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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
AllOfUsAreDead · 14/04/2022 15:13

If you can get all dog owners to keep their dogs under control, on a leash if needed, and to pick up their dogs poo, I'll agree with you op and keep my cat in.

Until then, no one else gives a fuck, why should I? And you'll never get all dog owners to actually follow the rules properly anyway, you can be fined for dogs attacking people or leaving dog poo. I won't get fined for my cat shitting in your garden. Dog owners are worse. Dog shit left everywhere, dogs not under any control at all.

StatisticallyChallenged · 14/04/2022 15:13

@rosesarebluey we have Katsecure fencing - wooden rollers on the top of our fence. Keeps ours in very effectively so far.

katzecure.com/

HelloTreacle9 · 14/04/2022 15:14

The notion that you 'own' a cat or 'allow it' to do anything or can 'control' it is...barking.

MeasureTwice · 14/04/2022 15:15

YANBU.

It's outrageous that some (SOME) cat-owners unapologetically believe that their choice to have a cat means that the neighbours should just put up with cat poo in the garden and not be disgusted by said cat poo or annoyed by the situation.

The consolation for dog owners who are troubled by the unfairness and irritating attitude of certain cat people is the undeniable fact that dogs are so much better than cats. Wink I mean, yes, I could have a mere cat and let it roam and poo freely over the entire neighbourhood with zero consequences to me, the cat's owner, but the privilege of having a vastly superior companion animal (a dog) is worth the extra trouble of actually cleaning up after my own pet.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 14/04/2022 15:17

@MeasureTwice

YANBU.

It's outrageous that some (SOME) cat-owners unapologetically believe that their choice to have a cat means that the neighbours should just put up with cat poo in the garden and not be disgusted by said cat poo or annoyed by the situation.

The consolation for dog owners who are troubled by the unfairness and irritating attitude of certain cat people is the undeniable fact that dogs are so much better than cats. Wink I mean, yes, I could have a mere cat and let it roam and poo freely over the entire neighbourhood with zero consequences to me, the cat's owner, but the privilege of having a vastly superior companion animal (a dog) is worth the extra trouble of actually cleaning up after my own pet.

I have both. I'd never be without a cat.
chaosrabbitland · 14/04/2022 15:18

i do wish for once mumsnet would take this thread down. an op becoming more unhinged and deranged by the minute and its encouraged a few lowlife scum like the lily planting suggestion one to crawl out from under their rock

NobleYeats1 · 14/04/2022 15:20

I also had to throw out a perfectly good raised bed of lettuce and other veg as cats kept pooing in it. They are disgusting.

SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 15:23

[quote pennywiselives]@SevenWaystoLeave honestly OP, I would rather be an irresponsible pet owner and anti social neighbour than be bitter, aggressive and pedantic like you. This thread is full of people suggesting cost effective, simple ways to deter cats but you are choosing to ignore the helpful advice and just carry on ranting about how terrible cats and their owners are. Which suggests you just enjoy moaning.

My cat has a litter tray which he uses but he also roams outdoors as is his legal right. So I have no idea what he gets up to during that time. The only way to 'control' him as you say is to keep him indoors 24/7 and im not willing (or legally obliged) to do that. Thankfully my neighbours all fuss him and like to see him rather than being so unpleasant.

I can understand why it's annoying of course. It's also annoying when birds crap on my windows or mice get in my shed. You seem to think that because cats have owners there should be some magical cure to containing them but the facts are that they are free to roam just like wild animals are and if there weren't so many owners there would simply be a lot of wild cats procreating and shitting in even more flower beds.

You seriously need to chill. There are bigger things happening in the world. [/quote]
I already do most of the things suggested on this thread to deter cats, they still come in. The only things I haven't done are the suggestions that would cost me literally hundreds which I can't afford. I'm not posting for tips, I'm posting because I'm sick and tired that even after trying every cat deterrent in the book, I still have this problem which I shouldn't have because it's not actually my responsibility to be controlling or cleaning up after other people's pets.

