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]

Get a small dog?

Cats raised as indoor only cats are not stressed, or intent on escape, or yowling at the door to get out.

IME it doesn't make a difference whether it's from a long line of pedigree indoor only cats, or moggies raised as such from birth.

Ideally I'd love a catio for them, but we rent and are not in a position to do so at the moment.

Anyone judging the lives of indoor only cats on their own knowledge of cats that have been let outside are doing them a disservice.

[Edit: had written moddies instead of moggies. No cats should be out riding scooters]

Part of the thing with cats is their ablity to charm a lot of people and get away, literally sometimes, with murder. The problem for them is some people are immune and see them for what they really are....your points are all totally valid but there's a reason 'because, cat' is a catchphrase.

We live fairly rurally, small village and we are just surrounded by cats. I like animals and I'll always pet a cat etc but I don't think people understand the impact they can have on neighbours sometimes. We are on a corner so we have quite a large wrap around garden on the front and side, perfect for our son to play football in when we're out there too. But it is constantly constantly covered in cat poop. It's e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. I know there is absolutely nothing we can do about it and cats have free roam etc but it's so disheartening. It's often hard to see and we've all fallen victim to stepping in it. It goes everywhere on a child and means we can't just pop out and enjoy our garden.
I opened our front door the other day and one was just curling one out right in front of me, looking straight at me as if to say FU.
I really do sympathise.
I've ordered some plastic snakes to hide around the place, apparently they're a good deterrent. I hope so because we've tried everything else.

Wow. So everyone in the UK with outside space needs to buy a cat! What a brilliant solution!
I think a much more viable option is for you to train your own pet to shit in a litter tray and clean it up yourself.

I’ve known both and I really can’t get my head around people who keep them inside. Can you imagine what it would feel like to never go outside? Never be able to run free even as a human. Even zoo animals have outside space. You’re basically keeping an animal in captivity and I don’t think that’s ok.

The trouble is, cats are awesome. And I'm yet to be scared of being mauled to death by one!

Edited to add: Nor do they keep me awake all night yapping/barking/howling...

I dunno, I’ve known the odd one that I think would’ve done it given the chance 😂

It's just as well they're not bigger 🌞

It’s only toxic if they eat them but they don’t like the smell so no risk of that. It’s the same for citrus and most of the plants in flower beds like lavender etc. Putting coffee grounds as a deterrent is not cruel don’t be ridiculous.

What a load of rubbish! My cats go out but they're very much domestic pets and they definitely don't take less looking after than indoor cats. They spend a lot of time inside, especially when it's cold or wet and the vet fees and food bills are exactly the same. Indoor cats need a lot of artificial stimulation and help to exercise because they are deprived of natural environmental stimulation. I can't imagine depriving my cat of sunbathing amongst the plants and long grass on a summers day, of sitting and listening to the rustle of a mouse in the hedge, of feeling the breeze in his fur, smelling the scent of other cats on the wind, leaping to catch moths at dusk, roaming the borders of his territory and spraying to keep it as his, climbing a tree and sharpening his claws on the bark, encountering foxes, badgers, chasing squirrels, digging in the freshly hoed soil, drinking fresh rain water from puddles, and the list goes on! Yes, there's risks out there, but there's risks for us all. Most cats go outside and the average age is about 15. Many many cats live a full natural life whilst being allowed to go out. Most domestic cats have small territories and don't roam too far, most don't get run over and foxes are not really a risk to a cat. A life without risk is life that's inferior. Same for people.

Rat poison harms birds and other animals and wildlife. It is not a solution to anything. I am surprised it's still legally able to be sold.

I think we are saying the same thing. But it’s very common for people to believe it’s all part of the great circle of life. Many, many people are completely disconnected from nature.

Lots of cats love the smell of coffee, but if they get small grounds stuck in their fur they can groom themselves and ingest it. They don’t have to take in much for it to be toxic. Don’t be ridiculous yourself, why risk killing someone’s pet? My cat is black, grounds would get lost in his fur so we are always really careful with coffee grounds in our house - I’d be fuming if my neighbours were actively aware and therefore trying to poison my cat if he was an outdoor cat (many people aren’t aware coffee is toxic hence replying).

Cats only appear abundant because we’ve pushed every other species to the edge of extinction. Go back far enough and you’d have brown bears and lions shitting in your garden! 😂

Cats have been in the UK for centuries. There are hundreds of thousands of strays and feral cats. If rescues weren’t rehoming them then they’d be even more. They wouldn’t simply disappear if they weren’t owned by people, and they’d likely kill more wildlife if they weren’t fed by people.

YANBU OP. All our neighbours have cats and they all shit in our garden. It absolutely stinks. They do it in the front borders by our kitchen windows and in our veg patch (🤮). Every time I find or smell a new pile of it (on a near daily basis) I get the rage. Like you I have kids and in the summer I'm forever following them so they don't tread in it or dig it up.

We had a dog until he passed away a couple of years ago - can you imagine the anger if I'd just let my dog roam my neighbours' gardens and expected them to pick his poop? It infuriates me how for some reason we are expected to tolerate it when it's cats.

Yeah chilli powder and a super soaker.

I just don’t the get the lack of care about the wildlife and birds they kill.

What baffles me is how Americans think it’s acceptable to declaw cats.

I've said this before on this thread, and now I'm repeating it...

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says that cats aren't the problem with declining bird populations. Habitat loss is, especially in farming.

So, unless everything you eat is organic, and sourced from regenerative farms that work with nature, you too are contributing to wild bird decline. Hth.

I live in a terrace and have two cats. Unfortunately they seem to prefer to dig up my own beds as a litter box.
The only way to stop other cats coming in to your garden is to get your own.

I don't know... I live in the middle of nowhere and cats prowl for miles, killing birds as they go. I hate it. I just don't understand why people think it's ok for their animals to go around killing birds. In my old house, my neighbour used to insist her cat never killed anything, and I would see it trotting across my garden with a bird in its mouth. People just don't realise what their cats get up to. It makes me sad.

There’s a difference between a deterrent and ‘actively trying to poison your cat’. Maybe it’s best you keep your coffee loving cat inside. Coffee is good for plants and keeps cats away from them. Are you also fuming when neighbours have Lilly’s or daffodils?

We have a rescue and a catio, she isn’t allowed to roam! The rescue only allows indoor/catio.
If you allow them to roam you can’t complain if they are hurt in road accidents.
I agree with Australia 🇦🇺.

There's a massive difference in "eating" and "owning a cat" in things that people actually have to do. Don't you understand that? Also the RSPB line is nonsense -- HTH! https://www.countryside-alliance.org/resources/news/tim-bonner-why-won-t-the-rspb-condemn-cats

So true. Such a weird mentality from some people! I err don't want a cat...