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?

Long time ago now, but I used to get cats coming into my garden and pooping in my flowerbeds, gravel and paved areas. I then would "mark my territory" by spraying on a strong solution and of Jeyes fluid wherever they'd been and the surrounding areas too. That seemed to put them off after a while.

I'm unsure if that would still work as I read somewhere that the composition of Jeyes has now changed but that might be worth trying.

Otherwise you could try lion dung pellets or solar powered animal deterrents which you stick in the ground. I haven't bought these yet but thinking of trying them against the very loud foxes in my area. 🌹

Either way, its crap in the garden. Just fling it over the fence and stop moaning.

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"?

I have cats and I also have a litter tray because I don’t want them using my garden or my neighbours as a toilet. Many cats often don’t cover their poo either so yanbu OP

YANBU but sadly this reaction isn’t uncommon. As you say, they’re just being cats but it’s this lack of understanding and sense of entitlement that YOU should deal THEIR cat’s mess/annoying behaviour. If your dog shit in their garden you could bet they’d have something to say…

I had this issue - thankfully the cat neighbours moved and it stopped.

I would get a trowel, pick it up, and put it in their garden, every single time it happened. Their cat, their problem.

This is so easy to remedy, a bucket of cold water thrown at cat as it's doing it.
I have four outdoor cats and luckily they are all very much loved on the street where l live. My nearby neighbours are all cat lovers, and l have to remind them not to feed them or let them in. But l know I' m probably in the minority.

I may be exaggerating for effect but I have also had deer in my garden and Im not sure why anyone should really be any less pissed off by deer shit in their garden than a cat shitting. Its not like cats are anymore controllable when it comes to their toileting. What about the horse shit in the road that just gets left. This is just miserable moaning bastards that dont like cats. Its not based on reason, its based on dislike of the specific animal. I dont like dogs, I dont go around threatening to shoot them if their owner leaves shit on the pavement. People that dislike cats seem to have a real irrationally passionate hatred for them and I think it says a lot about them as humans.

Tigers in Africa??

I would definitely chuck it back over their fence (the turds, obviously, not the cat).

I would also add that in my garden, it's still an issue even when the neighbours' cats bury their shit, because a) it regularly means that new plants get damaged by them scuffing up the soil, and b) if I'm planting something or weeding, it's really not that pleasant to be digging a hole with a trowel and encountering a concealed, stinking cat turd.

FWIW, I don't really buy the whole thing of 'Oh, it's easy to deter them, just get a super soaker or a sonic cat repeller etc' that cat owners always seem to parrot. First of all, why am I having to spend money on those things because your cat is in my garden? Secondly, I've never found sonic cat repellers to work at all - I've literally watched a cat sniffing one and sitting down by the one in our old garden! And they don't have much of a range. Super soakers are fine if you're prepared to sit there for ages waiting for the cat to appear, and then to take aim and hit it, and repeat that process numerous times, which isn't ideal if a) the cat mostly shits in the night when you're in bed, b) you have other stuff to be getting on with, like a normal life and a job. Any chemical cat repellent might work for five minutes, but it doesn't last because it rains.

I actually like cats - I like all animals. If I see a cat pottering around in the street or at a friend's house, I'm the first to want to stroke it and make a fuss of it. I totally understand that cats who shit in my garden are just being cats and I don't think it's particularly kind to keep cats inside all the time. What annoys me is that some cat owners are just utterly blind to the fact that their pets are a nuisance to others. If I had my own cat, and therefore enjoyed all the benefits of owning a pet, I wouldn't mind putting up with the unpleasant side like clearing up honking shits. But I absolutely do not want to have to put up with the bad side of cat ownership when I don't own a fucking cat!

Big cats in their native habitat killing prey to eat is natural.
Humans bringing an excessive number of cats into an area, where many of them kill wildlife (sometimes for pleasure, as evidenced by the variety of almost complete and/or half eaten bodies of rodents and birds I find in my garden) is not natural in the slightest.
How bizarre to think we can compare the behaviour of wild cats to domestic cats as some way to justify the excessive number of 'pet' cats in many locations.

If your dog ripped my cats head off, id be reporting that it had bitten me and make sure it was put down. Having a vicious animal is not that same as an animal doing its business outdoors.

YANBU. I was told that "you can't control cats" when I said about all the poo and hunting wildlife in my garden, (4 cats and that's just next door ) and one getting into my house and climbing my curtains to get away from my dog. Apparently I'm an arsehole though for saying that doesn't change the fact I will continue to keep my door open in summer, and whilst I'd never deliberately let my dog for it, the cat will just have to take its chances as next time I might not be so quick to put my feeding baby down, restrain my uncollared dog (only wears a collar out of the house, as it's a strangulation risk inside) and shoo out their pet that I'm allergic to from our home.

There were plenty of uncovered turds on my property that we're definitely deposited by my neighbour's "pets". One did it as I was strapping my child into the car next to the planter! I've used bamboo sticks and a super soaker since to good success. The one that came in the house hasn't tried again!

In this case, back over the fence! If neighbours don't see a problem, they won't mind clearing it up!

You could try holly (or something similarly prickly) round the periphery. Obviously a big commitment and not for everyone, but a big, free-roaming dog was the best deterrent we ever had! Luckily we don't have a cat problem in our current house, but previously they were a nightmare. Our dog went for them every single time (not encouraged, but it was her garden so we took a cats enter at their own risk if she's out approach) and the visits very quickly stopped.

Domestic cats DO kill because of nature, but because they are domesticated and well fed, they no longer understand that their instincts to kill are for the purpose of feeding. Is that really too hard to understand?

Why on earth is it a 'negative' indicator?

Because people that hate cats are tossers.

So you'd lie to get another animal killed just because it acted like an animal?

How is a dog killing a cat different to a cat killing a bird?

That's absolutely awful @Screwballs, trying to have an animal killed under false pretences. I would never have set my dog on a cat. Did she come close to catching some? Yes, however she was in our secured garden. If a cat entered and was injured, that's the risk of free roaming. Your false bite claim wouldn't be entertained either, I imagine.

I think it's really odd how some people state categorically that cats always cover their poo, or that they don't poo on lawns or concrete. I've got two cats and they poo on our lawn and never attempt to cover it. I've seen them do it with my own eyes. We have dog poo bags and go round regularly to pick it up. If they were using my neighbours garden as a toilet too I'd want to know so we could do something about it.

You seem to be the one who is failing to understand quite a lot here.
As already stated, the humans are the problem a lot of the time, not the cats!

I'd say people who judge others based on their animal preferences are probably the ones with the issue.

As others have said, it isn’t true that cats never poo on grass/concrete.

My cat does occasionally poo on our concrete garage floor - but only when I’ve accidentally forgotten to empty her litter tray and it’s got stuff in it. She doesn’t like to go on top of her previous business, so she poos on the floor as a protest!

A cat pooing on concrete or grass is often a sign that they don’t have anywhere else suitable to go. Is your neighbour’s garden just lawn, or do they have some flower beds for the cat to go in?

If they don’t, and refuse to put any in, you could consider putting in a few flowerbeds yourself.

Toxoplasmosis: An Important Message for Cat Owners

Because dogs being viciously out of control is illegal. Cats hunting birds isnt. Not rocket science.

I can at the very least bring civil action against you. And I would.