AIBU to find it utterly astounding that it's socially acceptable in England for pet cats to poop in other people's gardens??!

[DrawsSword]

I honestly cannot get my head round this. We've moved into a new house and the garden is full of cat shit. Not a single cat owner I know has a little tray for their cat to use. Where do cat owners think their cats poop? Do you honestly not care that it's in other peoples gardens?
My dh is from in a country where this is not socially acceptable and cat owners have litter trays and the cats bloody use them.

If it wasn’t a pet, it probably wouldn’t live in the house next door and be using my garden as a litter tray, would it?

People dont like other people's cats defecating in their gardens If cat owners sorted that then 98% of the "cat hating" would stop overnight

but they can't! Not unless every cat in the country becomes an indoor cat. Cats roam, that's what they do.

I also don't believe it's all cat poo. I've been in my current house for 18 years, surrounded by other peoples' cats. I suspect most of any poo we find in our garden (which isn't much) is fox poo. Or badger poo. Or squirrel poo. I think a lot of people are making a fuss over something that may not be down to cats at all.

I agree op it’s vile. Cat owners think it’s fine (of course they do) by it’s still absolutely disgusting.

As soon as I see the local shitting cat near my garden I open the door and it’s off like a shot.

Worse thing is, it can cause harm if it gets in to kids eyes.

We have 2 cats and have a litter tray. As soon as they were allowed outside they stopped using the litter tray and went outside. I know they occassionally poop in our garden because I've seen them, but I can't exactly follow them around. We keep them indoors on halloween/fireworks night/NYE but they are very reluctant to use the litter tray. I'm not sure how you can train them to, onve they have access to outside, to be honest?

Our neighbours cat used to crap on our sofa. I didn't think that was ok!

we got a cat from a shelter and we’re told he was an indoor cat.
He climbed windows dangerously to get out, he loves being outside and once we started to let him go out he stopped using his litter tray.
What am I meant to do?

You cannot control a cat, they do as they please.

Every cat owner I know had a cat litter try but they keep it in the house not in the garden. When outdoor cats are out of the house I would think they could get fairly far from home on their wonderings so not sure how practical it is to expect all cats to be pooing indoors.

But if you are having a specific problem with a neighbours cat maybe have a polite word with them.

Please don’t put up one of those horrible cat deterrent devices because they can actually be heard by all children and many adults. It is horrible to have your autonomy taken away and be forced to listen to a nuisance noise designed to hurt your ears. It seems particularly harsh if any of your neighbours had a baby or a child with SEN who would be subjected to that at least twice a day.

My two cats love being indoors. They love being outside too, I would never try to stop them roaming. They had a litter tray but prefer to go out. They crap in the garden so I use spiky brambles on the veg beds. They also dislike mushroom compost, especially when fresh.

@Lady08

Here come the ‘cat hating mobs’ who think that their shit smells of roses, while they pretend it doesn’t pollute the sea/rivers. Shall we shame foxes, badgers, birds as well whilst we’re here?

There’s rather less of native wildlife around. Quite a lot less near cats.

There was an old thread called 'not my fucking cat'. It was brilliant. I have 2 labradors but have managed to aquire 2 cats who don't care about the dogs and f*cking attack me if I have the cheek to go into my own garage.

Yes, it's horrible, but at least they don't shit all over the pavements, parks, footpaths, etc.

The entitlement of people who think an entire species of animals should effectively be made extinct just because they don't like them....wow.

It’s not so much we think it’s ok, it’s just one of those things. We have outdoor cats in this country and we found cat poo in ours when we moved in-we have our own cat so now we don’t get neighbours cats so much. The only thing I can suggest is cat proofing entry to your garden or cat deterrent-not sure if it works though. Maybe give it a try. My dh is like you but I have said to him what does he think animals do in the wild? The difference with cats over dogs is that dogs don’t normally roam and shitting on the street is very anti social, hence owners pick it up. If you’re in the country however, many people use stick and flick into the undergrowth.

And a few years back another cat walked into our house, whacked our dog (different dog) round the chops and never moved out. Sometimes it would find a mouse and take it to my son when he was in bed. I told him it was a show of love.

AIBU to find it utterly astounding that it's socially acceptable in England for dog owners to stand and watch indulgently as their dogs piss all over my gate post??!

The problem is that cat poo is often very liquidy, whereas wild animals generally have dry poo that is easy to remove from grass. My kids have got cat poo in our garden all over themselves several times and it can be very dangerous for kids.

Totally agree with you OP it's disgusting.

@dozyjosie42

The entitlement of people who think an entire species of animals should effectively be made extinct just because they don't like them....wow.

This thread shows the selfishness and entitlement of humans. We get more pigeon and foxes poo in our garden than anything else, the birds sit on our guttering and poo directly on our patio and down our fence. Shall we make them extinct too because as a race, we have caused the mass extinction of many animals already. @DrawsSword Do you wonder where your shit does and why are you polluting rivers and seas with it? Do you think you’re entitled to do that?

@BigWoollyJumpers

Get a cat. Problem solved.

Hasnt worked for us. Our bloody cat craps in our garden every day. At least it’s in the soil borders. We have a litter tray but cats don’t use them unless they never go out.

@theemperorhasnoclothes

The problem is that cat poo is often very liquidy, whereas wild animals generally have dry poo that is easy to remove from grass. My kids have got cat poo in our garden all over themselves several times and it can be very dangerous for kids.

Totally agree with you OP it's disgusting.

My cat has never had runny poo, it’s solid and if a cat is continuously having runny poo, that’s not normal and a sign of a poorly cat.

“Outdoor cats are disgusting dirty animals “ - a bit like humans then!

@ColinTheKoala why do you keep saying "they can't"?!?? Of course they can! Look up "cat-proof garden"!!!

OP, you keep chastising people for not answering your question but several times you've been asked what country (that has magically?managed to get all cats to poop on their home turf) your DH originates from?

Sigh there are different rules for cats despite the massive distribution they cause. They also have different rules if you happen to run them over in a car compared to a dog.

If I was you I would get a decent size dog with a moderately aggressive tendency. That will soon clear the cats that are quick enough to move.

Also.. there is no such thing as an indoor cat. Only a cruel owner.

@Lady08 couldn't agree more. Some people really need to get a life. It's fine to be annoyed by things. It not fine to expect everything that annoys you to cease to exist. Get over yourselves.

@PickUpAPepper Native wildlife is only a problem in certain countries with feral animals, it’s not a significant factor for British wildlife.