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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

That cat-proofing should become a legal requirement?

293 replies

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 13:54

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.

OP posts:
agent765 · 19/02/2024 17:32

Cats do shit on concrete - sorry to disillusion all the cat lovers here. And cleaning themselves with their tongues does not make them hygienic.

We have a similar problem here. Our frontage is open concrete to allow for parking. Our back garden is lawned and enclosed to keep our dogs in and safe.

One of our opposite neighbours hasn't had her cats neutered so relies on Facebook posts to get rid of the kittens her cats are continually having. The kittens she doesn't find a home for she refuses to feed or allow in her home. She never flea treats, grooms or worms them either. She's one of these stupid people who thinks cats look after themselves apart from food. Her long-hairs look terrible with matted coats, the short-hairs do much better,

As a result, the batty old guy a few doors away feeds them outside so we now have a colony of well-fed but otherwise not looked after cats that are also breeding. The bird population has decreased locally but the rat population has grown and become bolder. We see them out in daylight now.

They're attracted to the food batty neighbour leaves out but are unchallenged by well-fed feral cats who would rather catch and play with small birds that live in the hedges in the street. One neighbour has Nest can footage of a feral leaping out of the hedge and catching a bird on a 5ft feeding station - that's now been moved.

Our concrete is used as a regular toilet by cats. Caught on our opposite neighbour's front Nest cam. I put pots out with flowers for the summer. Her camera also caught cats balancing on the rim having a shit. I was just about to plant a few more flowers in the pot when she ran out and showed my the clips on her phone.

I wear gloves to garden but there's nothing worse than getting your hands in cat shit. I have to wash the gloves off and bin them and they're not cheap.

We've tried all the deterrents like ultrasonic/flashing lights, citrus products and lion poo. They work for a while but the cats get bold. We had one cat owner complain about the noise of the ultrasonics!

The best deterrent so far has been an automatic water sprayer. Cat owner came over and threatened to report us to the police. We ignored her but only put it on on Saturday nights now as it caught our postman one morning. He was not amused but is on Team Dog (despite being bitten by a few - usually owned by "entitled idiots" - his words) and also has a similar cat-shitting everywhere problem.

The most depressing part for us has been the raised vegetable beds we put in. Raised and fenced to keep our dogs off but it doesn't stop the cats. We had to bin all the almost grown veg due to the cat shit the first year. That was an expensive and disappointing waste.

My sister has an indoor cat that is well-cared for. She has all her flea treatments, vaccinations and any other meds and is pampered royally. She's a happy little thing and doesn't miss the outdoors that she's never been in. Despite not going outdoors where she could pick up all sorts of crap, she's not allowed in the kitchen unless someone's in there as she tries to jump up on the worktops where she would leave germs from using her kitty litter. My sister always likens it to wiping your bum and then preparing food without washing our hands.

If all other lazy cat owners were like my sister the rest of us that have to put up with crap (literally and figuratively) would be a lot happier (and richer). Let's face it, a cat is the perfect pet for lazy and inconsiderate owners like the people in my street.

oakleaffy · 19/02/2024 17:32

flashspeed · 19/02/2024 17:17

Also I have 3 cats with an enclosed garden and two of them don't bury their shit, before I got the cat proofing my neighbour's cat didn't bury it either.

Cats definitely don’t all bury their crap.
The horrid clayey looking turds @QueenCamilla posted are probably from cats fed cheap junk food.

Light coloured turds can come me out of cat’s bottoms.

I put it down to poor diet.

FluffyFanny · 19/02/2024 17:33

flashspeed · 19/02/2024 17:17

Also I have 3 cats with an enclosed garden and two of them don't bury their shit, before I got the cat proofing my neighbour's cat didn't bury it either.

What have you provided for them to bury it with?

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 19/02/2024 17:33

FasterthanaButteredOtter · 19/02/2024 14:16

All the crazy cat ladies will come at you OP but I agree.

They all want dogs on leads permanently or destroyed but don't care that their cats are roaming, shitting and killing wildlife everywhere.

I'd have all cats to be kept in gardens with catios or fence proofing so they can't shit anywhere except their own garden.

It's disgusting that we have to spend our own money to attempt to keep other people's pets out of our private gardens.

I don’t have any pets. No cats, no dogs to be found at ours. I do however adore both! Anyhow…

if cats are meant to stay on private property: could we consider the same for dogs and all pets in general? Or does that simply go for cats?

