To water pistol a cat

[Oregano20]

Moved in to a new house a few months ago. Neighbours seem friendly but they're never in their garden so haven't really spoken to them much and I don't want to ask her this incase iabu and it's dead awkward. But Neighbours cat keeps shitting in our garden.
This sucks because

1. I have to be extra vigilant for my crawling DS
2. The cat shits in the borders and digs up my plants.

I tried cayenne pepper. DP wants to get a water pistol. Google says it is effective.

If it was your cat would I piss you off if you saw me give your cat a cheeky wee squirt?

@NorthernSoulForever please don’t. Yeast infections aren’t pleasant and if you can get close enough to chuck a bucket of water over the cat it must be old or not very well. Get a water pistol instead. Cat lover, have owned cats. Don’t want em pooing in my garden if I can help it

Cat owner here, I wouldn’t care if you water pistolled my cat harmless and will deter them from your garden. Go for it

Cat owner here. I have actually offered to buy water pistols for my (cat hating) neighbours. I'm OK with my cats learning to keep out of gardens that they're not welcome in. Water doesn't hurt them.

Cat owner as in ours moved in 6 years ago and still not found her owner I would have no issue at all with this.

Yes do it. I’ve got 3 cats, who appear to stick to pooing in our own garden, but do explore further afield. I wouldn’t mind at all if they got splashed by a water pistol; as a PP has said, I would suggest that course of action myself.

Go for it, OP. We used to water pistol our car when he got angry and bitey. Also a few drops of water is always a no-fuss way to move a cat with no harm to it.

Cat. Not car!

I am a fully signed up cat lady and I wouldn't mind if you water pistoled my cat. I love him but he's a dreadful bugger

I hiss really threateningly... seems to work very well. When the cats who try to come into my garden seen me walking down the street they cower!

I have 3 cats all boys and different ages and I regularly shout at them and throw cold water near them, you don’t even have to throw it at them just near them is enough to stop them hissing at each other or the neighbours cat.lol
Don’t worry about, a little water is fine.

@MargosKaftan

My parents used to have a cat. I came home from uni one weekend and dumped my stuff in my old bedroom (back of house) and found a super soaker on the windowsill. When I asked what it was doing there, it seemed the pet cat was getting a bit elderly and struggling with defending her territory, other cats coming into our garden stressed her out.

The vet has suggested squirting other cats with a water pistol if you saw them. My dad had bought the fanciest water gun in the toy shop and had taken to hiding upstairs like a northern, middle aged Vasily Zaytsev and taking the poor moggies out.

So what I'm saying is yes, this is common advice to get cats out of your garden- but there is no way to do this without looking fucking mental.

Hahaha! Love this!

Garden hose, super soaker or turn garden sprinklers on.

I'm a cat owner and I recommend it. I've told me neighbours to feel free to soak/scare my cat off if they want her away from their gardens. It doesn't harm them, it just makes that particular territory hostile and one to avoid.

Gentle enough to scare, not hard enough to hurt or injure.

My dad used to have lumps of earth lined up to throw at cats that were crapping in our garden. No matter how he blocked their way in to our garden they found another one. Owners don't care that their cats crap everywhere, damage plants & gardens.

There's no point speaking to the neighbour about it - there isn't really much they can do about it!

I wouldn't mind if you shot my cat with a water pistol as long as it was to give him a fright / sprinkling rather than to power hose him!

@Nat6999

My dad used to have lumps of earth lined up to throw at cats that were crapping in our garden. No matter how he blocked their way in to our garden they found another one. Owners don't care that their cats crap everywhere, damage plants & gardens.

Apart from every cat owner on this thread has replied saying they'd be ok with the op squirting their cats...

Cat owner. I don’t mind at all and I suggest it to anyone who’s let me know my wandering boy has taken liberties on their property (often found asleep on their bed)!

Although it’s not been quite so effective on the thug cat from next door who comes and scares my other anxious cat on his own turf though. He’s a persistent little prowler.

Seems reasonable to me, as long as the intention is just aim it in their general direction to put them off.

We keep ours in our garden but if they managed to get into a neighbours I’d say they’re fair game. We don’t want them wandering any more than the neighbours do.