Neighbour throwing cat poo into my garden

[anticatwoman]

I think my cat hating neighbour has thrown bagged cat poo into my back garden. It would be cat poo from my cats who like to shit in her lovely lovely garden.

I have two children under three and we were playing in the garden this morning when I spotted the bag (looked like a fragranced sanitary bag) in the top corner of our garden filled with what is most definitely cat turds - although I couldn't confirm if they are from my cats of course.

We've lived here 3 years. Had cats for two. She's a proud gardener and my entitled cats love to shit in her vegetable patch and play on her lawn. I've seen her chasing them off/ throwing water at them, putting chicken wire and spikes on the fence to try and stop them getting over. They enjoy the challenge. If I see them in her garden I try to entice them back to mine with treats. As long as she isn't hurting them I don't mind her chasing them off. Not everyone loves cats and that's fine. It's complicated by the fact the old lady next door again loves my cats and frequently lets them in and spoils them. So our shared neighbour's garden is a passage way to tastier cat food and non stop affection.

My back fence is very tall and has no back access. It backs on to a main-ish road. After my back fence is a little stone wall about a metre tall which is filled with prickly blackberry bushes, then the path, then the road. My point being here is that if a dog walker was going to dump a bag of poo from the main road they could easily toss it into the blackberry bushes and not be noticed rather than throwing it miles over my fence to land in my garden. My other next door neighbour has a scary dog so my cats don't dare visit that garden.

I can't prove it's her but the fact that it's cat poo and where it's landed makes it quite probable. I have an indoor and outdoor litter tray but cannot control where they roam.

Whilst I sympathise it's annoying for her, I'm not breaking any law whereas I think she is by throwing things into my garden? If she's going to the trouble of bagging it why not just bin it instead of acting out of spite?

What should I do? Clear it up and forget it? Wait to see if more shows up? Loudly proclaim in the garden that I'm checking cctv for the culprit? Ask her directly? I've clearly and calmly explained to my cats not do do it anymore and am hopeful the message has got through.

@SchrodingersImmigrant, as posted below.

• @SchrodingersImmigrant - Where does your shit go? Do you think it’s fair people have to deal with your shit? Why aren’t you crapping in your own garden, instead of flushing it away and passing the problem on to other people?*

Shes just giving you back what is yours tbh.

Urgh I’m with your neighbour. We have regular cat deposits in our garden and my 2 year can’t play until I’ve de-turded the lawn. Also recently having been pregnant it wasn’t a job I particularly wanted to do, although I know the risk is low.

[quote Flumps44]**@SchrodingersImmigrant, as posted below.

• @SchrodingersImmigrant - Where does your shit go? Do you think it’s fair people have to deal with your shit? Why aren’t you crapping in your own garden, instead of flushing it away and passing the problem on to other people?*[/quote] I answered. I pay for that services. With that the person is paid to deal with it, has an adequate ppe AND most importantly, it's NOT something they didn't chose to do. It doesn't get dumped on someone's garden with "deal with it". The person made informed decision to take the job.

As I said. If cat owners pool together and pay me/us to deal with thei cats' shit, I will shut up.

It's totally different and incomparable situation though.

@SchrodingersImmigrant - Do you think about where your shit goes and how it impacts the wildlife. What about your plastic waste and your rubbish?
The point is you’re intolerant about one thing but when you look at what we inflict on wildlife and animals, we are far far worse!

[quote Flumps44]@SchrodingersImmigrant - Do you think about where your shit goes and how it impacts the wildlife. What about your plastic waste and your rubbish?
The point is you’re intolerant about one thing but when you look at what we inflict on wildlife and animals, we are far far worse![/quote]
Honestly, you are being ridiculous now. Totally different situations.

Just give over and admit that every second house having a pet they don't bother to control so it shits everywhere and causes damages is wrong and that's it. You know it's rcorrect. Stop comparing apple trees to dandelions.

As a lover of black cats but not a cat owner ... cats will apparently shit where they please, so we're told weekly on MN. Ok I've got that memo loud and clear now.

If the shit has to end up somewhere for someone to dispose of it I see no reason why a cat owner (especially when they know it's their cat) shouldn't have the treats packaged up nicely for them to do something with. She shouldn't have left them where your kids could have found them particularly if they're quite young and wouldn't have known to not open them.

But overall I reckon my compromise is a good one.

NRTFT yet but I'm sure there will be comparisons to other animals however a domestic cat is a pet we choose to have. It's quite different to a fox and it's poo.

You have a pet you clear up after it.

I would do the same.

Why should my garden be covered in cat shit when I dong even own a cat!?!

