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?

This reply is perfect.

Dear neighbour. Rather than point these plants out to me, best to bring the cats round, show them the dangerous plants and tell the cats not to eat them.

cheeky fuckery of the highest order

reply- hey cheekyfkr. i will not be altering my garden unless i choose to. Id prefer you deter your cats from entering at all to be honest.

😆

She's just been round! Seems genuinely shocked that I said I had no intention of letting her in my garden or of changing anything in it. Apparently, she knew I was going to be "that sort of person".

I've reminded her that my garden gate is covered by the neighbour's CCTV in case she thinks about trying to remove anything (other neighbour is a good friend and has an even more cat decimating garden than I do).

Her parting shot was that she'll send me any vets bills! Erm, that's going to be a no as well.

I do have two regular cat visitors - a very sweet three legged tabby and a gorgeous long haired almost black cat who both sun themselves on our patio. Sometimes the long haired one will consent to be stroked by me which I take to be a great honour. Neither has come to grief in our garden. Fortunately both are uninterested in the visitors to our bird feeders.

I will take on board what someone up thread said about lillies though. I have had them in pots in previous years. They do seem to be very bad for cats.

I think this was an April Fools joke!

Blimey, she really is serious!!!😮. Has she always been batshit, or is this a new development?

Oh blimey , clearly not . She’s completely mad , of course you’re not going to remove them ! Lots of people have these plants in their garden , you don’t see dead cats everywhere!!

The absolute nerve of her. I'd plant even more to prove the point. She's bonkers to think anyone is responsible to keep her foster cats safe.

Has she ever been this bonkers before?!

This seems weird. And surely she could just send a picture of the plants of which she speaks with links to how they're bad for cats? Even then, it's a bit much.
'I'll just pop round and then you'll remove them'?!
Very presumptuous.
I have cats and always have and would never ask neighbours to remove their plants.
Cats surely don't eat plants that are poisoned? She could buy a bigger fence if she's genuinely worried. My guess is she hadn't had cats before or for a long time.

Yanbu.

You have a mad cat lady 🙄 Advise her politely of your preference for your plants over random moggies.

Tell her that you will go into anaphylactic shock if you come within 100 yards of a cat so they will either need to move house or refuse to home the cats.

This 👆

I’ve got cats, always had cats and I’ve NEVER chosen plants based on having cats. The neighbour is overstepping massively.

Lol.
Tell her to jog on.

The plants might stop da moggies pissing and pooing in your garden too.

She sounds unhinged!

The issue with lillies is their very toxic pollen can get stuck on a cat's fur as it wanders past - cat licks fur, cat expires. Most cats are bright enough not to eat toxic plants, but lily pollen can be harder to avoid. I've had cats for decades and lillies are the only plants i won't have in the garden - never had problems with the shrubs your neighbour mentions.

Cats can wander for miles, and the biggest risks to them are traffic and their own inquisitiveness. Allowing your cat outside comes with accepting an element of risk, sad as the result of that can be sometimes be. I'm down to just one old codger now who stays in due to health issues and i must admit i'm relieved my days of pacing by the cat flap in the evening, waiting anxiously for them to come in for bed, are behind me 😄

The cheek of her! I’ve always had cats and I wouldn’t dream of this. Perhaps her next request will be for the neighbours to stop driving in case the cats run into the road.

I have several toxic house plants and garden plants, the fact is that most cats don’t just eat random plants. They’re mostly carnivores and the only plant they really want to eat is grass occasionally. My neighbours have lilies in pots which is a mild concern but my cats are unlikely to climb into random pots with the aim of rubbing against some flowers when there are bushes to hide in and mice to chase.

I assume your neighbour is an over zealous first time owner but her cat is her own problem

Oh this is my favourite post of the day. I love a CF thread and this is right up there.

Not only is she being very entitled, she's also just being thick. Cats can roam quite far - even if you agreed to get rid of the plants from your garden, it's not unlikely that there'll be other plants in other gardens that could be potentially dangerous. Does she think pet cats all over the country are constantly being harmed by dangerous plants in the surrounding area?

For anyone who loves lilies, rose lilies are prettier (in my opinion) and don’t have pollen so unlikely to have an effect on cats. They can be pricey though

To answer those asking about whether we have had any other batshit requests. No we haven't. We've lived here for 7 years and we've exchanged Christmas cards, taken in parcels for each other and exchanged hellos. I asked her once where she got her nice solar lights from I remember but nothing to indicate we're likely to change our garden to suit her. We're both in detached houses, slightly angled away from each other so we don't really see them much.

As she left my house I could see she was heading for another neighbour's house. She's obviously doing the rounds!

Many cats are a menace to birds and other wildlife…if she keeps her cat inside then less carnage…

Time to plant some more! What a nutter.

I have all those plants and six cats, none of them have ever come to harm. In fact under the rhododendron seems to be their favourite spot to have cat meetings.