Neighbour and his cats are driving me nuts!

[BrokenDishwasher]

We moved into our dream house at the beginning of the year. The house is nice, but the garden is perfect, it’s what sold the house to us really. It’s a long rectangle shape, with a hedge splitting it in half. One half is the ‘adult’ half. BBQ space, nice table and chairs, grass and flowers etc. The other half, we’ve made into the children’s side. It’s got the trampoline, mud kitchen, sand pit etc.

A few weeks ago, we dug up some of the kids side and planted sunflowers, carrots, pumpkins etc. The next morning we came down to find cats had dug it all up and pooped everywhere. I cleaned it up, we replanted it and hoped that was it. It wasn’t, it was just the start. The cats seem to come into the garden on a night and destroy it! They poo in the mud kitchen, the sand pit, the planted areas. The children have stood in it and walked it through the house. They’ve scratched the wood up marking the sides. Worst of all, they’ve started killing birds and leaving them in my garden, half eaten 😭

I spoke to the neighbour and he just kind of shrugged and said what can you do, they’re cats 😠. I’ve tried powder but it’s had no effect at all. I’m just so sick of it! What can I do? I don’t want to do anything that will hurt them, but I’m so sick of their mess and need to do something!

WIBU to see the neighbour again? I don’t even know what he could do, but I hate these damn cats!

Have you laid woodchip? Cats view that as a toilet in my experience.

No, there’s no wood chip down, just grass and mud

Is your sand pit covered? I had this with next doors cats and I put chicken wire over any soil where I grow things. Also a couple of cat sensors worked too. Oh and a water pistol when I saw them in my garden.

Do you clean the area straight away after you've cleaned it to get rid of the scent?

Netting over the beds, cover on the sandpit, if you see them in the garden squirt then with the hose. They'll get bored at some point. Are you sure it's the cats not foxes? When we first moved here I thought it was cats, turned out to be a combo of squirrels and foxes essentially trashing our garden every night

Give the neighbour his cats shit back.

He should catproof his garden so his animals don’t bother anyone else but if he won’t do that he can deal with the mounds of shit.

Cover the sandpit. Make a netting type cover (garden canes) to go over the veg patch.

Cats hate citrus, so you can get the kids eating satsumas and put the peel in the borders. You can also get a spray and spritz the kitchen etc.

You could also put cat proofing (people so it to keep their cats in so I’m assuming it works both ways) on the top of the fence. You can’t bank on it just being your neighbours cats.

YANBU to be annoyed with this. Cat mess is awful & it’s destroying your plants. You could ask the neighbour to put up something across the top of the fence to prevent the cats getting in. We put rolled up netting around the top of our fences to stop our cats climbing over. After a while they stopped trying & we were able to remove it. Things that you could try: Cats absolutely hate garlic. There are some natural cat repellent garlic capsules that you sprinkle on your borders to keep them away. Works on my cats when I have dug over a patch or just planted seeds etc. I have tried other home remedies like citrus peel but they just kicked it away & did their business anyway.

Get a dog. It the only thing that keeps the buggers out of ours now

Also don’t assume it’s only your neighbours cats. Cats can have a large territory & wandering area. It might be a cat from streets away.

We've just finished cat-proofing our garden to keep three sets of neighbours' cats out.

Cost me hundreds of pounds - but yet the neighbours are now the ones with faces like slapped arses.

Oh dear, did I take your cats' latrine away? Sort your own out, then. Fuckers.

Are you sure it's cats? As opposed to foxes, dogs, badgers or miles? That seems a massive amount of overnight destruction for cats, who are usually somitary creatures. How many cats does your neighbour have?

I also think it's a little bit sad that an artificial play environment is to be promoted at the expense of realising that we share our world with other living creatures.

Your only real option is to keep them out, so impenetrable fence with cat proof strip on top. This would be for you rather than your neighbour to do. Cats are allowed to roam freely.

You could also keep the sand pit covered when not in use.

