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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To really not understand why people are OK with cats

709 replies

Duvetstay · 10/05/2020 19:23

Full disclosure, I'm allergic to cats and also very much a dog person but I really don't understand how it's acceptable for cats to go round decimating local wildlife and crapping in gardens.

I've lost count of how many times I've had to pick cat poo off the lawn and my daughter came in yesterday with cat sick all over her feet as a local moggie had vommed on our patio. I'm sick of it. It's a health hazard and you shouldn't have to wear a hazmat suit to go in your own garden.

We have tadpoles outside which are about to froglet and I've just seen a fat cat with its head in the water. I'm fuming, a few of the tadpoles are injured and this is the same cat I had to get off a terrified bird last week.

I'm not remotely sentimental about nature, if a hungry creature kills another then that's how life works. However I cannot understand how people can let these cats out knowing that they're injuring animals for no reason and causing health hazards to other people in their own home.

I couldn't take my dog for a shit in your garden so why can your cat do that in mine? They're not even natural predators as they just trot home to get their whiskers.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

OP posts:
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bluefoxmug · 11/05/2020 06:15

yanbu
but cat owners are mostly wanting a 'cheap' pet and don't want to deal with their pet's shit.

bluefoxmug · 11/05/2020 06:17

and yes, cats do smell.
even if their owners say they don't.

GlummyMcGlummerson · 11/05/2020 06:19

I think pets should be kept for working purposes only, such as guide dogs or working sheep dogs, cats should be on a farm where they have a role in keeping rats away and where there is space for them to roam without leaving their shit for neighbours (and where the wildlife also has space to get away).

I completely agree with you. I'd like to start to see a phasing out of domestic pets.

People kid themselves that their pets love them for their sparkling personalities- when actually they're enslaved to their owner's companionship and the pets remain loyal because they get fed. Which is why cars will have several "owners" the minute a new household feeds them.

lyralalala · 11/05/2020 06:23

I also don't get all these cats that poo ON lawns. All mine have buried it & all have had a toilet spot close to home, the prior cats was in the huge wooden barrel with a mini fir tree in it, so that got left untouched, as 'her' loo.

Probably removed from their mother too early, as many are. Means they miss out on bits of her education

bluefoxmug · 11/05/2020 06:26

& all have had a toilet spot close to home

one of many I suspect. our neighbour said the same. I observed their cat often in my garden using it to toilet,

Bubbletrouble43 · 11/05/2020 06:51

Actually @Glummymcglummerson my friends toddler was attacked by their cat and had to go hospital with pretty horrific injuries on his arm.

overtly · 11/05/2020 06:59

Cat owners who wheel out that they bury poo. Yes some do but in my experience a lot do not. I have witnessed next doors cat pooing on the drive and in my back garden numerous times (when I'v been too slow to get out and chase it away) and it has made no attempt at all to bury it. Witnessed other cats in other people's front gardens again with no attempt to bury it. It's vile, i also have young children who should be able to play in the garden without worrying about cat poo.

RonSwansonIsBuff · 11/05/2020 07:08

Tbh the only thing I think when I hear this argument is suck it up.

I get it's not nice, I don't enjoy it either. But I'd say every other house on our road has at least one cat. They aren't going anywhere, they are an extremely common part of life with neighbours.

Get some cat repellant for your garden.

MumInBrussels · 11/05/2020 07:15

I'm with you OP, and had this exact rant to my husband last week after a cat shat in our garden again and we had to clear it up again. I don't have pets. I don't want pets. I don't see why I still have to clear other people's pet shit up. I understand they aren't doing it deliberately, they are animals, they shit. I just don't understand why it's socially acceptable for them to shit in my garden, and I'm somehow supposed to be ok with this and just happily clear it up. If they can't be trained to shit on your own property, and you are unable to follow them around to clear up all their shit, then you shouldn't be able to have them as pets.

I'd think this even if I weren't pregnant and didn't have young children who would like to play in the garden without one of us having to check it first every time for other people's animal shit. But as I am and do, it annoys me even more, because it poses an actual risk in addition to being fucking gross.

MyOtherProfile · 11/05/2020 07:16

Right with you OP. And don't forget they get let loose in parks and on public beaches because "they need a run" and go straight up to frightened kids who are smaller than them and jump at them and lick them and when their owners are asked to put it on a lead these owners say oh but he's only being friendly.
And then there's all those plastic poo bags that get left in random places because there's no bin right in front of them.
And then there's the ones who bark and bark if anyone dares walk past their house, or go in their own garden which happens to be next to the dog's garden.

Yes cats are so much worse than dogs. Oh, hang on...

TorqueWrench81 · 11/05/2020 07:25

I’m more a dog person but honestly I’ve found cats to be much less of a nuisance historically. There’s a yappy little fucker of a dog near where I live who always seems to yap incessantly on a Sunday night. I always thought it must be a regular visitor to one of my neighbours, but now in lockdown it’s yapping most days, so perhaps it stays with somebody in the week whilst owner works. It’s not close enough to be really bad but it’s annoying at 10pm when you’re winding down with the windows open and everything else is peaceful.

bluebluezoo · 11/05/2020 07:25

I completely agree with you. I'd like to start to see a phasing out of domestic pets

Domestic pets do serve a purpose.

