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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel revolted when neighbours' cats crap in my back yard?

91 replies

tiredandgrumpy · 16/07/2007 16:36

We have a small back yard with several pot plants. We have a lovely table & chairs so that we can eat outside when the weather is good. We have two young children who like to get out and explore (and get their hands into everything).

It's disgusting that I should have to clear up buckets of cat poo each time I consider sitting outside or letting the children out. It stinks beyond belief and I am not letting the kids get anywhere near it.

What can I do to stop the cats coming in? I think it's obscene that cat owners think their neighbours should clear up their pet's crap before they can enjoy their own gardens. We've got one of those ultrasonic scarer things which doesn't seem to keep them away. What else is safe for kids and not too hideous?

Nothing against cats, just those that mess in my garden.

OP posts:
LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 09:36

Unlikely eh???? As I said I put down pepper

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 09:46

If pepper worked this thread wouldn't exist.

LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 09:51

Works for me

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 09:53

No need for the poison then surely?

GryffindorInARiffindor · 17/07/2007 09:53

poison

LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 09:54

As I said I dont use it

Leati · 17/07/2007 09:54

In the US they have a spray you can buy at the market that will repel the cat from that area. You should look in the pet department and see if you can find the spray. I would also disinfect really well before you let you kids out there, so long as your not pregnant(cat poo has a spore that is dangerous to pregnant women). If you are pregnant then get someone to do it for you. As for being irritated, well its a cat they are not like dogs. They can't effectively be leashed or kept in a yard.

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 11:18

But Leisel, you allow your DH to use it. No difference as far as I can see.

LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 11:25

He's a 40 yr old man FFS what am I gonna do? ground him for protecting his property from other peoples rodents.
In all fairness MIL has a serious reaction to cats so thats why he does this perhaps I should put my foot down

NeverTickleASleepingSoupDragon · 17/07/2007 11:33

Cat's aren't rodents.

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 11:35

Remove it.

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 11:37

Totally inhumane, evil and imoral.

SweetyDarling · 17/07/2007 11:37

Sounds like her husband is a bit of a rodent though.

NeverTickleASleepingSoupDragon · 17/07/2007 11:39

I also think you're being a bit flippant about your DD not coming into contact with the poison. That's why pest control firms put it in locked boxes when baiting a house with children in it. Children of 6yo are not reliable.

LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 11:40

A cat killed my bunny dont like them. However as I said I use pepper and it seems to work.
Calling names is v. immature IMHO

DrNortherner · 17/07/2007 11:42

As a cat owner threads like this annoy the hell out of me to be honest.

I kow it must be annoying if you don't have a cat, but all thsi talk of poison and rifles is shocking.

Cats are much loved family pets who have to shit somewhere. Us owners can not train them to do otherwise.

The best way to prevent it is to get a cat yourself as we have no cat shit in our yard.

DangerousBeans · 17/07/2007 11:44

Buckets of cat poo?
Really......buckets?

Is this from 8,000 different cats, or a couple with suspected bowel problems?

I know it is unpleasant to have to clear up after someone else's animal, and risky for young children to be around it, but all the cat I have come into contact with have buried their own excrement.

And it is annoying - but I couldn't get up the level of vehemence about it to refer to it as 'obscene'.

The most effective deterrent I have found is to squirt the cats with the hosepipe. Gives them a shock, but doesn't hurt them.

Never mind, I'm sure we'll all be living in hermetically sealed bubbles soon, and won't even have to interact with anyone who isn't bleached before visiting.

Speccy · 17/07/2007 11:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DrNortherner · 17/07/2007 11:47

A cat killing a rabbit? REally?!!

I'm suprised.

LieselVentouse · 17/07/2007 11:47

I dont own cats so why should I have cat shit in my garden. I USE PEPPER OKAY

DangerousBeans · 17/07/2007 11:50

We had a cat and a rabbit several years ago.
If the cat got too close, the rabbit would kick it in the head.
It was definitely the superior warrior of the two.
I am very surprised to hear about a cat killing a rabbit - never heard that before.

DrNortherner · 17/07/2007 11:50

Err, because cats go out alone and do not quite understand that your garden is not for their use.

DrNortherner · 17/07/2007 11:51

No Db I've never heard of a cat killing a rabbit before. How would that work then?

DangerousBeans · 17/07/2007 11:54

Perhaps the cat purloins the poison from the neighbour's garden and feeds it to the rabbit over a serious of intimate dinners?

Cats are very clever and independent.

themoon66 · 17/07/2007 11:56

Cats do kill rabbits. My next door neighbour regularly comes home to dismembered rabbit all over her front path. And HUGE rats. Her cat is only small too.