To want cat-owner to acknowledge impact on me?

[SafetyLady]

My neighbour's cats use my garden for a toilet. I'm sick of having to deal with it. On top of plant pots, in my veg bed, etc. They make no attempt to bury it so it sits there stinky until I pick it up. Properly turns my stomach and spoils my enjoyment of my garden on a daily basis.
I know they can't be kept out or trained not to. I'd never want to harm them - they're just being cats! I'd just like some acknowledgement from neighbour that their choice to keep outdoor cats is causing this.
I did ask if they would be willing to take a turn dealing with it, and got told no, cats bury it so you can't even see where it is (some do - theirs doesn't), and anyway that's why they don't keep them in - they don't want to deal with litter tray (were originally indoor only kittens).
AIBU to be upset?

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I won't be throwing it into their yard as it's all hard surface and they have little kids playing out there. Tempting though it may be!

I know cats are free to roam, and you're not breaking a law by having them.

But don't you feel the slightest bit bad about inflicting (at least) a horrible nuisance on them and not trying to mitigate it or even being apologetic?

Unfortunately cats don't always bury their poo, my cat (indoor) will spend ages scratching the litter but never actually cover anything up. Our neighbours cats do just poo on our lawn too, they make a lame attempt at scratching the grass but it does nothing, and I have seen them do this multiple times

😂

Best way to get rid of the issue is to get a cat yourself, they will protect their territory and cats don't poo in their own either as you know, but not the greatest solution, most other deterants don't work in my experience

Exactly my experience too OP. Have tried every cat deterrent (including Lion poo!) Nothing has worked. I've never mentioned it to my neighbour as I figured what could they actually do about it?

I'd have thought the same in the past, but in this case the sheer amount and complete non-covering makes me think if they were at all sympathetic they'd be willing to take a turn at cleaning some up. It's not as if they don't know their cats are doing it!

Before they got these 2, and decided not to keep them indoors after all (the original plan), all I had to deal with was finding a very occasional cat poop in flower beds. This is loads every day in veg beds, on low growing plants, and in herb pots, and these particular cats seen - not just assumed.

Get cat repellent device and definitely return cat shit to neighbour for them to dispose of. Their cats, their mess!

Thing is though that would be exactly what she needs to see in order to realise how nasty it it - her own kids treading in it. She's not having to deal with the unpleasant reality but if she was, she might do more to mitigate it. I wouldn't have a problem giving it back to her anonymously.

My aunt had a lot of trouble with neighbours cats and it sounds crazy but I got some pelleted lion dung at a garden centre which did actually deter them. See if you can find pelleted lion dung on Google. Worth a try.

I bought the lion scat stuff and put it over my neighbours gardens, while encouraging my cats to use certain areas of mine. Never had any problems, even if the cats did poo there, because the neighbours all knew I was trying to stop them being an annoyance.

You’d be getting a hell of a lot of shit thrown back into your garden if you were my neighbour - I’d aim it at your windows too

Lazy, disgusting cat hoarder.

Some excellent comments on here. I had no idea that I didn’t have to take responsibility for my pets. From now on I’m going to start popping my dog over my neighbour’s fence and letting him do his business there. Fantastic! I hate picking up his poop and my garden will smell miles better.

My brother-in-law's garden is full of filled plastic water bottles all around the borders, I thought it was a bit nuts (it certainly looks very odd) but they swear it's effective.

Cats hare the smell of situs to will avoid orange or lemon peel. You can get cat deterrent sprays Our must successful was bitter apple spray. I have cats and used it to deter them from scratching furniture and from usin house plants as toilets!

@KitsyWitsy you can be reported to Environmental Health if you have that many cats and they are ALL regularly shitting in the same neighbour's garden.
https://nuisanceneighbours.co.uk/neighbours-cat-pooping-in-garden-uk-law/#:~:text=If%20The%20Issue%20Is%20Severe,-If%20the%20issue&text=The%20environmental%20health%20department%20can,a%20nuisance%20under%20the%20law.

Tell your neighbour if they don't start picking their cats shit up you'll take to growing lillies in your garden, it'll either a. Deter the cats, or b. Cause liver disease which might bump them off, and if they don't want the latter they ought to start taking responsibility for their own little blighters.

Yes he could.

You can't hide behind law when it suits and not appreciate that perhaps he could argue you are breaking it.

Cat owners have a common law duty of care to ensure that their animals don't cause damage. Look it up.

No they didn't.
You kept going on and on about nature and the poster said

So, just out of curiosity, if I spot a neighbour's cat shitting in my garden and choose not to stop my dog ripping its head off, is that ok too? Because "nature"?

And you said that if her dog ripped your cats head off you'd report that it had bitten you and have it put down.

I'm generally not a violent person but if anyone told a lie about my dog that resulted in him being put down I wouldn't be able to restrain myself.

The council or police won't think he's harassing you or being a nuisance if he throws your cats poop in your garden.
It would be extremely clear to them that YOU are the nuisance neighbour.

Thanks.

signed Highly Allergic to Cats.

Well certainly cat owners on this thread seem far more reasonable than dog owners!

it’s not the same as dog shit because people don’t let their dogs repeatedly into your garden to shit (generally) and it’s socially unacceptable to allow dogs to poo and not collect it.

You're correct re gardens but the amount of dog shit on pavements has really gone up where I leave, many just don't clean it up.

Shovel it up and chuck it straight over into her garden, I would!

I had this problem with previous neighbours and I returned their cats shit to them every single time, until it stopped. Same plant pot, on their doorstep. I don't know or care why it stopped, but it did.