There’s research that pets can help prevent auto immune issues in children.

It’s been shown pets can reduce blood pressure.

People like my mum, elderly and retired. The dog forces her to stay in a routine, get up, get out. She has to go shopping to buy dog food, when maybe she wouldn’t bother if it was just for her. Same for some people with depression. Homeless people too are encouraged to have pets as often they will seek vet care and help for the pet, and they can be seen and reviewed at the same time.

KeepWashingThoseHands · 11/05/2020 07:32

YANBU

New neighbours just moved in.... cat on my roof and poo in the garden on Day 1. Totally unacceptable and pet owners justify it to themselves that it's ok they've enabled this.

tilder · 11/05/2020 07:42

@julieandertoninthewarehouse you threw stones at a cat? If i saw that happening i would report to the rspca. Please buy a supersoaker.

Yes dogs and cats both shit. Whoever did it, it's gross and shouldn't be left to somebody else to sort. It's not a shitting competition.

I have a cat. Love my cat, he is awesome. He has a litter tray plus we only have 1 near neighbour. They have a dog so he leaves their garden alone.

To the poster who commented 'people let them walk on kitchen tops' Grin. I don't let my cat do anything! He does whatever he wants. He's a cat. The best bit is when he chooses to sit on my lap.

makingmammaries · 11/05/2020 07:44

I am allergic to them too. Concerned about toxoplasmosis and all. But three years ago a fluffy ginger half-grown kitten decided he wanted to live in our garden, and all was lost. No microchip. I got him one, and his vaccines, and got him fixed, and he turned into a huge longhaired affectionate cat who lives mostly under the back porch, bangs on the window when he wants his crunchies topped up, and brings regular gifts of rodents.

I never knew him to decimate anything that didn't need decimating, and he's the cutest animal that ever walked the earth. At this point I totally see the attraction of cats. Even the way they move their ears is unbearably cute.

BeforeIPutOnMyMakeup · 11/05/2020 07:50

My DP's cat, like my dad's cats, is a mouser. Unlike terriers they don't need constant care. So for the person who wants to see phrasing out of domestic cats it isn't going to happen.

Oh and I have cats poo in my garden. I have fixed poo on my garden. Unlike foxes and squirrels who have been caught digging up my plants they don't do that.

Russellbrandshair · 11/05/2020 07:54

I always used to read the threads whinging about other people's cats coming into gardens and think 'lucky you, having nothing else to worry about

Yeah who cares that cat poo can be really dangerous for pregnant women not to mention vile and disgusting for your pet to shit in others gardens, we should all be grateful for having to shovel up cat faeces every day because that’s ALL we have to worry about!

Good grief. The entitlement is off the scale. I suggest people return the poo to the cat owners garden if it’s so harmless and fine. See how they feel about that!

thecatsthecats · 11/05/2020 07:56

You know what, I do luuuuurve my kitties, but I must say, I never appreciated the poo issue until I lived in an urban terrace.

Our countryside cats always buried their poo, and hid under bushes. There was never cat poo in the garden, sight or smell. They hated being watched. Now my two city boys just take a shit in the middle of the lawn, and I do get it!

SophieGiroux · 11/05/2020 08:11

Mine poos in our own garden on the lawn. It is very annoying as I have to go and check the garden before letting my toddler out. She never used to do it, she used to go to my neighbours garden and bury it but she's old now so doesn't venture beyond our fences. I totally understand where you're coming from OP said as a cat lover myself. Unfortunately as cats are independent creatures there's little you can do. I as an owner can't stop mine pooing in my own garden let alone if she tried someone else's! We tried a litter tray in our garden but it was ignored. Maybe try the lion poo someone stated (never knew it was available from garden centres!).

JudyCoolibar · 11/05/2020 09:12

Basic fact for you, OP: less than 1% of tadpoles survive to adulthood. That's why frogs lay so many eggs. If cats didn't get them, it's inevitable that all their other predators would. So your fury is completely wasted.

ghostyslovesheets · 11/05/2020 09:44

@Timekeeper1 that is Bernard my very dumb tabby - he’s very pretty though I’m sure he won’t mind being mistaken for a girl

MsTSwift · 11/05/2020 09:56

“Phasing our domestic pets” good luck with that humans have kept pets since Egyptian times 😁 too funny

ScrapThatThen · 11/05/2020 10:09

I agree OP

When I cat proofed my garden my neighbour commented how annoying his stay near home cat's mess was and finally understood why I was so irritated.

HerbieHerr · 11/05/2020 10:11

YABU.
A dog actually KILLED my cat in our garden

HerbieHerr · 11/05/2020 10:12

It’s owner was there. But didn’t help as the disgusting creature was out of control.
Came into our garden and killed her.
Just like that. Gone.