To ask NDN to get a litter tray?

[MotherOfDragons90]

We have just done up our garden which has involved putting in a border for flowers/shrubs. It looks lovely out there now and I’m enjoying spending time in it. However next door have this cat who seems to have decided it’s where he’s going to shit and I’ve seen him loitering a few times now and had to pick up bits of poo on multiple occasions.

Yesterday I went out to peg some washing on the line and instantly observed that the garden stank. Really really vile. I sniffed my way to two giant piles of cat poo in the bed by the patio. We have a heap of compost behind the shed so I got a trowel out and chucked it behind there but I was gagging doing it it was so bad, and the poo was (sorry TMI) really wet and liquidy so it was just really unpleasant.

This morning the same thing happened as I went out to eat my breakfast on the patio and it put me off eating it for a while.

I’ve had cats before when I lived with my parents and always known them to dig holes and cover it up so this brazenly shitting and leaving it is strange behaviour to me.

I don’t want to spend every morning gagging picking up someone else’s cat shite though! Would it be unreasonable to go next door and tell them, and ask them to make a litter tray in the corner of their garden or something to try and train the cat to use theirs not mine? DH says I’ve got no chance but it is truly revolting!

Cat poo is a huge problem. Sadly cats prefer to poo in our garden to a litter tray. Ive done everything you canto stop this pest pooing but sadly theres nothing.. in my case the cat owners are very nice but even the water gun they gave me doesnt help.

To be honest that would really annoy me too. There are cat deterrent things that you can buy, not sure how much they work.

YABU. Cats will shit where they want.

Trellis on the fences/tops of walls with carpet tack or plastic spiking on top to deter them. Ugly but stops them pretty much straight away.

We had the same problem, we now have three of the sonic deterrents bought from amazon in the garden and haven't had one cat poo since. Our neighbours (who are also friends) have one crazy cat who will go in any open door and I've seen him walk through our garden a couple of times but he doesn't shit in there any more. Would definitely recommend getting some of those. We have to buy three to cover the whole garden so think about where you would put them to make sure you maximise the coverage, especially the area they are using now.

Well you can ask them. However there is no guarantee their cat will use it. They may already have one but the cat prefers your garden.

Best thing you can do is put a load of pointy sticks in the ground so cat moves on from this particular place to somewhere else.

I'm not sure a litter tray will make much difference to be honest. My neighbour's cats have litter trays but much prefer using everyone else's gardens. We've tried a few different deterrents but the only one that really worked was getting a massive dog. Appreciate that this solution isn't for everyone

Cats shit where they want to, unfortunately.

Your NDN may already have a litter tray, though, and her cat is just....being a cat.

I love cats BTW and have always told all NDNs that DH or I would pick up any shit ours produced in their gardens.

We have a litter tray and the cats usually use it. When they shit outside they do it in our garden, thus disabusing all who say that cats prefer to shit on someone else's parade.

I feel your pain! I really, really wanted to grow a few bits of veg in raised beds but had to give up after years of battling with all of the neighbours' cats.

Any bare soil is fair game. Natural deterrents like citrus peel or lion poo pellets need constant maintenance.

The only solution I've found is a double layer of weed-supressing membrane topped with a thick layer of slate pieces.

I remember a really boring documentary about this once, people just absolutely going demented over neighbourhood cats shitting in their gardens. They bought loads of deterrents like sprinkler systems and such, I’d invest in something like that.

Sounds good @CoxwellHuge do you have a link please?

You can ask. It’s not an unreasonable request. But sorry to say this OP, my cats were all litter trained, they were kept indoors exclusively until they were 6 months old, fully vaccinated and neutered. From the 1st day they were allowed out, they have stopped using the tray, despite having used it exclusively for 4 months prior to that. There’s not much I can do about it.

I’d go to the neighbors and tell them that their cat seems to be ill because it has diarrhea (which appears to be the case) so they might want to take it to the vet. Oh, and ensure that the cat poops indoors the next couple of times so that they can keep an eye on it and take a sample along when they go to the vet.

You could do but there’s no guarantee the cat will use it. Ours had a tray but preferred to poo outside.
A cat that doesn’t bury its poo is either ill (you mentioned diahorrea) or the neighbourhood alpha male who is signalling to other males this is his territory.

I have a litter tray but my cat will only go outside to do his business.
There really isn't much you can do though OP as crap as it is, no pun intended!

I have one cat who uses litter tray. The other refuses to. he will sit by the front door making increasingly plaintive noises until you let him out.

As pp say, a litter tray won't fix it. You need to make your beds unattractive to them and they will move elsewhere.

Suggestions:
Coffee grounds
Citrus peel and/or essential oil mixed with water and sprayed in the area
Sticks poked at awkward intervals
Low level netting
Old cds hung and spinning freely over the earth
Etc

If it's more liquid and really strong smelling are you sure it isn't a fox? We have one who likes to shit on our drive! I know it's a fox because I saw it from an upstairs window

Thank your lucky stars it isn’t burying its poo. IME that can lead to incidents whilst weeding that make you feel sick for the rest of the day
Ask your neighbours to keep their cat out of your garden. If they can’t do that, they shouldn’t have got the bloody thing.

Spikes on the top of the fence and anti climb paint may help.

They likely have one already, but cats generally prefer to go outside.

A sustained campaign over the next few weeks should help it find somewhere else much more suitable!

I’ve heard you can buy lion poo online which puts them right off. I’ve heard sprinkling human wee in the beds has the same effect.

I do wonder if those sonic things cause all cats in the area discomfort, which would be unfair if it affected the cat in its own garden just next door.

Also think if it smells that bad, it might be fox poop, which smells god awful.

You could ask, but that doesn't mean the cat will use it.

I used to have a litter tray for my cat but he just point blank refused to use it and goes in the garden instead. Thankfully he confines it to our own garden as we have lots of bushes, so doesn't bother the neighbours. Can see how it would be a nuisance for you.

Ugly 20mm gravel, not the smaller pea gravel.

That sounds like a fox not a cat.