To tell her to get lost?

[Sportycustard]

Just got home to find a note from my neighbour.

"Hi Sporty, just wanted to let you know that we're rehoming a couple of cats in the next week or two. I can see from our upstairs windows that you have some plants in your garden that are poisonous to cats so I will pop round in the next day or so and point them out so you can remove them in good time for our new arrivals"

I've just done a quick Google and it looks like she is referring to a rhododendron that was a gift from a friend who has now passed away and an azaelia that was a 50th birthday gift. Both are established shrubs and mean a lot to me.

AIBU to tell her my garden will be staying as it is?

Oooo I’d be asking the other neighbour what she asked or told them.

Unfortunately there are a lot of plants that dangerous to cats (& dogs but you don’t tend to get them roaming in neighbours gardens), & it sounds like you have a lot of dangerous plants to cats in your garden.

Contrary to what I said in my earlier post about not changing my garden, if you do have lilies in pots I would move those so cats could not get them, as a cat can die almost immediately if they do get the pollen on them, and they lick it off. There are different levels of toxicity, & unfortunately lilies are highly toxic.

I really am shocked by the entitlement and stupidity of the neighbour, and there is no way I would be agreeing to remove any of my plants to accommodate her, let alone anything as precious as the OP has described. I've had cats all my life, who have lived happily with gardens full of rhododendrons, azaleas, delphiniums, and lilies. I also often have lilies in a big vase indoors. Cats aren't stupid and I've yet to catch one munching on a tasty azalea. Surely the neighbour realises how far most outdoor cats roam? She can't police every garden in a quarter mile radius.

Ha ha tell her cat poo can be poisonous to pregnant women and as you may be expanding your family you’ll be taking her cat to be rehomed if you find it in your garden

Rescues usually advise people to keep new cats indoors for at least six weeks anyway, so apart from her request being absolutely absurd, her cats should not be at risk if she follows that advice.

Sound like your neighbour has gone quite mad OP!
I have a big garden and our dogs and cats have never come to grief despite apparently 80% of it being poisonous…I think animals have more sense than people!

I have three cats and two rhodawhatsits.

They go nowhere near them. I am positioned in a rural country position so they probably find the fields more exciting.

I would never ask a neighbour to remove plants. Ridiculous.

Could it be that some over zealous cat rescue worker has been telling them that they must remove certain plants from their garden and she’s taken it a step too far.

Our local Cat’s Protection insists on catios, no kids, indoor only etc. It is bonkers. Not sure how they ever rehome a cat- perhaps the point is not to 🤷🏻‍♀️

That's a good point though - is the mad neighbour going to ban the OP from getting a dog, should she want one?!

Glad I am not the only one with a hilarious neighbour. Mine has told me it is outrageous that her window overlooks my house and that I need to plant shrubs in my side return asap to prevent the horror of her seeing me or me seeing her.

Entitled much? Anyway, cats are usually pretty smart about not eating things that hurt them unlike dogs.

Every garden around here, plus the church grounds, seems to have rhododendrons and azaleas ( something to do with the type of soil) Never seen a dead cat, plenty of healthy ones roaming around.
Your neighbour is well OTT.

wow, she needs a reality check. I have several cats that visit my garden, some from a couple of streets away as they can come through the gardens at the back. She needs to realise that it won't just be your garden that they go in.

Is she going to ask every house in the next couple of streets to dig up their gardens too?

Sadly it could create problems between you but she just isn't thinking this through properly. (I have always had cats myself and never given a thought as to what is in the neighbours gardens).

She is being ridiculous. What about all the other neighbors, is she going to do an inspection of all the gardens?

Every one of those plants was in my parents' garden. Our outdoors cats were fine.

People have become weirdly risk averse about pets. Someone online was freaking out about using essential oils in the house because some of them might, supposedly, be harmful to cats. I've never heard of this, and how far are we all supposed to go down the road complete risk aversion? Cars are surely a much bigger risk to an outdoor cat, if we want to worry about safety.

As an owner of many cats, she is fucking bonkers. She can feel free to keep them indoors if she's that concerned about them.

She’s bonkers!

My DM had a prized azalea in her tiny garden - absolutely covered with flowers every year. It did absolutely nothing to deter the cats that endlessly lurked under that or other shrubs, waiting to slaughter any of the birds she fed.

Are you going to have a street WhatsApp group that doesn’t include her?

Well done, OP!! I can’t believe the actually asked.. what a CF!

Outdoor cats will encounter various dangers. Cats, hostile animals (or people 😢), cars, poisonous plants… The poisonous plants should be the least of their worries, tbh!

The lilies are admittedly a bit of an exceptions. Pollen can easily fall / transfer on a cat and be licked off during grooming.
And just a few grains of pollen are enough to be fatal!

I am therefore glad you’re reconsidering those seeing as you have a few fury friends yourself.

Your neighbour sounds mental. Is she planning on doing the rounds of everyone within a certain radius of everyone living nearby to make sure there are no plants or shrubs that are toxic to cats in their gardens too?

I've got a cat.... and rhododendrons, azaleas, lillies and likely a billion other plants that are 'toxic to cats' and we get several other of the neighbours' cats visiting our garden too. None of them have been harmed by anything in my garden or my neighbours' gardens either.

Yes, tell her to get lost!

She sounds bonkers. Cats are perfectly fine doing the rounds through gardens with plants that are toxic to them, including my own. Ignore her.

(I wouldn't have lilies in my own garden, though, with my cats. Quite toxic and drop a lot of pollen-y bits. Don't particularly care for the smell of them, either, tbh.)

She's nuts.

I have a cat and I couldn't even tell you what plants are in my OWN garden, never mind a neighbours.

Cat is fine by the way 😂

You could meet her half way, I suppose.

Plant crocuses spelling "FUCK YOU!" on your lawn.

Edit for autocarrot

As my name suggests I have far too many cats and a garden full of rhododendrons, lavender, and delphiniums. Somehow my cats have survived.
Tell your batty neighbour to jog on.

This

Surely no one in their right mind would send you such a message?!