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.

I find it astounding how many cat poo threads are started by one-line answering OPs.

@HadaVerde

I’ve trained my cat to only shit in the gardens of miserable cat haters.

Everyone I know with a cat has a litter tray. Foxes shit in my garden more than cats. Get over it.

YABU.

We have a litter tray and always try and clear up after our cats, but if they roam there’s nothing we can do - and I don’t think our neighbours would want us breaking in to their gardens.

A lot of people can’t have litter trays because of the dust, or because they have young children/crawling babies.

Social norms differ from country to country; if it’s a huge issue for you I’d suggest buying a house somewhere more rurally.

If you get your own cat you may find others stop going to the loo in your garden anyway.

@Powerpotpie

I find it amazing that dogs are allowed to piss up lampposts or fences, or bollards, anywhere really, where people walk, were it pools on the floor for people to walk through and don’t get me started on the amount of dog mess I dodged whilst out on my run this morning.

I used to live in Islington , I quickly learned not to push my buggy past Highbury and Islington Station on match days because the stream of urine crossing the pavement from the side wall of the station was constant..........

@Powerpotpie

I find it amazing that dogs are allowed to piss up lampposts or fences, or bollards, anywhere really, where people walk, were it pools on the floor for people to walk through and don’t get me started on the amount of dog mess I dodged whilst out on my run this morning.

This is so true. I’m also amazed that they squat and shit right in front of you on the pavement, it’s vile.

My cat is old so rarely ventures out now and even when he did he would only go as far as our garden in which he 💩's then I bag it up and put it in the bin. He does have a litter tray indoors.

I don’t let my dogs take a shit in my neighbours gardens however their cats are doing exactly that on my property! Also my dogs don’t kill wildlife.
It’s also idiotic comparing hedgehog/fox/badger poop to domesticated cats, it’s a pointless retort!!

@CouldThisReallyBe

Am I the only one who's intrigued to find out which country is so good at controlling cats? Clearly not the one that invented the saying "it's like herding cats" #missesthepoint

Agree, I don't know of any countries which say cats have to be kept indoors.

@bestcattoyintheworld

I have cats and litter trays. I like the litter trays to be kept nice and clean so I send the cats next door to poop in the neighbour's garden

Haha

Again, not answering the actual question

Here’s my answer. Yes, YABU. Cats are allowed to roam so they shit wherever. That’s life. Deal with it or go and live in your husbands home country.

@Boood

You’re absolutely right, OP. I’ve had a stern word with my cat and told her it’s socially unacceptable to poo outside and she must use her tray at all times. I’m confident she took this very seriously. Problem solved. Everyone else just needs to do the same thing now.

Thank you for taking the time to do that

If you choose to have a pet, you should clear up its mess. Doesn't matter whether it's a cat, dog or horse.

I am sick and tired of having to check my garden before my children can play outside, due to entitled cat owners thinking it's fine for their precious pet to shit wherever it likes and then leave it for someone else to deal with.

Either keep your cats indoors or make your garden so that they can't escape from it.

Bloody nuisances.

I'm also curious about what country of trained cats OP's DH comes from.

Is he American? Because there indoor cats are a big cruel thing

For the previous poster, 6 cats is definitely not an exaggeration in the situation I describe. People doubt what I’m telling them until they visit my house and see the behaviour of these neighbours for themselves. As we live directly opposite and down in a little ditch, it’s a lovely place for the cats to come. They even made a poster of one of my friend’s cats recently and put it up everywhere because they were concerned about it. She came out of her house to find posters with a photo of her cat on. They are so bizarre. And they have caused it problems by feeding it food it shouldn’t have been having. They had the nerve to tell her that if nobody had called by that day they were just going to steal it. The cat already has a home ffs! I would image most of the owners around here have no idea that this is going on.

I can see why people wouldn't want any shitting cats in their garden, let alone their neighbours shitting cats.

BUT, cats cannot be controlled, they can only be locked up. The basic options are therefore -

(1) Status quo
(2) All domestic cats need to be kept inside 100% of the time
(3) The keeping of domestic cats to be made illegal

I think (2) is cruel, and in actual fact think that in the vast majority of cases cats should be free to roam unless health, temperament or age makes tehm a rare exception. If you live near a busy road then don;t get a cat or adopt one that needs to be kept inside.

I think (3) is unrealistic.

I think that leaves the status quo.

@Powerpotpie

I find it amazing that dogs are allowed to piss up lampposts or fences, or bollards, anywhere really, where people walk, were it pools on the floor for people to walk through and don’t get me started on the amount of dog mess I dodged whilst out on my run this morning.

I also think this is gross and would not let my dog do this. But it's another thread....

*disclaimer

I do have a cat who ventures in my walled garden to bask in the sun but exclusively uses her litter tray-won't poo outside!

I'm not a cat owner, but these threads always make me laugh. I don't know how you get into the mindset that anyone can stop a cat shitting where is wants to. Duct tape it's bum?

Facebook here has loads of equally ludicrous posts, with pictures. Some if which are patently hedgehog or fox poo. But that has never stopped anyone moaning about it.

Bottom line is they are cats. They are doing what cats do. Deal with it.

I'd rather have a neighbours cat shit in my garden then human neighbours pissing about with loud music,sex etc.

Also my dogs don’t kill wildlife.

Your dogs may not, but there's a reason farmers are allowed to shoot dogs running on their land but don't have to shoot cats.

@CityMumma78

I don’t let my dogs take a shit in my neighbours gardens however their cats are doing exactly that on my property! Also my dogs don’t kill wildlife. It’s also idiotic comparing hedgehog/fox/badger poop to domesticated cats, it’s a pointless retort!!

Cats don't kill wildlife either - that is a fallacy. Any bird that is slow enough for a well fed cat to catch it was going to die anyway. Birds kill other birds.

And of course it's not idiotic comparing fox poo with cat poo. Poo is poo (unless it's something vegetarian like guinea pig poo which is easy to remove and doesn't smell). I also bet your dogs do poo outside your own garden.

This really gets on my nerves too....constantly having to pick up after other people's pets. And the dog owners in my area aren't always very considerate either.

I also think this is gross and would not let my dog do this. But it's another thread....

Wait did you just say you wouldn't let your dog wee in public? How on earth would you stop them.

I don’t mean this as a personal comment to anyone in particular, but why do people on MN so often use the abbreviation ‘D’ where it seems absolutely unnecessary and frankly a bit strange? Like ‘DDog’? It’s not like no one will understand if you just write ‘dog’..

DFFS