To think this is a bit bizarre.

[maybeimamazed456]

This afternoon had a knock on the door from my neighbour who I've spoken to once. She said my 8 month old kitten had been shitting all over her garden and there was shit everywhere.

I find this strange as -

1. Cats usually go in private areas and bury their mess.

1. Other than picking up the shit there's not really much I can do.

I of course said to her I would go round tomorrow (working from home today) and pick it up. But I just find it an odd thing to go to someone's door about.

I'm even wondering if it's a fox that's been making the mess because cats wouldn't usually just leave shit at random all over the place. I also said I will look into anything that can be added to her garden so I've found deterrent spray but if that doesn't work, I can't do much more. They're cats.
And I'm not going round to her garden everyday to pick up shit.

AIBU?

@BubblyBarbara

By having a litter tray it’s less likely to shit everywhere else causing a nuisance.

Not true in my case. My cat has two litter trays and only uses them for wees overnight. Before I used to let her outside she had diarrhoea quite often but now she’s out every day I haven’t had to deal with it at all. I have no idea where she’s going though.

That's just awful. The level of complete irresponsibility shown by some on this thread is astounding.

You've no idea? And that's ok? Christ.

@jimmyhill

Cats usually go in private areas and bury their mess

Please inform the cats who shit in my garden

This!

Next door used to have a cat who would constantly shit in our garden, it was so irritating having to clean it before DS went out. A lesser woman might have been inclined to throw it back over the fence (I cannot confirm or deny). Good for her for coming around to say about it, yes it's a cat and on the whole you cannot train them really, but it's honestly disgusting.

We used to have a neighbour with four cats who always used our garden as their toilet. We also had two very small children and it really ruins things when you have to pick up all the cat poo day after day and worry about little ones finding it all the time.

Cat faeces are able to spread nasty diseases (toxoplasmosis) which are a significant public health hazard especially to children.

No one would tolerate this from our dog and rightly so. Why should anyone tolerate it from someone else's pet?

Well you're obviously not in the UK then if you think your neighbour should let you go round and spot check her garden for your cat shitting there during a pandemic. Perhaps she'll report you and you'll get fined. Your cat will shit wherever it wants but if you leave some fresh earth in your own garden and it will likely choose that. Its your cat so you need to encourage it to shit in your garden.

I'm so glad I dont have neighbours. I cant believe have laid back people are about their animal shitting in someone else's garden. I would not put up with it

I cant believe how uptight some posters are.

Clearly this comes from the frustration of not being able to entirely control things: because it's the natural world. I can imagine if youre a complete control freak cats would give you the rage - because they go where they like and resist your arbitrary rules which might apply inside your house but cant in your garden.

Cat shit, slugs, weeds - these arent things I fight and I think it's sad that people do just because they want to grow petunias or whatever

I'd buy her the deterrent and look on it as one of the costs of having a pet. It's not uptight not to want constant shit from a carnivorous animal, with the attendant health hazards, in your garden. And I say that as a cat owner.

@Besiegedbykillersquirrels

This is so infuriating and a classic example of why cats are the lazy pet owners' choice. You seem pretty inexperienced and actually rather clueless about cat behaviour. You having a cat should not mean your neighbour has to put up with, or clean up, shit all over her garden. I don't care if cats have the right to roam, an animal you choose to own and are responsible for should not be making the neighbours' lives a misery and putting their and their children's health at risk. Nor should it cost them money. I guarantee you'll get fed up of shit picking every day soon. Maybe then you'll realise how annoying it is, especially when it's not even their bloody cat.

This.

[quote maybeimamazed456]@Indecisive12 sorry a litter tray in the house? Why would I keep a litter tray in the house? That's half the point of making him an outside cat. [/quote]
Disgusting, isn't it OP? Much better to have the shit all over someone else's garden isn't it.

That being said why is it absolutely not ok for a dog to do it but cool for a cat? Are cats pets or are they wild?

Because in law cats have the right to roam and dogs don't. Not saying that's right, just that's the legal stance.

There is one other thing you might try - so long as (a) it really is your cat doing it and (b) the neighbour does not object to cats as such, just poo. That is if neighbour agrees, she could encourage your cat to see her patch as part of its territory, that is encourage it in and make itself comfortable. They like catnip, for example, and sit in it for hours. I have tried this and it works well with the neighbouring cat, who now likes to laze about here in the sun and 'goes elsewhere' to poo.

I totally understand that a cat may well shit all over a neighbour's garden, and that would be very irritating and unfair, BUT in this instance I wouldn't be taking on the blame for this since she's actually admitted to you that she hasn't seen your cat shitting in her garden. Not even once.

If you discover for certain that it is your cat (e.g. if she gets a picture of it in the act, which is very easy to do with a smart phone) then absolutely start grovelling and going round to clean it up, but until then... I wouldn't be taking the blame so readily.

