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.

Can you put a motion sensor light out there to deter them?

I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet but that doesn’t look like cat poo.

IT IS CAT SHIT! Hopefully that settles this for everyone.

1. The ferals are very feral - as in, scared of humans. I'd have to encourage them to come to my property to trap. That's more shit. I would definitely trap many chipped cats too, as all of them visit here. Also, the worry is that the rescues operate under "trap, neuter and release", which doesn't solve the main issue for me. On the other hand, I suppose it's better than nothing, as I can hear mating calls for the past few weeks and there were absolutely tiny kittens (cute little fur balls) on my camera last year.

1. Forgot what it was...😬

1. I'd welcome some bird poo over the current lot. Pretty sure there's plenty already as I have high trees and bird-song abounds. I don't mind. Can't even imagine to mind.

I lived on the seaside and the seagulls were a nuisance. But not in a comparable way, as other than washing the windows thoroughly every couple of months it didn't affect me in the same way, nor cost me a thousand in new fences. Also, there's a law against feeding them which unfortunately is not a thing with cats.

Can you borrow a dog every so often? I rarely get cats now I have a relative who visits with their (cute) dog. A few wees a the smell of a cleaned up poop seems to keep the cats away.

Tbh I like watching the local cats and saying hello to them. Even the one who is a little sod and starts noisy fights is happy to pass the time of day.

@TempName247
Yes, it's the Bingo game of the cat-poo type.
It is cat poo. As hard as it is to accept (for some reason).

Lion poo doesn't work - you need green gel or citrus infused rods (which need soil/gravel) or water scarecrow or super soaker if quick enough and see them.

The cheapest that worked was wilco cat deterrent powered and I don't know who does that now- also you need to destroy left behind scent with enzyme spray or some form of cleaner know to get rid of scent.

Unusual for cats to poo on concrete as they generally like to Bury and scrape after they do their business.

Foxes round us are incredible. Their agility to climb and jump absolutely extraordinary. They also seem to take great pleasure in pooing in the most inconvenient places!
Cats are all different, my fat cats have never caught anything and are very incapable/reluctant of going far and certainly never do their business elsewhere as they have clean litter trays indoors which are regularly used!

"Feeders of feral populations"

Feral cats are nervous of others, they're unlikely to be coming so close to people.

They're not able to be easily caught and it takes a while to trap / build up their confidence.

That aside, so you suggest people shouldn't feed them? Cause personally I think that's the most disgusting thing about this thread

I don’t see your post as cat hating at all, and I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. I fucking love cats but hate them shitting in my garden! I keep mine indoors because it’s safer for them and I know they’re not out dumping all over my neighbours’ gardens. I think it’s really irresponsible to let cats free roam in built-up areas. So many sad stories on my local Facebook of lost cats being found run over on the road. And they are awful for the songbird population.

Neighbours on the other side got a cute Bichon Frise (and plastic grass) and so for me it made the problem worse as I get their share of cat poo now. It clearly works though!

I asked my ex-husband to pee in the garden 😬 And that does work too.
It's just a shame I have to constantly fight this issue, which never stops if I let my guard down for 5 minutes...

Who is going to enforce these new cat laws?

The police don’t enforce a lot of current laws as it is why/how do you think they will enforce any new cat laws?

If it bothers you that much, which it really seems to, then don’t just sit around complaining about it: move to a flat without a garden. Problem averted.

🤗 we haven't had a cat post for a while...

Hopefully the dogs get a break!
Because I agree, suburbia cats should not be roam free. They should be kept on their owners property. Owners then can train their cats and take them for a walk... and pick up their shit in the process!

Inform cats protection or your cat charity of the feral cat problem in the area. They'll neuter them and rehome the kittens. Cat proof your garden.

But I agree with others. If people are feeding cats it's probably attracting foxes.

In terms of action -
I don’t think there’s a great deal you can do to stop cats on your property. They are less domesticated than dogs and they act more like wild animals. That’s just the way it is. So.

1. make an area in your garden where it is attractive for them to poo - you might think this is mad but it might keep them away from everywhere else. Fresh soil/ wood chip/ somewhere they can dig and bury. Preferably sheltered by a bush or shrub. If they have a bit of privacy they will bury it and it won’t smell.
2. Orange/ citrus peel can deter them from other areas.
3. It could be a cat on concrete - unusual, but they sometimes do that to territory mark, especially if they are stressed by the presence of other cats. Not much to be done there other than clean up.

Sorry Op, just trying to be practical. You can’t reason with a cat. Better to try their language.

@QueenCamilla , could you install this around the perimeter of your back garden? It's meant to keep cats in but I wonder if you could utilize it to keep them out? 🤔

https://katzecure.com/

Get your own cat and cat proof your garden. The others will soon piss off when it's not their territory.

We have two feral cats at work and thought they could do with a once over at the vets as getting on in years. Trying to catch them was a nightmare. We put nice treats in the cat carrier. We had one bloke in full combat gloves ( the kind for dealing with dangerous dogs and he was still savaged and eventually gave up. They follow everyone around meowing loudly until they are fed though by that person , even if fed ten minutes ago by somebody else, they aren’t the least bit shy or nervous as long as you don’t try and grab them.

@CatMadam

Love your user name 😁

Yeah, "built up areas" plus cats is a huge part of the issue. We have what... Like 60 terraces in our run of houses. The households with cats often have more than one. The guy who hoards the ferals, has about 20 regular visitors and residents in his adapted cat shed (in his own words). So there easily might be 40 cats in the vicinity of my garden. How is that normal or acceptable?
I've read that pooping on hard surfaces and unburied is one of the signs of marking and territorial stress. Well no wonder! I doubt it's healthy for the cats themselves...

Your neighbour is the issue. People are always trying to feed cats that don’t belong to them. The multiple posts on the local FB group are unbelievable ‘this cat meowed at me, it must be lost so I took it in and fed it and now it comes back every day’. No shit Sherlock.

if you get a cat then others won’t come in its garden 😉

That's not cat shit! 😂

Do you sleepwalk OP?

I'm 100% with you OP cats are a huge nuisance. They dig up and shit all over my vegetable patch - cat shit with your asparagus anyone? Not to mention the amount of wildlife they kill:

A study published in April estimated that UK cats kill 160 to 270 million animals annually, a quarter of them birds. The real figure is likely to be even higher, as the study used the 2011 pet cat population of 9.5 million; it is now closer to 12 million, boosted by the pandemic pet craze.

Plus that poo looks nothing like fox poo, it's hard to even see the poo in the pic but fox poo is much darker than that.

I've had 27 cats now over 20 years, this isn't cat poo..

Cats hate vinegar and lemon scents. I suggest a serious thorough cleaning with bleach and vinegar and spray lemon juice all over.

There are also ultrasonic repellents. They are motion sensors that make an awful noise that humans can't hear but cats can.

Combine those two.

It should work.

That's not true. I've personally witnessed local cats shitting in the middle of the actual road, on concrete, you name it.

1. Foxes can jump 7ft fences with ease
2. Cats do not defecate out in the open like that. Believe it or not they are very hygenic and will only go where they can bury it afterwards.