I encounter too many unsupervised and or unruly dogs!

edit: not a particularly serious suggestion, btw. But if we’re just talking about one kind of pet… why not all of them?

FluffyFanny · 19/02/2024 17:35

If you only have concrete and grass in your gardens then there is nowhere for a cat to bury their poo. They need soil to do that!

ILoveMyCatButHesAPervert · 19/02/2024 17:36

Is there a local cat rescue/ cats protection league that could help?

OP isn't interested in taking the obvious steps to improve this situation, @oakleaffy. Not even a phone call. She feels new legislation is a more fitting response.

FluffyFanny · 19/02/2024 17:37

Next you'll all want wild animals fenced in!

Trinity65 · 19/02/2024 17:37

NorthCliffs · 19/02/2024 14:14

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

😸

Hobbi · 19/02/2024 17:39

Makes a change from all the dog hate on here I suppose. It's a little disturbing to see threats levelled at animals, especially when it's pretty obvious they're not the culprit.

Wolfpa · 19/02/2024 17:41

Not so long ago I would have also been arguing that the pictures were fox poo and not cat. Then I moved onto an estate where this was a real issue and cats were just pooing all over the place and some were the size of human poo. I know it was a cat as my doorbell camera used to catch them doing it.

I am with you @QueenCamilla cat owners seem to think they are void of any responsibility due to them having the right to roam.

My local Facebook group is awash with stories about cats showing up in people’s kitchens and destroying property, cats coming home injured and my particular favourite one cat keeps coming home smelling of another woman’s perfume and can she stop going near it.

If you get a pet you need to be a responsible owner which quite often means print your hands in your pocket.

2boyzNosleep · 19/02/2024 17:41

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 17:22

I'm afraid of horrid neighbourly relations whilst there's (most likely) zero consequences for him.
Minus the ill animals (which he'd then claim not to be his and just getting fed out of goodness of his heart) no one can actually do anything about him wanting to feed everyone's cats. He puts out cat food in his garden and also at the business down the road. Daily. It probably draws cats from far and wide.
There were kittens born in the garden that are adults now and still around.

But there is nothing I can legally do, apart from torch his adapted cat-shed. Oh, wait-that's illegal too. 🙀😬

I only wish he was forced to garden-contain them, neuter, insure and care for them. But hey, apparently that makes me a miserable cat hater.

I've only read the 1st 2 pages of the thread.

I just wanted to say that I don't think any of the new laws about microchipping etc will change your situation with your neighbour feeding the cats.

If he claims to fed feral cats that don't officially belong to him then they'll be no consequence. And if there is its likely to take months/years as i understand your frustration but its not exactly worth the money to prosecute him if they are strays that go into his house.

Your best bet is to report him to environmental health maybe? If you get pictures of him leaving out food and the kittens etc.

Tbh, I assume the law is mainly so lost or injured/unwell cats can be returned to owners, I highly doubt it would do anything to stop the amount of cats in your area.

Whatsthisallnow · 19/02/2024 17:42

agent765 · 19/02/2024 17:32

Cats do shit on concrete - sorry to disillusion all the cat lovers here. And cleaning themselves with their tongues does not make them hygienic.

We have a similar problem here. Our frontage is open concrete to allow for parking. Our back garden is lawned and enclosed to keep our dogs in and safe.

One of our opposite neighbours hasn't had her cats neutered so relies on Facebook posts to get rid of the kittens her cats are continually having. The kittens she doesn't find a home for she refuses to feed or allow in her home. She never flea treats, grooms or worms them either. She's one of these stupid people who thinks cats look after themselves apart from food. Her long-hairs look terrible with matted coats, the short-hairs do much better,

As a result, the batty old guy a few doors away feeds them outside so we now have a colony of well-fed but otherwise not looked after cats that are also breeding. The bird population has decreased locally but the rat population has grown and become bolder. We see them out in daylight now.

They're attracted to the food batty neighbour leaves out but are unchallenged by well-fed feral cats who would rather catch and play with small birds that live in the hedges in the street. One neighbour has Nest can footage of a feral leaping out of the hedge and catching a bird on a 5ft feeding station - that's now been moved.