I don't give a shit about your legal rights to be quite honest, the law is archaic because it's based on cats once being useful as mousers, it's not designed for fat urban house pets. Legalities aside, you have a moral obligation to be a responsible pet owner and a decent neighbour, neither of which entitled cat owners seem to give a shit about. I bet your neighbours are far more annoyed about your cat than they let on. And if your cat gets squished by a car, as happens eventually to the majority of outdoor cats, it'll be 100% your fault but you'll never accept that. You'll probably expect the driver to pay your vet bills because as an entitled cat owner nothing is ever your responsibility.

It's not "magic" to contain, control and supervise your pet, the owners of absolutely every other type of animal from dogs to chickens to horses to parrots to lizards manages somehow to contain, control and supervise their pets (and if they don't they are recognised as irresponsible). Cat owners can, there are plenty of cat owners on this thread who manage to do it, you just don't want to. That's your choice and you may be within the law but you are still an irresponsible pet owner and an anti-social neighbour.

they are free to roam just like wild animals are and if there weren't so many owners there would simply be a lot of wild cats procreating and shitting in even more flower beds

I'm sorry but I have to address this special bit of idiocy - there is no such thing as a "wild cat", cats are not wild animals, they are domesticated, they don't just magically appear, they appear because people keep them. Cats without an owner are not wild, they are stray or feral, and are either owned cats which have been abandoned or are descended from owned cats which have been abandoned or allowed to breed without control. In areas which have significant populations of unowned cats, they are considered a nuisance and programmes are put in place to trap, capture, neuter or even kill them to limit their numbers. Nowhere is there a utopia where cats roam wild and free. In places where the majority of cats have owners there is zero excuse for them to be allowed to cause a nuisance.

OP posts:
SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 15:29

@NobleYeats1

I also had to throw out a perfectly good raised bed of lettuce and other veg as cats kept pooing in it. They are disgusting.
Yep, makes me worry about growing veg in my own garden knowing they're effectively growing in cat shit manure.
OP posts:
AllThingsServeTheBeam · 14/04/2022 15:30

@XelaM

Plant some lilies 🌸

Cat owners need to cat proof their gardens if they truly love their little darlings and not let them into other people's gardens!!

Ew. I would hate to be you.
AllThingsServeTheBeam · 14/04/2022 15:31

@NobleYeats1

I also had to throw out a perfectly good raised bed of lettuce and other veg as cats kept pooing in it. They are disgusting.
They aren't are they. They shit. Do you deal with your own shit?
NobleYeats1 · 14/04/2022 15:33

@AllThingsServeTheBeam no I don’t go round shitting in peoples gardens personally. If you do and think this is ok you should probably get some help…

SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 15:34

@HelloTreacle9

The notion that you 'own' a cat or 'allow it' to do anything or can 'control' it is...barking.
So it just appeared magically in your house one day? You didn't buy it or adopt it or get given it, or make any decision at all to keep it and look after it, it just appeared and stays through no action of your own? Hmm Seriously, give your head a wobble, you chose to acquire and keep it, you own your cat. And it's effing nonsense to say you can't control it, obviously you can, people control much larger and trickier animals, you just can't be arsed. Seriously, this performed helplessness from cat owners is beyond ridiculous.
OP posts:
7eleven · 14/04/2022 15:35

@chaosrabbitland

i do wish for once mumsnet would take this thread down. an op becoming more unhinged and deranged by the minute and its encouraged a few lowlife scum like the lily planting suggestion one to crawl out from under their rock
I don’t know; it’s giving me quite a giggle. The OP is being so preposterous that I don’t actually think it’s a real post. There’s a dog equivalent post popped up now as well. I’m thinking about starting one about Guinea Pigs.
XelaM · 14/04/2022 15:35

I have lots of pets (a dog, guinea pigs, birds, a tortoise) and guess what I clean up after them all and don't make them my neighbours' problem.

