worse still, they kill birds. Our wildlife populations are really suffering to the extent that in parts of New Zealand they’re considering banning domestic cats.

And before anyone claims that it’s just nature - there is nothing natural about the domestic cat or about the size of the cat population.

You don’t need to cat proof your garden if you’re a cat owner - they don’t shit on their own territory and other cars don’t either. Hence them always shitting in your neighbours’ gardens.

Ginnymweasley
I only had an indoor cat and still never got loads of cat shit despite neighbours having cat

they sense your well meaning towards them and go to shit to the people who don't like them. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it gets scientifically discovered some time in the future.

There are ways of keeping your cat on your own property, BloodyDisgrace, but people always defend their God given right to use other people’s gardens as freely as their own instead.
And then feign confusion as to why it fucks people off

Dogs tend not to wander onto the private property of individuals to shit and dig holes all over it though. Yes, dogs may foul off lead in the street but this tends to be common areas the council is responsible for maintaining. The council isn’t doing to come to pick your cat shit off my garden or fill the holes it has dug. Dog owners are fined if they are caught not picking up after their dogs, it is an offense. Nobody owns foxes or badgers so it’s a bit difficult to find anyone liable for them. Your cat, however, is definitely your responsibility. I have spent considerable time and money attempting to cat proof my front garden which is now mainly covered in mesh as it’s the only thing that stops the little buggers. Why should I be inconvenienced to this extent so you can experience the joy of cat ownership? If my child caused damage to your home I would be expected to compensate you.

I think all cat owners should have to pay for a license and anyone who has experienced cat issues should be able to claim from a central fund to cat proof their properties.

bloodydisgrace you might be right. My parents had a cat who would never sit on anyones knee unless someone who wasnt keen on cats came to the house then she always went straight over to them. Used to drive my aunt crazy cause she hated cat hair.

I know, TheGrey1houndSpeaks, ours are indoors but not because I especially worried about other people gardens anymore than an average dog owner worries about a dog off lead, but because one of them is pedigree and quite nickable, or the cars killing them.
I'm not saying cat shit is a god sent, but that pets in general are shitters, however hard you try to intervene, and that others maybe - just maybe - should be a bit more tolerant. Otherwise we'll start banning pets, and with that a lot of other things which make life a joy.

We have a massive problem with dog shit in our local park. Massive discussion on local fb pages about it, one woman who lives adjacent to the park has in fact had random dogs shitting on her drive. She has taken to posting pictures of said dogs. Causes quite the uproar. So you could try that with pictures of cats shitting in your garden. (She has CCTV, she doesn't sit observing her drive all day)

You can have a go at creating a couple of cat latrines in your own garden. Dig a couple of holes in secluded areas, about 2 feet square and a foot deep. Fill the base with gravel and then put sand on top to level. Mix in a small amount of used wet litter to give them the idea. If you make it easy to dig they may well use it. This can also reduce cat fight incidents as many of these occur when cats encroach into other territory to go to the loo.

Owning a cat is pretty antisocial in my opinion. They are bad for wildlife and crap in other people's gardens. Sick of having to clean catshit from our garden so my young children can play in it.

Since our dog has died we've not only had umpteen cats pooing in our garden but also trying to climb in our upstairs window.

RainbowWaffles
that our council tax is bumped up to pay for picking up the dog shit is music to my ears. No one is saying though that because of all the expense and hassle that dogs should be banned. Everyone goes about fucking dogs, how it is a dog loving country, yet cats get hate when the ratio of you stepping in a dog poo in a public area and finding one in your garden is probably the same, or higher in a dog turd case.

Agree BloodyDisgrace - the fact that there is dog poo EVERYWHERE you look in my village, including paths, ouside my house and even the tennis courts at the local park, seems to escape many people and we don't see at least one thread a week on mumsnet about it!!!!

"Owning a cat is pretty antisocial".

Well no. Not if you don't let it roam in your neighbours' gardens and slay birds all day it's not. If you do allow that then that aspect would be antisocial, yes, unless you live in the middle of nowhere.

I had a neighbouring cat adopting me and basically moving in (apart from fresh water and affection I don't know why she came). She'd go in her garden and some fucking blackbirds would fly over to start chirping in that annoying way as to scare the cat back indoors. I had a powerful water pistol for them.

I am astonished at the amount of cat hate here. Yet people go on about their "staffies" as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world AND everyone is in agreement.

And as for dog owners being fined for their dogs fouling, I don't think that happens at all, or very rarely, let's be honest.

If you can't stop your animal inconveniencing others, don't keep that animal.

hellswelshy
fuck me, the entire countryside is a shithouse for the dogs! I've never seen so much in London. As if if it's a country lane, more grass, you can "blend it in with the nature". It's still shit if you ask me.

I’d be equally furious at a Staffie shitting in my garden (although they certainly are beautiful 😉), but it never happens. Never.

If a bird is dumb enough to be caught by a cat, then, I'm afraid, it's the natural selection, the brighter one will survive - just like a heron eating a toad from a pond. That's what animals do.

It's the dismissive attitude of "It's what cats do! What do you expect me to do about it?!" that's obnoxious.

Some people decide to get a cat, let it outdoors, then act like the cat is somehow a natural occurrence or an act of God, and anything the cat does is entirely unconnected to them, thanks to cats' reputations for independence.

A dog's misdeeds are laid squarely at the feet of its owner, but some people who choose to own a cat think they can't be held to such a high standard, as though a cat comes with a special pass to essentially shrug and be "nonplussed" when a neighbor complains about their choice to bring a cat unbidden into their lives. It's annoying.

Caught my cat shitting in my veg patch today, see me cunning and just made eye contact while he did his business. Bastard

*coming

I think the comparison with dogs isn't really right. My dogs were never allowed to poo outside of my garden. They certainly never pooed in a neighbour's garden or tried to climb through their windows. There are many responsible dog owners who don't allow their dogs to bother the neighbours.

Cat owners just seem to give a collective shrug of the shoulders.