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?

Do you really go around the house opening and closing windows every time you move from one room to another on a really hot day?

Most people would open all/plenty of their windows on a hot day and leave them all open until the evening or if the house is going to be unoccupied. Just the same as, in winter, people don't generally switch off the radiators or put out the fire in the living room every time they go to the toilet, fetch a drink from the kitchen or go upstairs for something from a bedroom.

Burglars much prefer an empty house - or at least one where all the occupants are fast asleep - so they're highly unlikely to try to gain entry through a window of a busy house in the daytime.

What is ridiculous about a pregnant woman with two small kids not wanting the neighbours cat walking around her house, on top of her worktops and scratching family members? ?????

What is truly ridiculous is the constantly parroted phrase " cats have a right to roam"

They do NOT have a right to enter people's homes. I'm a cat lover, but your little Tiddles got NO rights once it starts bothering me in my own house. I'm not using my money to cat proof my home against your cat. But I will use any means necessary to scare the little fucker so badly it won't come back.

I am happy with both of those options.

I'm sure there are windows that open upstairs - well, if we assume that nobody at all lives in flats or bungalows, I suppose.

It's just that people tend to like to open windows in the area of the house where they actually are during very hot weather; rather than roasting but knowing that, at least, their bedrooms would be nice and cool, were anybody actually upstairs to enjoy that coolness.

Nobody is likening cats to snakes: snakes can be very dangerous; but that has no connection to how much of a nuisance cats can be when the owners don't care where they are.

This response is why people hate cats. Wildlife is acceptable because it's supposed to be there. Cats are imported and are domesticated pets. No one's hobby or pet should result in faeces in someone else's garden.

Nobody is likening cats to snakes: snakes can be very dangerous; but that has no connection to how much of a nuisance cats can be when the owners don't care where they are.

Yeah - I get it. I'm off out to watch my cat for the morning.... [not]

I initially misread 'wines' as 'wives' and did wonder what kind of disgraceful neighbourhood you lived in

Even if cats did bury their poo every single time, how does that actually make it all fine?

It's nasty when you're gardening, tending your veg plots or flower beds and weeding, and you come across a nasty 'present' that a cat buried and assumed dealt with forever.

Would it be OK if I came and pooed in your garden - or if all the neighbourhood toddlers did - as long as I/their parents promise to shallow-bury all the poo in your flower beds or by churning over a corner of your lawn?

come and meet the ones that foul in my garden!

We used this to actually keep our cats in our old garden, but more importantly for you it kept every other cat out. And not pricy.

https://www.catfencedirect.co.uk/products/10-100-metre-diy-cat-fence-kit-silver?variant=55984795681150&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22838092766&gbraid=0AAAABAdT3HbOVleaZUf6h2wVLdcGwYitH&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzOvEBhDVARIsADHfJJRlQZg4SzNRuk04KTNHCJ89C0Hhk1Dl0RrWp4voIGbm8kwXOwSp5W0aAoeTEALw_wcB

I’m stunned that cat owners think this is OK.
Perhaps I’ve just got different standards. I think cats walking over kitchen worktops is utterly disgusting. I also think that their shit, given they are carnivores, is completely different to any wildlife that comes to my garden; I’m in the UK so it’s basically the occasional sparrow!

I'd close the window in an empty room if local animals/wildlife had a habit of using it to gain entry. I would have thought most people would.

In the same way I don't leave our patio doors open unless someone is in the room. I've seen too many mice, rats and squirrels in the garden to risk any unwelcome visitors. My parents friend went out for hour and left a window open to air the house. They came home to a squirrel house party 😂

How distressing for you 😂

I presume they learn - just like they learn if a dog lives in a paticular garden and they avoid it - where there are no predators, and so no need to bother burying their poo.

there are loads of animals that poo in your garden though- why just focus on the cats? How do you stop any wildlife entering and doing their business in your flowerbeds?

Can’t you see the difference between wild animals and a domestic animal that is only there because of an inconsiderate neighbour?

And we have hedgehogs, deer, birds and badgers in our garden. No signs of any other animal waste- we’ve only ever had a problem with cat shit, and we know it’s cat shit because we see them doing it and we see them on our wildlife cam. No sign of foxes or dogs.

Our neighbours cats used to come in to our house....they would eat leftovers, walk on the kitchen table, etc. I would shout at them, clap loudly, throw a ball in their direction, spray water at them outside, etc. They are clever and will learn. I haven't seen them here in ages now. I don't think you're being unreasonable at all.

Yeah I wasn’t particularly happy scrubbing bird poo off my beautifully painted fence panels either- the difference being that’s been a handful of times over 15 years, it’s not in my garden daily. Nobody owns birds and they can fly- gardens can be adapted to keep cats in. My sister’s have always lived inside only and are thriving. Lucky neighbours!

Concrete fence bases and blocking off a hole under with extra soil and one of my DC’s garden toys has prevented any foxes, hedgehogs, whoever else getting in from the back of my garden- they can’t scale 6 feet fence panels like I’ve watched cats do, so far, far easier to keep out. So much rarer they would enter a garden a poo in it anyway.

I find it annoying when birds shit in my garden over my furniture. And when they wake me up with all their racket.

I wonder if i can ask people like you to stop feeding and encouraging birds. And perhaps I can spray or throw things at them.

But that’s so sad. Humans have taken over the animals habitat. Why would anyone not want them in your garden? I love watching all the animals, even the foxes. There is one actually sleeping in next door’s garden right now. We get herons on the fence occasionally. I am shocked people try and keep all wildlife out of their gardens.

The only ones that we ever get are cats. Plus cats tend to strut around fearlessly like the lord of the manor, whereas wild animals are naturally timid and will flee at the slightest sign of a human/potential predator.

Also, how many wild animals tend to leave big, stinky poos? I suppose foxes would, if they came around; but bird poo and tiny animals' dry pellet poos disappear and disintegrate in no time.

Moreover, I am not defending it at all, but we all know how a lot of people will 'deal with' unwanted wild animals.

At any rate, it's a rather defeatist attitude to say that, because wild animals might also poo in your garden, that makes it OK for cats to do the same.

If my neighbour had hung her washing out to dry, I couldn't just drench it with a supersoaker or throw a bucket of water over it and say, "Well, it could start raining at any moment - you can't stop nature! - so it makes no difference if I deliberately soak all of your dry clothes too".

I think the poster’s comment has been removed however the reason I do not want the cats doing the toilet in my garden is not only because it’s gross, but the toxoplasmosis risk to pregnant woman is something I won’t take a risk with, as per the NHS guidelines.

Obviously you can’t stop the cats, but you could ask them to be decent cat owners and have a litter tray. I have one for my cat. It’s a pain for me, but my cat doesn’t crap in anyone’s garden. So no unhappy neighbours.

I wanted to show the full quote history and , like you, I'm aghast that anyone would train their children to be cruel to animals.