My mum has had an issue for ages with the neighbours cat shitting in the middle of her lawn and yes it is their cat as it’s right out side her front window so she sees it. She’s in her 70s with a bad back so going out picking up cat shit every day isn’t exactly easy for her. She got one if those things that make a noise which worked for a while but then there was a discussion on a local fb group with ppl moaning about these as another one locally some people were saying they could here, and lots of ppl on fb were saying it was cruel to cats. Not sure if it was connected but a week or so late her device has been pulled out of the ground and smashed. She’s not sure what else to do as she can’t put detergent down as it’s lawn so would kill the lawn. She’s got a couple of those fake cats you can buy with the shiny eyes but they are deterring this cat. She’s finding it really upsetting at the minute especially with lockdown and being in the house so much, her garden is her pride and joy and she likes to look out the window at it but every time you look out seeing a load of cat shit you know you are going to have to clear up isn’t exactly nice

Aren’t deterring this cat that should have said

Loads of cats around our house. They shit in our garden, on the grass, in the flower beds, it's desperate dealing with it in the summer.

Sometimes I'll glance out the window and see them doing it, sometimes I can chase them off but it's an ongoing battle and I haven't got time to watch my garden 24/7.

I can absolutely assure you cats do all the things some cat owners are in denial of - daily toileting, same area, move to a different area, middle of grass, not always buried but even if it is the disgusting smell when I'm gardening and find it.

The smell, the frustration of every day finding a dollop on the grass. One year most days there was a pile of pale diarrhoea along the same area of grass which I'd have to clean as best as possible but then have to water down the grass. It really affected me, I began to dread having to deal with it every bloody day. And I know it makes me sound mad and yes it started to drive me mad. I took a picture every day wanting to show cat owners what I was dealing with.

Sensors helped but then they'd move to a different area out of range. The range they cover is limited. It's not a huge garden but I couldn't protect it all with the sensors. I still use the sensors but I worry it's not fair on my dog. Sometimes she'll go out and catch one in the act and chase them off but it doesn't deter them for long.

I can't use sprays or repellents or anything chemical as my ancient tortoise is in the garden when out of hibernation each year wandering around and they would kill her.

I can't watch to catch them in the act each time and spray them or shoo them off in reality because I don't know when they will visit and I have got all the things to do you cat owners are busy with too.

And saying you know what your cat does, you don't, you don't follow it 24/7 when it's out of your sight.

My neighbours are lovely. I did eventually speak to one set whose cat I'd seen a few times. They were helpful and apologetic and bought me the sensors. The strips on top of the fence down their side didn't last long, they fell off after a while and one of the cats came in over my back fence instead. I felt I couldn't keep saying it was still a problem because a) I'm sure there were other cats using it too (I can count 12 cats owned by surrounding neighbours that I know of and they only had 2 of the 12) and b) frankly it looks like I'm bloody obsessed with fucking dirty cat shit.

Please have a litter tray if you have a cat. For the sake of the sanity of your non cat owning friends and neighbours. If you don't like dealing with it why should I?

Well this has been so cathartic just to be able to tell you what it's like on the other side.

IF its your cat then yes go and pick it up, but I would want some evidence before starting this as she could want you to clear her garden daily for the next 15 years.
Could be any other cat, or a fox. Give your kitten a litter tray - even if its outside your house somewhere under cover.

Cats leave shit everywhere except their own garden I'm afraid - it's disgusting and I've tried everything to deter them.

Usually true, except for my horrors. They only shat in their own garden At east the first one knew how to toilet properly, but the second one seemed confused. Would shit, move a foot away and wonder where the shit was , then do the equivalent of shrugging her shoulders then half arsedly dig and flip the mud around obvs no where near the shit!

Never next door though!

theyarereallytakingthepissnow that does sound awful. Have you tried the clear plastic bottles with water in as a detterant?

As I said above, we do have litter trays but the cats choose not to use them. We have however got them to shit in our garden though.

It's also not true that cats don't shit in their own garden, they do. Or at least ours do. As do other cats from the neighborhood.

@maybeimamazed456

Yes of course it is frustrating for her and I was very pleasant and actually a bit affronted but I just find it strange as it's a...cat. I will buy the sound deterrent if I have to. Would rather spend the money and keep the peace.

It is your cat though. You chose to have a cat as a pet. Your neighbour did not.

Your neighbour now has to deal with the disgusting cat shit all over her garden because of your choices to have a pet.

Why should other people have to live with the disgusting consequences of your choice? It's not about keeping the peace, it's about being a responsible owner. Not everyone loves cats and that's fine too. Your cat. Your problem.

Your poor mum @Morph2lcfc, that’s horrible.

She’s not only been massively inconvenienced and rendered unable to enjoy her garden thanks to somebody else’s pet, but she’s actually had to spent her own money trying to stop it using her garden as a toilet! It is crazy that cats are allowed to get away with doing this without their owners taking the slightest bit of responsibility for the detrimental impact they have on their neighbours.

I value my good relationship with my neighbours more than I would ever be tempted to buy a cat for my own amusement.

[quote maybeimamazed456]@HippoOnMyRoofEatingCake but I'm not saying that at all, I am taking steps to fix the situation so still scratching my head to why posters are making out as if I don't care. [/quote]
A few pages ago you were laughing at the idea of your pet shitting on someone else’s food, maybe that’s one of the reasons people think you don’t care?

You also said you had no idea cats would go and shit in other people’s gardens. Why did you get a pet without knowing something so basic?

You can think we’re all uptight vicious bullies if it makes you feel better but the fact is this thread shows that cat owners make other people’s lives difficult and few of them are willing to do anything about it.

@Dollygirl2008

Cats leave shit everywhere except their own garden I'm afraid - it's disgusting and I've tried everything to deter them.

Not always true.

Both my cats shit in our back garden - wish they would do it elsewhere