I can’t believe this is even a question

Comparisons of a cat crapping in my garden and me having a poo are up there with Most Bonkers Posts on MN ever

You’re the ridiculous one. Quite happy to pollute rivers but is precious about cat poo in the mud. I guess because the wildlife you’re directly affecting can’t speak out, it’s ok with you. Unless you shit in your own garden, you don’t have a leg to stand on because somewhere, your own shit is impacting the very wildlife, you supposedly care about.
It’s called co-existing.

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz

Comparisons of a cat crapping in my garden and me having a poo are up there with Most Bonkers Posts on MN ever

So you’re happy to complain about cat shit but you are happy for your shit to pollute others around you? That makes you a hypocrite!

@anticatwoman, I would ask her directly. You sound calm and rational, so a pragmatic conversation would be best. You could take her a bottle of anti-cat soil spray as a gift. Tell her your child picked up the bag.

@Flumps44

You’re the ridiculous one. Quite happy to pollute rivers but is precious about cat poo in the mud. I guess because the wildlife you’re directly affecting can’t speak out, it’s ok with you. Unless you shit in your own garden, you don’t have a leg to stand on because somewhere, your own shit is impacting the very wildlife, you supposedly care about. It’s called co-existing.

If the OP shat in her next door neighbour's garden, then there would be a fair comparison, but what you're saying isn't like for like.

Pets are not 'wildlife', they are another way that we impinge on wildlife, as well as on other humans, and we should try to manage that. The massive proliferation of outdoor domestic cats has a hugely negative impact on our wildlife, and should in my view be limited, just as (to continue with your example) our sewage needs to be properly treated and water use limited and recycled as much and as responsibly as possible to minimise our environmental impact. Cats do not need to be raised as outdoor cats, just as (again to continue your example) we no longer poo on neighbouring fields, because we accept some curbs on what is 'natural' to manage large populations in limited space.

@OverTheRubicon - No one said pets are wildlife but you’re saying it’s ok for humans to shit in the area of others but cats can’t.
Instead of being intolerant, accept that we co-exist and shitting is a bodily function that every species has.
So what you’re saying is cats should be kept indoors because they have a bodily function that inconveniences other people.
What about the inconveniences we cause the to the planet, wildlife and animals, should we all be locked up too? Because let’s face it, we are far worse on a much larger scale.
Or does that only apply to cats because it only inconveniences you?

@Flumps44

You’re the ridiculous one. Quite happy to pollute rivers but is precious about cat poo in the mud. I guess because the wildlife you’re directly affecting can’t speak out, it’s ok with you. Unless you shit in your own garden, you don’t have a leg to stand on because somewhere, your own shit is impacting the very wildlife, you supposedly care about. It’s called co-existing.

Co existing, but only if we shut up about impact people's uncontrolled pets have, eh.

If someone nerds a smart companion and doesn't want to fuck over people and animals living around, get a rat.
Adorable, smart, cuddly, and most importantly not going to cost your neighbours hundreds in damages and gloves and repellents and so on.

Next time, I hope that she pops it through your letter box.

@SchrodingersImmigrant - Only if we pretend we’re the only species whose shit never impacts anything!
Ignorance is bliss, after all!

Keep your cat it, no one needs to deal with their shit.

[quote Flumps44]@SchrodingersImmigrant - Only if we pretend we’re the only species whose shit never impacts anything!
Ignorance is bliss, after all![/quote]
It's different. And you can argue till you are blue but it's simply not acceptable to have a pet and tell people "well, not my problem" if they are not happy with it's effect on their property and life.

@SchrodingersImmigrant - It really is no different. I think these threads highlight how selfish humans actually are.
If humans never domesticated cats, we’d be overrun with them and we’d end up seeing far more shit in our gardens, than we do now.

[quote IJustWantSomeBees]@OverTheRubicon would you consider it humane to keep a dog locked inside for its whole life?[/quote]
Why is it humane to allow for massive loss of wildlife, in order for non-native predators to roam free? I wouldn't consider that humane for a dog, but also wouldn't use that argument to let it run free at night to kill what it wants and crap on my neighbours' gardens. It would also be more humane if people could.let their rabbits or similar pets go free in their back gardens occasionally, but there's no chance of that around here, as there is a cat on every fence.

For that matter, this is exactly the reason that we aren't allowed to keep most wild animals as pets - because there isn't a good way to meet their needs in an urban setting.

@OverTheRubicon - Not all cats hunt. My two don’t and actually live in harmony with the pigeon visitors we get every morning.
Maybe I should complain to the neighbours about feeding the birds because they leave poo on our patio and grass but of course that would cause a loss of wildlife because many rely on food sources from humans.
Why is it humane for humans to kill billions of animals every year, plunder the oceans, destroy ecosystems and pollute?
You’re focusing on the wrong species and you’re also being hypocritical.

Reverse thread