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!

Best thing I've found if plastic or metal mesh laid onto ground. They won't walk on it.

Personally I think it's 'a little bit sad' that people's choice of pets has resulted in a massive decline in native bird populations.

We've found the high pitched cat repellers very effective. They're a bit of a pain if you get the angles wrong and keep setting them off yourself but they've definitely got rid of the cats (we were living next door to an RSPCA warden who had at least 5).

We have a sensor in garden. Plays a sound cats don't like when they come to close. Stopped my neighbours cat pooing in our front garden immediately. Highly recommend.

@SnarkyBag

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

The neighbours cats bully my dog (In our own garden!). One even stole her fish roll right off her. So depends if you get a soppy dog or not!

As others have said, the sandpit and mud kitchen should be covered after use. You can invest in expensive cat proofing stuff for the top of your fences so they can’t get in. My friend has some so her cats can’t get out but it cost a pretty penny. There was a documentary about this a few years ago, people invested in motion sensor water sprinklers.

@countrypunk

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

After trying all other 'solutions' (water spray, repellents, high frequency cat scarers, asking neighbours to provide litter trays or latrines for their own cats, asking neighbours to stop locking their cats out all day without feeding them which meant they came into my house and attacked my very old cat and stole her food) - none of which worked - we went for very tall posts and rolls of chicken wire, plus lots of plastic bird spikes. Got it from B&Q, Wilko and online.

It's not a thing of beauty but it's all perfectly legal, which is probably what's annoying the neighbours, although I expect a snotty letter will be shoved through my letter box soon enough.

Their cats also caused a lot of other damage in my garden and house, including to other animals. I'm fucked if I'm going to spend another summer with my patio doors and windows closed.

They're also riddled with fleas.

If it's not the neighbours cats it will be other cats, foxes, badgers, mink, rats.

The sandpit will have to be covered and everything else as protected as you can make it. Beyond that, not a lot you can do.

If it makes you feel any saner, just imagine how much bird poo your garden is covered in

@Peppermintteadrinker

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?

This

Peppermint pellets as a deterrent. I think I bought mine on a pound shop and they worked. Also fill up water bottles and place them where they poo, cats see their reflection and think it's another cat which they dont like. Both have worked for me. Also bag their shit and put it in neighbours bin.

Thanks for the help, I’ll have a look for the sensors and will definitely get some oranges in!

For those who asked- it’s definitely not foxes, we live in a shooting area so there are no foxes here. We’ve got chickens that free roam so they definitely wouldn’t be surviving if we had foxes every night

I’ve seen the neighbours cats in the garden (and chased them out) so I’m sure it’s them. Although I wouldn’t be shocked if they had help from other cats!

To the person who said it’s sad that I want my children to be able to play in their own garden without finding dead birds and cat shit? The cats have their own garden. Unless I can send my kids to shit in there, then I think it’s fair!

To find out exactly what creatures are carrying out the acts, what about setting up a camera with night vision to see what goes on

@BrokenDishwasher

Thanks for the help, I’ll have a look for the sensors and will definitely get some oranges in!

For those who asked- it’s definitely not foxes, we live in a shooting area so there are no foxes here. We’ve got chickens that free roam so they definitely wouldn’t be surviving if we had foxes every night

I’ve seen the neighbours cats in the garden (and chased them out) so I’m sure it’s them. Although I wouldn’t be shocked if they had help from other cats!

To the person who said it’s sad that I want my children to be able to play in their own garden without finding dead birds and cat shit? The cats have their own garden. Unless I can send my kids to shit in there, then I think it’s fair!

From a friends information, chickens can also be quite the diggers too, so.They can also be considered suspects, also if it is cats there could be more than just the neighbours cat too ?

Water pistols if you see them in your garden.
Have you tried the cat thingy that makes a low vibrational noise and/or a metal cat?

We had similar issues. Once next door's cats started using our garden as a toilet, all the other neighbourhood cats joined in. A combination of a small garden and numerous cats was horrific and made the garden unusable.

We ended up cat proofing with this www.secur-a-cat.com/ If you look carefully at the photos it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out your own diy version.

Once the cat proofing was up we ended up getting our own cat. It's so nice not to worry about where she is, whether she's come back in the mornings, whether she's got on the road etc. And I know she's not crapping in other peoples' gardens.

I do love cats but this is not on.
I think the cats were using your garden before and treat it as their territory.
I would suggest all of the above that was mentioned to keep them away,talking to your neighbour may be fruitless as the outdoor cats will do as they pleased anyway.
I know cats hate aluminium foil so if you don't have anything else at the moment try to use this at the moment,just flat sheets of foil,secure it to the ground so it won't fly away.

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.

Oh give over. My neighbours' cats have caught and killed not only garden birds and damsel flies 'for fun' but frogs from our ponds which are my property, on my property.

The acceptance in law of a cat's instinct to roam does not give unfettered indemnity to the cat's owner if the cat causes damage and nuisance to the property and amenity others.

I also have a legal duty of care to protect the welfare of my elderly cat.

I personally think that people who lock their cats out for long periods of time without access to a warm shelter, litter tray / latrine or food & water are shit owners in breach of their own duty of care to their pet.

Yes to citrus, foil, plastic bags flapping in the breeze, cat sensors (we have several), netting or wire over newly dug areas and sand pit. Also fill used plastic bottles with water and put them in the soil, apparently they look like glass so cats won’t walk on them.

Another recommend for the sonic sensors ..All though be aware your kids may hear the pitch too and equally hate it/find it distressing

www.thesprucepets.com/best-cat-repellents-4153850

Sonic sensor as mentioned above. We use them and they work perfectly

I bloody hate cats 🤬

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9219139 we have 2 of these to cover our front garden as the lawn was being used as a litter tray. We got 2 to cover all angles....not a single cat shit since we put them in in January. Neighbours in our street have asked where to get them because now the cat is shitting in their garden

Personally I think it's 'a little bit sad' that people's choice of pets has resulted in a massive decline in native bird populations.

There are far more things affecting bird populations, including modern farming methods and climate change. To blame it on cats seems to me to be avoiding the real issue, and one we don't want to tackle, which is that it's our own behaviour (and not just our pet keeping behaviour).

There is an often quoted figure of wildlife deaths from the cat population, which was given by the UK's mammal society in 1997. It has been systematically debunked by John Bradshaw. In addition, cats do tend to keep rat populations at bay, and rats in their turn can be very efficient predators. Hate cats if you must, but don't blame them for things that come about largely because of human behaviour.

A Jack Russell will keep everything out. Vicious little things but they do a job second to none

Personally I think it's 'a little bit sad' that people's choice of pets has resulted in a massive decline in native bird populations

Nothing to do with cats. RSPB did a large scale survey, you can look it up.

The other solution, yes dogs, but also get yourself your own cat, who will keep other cats out. Putting short bamboo canes into any soil that has been dug over, will also discourage, as they can't "squat". Keep them in until the soil has settled and hardened off. Yes, to previous pp about your chickens. Are you sure they aren't digging things up? As you know, they love vegetables. Also hedgehogs are coming out of hibernation and digging up the soil for worms, we have hedgehog holes and poo everywhere.