We have a cat she isn't a big wanderer as very small and too scared of other cats (and now eldely) but it is part of their natural behaviour. She and most of the neighbourhood cats do their business all over the place including our garden but it is just as natural as all the other creatures that appear in the garden. We just put up with it, though obviously as we actually have our own cat it is somewhat easier to tolerate!

Jumping on this because we also have a cat (shit) issue. @EdwinPootsLovesArchaeology what did you do to cat-proof your garden?

I also think it's a little bit sad that an artificial play environment is to be promoted at the expense of realising that we share our world with other living creatures.

they have their own garden, they’re hardly being deprived of being outside.

Agree with advice to get a dog, only thing that’s put neighbourhood cats pooing all over our garden. Cat shit is absolutely foul barring that, cat proofing your own garden to keep them out - there are companies that do it

You can’t get the hump with the neighbour, it’s not his fault! What would you like him to do? Get rid of his cats now, because you’ve moved in?

You can get cat scarers and put them in your garden. You can cover your sandpit & play areas, you can put orange peel down....(you could get a dog!)....there are several, humane ways to deter cats from using your garden to do their business. Just do a bit of research.
Don’t fall out with your neighbour about it, legally cats can go anywhere they like, unfortunately for you, so rowing about it will get you nowhere.
Just research humane ways to deter cats and deal with it.

These are 100% effective.

www.primrose.co.uk/jet-spray-cat-repeller-pestbye-p-1907.html

You can get a motion activated water squirter that attaches to your hose and skooshes anything that walks past it. That ought to have the desired effect. Especially if you move it every two days for a week or so. By then any foxes or cats will have decided that it is not fun to go in your garden as water comes from different random places and is not nice, and do their business elsewhere.

Remember to switch it off when the children are out playing though

Unfortunately cats are habitual and that lovely dug up earth when you planted they think is wonderful.

Lots of good suggestions previously.
They hate citrus peel too.

Are you sure it's not foxes? They dug up all my veg! A badger tried to move in too (juvenile male) but the dog scared him off

Cat proof fencing is worth every penny. I agree with Sandi Toksvig - why buy a pet and keep it in my garden?

Only one cat has got through the cat proof fence the previous owner had made. It was trapped in the garden for hours because we were out for the day. It hasn't been back.

@CirclesWithinCircles

Are you sure it's cats? As opposed to foxes, dogs, badgers or miles? That seems a massive amount of overnight destruction for cats, who are usually somitary creatures. How many cats does your neighbour have?

I also think it's a little bit sad that an artificial play environment is to be promoted at the expense of realising that we share our world with other living creatures.

WTF?! Get a grip love. It's a mud kitchen! They're also growing vegetables!! Op hardly said she'd paved over it and installed a plastic play park. Some people....

I cleaned it up, we replanted it and hoped that was it. It wasn’t, it was just the start. The cats seem to come into the garden on a night and destroy it! They poo in the mud kitchen, the sand pit, the planted areas.

Hope won’t get you too far, OP! As others have said, cats love some freshly turned earth - easy toileting opportunity.

Cover the veg beds with chicken wire covers.

Cover the sandpit every night, and get a tub with a lid for mud kitchen mud supplies.

Give the kids water guns to squirt them. Teach them to check their shoes and have a quick look every morning for rogue turds.

Scratched wood is a bit precious of you! But once they stop coming in your garden it’ll be fine.

Unless it’s foxes...

It's mad that other people's choice of pets can cause this amount of trouble. Why do we have to accept it? They shouldn't be pets then. Sorry cat lovers. I know it won't change but why is it ok to have pets that shit in other people's gardens, kill wildlife and cause your neighbours unhappiness?

@BrokenDishwasher

Skimming through the posts here but don't think I missed any mention of cat litter. If your neighbour thought of providing a litter tray for his cats that could solve the problem part way but it seems he is not really interested in trying to help the situation. Even if he provided a litter tray but lets his cats roam outdoors at night then there is nothing you or he can do about the cats wanding and exploring other gardens, it is what cats do!
Having said that I had 2 cats some years ago and one used the litter tray every time but the other one refused and would only "go" outdoors.