If cat owners care about their pets they should invest in cat-proof fencing. It DOES exist as has been pointed out on this thread. Or keep your pets indoors. If they are roaming the streets they are not cared-for pets!

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 14/04/2022 15:36

[quote NobleYeats1]@AllThingsServeTheBeam no I don’t go round shitting in peoples gardens personally. If you do and think this is ok you should probably get some help…[/quote]
No but you still shit and someone else deals with it.

SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 15:36

A guy in the next town over from us has pumas and lions, even he manages to keep them from shitting in the neighbour's yard somehow, he could probably give some of you some tips who think you can't control or contain a domestic cat.

OP posts:
Pissyduck · 14/04/2022 15:36

OP, people keep making perfectly valid points which you keep ignoring and posting increasingly unhinged diatribes.

I would love to live in a world with no dogs, I dislike them in the same way you dislike cats, but I understand that some people like them so reign in my intolerance, and this is even after I literally had to MOVE HOUSE to get away from a neighbours horrible noisy dogs. I have to see dogs on a daily basis, dodge around off lead dogs constantly on the street I live as its a popular dog walking route, step in their shit. Dogs are absolutely foul, but I don't go on mental rants at dog owners as an entire group because Im not a twat.

NobleYeats1 · 14/04/2022 15:38

@AllThingsServeTheBeam you sound unhinged. Confused Going to the toilet is not the same as having a random cat shit all over your vegetables.

7eleven · 14/04/2022 15:38

@SevenWaystoLeave

A guy in the next town over from us has pumas and lions, even he manages to keep them from shitting in the neighbour's yard somehow, he could probably give some of you some tips who think you can't control or contain a domestic cat.
Do you mean you live near a zoo?
MrOllivander · 14/04/2022 15:40

@gingerscot

Yes!! All pets would wander if we let them! Keep them under your control. Anyone who lets a cat out - your neighbours hate you.
Mine doesn't. She switches the water feature on specifically for my cat as he likes a drink out of it But then he doesn't hunt so no killing birds and he won't even wee outside let alone poo (he comes back in to use his tray)
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 14/04/2022 15:41

I have netting on top of my fences to stop my cat getting out for his safety rather than being particularly neighbourly. I've no idea what the neighbours think about it as I know it's visible from their side but I'm not really bothered about that.

SevenWaystoLeave · 14/04/2022 15:41

Do you mean you live near a zoo?

No, I live in the rough general vicinity of this man:

www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/man-given-permission-keep-two-3024148

OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 14/04/2022 15:44

I'm sick of bloody dog owners around here allowing their yappy little bastards to bark all the time and shit in the service road at the back of the house.

I really don't care if the dog has separation anxiety, it's not my problem, just shut the fucking thing up!

pennywiselives · 14/04/2022 15:44

@SevenWaystoLeave gosh you really are cross aren't you. Is it really worth getting this worked up over?

Every time I let my cat out I accept that there's a risk of him being knocked down, cat napped, attacked by another animal or by a particularly venomous cat hater like yourself. But on balance I would prefer to take that risk and give him a fulfilling life than keep him cooped up. He's now nearly 15 and has managed to survive so far so hopefully he's fairly streetwise. But if the worst did happen, although I'd be devastated, id be glad that he's had a long and happy life. And quite obviously wouldn't expect anyone to pay his vet bills, don't be so ridiculous. I am a responsible pet owner in the sense that he is neutered, chipped and well looked after. But I refuse to keep him inside because of intolerant miserable people like you.

My neighbours do like him. They actively offer to look after him while we're away and can often be seen and heard fussing him. Not everyone is quite as bitter as you.

My point is, where do you expect all the cats to go lol? They exist on planet earth as a species. If people ceased to own them as pets what would happen to them? You don't need to like them but don't expect them to disappear. We all have to co-exist alongside things that annoy us - cyclists, tories, whatever. Get a life.