That cat-proofing should become a legal requirement?

[QueenCamilla]

As of June 2024 all pet cats will have to be microchipped by law or risk owners a £500 fine. It's a good start in the right direction, as it would allow the fed-up neighbours to identify the breeders of cat colonies and feeders of the feral populations. If chip-less I'd hope to be assumed owner-less and removed from living on the local streets.

I live in a run of back-to-back garden Victorian terraces and the problems with owned but roaming, feral and also intact cats of all sorts, are driving me mad.
I don't encounter as many dog shits in the streets as I do cat feces in my own garden (and that's just the paths and the patio).
I have spent near on £100 on deterrents. I'll spend another £100 in the summer on motion sprinklers. I'm building a new fence between the worst offending neighbour (who feeds all the neighbourhood cats in his garden and draws dozens of them to visit) at my expense, solely because of the problem with pests and their fouling. I bet the neighbour will try to put a ramp or something against the fence to enable "his" cats to roam.

Meanwhile, I can't take the bins out without clearing the turds and washing the paths first. I can't have builders round, without being out there at the crack of dawn looking for cat poos, so they don't get trod in (again).
I can't open a window downstairs or patio doors without smell of feces wafting in.
No garden or drainage improvements can be done without considering the cat problem first. I dig a trench for pipes and they shit in it. Gravel? That's just a giant litter box. I collect bramble branches to scatter them into flower beds and still a cat curled one out right next to the spikes. I have laid an ugly plastic grid as a walk-way over my lawn as it's impossible to not step into one otherwise.

I'm appalled that someone else's choice of pet is allowed to have such a detrimental effect on my finances and my enjoyment of my property.
Some cat owners dare to call these threads "boring". I'd rather call them a warning! I am growing increasingly angry at the situation and it won't be boring at all if I snap.

Would I be unreasonable to think that with the microchip requirement coming in, it would be a good time to force cat owners to spend money on their own pets and cat-proof their gardens?

I'm sure I could deal with an odd escapee (scan and return), but I'm losing the patience with the situation as it stands.

Here's a lovely photo (there were two more just out of the shot)

Are you living at Battersea dog and cat home?
I'm suuronded by cats, but never experienced such levels of shit
None of neighbours facilitate cat climbing either...

breeders of cat colonies and feeders of the feral populations

Breeders of cat colonies? Where are these? And even if they microchipped them all, so what, it’s still legal. Also what do you think they’d do with feral cats?

Odd cat hating thread.

🙈😂Good grief OP. What size cat are we talking about?!

Do you see them pooing? Because those look more like fox poo.

I’ve never seen cats pooing in the middle of concrete like this, it doesn’t even look like cat poo.

"Resentment is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die"

Cat turds are nuisance but your reaction is completely out of proportion. And when you say you post is a warning, what exactly are you planning to do? Launch a nuclear missile?

You jumped the shark when you said you couldn't open a window without smelling cat shit.

But thanks for letting us all know how much you hate cats. Fascinating stuff.

Whilst I can completely understand your frustration. I have a cat who has a litter tray. I try to keep him in as much as possible because I don’t trust cat haters. I prefer him to do his business in the litter tray as then he’s less likely to do it outside and annoy anyone.

However. The threatening element to the post is quite worrying and I have no tolerance at all for people who even consider harming animals. Which is what it sounds like when you said ‘it won’t be boring at all if I snap’.

At least they don't kill and maul people 😊

I have my garden catproofed and mine don't poo everywhere. I do have the neighbour's cats getting trapped in my garden sometimes due to the cat proofing. Mine only catch mice as well, no birds, although they do enjoy birdwatching.

Thats fox shit.

The problem is where you live not the cats, I've never known anyway having such issues. Ignoring the fact it looks more like fox poo.

How do you feel about rats because I'm sure the cats are keeping the population of those down where you live.

That would be a bloody big cat OP.

What's your plan for the foxes? Are we microchipping them and escape proofing the woods?

Yanbu OP. There are some wonderfully considerate cat owners but sadly many couldn't care less. That's good news about upcoming changes.

Well, that's the issue - it is REALLY unusually bad here. Definitely cat poo.
The foxes would have no access to the block of terraces as all the streets end walls are 7ft and with barbed wire. And I do have motion cameras at the front and the back and only once in two years a passing fox set off cameras in the front garden. Now I have reinstated iron railings, so that doesn't happen either.

I'm just frustrated that the law doesn't afford any consideration for those particularly bad situations like mine. It's an oversight IMO.

Yabu for saying 'curled one out'

In my expert opinion this is not cat poo in colour, texture or shape 🤓 😂

Agree with PP that cat’s don’t shit on concrete. I’ve got cats in my garden and foxes and the foxes do shit on the patio and they will go back to the same spot. They also spray around things and that does smell awful, I’ve had the same problem myself. However, they don’t like vinegar so if you spray that around it should deter them.

YANBU in your idea, OP. I have nuisance cats that poo and wee in my front garden (I know it's a cat as I've caught the buggers several times). Personally I'd love to see cats' right to roam taken away. I fully acknowledge that I don't like them, and that will never come into practice.

However, in your photo it looks like fox poo. Cats don't tend to poo in the open like that.

Foxes can jump surprisingly high.

I've had loads and loads of cats over the years and never known them to shit on concrete, nor to be so big! I agree, that is fox turd.

So one of your 6 neighbours as a colony of feral cats that can’t escape the walls?

And foxes plus their poo smells really bad. You can smell them from a long way.

Cat poo and dog poo both stink but not as bad.

Sounds like you need to cat proof your own garden - the undead catty hordes approacheth.

Foxes can climb over high walls.