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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU - my neighbour's flower bed is my dog's toilet

357 replies

SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 12:36

I routinely let my dog wander unsupervised around the neighbourhood and he's taken to going into my neighbour's garden, digging up their flower bed and taking a massive stinking dump there. It's his favourite spot to go. This has become a daily occurrence, but I can't stop him, he's an animal and needs his freedom, and I'm not going to clean up after him either because they can't technically prove it's my dog, and not someone else's free-roaming unsupervised dog.

...Yes this would be really fucking unreasonable wouldn't it and people would be quite rightly calling the authories on me and I'd get fined and a control order slapped on my dog. So why why why the ever living fuck is it considered okay and normal when cat owners do this?!? It's absolutely disgusting and I am so so sick of cleaning cat shit out my garden on a daily basis. AIBU?

OP posts:
Original poster
SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 12:38

Oh and just to make it absolutely clear, I absolutely don't and wouldn't let my dog do this, I'm a responsible dog owner, I pick up after him and he isn't allowed to free-roam.

OP posts:
Costacoffeeplease · 14/04/2022 12:38

Yawn

sweetkitty · 14/04/2022 12:40

As a cat owner YANBU. My lot are indoors this being one of the reasons I don’t want them pooing in other peoples gardens I wouldn’t like it. But cats do have special dispensation in that they are above the law like wild animals and can go as they please.

I would look into getting some cat off products to stop them going in your flowerbeds.

Original poster
SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 12:40

@Costacoffeeplease

Yawn
Found the cat owner
OP posts:
Trulyweird1 · 14/04/2022 12:40

YANBU, but cat owners will be on to tell you that cats have a ‘right to roam’ etc.
Only thing that seems to work for me is covering the flower beds in Defenders cat-off. That and sending my dogs out to the garden when the little crapper thinks it wants to pay us a visit.
It tends to skirt round our property these days .

SGChome20 · 14/04/2022 12:40

Is this my husband posting? We're having similar issues and it is disgusting. I'm actually nervous about letting DD out in the garden. Cats won't do their business in their own garden either so the neighbours likely unaware. I don't know what the answer is though apart from to have them as house cats. I've looked for repellants but can't find any!

ShirleyPhallus · 14/04/2022 12:41

You won’t get agreement on this

People either like cats and think it’s acceptable (usually with cries of “but what about foxes and birds? You let them poo!”)

Or they hate cats and cat shit and that’s that

Fwiw I agree with you, but this has indeed been done to death on here!

NobleYeats1 · 14/04/2022 12:41

I agree. Even worse for me was being out gardening when pregnant and unearthing cat poo ending up terrifying me about toxoplasmosis. It’s disgusting and dangerous for kids too. I’ve started going for the cat with a water gun when it comes onto our property now.

Arucanafeather · 14/04/2022 12:41

Birds, foxes and other wildlife do this too. In the UK, cats are considered semi-domesticated so they are given the same freedom as wild animals. Dogs are considered fully domesticated pets.

Cats are creatures of habit and routine. It will take a while if your garden is now a part of their routine but keep a supersoaker water pistol to and you’ll soon make it so they change their routine and avoid your garden.

worriedatthistime · 14/04/2022 12:42

Cat owners will make out that cat pooh isn't as harmful and that all cats bury it etc etc
All rubbish of course

10HailMarys · 14/04/2022 12:43

YANBU. Drives me mad too. One of my neighbour's cats does this and it's gross. I like cats - I like all animals - but I don't see why I should have to keep having my flowerbed dug up and keep finding stinking cat shit when I am NOT THE ONE WHO OWNS A BLOODY CAT.

AryaStarkWolf · 14/04/2022 12:43

cats are just superior animals I'm afraid

Original poster
SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 12:44

@NobleYeats1

I agree. Even worse for me was being out gardening when pregnant and unearthing cat poo ending up terrifying me about toxoplasmosis. It’s disgusting and dangerous for kids too. I’ve started going for the cat with a water gun when it comes onto our property now.
This too - I went through chemo a few years ago and working in the garden was one of the things keeping me sane. Cat mess can be really dangerous if someone's immunocompromised, cat owners can choose whether to risk for themselves, but their neighbours apparently don't have any choice in the matter.
OP posts:
Ca55andraMortmain · 14/04/2022 12:45

Hm, that's like saying that you can't leave your dog at home on its own for an hour because you wouldn't do that to a toddler. You can't really compare cats to dogs, they're different animals with different needs.

It is annoying but cats like to be free to roam. You could try getting a cat alarm outside your house to deter them? Or I think you can get pellets to put.in your flower beds that put them off?

WabbitsAndWeasels · 14/04/2022 12:45

I'm not a cat owner, at don't mind them but not particularly interested in owning own but I am a dog owner and obviously wouldn't let them wander alone where they might get in trouble.

However this kind of thread has been done over and over again. Cat owners do not have the same legal responsibility to keep their under control as dog owners. Dogs are potentially far more dangerous then dogs. Cats are also far more able to roam when allowed outside at all then dogs. A secure garden for a dog is unlikely to be secure for a cat.

Yes, it's crap when a cat chooses your lovely flowers as a toilet but legally there's not much you can do except discourage the animal using scents etc. There also many likely other animals using your garden as a toilet.

wanttomarryamillionaire · 14/04/2022 12:45

I agree op. I don't get why cat owners think its ok for them to let their pets wander wherever they please shitting and killing small animals and birds as they go. They should be responsible and cat proof their gardens.

worriedatthistime · 14/04/2022 12:45

@Arucanafeather most of us don't have time to sit and wait
And yes birds and foxes do but people moan when no one reports a cat being knocked over yet the reason is because of their status so they can't have it both ways
Many of the cat owners i know don't worm them regularly either and if one comes in my garden and my dog chases ( also his natural instinct) we can get in trouble

MajorCarolDanvers · 14/04/2022 12:45

Cats are not the same as dogs - as an animal person how can you not know something as simple as this.

KatherineofGaunt · 14/04/2022 12:45

I can't have nice plants and things in my flower bed because any hint of fresh earth and next door's cats are straight there. It drives me insane.

I'm a cat-lover, but never been in a situation where I feel I'm at war with someone else's cats before.

tillytoodles1 · 14/04/2022 12:46

My cat goes out occasionally, but comes in to use her litter tray.

Organictangerine · 14/04/2022 12:46

You can't really compare cats to dogs, they're different animals with different needs.

I don’t care, if you own and take responsibility for a pet, their shit is also your responsibility.

WeirdlyKind · 14/04/2022 12:46

Have two cats. Both of them are indoor only.

WimpyKidYouNot · 14/04/2022 12:47

YANBU

The comments about bird poo make me laugh. Those posters must be living in some sort of Jurassic Park as I’ve never seen birds so big they would create poos the same size as cats!!!

Theyellowflamingo · 14/04/2022 12:47

I agree with you, but legally they’re allowed to, they’re considered wild animals. That’s also why you’re not legally obliged to stop if you hit one with a car. They’re effectively equivalent to squirrels or foxes - also a nuisance but no point getting annoyed about them.

IncompleteSenten · 14/04/2022 12:47

Yanbu.
My cat refuses to use her litter tray except if there's snow outside so I've created a nice spot for her to use in my garden. If she went to the neighbours I'd be mortified and be cleaning it up.

If you have a cat that goes outside then you have to ensure they have a place in your garden to go to the loo.if you can't do that then you keep them inside.