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?

I made my kids study a cat care book before we got our cats. First time I got flowers they were worrying about the lilies which are toxic to cats - apparently cats get drawn to the smell of a lily and of course lick themseves clean so could ingest the incredibly messy pollen. My Dad reassured me that the streets in Spain aren't full of dying cats despite vast quantities of lilies growing wild and cats running feral.

Now that made me laugh out loud after a hectic day at work. Thank you!! 🤣

You should make a post on the neighbourhood watch page warning neighbours to be vigilant that a batshit lady is going door to door demanding people alter their lives and property because she decided to get a pet

I love cats so much but… she’s being so ridiculous. Do not remove your plants. Also I never knew lollies were poisonous to cats and mine have never went near my flowers.

As an animal foster carer and previous rehoming ‘checker’ and rescuer and working for many years with animals I’m sure she’s a lovely person to re home these wonderful cats (anyone who re homes an animal is an angel in my opinion 😸😻)

In saying that, she’s gone about this completely the wrong way.. I’m sure she means well and her heart is in the right place and she is getting organised for her new little furry mates 🐱 but she shouldn’t expect her neighbours to bend over backwards for her! She needs to keep them indoors first of all for a good few weeks in case they need injections/boosters and not to mention that it’s a new location for them and she doesn’t want them running off!

Please explain to her that cats are very clever and chances are they won’t even go near said plants and even if they do then they’re not silly! They won’t eat these plants!

https://amzn.eu/d/4n5XKs7

Lastly if she really is so concerned then ask her to buy you a big pretty pot with a lavender bush or a rose bush (cats hate these) or to go on Amazon and tell her to search ‘cat repellents’
ask her to invest in high secure fences and to cover up any holes /gaps in fences/ gates .. lots of gravel/pebbles act as good repellents too

Laughed out loud at the cheeky Fuckery ! Shared with oh he said tell them to get f***.
Incidentally my mum is a cat woman and a gardener and has never had a problem with beautiful azaleas and wonderful rhodis and cats.

It's a running joke in our household that everything seems to be poisonous to cats. In practice, these plants only seem to be a problem if you have them as indoor pot plants, which invites bored cats mooching around indoors on a rainy day to poke and play with them. When cats are outside, they are far too busy being cats outside to methodically graze on daffodils and azaleas for no reason.

She doesn't need to worry; those cats won't ever nibble on that rhododendron!

Cats aren’t idiots they don’t go round people’s gardens chomping on rhododendron bushes.
They eat a bit of grass sometimes.
I have cats and avoid toxic houseplants and bouquets (eg Lillies) in the house because of proximity but there’s nothing you can do about what other people have in their gardens.

@Sportycustard, may sound weird but I'dolike to compliment your vocabulary. You used the word uninterested, with the meaning not interested. Most people wrongly use disinterested, which means impartial.

Wow she’s nuts and I love cats but that’s not your responsibility. Why does she call you sporty as well?

Presumably she’s shortened her full name and the OP has changed this to reflect her user name Sportycustard.

This thread has reminded me that I need to re-home my pot of beautiful yellow lilies that my clever 12 year old lady can has never gone near. We re-homed a 2 year old male cat who is possibly the daftest thing on earth a couple months ago and given that he's managed to eat a hole in our heated throw and fallen down the stairs many times while chasing his tail/shadow, I'd put money on him poisoning himself with the lillies.

Well if she’s threatening you with future vet bills I’d definitely be returning any cat poo that’s been left behind in your garden.
I think people have become extremely entitled over the last few years. As for telling a neighbour to keep his dog on a lead in his own back garden!!!! 😱 - I liked his response lol

I hope you don't grow any vegetables as the cats could use your beds as their litter tray. As a gardner and cat lover it can be difficult to deter them from going in lovely fresh soil.

I can't say I'm all that fussed. I have 2 cats and a veg bed. I occasionally find a poop or two in the freshly sown beds, but I doubt it's much worse than the squirrel/ mouse/ bird/ rat shit that probably is also in them.

Protectapet is what she needs. No danger of them coming to any harm in anyone else’s garden.

That is ridiculous - cats roam much further than the garden next door. They're going to have to take their chances in lots of gardens as do thousands of other cats (but at least they have an interesting life rather than being stuck indoors).

yaNbu. Unbelievable brass neck of her!

This.

WTF don't ALL cat owners have it if they're that concerned?

We fenced our garden off to keep our dogs safe. Also to avoid any potential problems with delivery people. Our girls have never been aggressive to anyone but they are animals and you can NEVER guarantee an animal's behaviour.

Tell her if she comes knocking again with batshit requests, you'll uproot HER.
The absolute cheek of some people!

“so you can remove them” ????!!!! Not even a request, but a demand! I would tell her I ignored it because I thought it was an April Fool thing and when she asks why I’d say it hadn’t occurred to me that somebody would just expect something like that without a discussion and without using the word please. And because it sounds like a fucking joke, but that might not go down too well!

Ugh my old neighbours cat was forever jumping though my lillies. They were potted and I was forever moving them to try and keep the brighter safe but he's still jump through them.

Luckily he survived longer than they did.

Yanbu

There are many plants that are not great for animals, but if out of doors they will avoid them.

I would offer to move them in the Autumn though to the other side of your garden if possible. This will allow the cats to stay away more easily, and show willing.