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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want cats using my garden

267 replies

temporarygate · 06/04/2020 13:18

Our neighbours cats are frequently in my garden. Last summer they kept shitting at the bottom of our slide and killing birds a our bird feeder. We installed plastic fence spikes to deter them and the neighbour knocked on our door complaining his cats might get injured and that cats have the right to roam.

We have left the spikes up which has stopped them running across the fences to catch birds but the cats continue to come in through trees at the back of the garden and now have adopted our new garden sofas. We bought some of those ultrasonic sounders things but they are not making a difference. We spent £90 on sofa covers to prevent the cats sleeping on the garden furniture but every morning when we go out the cats shoot from under the covers - this morning there’s wet cat hair all over the cushions. I bring the throw cushions indoors but not the seat as back cushions as they are huge and there’s loads of them.

I feel pissed off that I’m going to a lot of hassle and expense of buying things and covering things for someone else’s pets to use.

OP posts:
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SutterCane · 06/04/2020 14:09

You need one of these temporarygate.

More effective than a super soaker as you don't need to be there watching for it to work. I found the local cats worked out very quickly my garden wasn't worth the bother.

Daphine2004 · 06/04/2020 14:09

**Have you explained this clearly to the cats?

Hilarious. However, I feel your pain. We send the kids out to shoo them away or spray with water as the poo everywhere and we spend ages trying to ensure the garden is safe for the children to play in.

LottieRose92 · 06/04/2020 14:10

I have cats and they roam freely around the streets where I live. We have a dog next door which keeps them out of there - although that's quite drastic! I did look into something as my next door neighbour is terrified of cats and found you can buy a spray from amazon that repels them ( it's something to do with tiger urine so scares them away) apparently it doesn't smell to us but works. In the end my neighbour told me not to worry but might help you? Unfortunately the cats don't know any better so deterring them is your best bet! Good luck!

lydia7986 · 06/04/2020 14:12

it talks about owners having a duty to take reasonable care that their cats don’t damage property or others

Shedding a bit of hair on your garden chairs doesn’t constitute damage to property, I’m afraid.

BurgerQuean · 06/04/2020 14:12

No, I still advise OP to do that.

Are you the OP’s neighbour? Why would you advise her to do something illegal that will likely cause her no end of trouble unless you wanted those things...?

OP - as a cat owner, I second the super soaker idea. It won’t cause the cats any harm whatsoever but will make your garden an unwelcome spot which they learn to avoid.

RonnieBarkingMad · 06/04/2020 14:13

@Oldestchild90s

No, you guessed wrong. I don’t like pets or own any. I’m all for people having the right to own pets but I also have a right not to want them near me if I’m not in public or if they venture on my property, if I did then I would get one for myself. Your cat, as much as you may love it, is not loved or even liked by everyone else. I find it hard to understand why cat lovers/owners can’t see this. If this actually was a dog, or a child, going into a neighbours garden constantly, the neighbour wouldn’t be expected to just “deal with it” because dogs and humans have rights to roam freely around the world.

jellybean85 · 06/04/2020 14:15

I have a cat and wouldn't spend hundreds cat proofing my garden (yes it costs that much to do it right) when there's an endless number of other cats and wild animals who would go in my neighbours. But I am fully supportive of my neighbours right to squirt water at my cat if he poops in their garden!

DingDongDenny · 06/04/2020 14:18

@RonnieBarkingMad - You are clearly insane? You can't go around trapping peoples cats and keeping hold of them

If you did this to my cat, he has a stress related condition and you could kill him

Cohle · 06/04/2020 14:18

I feel pissed off that I’m going to a lot of hassle and expense of buying things and covering things for someone else’s pets to use.

You would have zero hassle and expense if you just chilled out a bit.

temporarygate · 06/04/2020 14:19

@sunfloweryy I wondered about this but worried they might then scratch the waterproof covers to get in.

@lydia7986 I have not said they have caused me any damage, I have called them a nuisance.

As someone who has owned both cats and dogs I find it bizarre that it is legal for cat owners to allow their pets to wander and defecate on others gardens but dog owners are bound by law to keep their pets safe and pick up their poo.

OP posts:
RonnieBarkingMad · 06/04/2020 14:19

No, I still advise OP to do that.

Are you the OP’s neighbour? Why would you advise her to do something illegal that will likely cause her no end of trouble unless you wanted those things...?

