Spikes on fence

[Theatrefish]

I am perfectly willing to be told AIBU!

We own three of the four boundary fences around our property (we get the ugly side!).

Our next door neighbour has installed a row of spikes on the top of our boundary fence. This is presumably to stop the cat.

On one hand, I sort of understand this, he is very proud of his garden. On the other hand, we have a very elderly, non-hunting, cat who is just about spry enough to get over a fence and enjoys going outside.

Spikes also seem cool to the wildlife, like birds.

AIBU to think the neighbour shouldn't install spikes on our fence without asking us?

Legally he can not put anything on your fence.
The problem with those roller type things is YOU can't put anything on a fence that doesn't belong to you either. So you'd have to get permission from whoever owns the one fence you don't (if you were to go down that route). Oddly enough, my neighbours would rather have my cats in their garden than me put anything on their fence.
I have cats, I have a litter box. My cats go outside and by the amount of shit in my garden seem happy enough doing their toileting there, but I'm sure they do it elsewhere too.
The solution is for your neighbour to get a dog that scares the cats out of his garden - since my new neighbours (on other side to fence neighbours mentioned above) have two yappy dogs (far more annoying than cat poo) my cats don't go in there, even when the dogs are inside.

The law says it is. They shit mostly in my garden as do the other, oo 12 or so cats on the street.

Spikes didn't stop the cats climbing over your fence?

Sounds like your neighbour is damned if he does, damned if he doesnt.

HOW MANY posts on this site asking how to keep cats out of gardens. I guarentee every single on of them has a suggestion of those little strips of spikey plastic attached to the edge of the fence. Not to hurt the cat, to encourage it not to go into the other persons garden to either take a shit or hunt other wildlife.

So your neighbour has put these strips on all the fences, so he is having problems with more than just your cat. You entitled your cat by saying he is old and unable to hunt. Ok then, how is he at avoiding a rottweiler or maybe something even worse to dissuade him from entering a persons garden that obviously doesnt want it?

If it were me, i would be encouraging such actions because from where i am sitting, its thoughtfull and kind to your cat. Other options could be so much worse.

He's not unable to hunt because he's old. He's always been shit at hunting.

He's indoors most of the day. Occasionally sleeps in a bush.

You and your husband sound like bullies. It takes a big man to go around to a lone woman.

She tried 2 different methods to block your cats access and you removed them. She then decided to give you back your cats shit and your husband then decided to tell her when and how to bag them up and bring them back to you. I guess he came back all big chested did he?

Never a lump more was thrown. You must be so proud that a woman now bags up your cats shit because she is too scared of your husband coming around banging on her door.

They had a point. There was no way she knew every shit was their cats. Not really the way to deal with a problem is it lobbing shit over a fence.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, it's your fence, he should have put spikes on it. I'm guessing it's probably not for the cat and more likely to stop birds landing on the fence (and pooing?) and maybe squirrels? Either way I've always found it odd, I don't get why some people are so annoyed by the presence of wildlife that they install spikes, I think it's quite mean really. Live and let live!

Just seen some other posts about your cat potentially pooing in his garden. There's lots of stuff people can do to prevent this, like the use of oranges etc. I think spikes are a bit much, plus I imagine the fence isn't the only way into his garden, cats can slip under fences and if they want to get in they probably will. We have cats coming to our garden to do their business sometimes but we just accept it. It's the same as foxes coming into our garden to do the same. Most bury it in the soil, but if not we just clear it up when we see it. If it was a problem he could have just had a quick chat to you about it and ask if you can provide a litter tray in your garden and if you wouldn't mind him discouraging your cat from being in his garden. He could have even just asked if you'd mind if he put spikes on the fence. You sound reasonable OP so I don't get why he couldn't have just asked you about it

We were burgled a few years ago and they got in via our side gate. So DH put spikes on top to deter any more burglars.
Our two cats just run up the gate and delicately step between spikes so I’m not sure they will actually work.

If it was his fence, he's done nothing wrong. I don't have an issue with anyone catproofing their garden.
Although having previously had a slow, elderly cat, shouldn't you catproof your own garden? We used to have a big, fast guard dog. Kept in a completely secure, high-fenced garden, but had free roam when outside as she couldn't escape. If an elderly cat had somehow gotten in, I wouldn't have bet on it escaping.

I think, if you have a cat, hazards in other people's gardens come with the right to roam. It's partly why ours was an indoor cat. One of my parents' old neighbours had a cat and wasn't keen on part of their garden (display of a type of plant toxic to cats). My parent wasn't prepared to dig up a big display as they had no pets (plants were there because they're a favourite type of flower, parent hadn't previously known of their toxic status!), yet the neighbour didn't even try to stop their cat wandering in on occasion.

Nope not at all. In fact, he sits on them…

Some people are bonkers. Not all cats are hunters
Mine doesn't poo in other peoples gardens. How do I know? Because he will come inside to wee let alone poo!
He also does not hunt. Anything. He once brought me a leaf. I had a bat in the house and he just sat and gazed at it adoringly. I've seen him let spiders run over his paws without moving

Some people are bonkers. Not all cats have/use litter trays or adoringly look at leaves. How do I know? I've cleared two lots of cat shit from my garden today. Chased one cat away from a baby blue tit it was playing with and reunited it with the parent birds and cleared up the remains of a dead baby pigeon killed by a cat.

@PraiseBee of course, but people on here have been adamant that cat owners can't possibly know that their cat doesn't toilet outside and all cats kill things
Some cats do, some don't was my point and owners tend to know

The point of the thread is that a neighbor has got so annoyed with cats pissing, shitting, digging and killing in his garden he's put spikes on all the fences surrounding his garden. Your cat is an anomaly #notallcats
Cats are antisocial pets and the more I read from cat owners on here the more I realise they are not appropriate to have as pets. At least put a bell on their collar to give the baby birds a chance.... Wait for the pile on that cats shouldn't wear collars because it infringes on their cat rights

We've got blunt spikes to stop the cat poo. It's worked very well. We put them on our side of all the fences and told the neighbours they had three months to find an alternative solution to us having to do this to stop our baby crawling in cat poo in our garden. They came to us and asked us not to install anything but offered no ideas.

Glad it worked for you. I will look to do the same at some point. Cat shit is the worst.

Fox shit is worse than cat shit. By miles. It's like sticky tar!

Not where I live. The fox poops neat dry turds I can pick up easily. The cats often have diarrhea and even sometimes vomit.

What a weird area you live

So consensus seems to be:

A) No, the neighbour shouldn't have installed the spikes without asking us

but

B) It's doing no real harm, and for the sake of neighbourly relations, we probably ought to live and let live.