To think cat ownership should be considered more anti-social than it is

[airportfloor]

I am a single working parent. I live in a terraced house in a middle of the city. Each house on my street and the parallel one has a small yard. I have spent time and money to make my yard as attractive as it can be, putting in borders with a small number of plants, and some pots.

Neighbours on all sides have cats - some have more than one cat each. The problem is for me that cats are taking over my yard.

On a daily basis the cats dig up my planters, putting mud on the floor and pulling out plants. They do this because my border is the hippest place to shit. So now I have a border that on one side is kitchen herbs and the other side mud and cat shit. RANK.

I have to check before I can let my kids play out there because they also like shitting right by my door.

This morning I was greeted with a mass of pigeon feathers that I had to clear up where some unlucky bird saw its fate.

They knock over my pots, causing more mess.

In the summer I can't have my back door open because the cats will walk into my house. I was once in my bed and a cat came in my bedroom. They would come in every time the door was open if I left it. When I wfh with the door open I sit with a small water pistol so I can aim it at the door.

I have very little spare time of money and am furious I have to spend both of them now finding out how I can make my yard seem less desirable to cats, then putting this plan into action.

One of my cat-owning neighbours plays loud music and smokes weed in his yard but his two cats are more annoying than both those behaviours.

I have just seen one of the bastards digging out my borders again and am furious.

AIBU: yes, now you've put it so calmly and succinctly, cats have got a great PR team and people should consider that if they get a cat their neighbours have to put up with their shitty actions which could be mitigated by a nice packet of biscuits at christmas

NOT BU: get over it

[post edited by MNHQ at poster's request]

Yep fair. Most cats are pretty antisocial. I have a cat and I totally agree. They are a nightmare in urban areas where there are so many of them.

(Cat belongs to my husband. I've never seen the attraction, little bugger views us as household staff and he merrily craps in our flower bed. Fortunately not pissing off the neighbours as he's too arthritic to get over the fence.)

Kids are more antisocial. My neighbors kids are outside in the summer everyday screaming, yelling at each other. My cats are quiet angels compared to them.

I’m with you OP. Cats are very beautiful creatures, I love them, but they should not be allowed to roam around because:

1. They kill our beautiful native birds and small mammals, whose populations are struggling enough without being killed for fun by someone’s ‘fur baby’.
2. They are at serious risk of being run over. I’ve had more near misses than I can count.
3. They shit in other people’s gardens, especially on their veg patch🤮

Why is it the responsibility of non cat owners to prevent their neighbours’ cats from shitting in their gardens? Owners should train their cats to use a litter tray. Plenty of cat owners manage this. Oh yeah…I guess they won’t because that would mean they’d have to clean up their shit themselves. Much easier to let their neighbours do it.

You could install DIY rollers on the fence (a bit like these ones https://oscillot.uk/?shpxid=5bebad52-830c-4d0d-b601-da7394a87f19 Can be made out of plastic piping. I’ve got cats (will never get them again!) and have the same problems but it our own garden 😅

Exactly, I adopted my cat from a shelter. Part of the criteria was he needed to have unfettered access to the outdoors. He’s semi feral.

God I see loads of complaining about cats on here. No opinion as I don’t have them but actually it’s the only place I’ve seen people talking about it in this way, often. I find it interesting as it’s definitely dogs that are everywhere in my life - shops, parks, pavements, pubs, running around being reported as found, on facebook etc

you shouldn’t have to but I’d be looking for the cheapest way to cat proof my garden to keep them out.

alternatively, I spent years chasing cats out the garden, discovering numerous piles of cat poo on the lawn, flowerbeds, everywhere etc etc. Then when new neighbours moved in across the street with two cats who spend 95% of the time outside, only going home to eat - once they started visiting my garden (clearly knowing it was the local cat litter tray free for all, I started befriending them, giving them lots of attention, playing with them. They now spend the majority of the time hanging out in my garden, have scared all the other neighbour cats away and seem to only leave to go home for food and to jump the fence into my next door neighbours garden to poo.

I now have two lovely friendly cats who potter around my garden all day, go home to eat and no cat poo to clean up!

Have you tried coffee grounds in your flower beds? My cat decided to start using the front lawn (that we share with next door) to do his business on instead of his three freshly cleaned litter trays and we were mortified but coffee grounds soon sent him back in.

Your neighbours are lucky to have you 😊

100% agree and I find the response of "ha ha, have you ever met a cat?" very annoying. Cat owners could fence them in. They just don't want to. Of course the fences would be ugly and cat owners just don't want that or the hassle that responsible pet ownership entails. Utterly selfish.

I have a cat who is a rescue and an outdoor cat, which we were told when we adopted her - not all cats come from a background of living a nice life in a cosy house. Luckily she sticks pretty much to the back garden and goes to the toilet in a specific area in the garden also so not bothering the neighbours. I rent my house and can't build anything to keep her confined and nor would I want to given her background.

Other cats often also come into the garden and there's usually an attempt at scrapping between them. At least one cat that's not mine regularly shits in the front garden. This is just part of life and I'm not really precious about it.

My neighbours are far more antisocial than their cats.

Fence them in….cats would just climb over them. If you mean a catio, would you like to spend your life in a cage!

And shitting all over the place.

I do not want other people’s pets shitting in my garden.
I do not want other people’s pets killing the (slug-eating) frogs in my garden
I do not want cats killing song birds anywhere.
I do not want to have to keep my kitchen door closed in summer because other people’s pets come in my house.

It’s in their nature’s to do all this shit? Well don’t get one then ! Why would you get a pet that kills wildlife and shits all over your neighbours gardens?

I throw the shit over the fence with a trowel. (Cat owning neighbour)

Mine do toilet in their own garden - they have a designated spot under a hedge. In fact they rarely leave it, although they do have a daily play date on next door's lawn with the cat next door but one. However my smaller cat did kill a pigeon on my lawn last week.

AIBU: yes, now you've put it so calmly and succinctly, cats have got a great PR team and people should consider that if they get a cat their neighbours have to put up with their shitty actions which could be mitigated by a nice packet of biscuits at christmas
NOT BU: get over it

These options make no sesame 🤷‍♀️ I totally agree with you OP, but does this mean (according to the above) I have to vote that you are being U?

My cats only shit in my garden. I told them it wasn't very catlike but at least the neighbours don't hate me.

This is the only real way of a chance to stopping other cats!

As long as they do the same with dogs. Many dogs are a massive PITA, and have dreadful, irresponsible owners.

Have they been 'done'? It's usually only un-neutered cats who leave poo out and visible, it's a dominance thing. My three all bury theirs and there's a tom cat who poos on my grass.

But on the plus side, you won't have rats, despite being in the city. I once heard a horrible squealing and my little girl cat was killing a rat that was bigger than her.

Fair point - I have 5 cats and hate most people 🤷‍♀️

Also this! I wish they’d crap elsewhere

Water pistols? And short sicks buried upright in your flower pots will deter them.

I will always prefer cats to rats & mice, so there is that.