What world and legal system have you been raised in? I’m just asking because if you think someone trapping a nuisance cat in a humane trap would potentially cause someone no end of trouble, when other people can beat, steal from, insult, commit fraud against, viciously attack, assault and sexually assault other people without a charge, and you think putting a cat in a cage would cause OP no end of trouble, I’m left a bit confused

RonnieBarkingMad · 06/04/2020 14:23

@DingDongDenny

@RonnieBarkingMad - You are clearly insane? You can't go around trapping peoples cats and keeping hold of them

If you did this to my cat, he has a stress related condition and you could kill him

Then keep your stress-related conditioned cat out of other peoples gardens so he doesn’t encounter needless stress. It was your choice to get a car. Your cats stress problems aren’t other people’s to burden. If a cat was that stressed out that it was shitting in the garden I would want it to not do it in my garden and think it should do it in the garden or the house of its owner. Why is that hard to grasp?

Honeybee85 · 06/04/2020 14:25

Can't believe some posters say YABU.
I love cats, we have one and it stays indoors because we don't want her to be a nuisance to our neighbourhood. If a toxoplasmosis infected cat shits on the soil where you grow veggies in your garden, you risk getting infected as well if you eat the veggies and there are remains of virus on it. The result of such infection can be quite nasty for non pregnant people and a disaster for pregnant women and particulary their unborn baby.

I would throw all the catshit right back into their garden, if appearently shit in the garden is not such a big deal.

Terralee · 06/04/2020 14:25

I have an indoor cat. Therefore at least 2 of the neighbours male cats have adopted my garden.
Basically I've given in and got to know them.
I never feed them or let them in which is what they are after but they are actually quite silly & entertaining to watch. I even put my cats old scratching post out for them.
Here's some pics of my guests

To not want cats using my garden
To not want cats using my garden
RonnieBarkingMad · 06/04/2020 14:25

@DingDongDenny

And no I’m not clearly insane, I just have a different opinion to you and you’re using an extreme word to try and lessen mine against yours.

Betterversionofme · 06/04/2020 14:26

Ownership rights and such are human world realities. Nothing to do with birds, cats, rats, mice, foxes, snails. It's not like you can call police on them for trespassing. Maybe cats in your garden keep in check mice.

myusernamewastakenbyme · 06/04/2020 14:27

What a bizarre thread...my neighbour has a cat who wanders into my garden...i love seeing him and just wish he would let me stroke him...as for cat shit...most cats bury it so are you sure its a cats and not a foxes?

Srslydontgiveacrap · 06/04/2020 14:31

YABVVVU

Drpeppered · 06/04/2020 14:33

lockdown really is bringing out the craziness worse than ever

Midsommar · 06/04/2020 14:33

I have a pet cat who luckily stays in my garden (she is a home bird) and does not bother the neighbours. I personally would be mortified if my cat was causing a neighbour this much grief. You've really done your best here in trying to cat-proof your garden and your neighbour sounds absolutely vile and selfish.
I agree with the other PPs who said about shooting water at them - it is harmless and they should eventually be deterred from your property.
Good luck!

Frogsareawesome · 06/04/2020 14:34

Kitchen foil?

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=655115951973761&id=109777666507595

vanillandhoney · 06/04/2020 14:34

Cats have the right to roam. If you don't want them in your garden, then you are perfectly within your rights to take humane measures to stop that. You can cat proof the fences to stop them entering, for example.

We have a different cat in our garden everyday. Mostly they get barked at by the dog, though one likes to sit on the windowsill and stare at us angrily.

We have two black cats and a neighbours' black cat got in through the window once. I was out and it took DH three or four hours to realise there were three cats in the house rather than two Grin

PrinnyPree · 06/04/2020 14:35

Hi I'm a cat owner and second the water soaker with cold water idea, they'll soon learn its not worth the hassle. However if you took Ronnies advice and trapped my cat, made me wait enough time to get worried and then brought it round and told me what you'd done, lets just say my reaction would not be pleasant. Good luck and don't take advice from the nutters. X

Oldestchild90s · 06/04/2020 14:37

@terralee

What beautiful cats 🥰

DangerCat01 · 06/04/2020 14:37

It’s not even your garden really. It’s a relatively modern concept that we purchase land. Nature does not obey.

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