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.

Are you also up in arms about dogs pissing all over the pavements and up fences? If not, why not?
Personally I think that's much more disgusting than the occasional cat poo in a garden (where it can be dug in as fertiliser).

@MissingColorado

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.

Yet whenever there is a ‘my cat got attacked by Nextdoor’s dog in their garden’ thread, the very same people are baying for the blood of the dog and saying it’s owners should be paying the vet bills Surely that’s when you should also be saying ‘that’s life and deal with it’

(Misses point entirely)

And how the hell do you stop a dog marking lamp posts?

Apart from the fact that it is cruel, stops them from communicating naturally.

If you want to be that puritanical what about chewing gum, cellophane litter, food detritus, human piss and shit?

Entitled cat owners give me a break. My cats go out at night, if they shit in a neighbours garden what can we do about it when we're conked out in bed.

And i don't feel bad about using deterrents in my garden.

I don’t let my dogs take a shit in my neighbours gardens however their cats are doing exactly that on my property

Dogs and cats are treated differently legally though. There is a law that says dogs must be under the control of their owners at all times. The same does not apply to cats, in recognition of the fact that cats are much less likely to cause injury to humans and that it is harder to control their movements.

@MissingColorado

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.

You still haven't answered the question. I know cats are allowed to roam anywhere, any time of day and shit anywhere. Why is it socially acceptable?

Op why are you constantly saying 'it's not answering the question'?

This is mumsnet, not an exam!!'

Demanding people answer your question is batshit! (Bat not cat)

My cat refuses to use a litter tray. As far as I can tell she mostly poos in our own garden and buries it but I cannot guarantee she doesn't occasionally poo in the neighbours garden and I've no idea how I would stop her! We do keep her in at night, but she quite likes to be in at night and if it upset her we would let her out.

@DrawsSword which country is your husband from?

Also op

Where does your dog go to the toilet?

Unburied shit sounds way more like foxes than cats tbh,

I'd love to see you try & get a fox to use a litter tray

@xxxGirlCrushxxx

Op why are you constantly saying 'it's not answering the question'?

This is mumsnet, not an exam!!'

Demanding people answer your question is batshit! (Bat not cat)

Er.... Because my thread is asking that question. I genuinely want to see some good answers

If something is legal that usually means it is accepted by society.

I'm curious as to how OP knows it's six cats shitting in her garden. As opposed to the same cat shitting six times there.

Anyway I have an indoor cat and a litter tray, so I'm just off to polish my halo.

@MajorCarolDanvers Well, in my part of Scotland the council train special crack squads of attack haggis’s to patrol gardens. They jump out and play a quick blast on a set of specific ultrasonic bagpipes that only cats can hear.

The council had to get the bagpipes custom made, as at first it was just ordinary bagpipes used and the noise at all hours of day and night was worse than the original problem. No end of complaints.

You do have to pay extra on your council tax refund bough if you want your garden to be covered.

[quote NadiaVulvokov]@MajorCarolDanvers Well, in my part of Scotland the council train special crack squads of attack haggis’s to patrol gardens. They jump out and play a quick blast on a set of specific ultrasonic bagpipes that only cats can hear.

The council had to get the bagpipes custom made, as at first it was just ordinary bagpipes used and the noise at all hours of day and night was worse than the original problem. No end of complaints.

You do have to pay extra on your council tax refund bough if you want your garden to be covered.[/quote]
But where do the Haggis go to the toilet? 🤣🤣

Yet whenever there is a ‘my cat got attacked by Nextdoor’s dog in their garden’ thread, the very same people are baying for the blood of the dog and saying it’s owners should be paying the vet bills
Surely that’s when you should also be saying ‘that’s life and deal with it’

Not here. I don’t even have a cat. I have 2 dogs. If a cat got attacked in the dogs own garden, it’s dreadful, but not the dog or owners fault. If the dog is off lead in a public place, that’s different as the dog is out of control in a public place.

This thread has been done to death @DrawsSword so YABU simply for being boring and unoriginal.
This planet is filled with animals, all of whom defecate, and 99.9% do so wherever the fuck they like. If this is the sort of topic that gets you riled up, I worry for your general stress levels. Get over it

You still haven't answered the question. I know cats are allowed to roam anywhere, any time of day and shit anywhere. Why is it socially acceptable?

Lots of posters have given answers to your question.

Because cats are legally free to roam in UK.
Because it's the status quo.
Because people feel that keeping cats indoors is cruel.
Because some cats won't use a litter tray.
Because even if cats didn't shit in your garden you would still have foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, birds etc shitting in your garden.

How many more answers do you need? You can't just keep repeating 'answer my question!' over and over because you don't like the answers you're getting.

At least your neighbours cats will scare off the birds so you won't have to worry about them pooping on your windows and car too!

Jokes aside it’s actually really miserable to have your lawn/patio shat on multiple times a day by someone else’s pet.

I chose not to have a pet. Yet in my flower troughs, patio and grass I have someone else’s pets faeces to clear up.

I don’t have the same issue with wild animals. I only have that issue with someone’s pet. Yes cats roam, but that doesn’t mean other people have to be happy about cleaning up after your animal.

@LaetitiaASD

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.

Yup you have a point with the status quo thing

People are answering your question, OP. You're asking if you're being unreasonable to find it astounding that it's socially acceptable to let your cat shit in a neighbour's garden. The poll is 65% YABU as I write this.