To not want neighbours cats in my garden?

[Rainbow3210]

Our neighbour has cats and they keep coming into our garden. They have also made their way into our house several times through the window and back door. I’m currently pregnant and have two young children. The children get upset when they come in as they don’t understand why they come and go (they want them to stay to play with). We have a lot of songbirds birds that sit in a bush in our garden and the cats are constantly trying to hunt the birds.

The cats are also doing the toilet in the garden which my husband has to clean with a hose. I believe it’s not entirely safe to clean up cat mess when pregnant.

I spoke to the neighbour and asked if they could stop the cats coming into my house and garden. They said there is nothing that can be done.

Is it unreasonable that this is bothering me?

They’re right though, nothing they can do.

Perhaps they could have a stern word with them. 🙄

I like to have cats around, they keep away the rats and mice.

They could choose to contain them in their own garden with fencing that slopes inwards at the top.

OP, sounds like they won’t though, so buy supersoakers for you and the kids.

Cat proof your garden if you don’t want them coming in.

They don’t wear collars. I am thinking a bell on the collar might deter them killing the birds? They have caught a couple of small bluetits.

This is what annoys me about cats! They can supposedly go anywhere they please, shit where they like and even into other peoples houses!
Dogs on the other hand…whole different set of rules for them!!!

Cats roam. It’s in their nature. Keeping cats inside goes against their nature and is imho cruel. Owners can’t stop cats doing anything. If you don’t like cats in your garden you can use cat repellent measures to deter them but ultimately cats will do what cats want to do. How exactly are you proposing their owners stop them going into your garden?

They seem much more interested in the little birds in my garden than any rats or mice.

YANBU to not want them in your garden, YABU to think the neighbours can actually do anything to stop the cats. Cat people will say not to collars as the cat can choke itself on them.

Just make your garden as hostile as possible to the cats - sprayer on a sensor, get a dog, etc.

One of my cats politely goes away and removes every collar I've ever put on him. The other made it absolutely clear at 7 weeks old that he wouldn't tolerate a collar.

I absolutely hate it but there’s not much to do about it.

Unfortunately many people who own cats, do not care what the cat gets up to when it leaves their house. They are happy for it to shit anywhere, kill birds, climb all over your garden furniture.. as that’s what “cats do”. They are also the first ones to moan when thier cat is injured or killed on its jaunts outside.

I have an allergy to cats, and love birds … but I don’t seem to have any right to enjoy my garden in that way, as a strangers pet seems to top trump.

I presume you live in a residential area? The only solution is a house in a rural location.
You have to compromise when living in more densely populated areas, that's life

My younger one kills both mice and birds. They do, however relieve themselves in their own garden and rarely travel far from it.

They could choose to contain them in their own garden with fencing that slopes inwards at the top.
What if they go out the front. Our cat flap is in the front door.

We used to put collars on our cats that had bells on them. They learnt to run after birds without allowing the bells to move......!

If we leave the back door open on a hot day they also come into the house. I’m allergic to cats so I don’t want them inside. It feels unfair that we have to keep our back door shut during summer in our own secure garden because of neighbours pet choices.

there really isn't anything a cat owner can do to stop a cat wandering.

if you don't want it in your garden, there are various cat repellants you can buy online and a good soaking with a hose might work.

letting your kids pet the cats when they do wander in.... now that will only encourage the cats to come back

By building a catio or catproofing their garden

Dogs shit on the pavement for everyone to walk through / on. Cats shit in holes they dig and cover, out of the way. It’s hardly the same.

Cats roam around. It’s just one of those things.
And there’d likely be more mice and rats around if they didn’t.

I can’t believe you asked your neighbour that. What did you expect them to do to keep their cats from roaming? What were you expecting from the conversation?

Get a spray bottle of water and spray any cat that comes in. Same for the garden. They will quickly learn not to bother you.

Get a curtain of beads over the door, they tend not to like those.

But otherwise, you may as well just accept that cats shit in other gardens and they kill birds.

Imagine if your neighbours actually managed to do something about it, what's going to happen if the person down the road gets a couple of cats or the person next door to them?

You'll drive yourself mad like this.

The frustrating thing is they are RELENTLESS. So we have a family dog that comes several days a week and chases them out, husband has tried deterring them with some water spray (he is kind enough and careful not to actually soak the cat, just a scoosh next to it) but every morning they’ll be walking around our garden and waiting under the bush trying to kill the birds. Or I’ll be making lunch and it’s walking along my kitchen worktop as the window is open.

Unfortunately there's not much the owner can do about it, and I say that as both a cat owner with an outdoor cat and a person who has had foxes and cats causing a nuisance in the garden in the past. I hate cleaning up after my own cat so I appreciate how bothersome it is for people with no desire to have anything to do with cats at all.

When I got my cat we were told she's an outdoor cat, not all cats have had comfy indoor starts in life, and I also rent so can't build anything in the garden. Nor would I want to contain her in all honesty but I do know she doesn't roam far from the garden anyway. She hunts the mice that go in between the fences. I appreciate that's not all cats and some are a real pain.