Why are cats allowed to be a pain in the arse??

[sofaprincess]

We recently moved into a new house and we have a dog. She is quite a large dog and I have spent a huge amount of time training her and trying to ensure she is well behaved out of the house and friendly or indifferent (depending on the situation) with other people and dogs. I am always conscious that people might not like dogs and we steer clear of people in the street and always clear up her mess. She loves spending time in the garden and that is supposed to be her safe space.

My issue is this - my husband is picking cat poo up regularly from our front garden and has identified the culprit, but really what can we do (rhetorical)? But worse than that, a different cat likes to come and sunbathe in my garden (on the shed roof or other high up places) which causes my dog to bark continuously until I go out and lure her back inside. I’m starting to feel a bit fed up with nuisance cats - we should be able to enjoy our outside space without dealing with bloody cat issues……right?

YANBU - cats are are pain in the arse and they should be regulated in the same way as dogs are (ie owners need to ensure they have them under control)

YABU - cats will be cats and they should be allowed to free roam and sunbathe/shit where they like

I agree. I love cats. I have had 2. One was an indoor rescue. One loved being outdoors in my garden, which was cat proofed. Both stayed safe. Neither cat was any bother to anyone. Well, anyone outwith our house!

I suspect it will. It's already the law in Australia and in many parts of the US - cats have to be kept under control and on the owners' property.

Owners in Australia can be fined and have their cats impounded if they trespass on other people's property, and all cats must be chipped and registered with the local council once they reach three months of age.

The law in the UK is already changing (all cats will have to be chipped from May of next year) so it wouldn't surprise me at all if it changed to prevent cats roaming altogether, potentially with an exception for official farm cats or those officially used for pest-control.

It does. It is really selfish of people to allow their pets to be pests.

I'm afraid you're right there 🤣

Some of these replies I could easily see as contenders for the M25 cat killer suspect.

Oh my word, the cat haters are out in force today! You say you have continuously trained your dog, yet he barks incessantly at a cat that is sunbathing on a garage roof. Perhaps not as "well trained" as you suggest...

I say this as someone who has a dog and 2 cats. So zero bias here.

What if the dog was barking at birds, or squirrels? You can't stop that and it's just as likely as barking at a cat.

Cat shit is annoying, but so is dog shit - whether it's left on a pavement, on our front lawn, bagged but left hanging in a tree, or on a low wall where your toddler can put their hand in it.

I sympathise op but your anthropocentric world view is skewing your understanding of the world.

You don’t own your house or garden; you’re simply a member of the only species dumb enough to pay money to think so. Your roof belongs to birds, squirrels and cats. The garden is occupied by slugs and snails and all
sorts of other creatures.

And comparing cats to dogs makes no sense - cats are far higher up the chain of command and humans exist to do their bidding. Dogs, being biddable, to humans places them near the bottom of the hierarchy.

I think if you can work on understanding your true place in the scheme of things you may eventually find peace

Jesus, some of you cat hating weirdos need to unclench a bit. 😂

Why should I have to do this? My current cat as far as I know, has a radius of about 5-6 gardens locally. Certain ones she won’t go in as there’s a dog there. The town house and NDN near her old owners (which back onto me) actually told me she sees them and they let her into the house and say hello to her.

A previous cat I had, never ever went outside her own garden, was quite happy in mine.

You are being really unpleasant.

Agreed.

U OK hun? Serious question.

And you are the worst type of human - a murderer

I upgrade my 'unpleasant' - you're behaving like an utter psychopath, please seek help.

Because IMO, the decent thing to do is to keep your pet on your property, not let it roam onto other people's.

I know that's an unpopular view on here though, for some reason.

I have come to the conclusion that some of you are batshit crazy!

I said I have spent lots of time training my dog, not that she is perfectly trained. She is only just over 1 and so we still have a way to go. I wonder how much time and effort people put into training their cats……

I don’t mind her barking if something is worrying her in her space and indeed I would rather she let me know than taking matters into her own hands and injuring a cat (or other animal, we once had a similar incident with a hedgehog). A scared dog is a dangerous dog and most dog owners understand that aggressive dogs are that way because they are experiencing or have experienced fear (or they have a hideous human who has taught them to behave that way). If they know their humans have their backs they are much less likely to react badly when in a situation where they feel scared.

I am well aware there will be other animals coming into my garden, but these animals do not have owners that should be responsible for them and equally none of them have proved to be a nuisance.

That said, currently 71% of you think I’m being unreasonable (although some have stated I am unreasonable but they agree with the sentiment), so I’ll take that on the chin and be pissed off with the cats in private 😁

If I were you I'd let the dog out to scare it off

Good luck with that; OP said it has a shed roof to sit on, so that's exactly what it'll do and sneer

The supersoaker might work though - unless it's a bengal then you're stuffed

I'd rather a few cat poos in my garden as opposed to all the dog shit all over the streets now

I've given my ndn permission to squire water pistol at my cats if they are strutting up and down the fence pissing her dog off. After the first few squirts they soon learn.

Cats are awful.

Cat owners are worse.

Where I live your cat or dog must be confined to your lot. Occasionally council will set up traps (mostly for feral cats but it catches the domestic ones too). If you want your cat outside you are expected to have a “catio” (cat patio), or have it on a lead. If your cat or dog is impounded and found to be not de-sexed the council will de-sex them and include it in the pound release fees. More and more councils are introducing these rules for domestic cats.

I can empathise with your that someone’s pet shouldn’t be defecating or trespassing on your property regardless of what species.

Hmm we have a few people on here who are sore and wounded at all the dog bashing threads. And they are projecting horribly! Hope it makes you all feel better dishing out all this dreadful bile.

You should know though, hun, just like our cats, us cat owners don't give a monkey's willy what you think of us and our mogz. We really don't. 😆