Our concrete is used as a regular toilet by cats. Caught on our opposite neighbour's front Nest cam. I put pots out with flowers for the summer. Her camera also caught cats balancing on the rim having a shit. I was just about to plant a few more flowers in the pot when she ran out and showed my the clips on her phone.

I wear gloves to garden but there's nothing worse than getting your hands in cat shit. I have to wash the gloves off and bin them and they're not cheap.

We've tried all the deterrents like ultrasonic/flashing lights, citrus products and lion poo. They work for a while but the cats get bold. We had one cat owner complain about the noise of the ultrasonics!

The best deterrent so far has been an automatic water sprayer. Cat owner came over and threatened to report us to the police. We ignored her but only put it on on Saturday nights now as it caught our postman one morning. He was not amused but is on Team Dog (despite being bitten by a few - usually owned by "entitled idiots" - his words) and also has a similar cat-shitting everywhere problem.

The most depressing part for us has been the raised vegetable beds we put in. Raised and fenced to keep our dogs off but it doesn't stop the cats. We had to bin all the almost grown veg due to the cat shit the first year. That was an expensive and disappointing waste.

My sister has an indoor cat that is well-cared for. She has all her flea treatments, vaccinations and any other meds and is pampered royally. She's a happy little thing and doesn't miss the outdoors that she's never been in. Despite not going outdoors where she could pick up all sorts of crap, she's not allowed in the kitchen unless someone's in there as she tries to jump up on the worktops where she would leave germs from using her kitty litter. My sister always likens it to wiping your bum and then preparing food without washing our hands.

If all other lazy cat owners were like my sister the rest of us that have to put up with crap (literally and figuratively) would be a lot happier (and richer). Let's face it, a cat is the perfect pet for lazy and inconsiderate owners like the people in my street.

We had similar and tried everything, last resort was copious amounts of jeyes fluid all over the concrete - top ups every 3 months and no cat even comes in our garden anymore and we had a feral colony on our street we don’t see them anymore

DiscoBeat · 19/02/2024 17:43

I agree that cats should be kept in, in a catio or fenced garden. And I really like cats
But we have several that come in and poop on our vegetable beds and leave the poos barely buried in the wood chip in our forest area, which is meant to be a nice place for our 18 month old grandson to go but we can't let him. They also go after the birds in the garden . And I keep seeing sad posts on the local FB page about cats being run over, or lost. I don't think there is a single other pet that people just let wander off loose.

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 17:43

We've tried all the deterrents like ultrasonic/flashing lights, citrus products and lion poo. They work for a while but the cats get bold. We had one cat owner complain about the noise of the ultrasonics!

@agent765
One of my neighbours complained about my ultrasonics too! They don't have cats but they could hear it in their bedrooms via open windows.
I just reinstated them anyway - it's the only thing that keeps the walkway in the photo clear of poo.
**

OP posts:
Daylightsavingscrime · 19/02/2024 17:45

agent765 · 19/02/2024 17:32

Cats do shit on concrete - sorry to disillusion all the cat lovers here. And cleaning themselves with their tongues does not make them hygienic.

We have a similar problem here. Our frontage is open concrete to allow for parking. Our back garden is lawned and enclosed to keep our dogs in and safe.

One of our opposite neighbours hasn't had her cats neutered so relies on Facebook posts to get rid of the kittens her cats are continually having. The kittens she doesn't find a home for she refuses to feed or allow in her home. She never flea treats, grooms or worms them either. She's one of these stupid people who thinks cats look after themselves apart from food. Her long-hairs look terrible with matted coats, the short-hairs do much better,

As a result, the batty old guy a few doors away feeds them outside so we now have a colony of well-fed but otherwise not looked after cats that are also breeding. The bird population has decreased locally but the rat population has grown and become bolder. We see them out in daylight now.

They're attracted to the food batty neighbour leaves out but are unchallenged by well-fed feral cats who would rather catch and play with small birds that live in the hedges in the street. One neighbour has Nest can footage of a feral leaping out of the hedge and catching a bird on a 5ft feeding station - that's now been moved.

Our concrete is used as a regular toilet by cats. Caught on our opposite neighbour's front Nest cam. I put pots out with flowers for the summer. Her camera also caught cats balancing on the rim having a shit. I was just about to plant a few more flowers in the pot when she ran out and showed my the clips on her phone.

I wear gloves to garden but there's nothing worse than getting your hands in cat shit. I have to wash the gloves off and bin them and they're not cheap.

We've tried all the deterrents like ultrasonic/flashing lights, citrus products and lion poo. They work for a while but the cats get bold. We had one cat owner complain about the noise of the ultrasonics!

The best deterrent so far has been an automatic water sprayer. Cat owner came over and threatened to report us to the police. We ignored her but only put it on on Saturday nights now as it caught our postman one morning. He was not amused but is on Team Dog (despite being bitten by a few - usually owned by "entitled idiots" - his words) and also has a similar cat-shitting everywhere problem.

The most depressing part for us has been the raised vegetable beds we put in. Raised and fenced to keep our dogs off but it doesn't stop the cats. We had to bin all the almost grown veg due to the cat shit the first year. That was an expensive and disappointing waste.

My sister has an indoor cat that is well-cared for. She has all her flea treatments, vaccinations and any other meds and is pampered royally. She's a happy little thing and doesn't miss the outdoors that she's never been in. Despite not going outdoors where she could pick up all sorts of crap, she's not allowed in the kitchen unless someone's in there as she tries to jump up on the worktops where she would leave germs from using her kitty litter. My sister always likens it to wiping your bum and then preparing food without washing our hands.

If all other lazy cat owners were like my sister the rest of us that have to put up with crap (literally and figuratively) would be a lot happier (and richer). Let's face it, a cat is the perfect pet for lazy and inconsiderate owners like the people in my street.

Worming and flea treatments (and neutering) are all things a pet owner should be doing but they can groom themselves as far as I’m aware.

They can also hunt so a feral cat shouldn’t need feeding but I don’t think there’s any harm in it. I mean that cats would still hang around even if no-one fed them.

I don’t think throwing kittens out onto the street is allowed, certainly not if it’s done repeatedly. Have you considered reporting it the RSPCA?

Namechangenamechange321 · 19/02/2024 17:47

If it is fox poo, I’ve found they are deterred by the smell of men’s urine….

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 17:53

@Wolfpa

one cat keeps coming home smelling of another woman’s perfume and can she stop going near it.😂😂

I'd complain too. My perfume is dark and sexy and 90 quid, anything less would be unacceptable 😂

OP posts:
eatsleepfarmrepeat · 19/02/2024 17:54

It’s not like any fox shit I’ve ever seen and we see a lot of fox shit, although I’ll accept urban foxes will have an entirely different diet to rural ones.

I do find it quite baffling that people are free to buy a cat and allow it to wreck neighbours property, torment their every existence in the way the OP states whilst decimating the local wildlife at absolutely no consequence.

Futb0l · 19/02/2024 18:01

The photo you posted looks like fox shit.

Its unheard of for cats to shit right on concrete like that, not unusual for cats too.

Besides which, I've never in my life known a garden be so apparently overrun with shitting cats.

Ilovemyshed · 19/02/2024 18:02

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 14:09

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.

Foxes will easily jump a 6-8 ft fence. And that's not cat poo in your pictures.

Suggest you get a wildlife camera set up and you will see how unreasonable you are being.

Ilovemyshed · 19/02/2024 18:05

There's also the Blue-bottles in summer.. 🤢

Ha ha try living in the country ....

QueenCamilla · 19/02/2024 18:09

FluffyFanny · 19/02/2024 17:35

If you only have concrete and grass in your gardens then there is nowhere for a cat to bury their poo. They need soil to do that!

Should I provide soil for the neighbourhood's cats to shit in?

OP posts:
Notamum12345577 · 19/02/2024 18:11

So I assume you have planning permission for you high fence? If so he can’t moan. If you don’t have planning permission because it isn't needed, a cat can easily jump over a 6 foot fence.

Danielle9891 · 19/02/2024 18:13

That's foxes poo OP. Cats will mostly bury their poo as well. I've got one indoor cat and one that mostly prefers outdoors who was once feral. The kennels that I adopted her from actually advertise her as feral. What other choice do they have? They get very little money so the feral cats would get put to sleep. Luckily I live next to farmland so there's loads of room and the only thing she brings me in worms.

Okbyethen · 19/02/2024 18:15

I'm with you OP! I fucking hate cats and the fact that they're free to shit on other peoples property and everyone except the bloody owner has to deal with it! I hate that I have to spend my own money on trying to deter the bastards.

They're pests, I wish they were all kept indoors.