Cat spikes around garden

[VividDenimTiger]

So, we live in house with a small garden. The neighbours cats have been shitting in our garden every day for literally 5 years. We have tried EVERYTHING to deter them- sensors, water sprays, planting cat deterrent plants, lion poo, spraying stuff. You name it, we have tried it.

Our garden stinks of cat shit all the time. The neighbours who own the cats- sit outside in their garden all the time enjoying life because their cats don’t shit at home.

It’s broken me - we can’t actually use our garden at all at the moment as it’s terrible- they shit in the beds, dig up our plants and spray against the shed.

So we have put up cat spikes to try and deter them as a last resort. I hate them and they look awful but I am hoping it might deter them. Neighbour has already made it clear how unreasonable we are - they are on our side of the fence so no boundary issues. I am trying not to fall out with them but we have asked them many times to try and contain their cats- they have 4.

so AIBU? I am literally at the end of my tether. My kids can’t play in the garden as there is constant shit. It’s stressing me out so much - we just want to use our own garden so this is honestly last resort. I am really upset by it all.

I had cats fuckimg facing me while they shat in the middle of my lawn. They often don't just appear....

It's insane how much damage cats do to other people's gardens and to the songbird population and yet people just keeping getting more and more of them, usually without giving a shit what damage they cause. 😢

The mess they create is absolutely disgusting and unique in that, unlike dogs, it seems perfectly acceptable for your cat to shit on everyone else's property. It's mental!!

I do this 😂

How many cats does the ndn have, if it's definitely their cat poo I'd scoop it up and throw it over the fence every single tine. Cats find a way of walking over and through spikes, cat poo and urine encourages others to visit. You could ask environmental health for advice.

I can't understand where you are finding all these shitting cats.
Next door has three, I have two although only one goes out, the other is too old, then there are two more in the other houses, we are a small cul de sac of 6 houses so 7 cats altogether. None of us have shitty gardens, all of our cats use their litter trays. I know this because as neighbours all in our 60's we talk to each other and are friends as well as neighbours.
Do your neighbours not have litter trays for their cats?
Cat spikes are perfectly legal as long as they are on your side.
Also motion activated sprinklers are good too, cats hate them. You can turn them off when you are in the garden but they should make the cats associate your garden with getting soaked.

Hi, I am a cat lover and dog lover and I think you have been more than patient and tried other methods. So spikes stay and if it was my cat (only have 1) I would totally understand. I have also encouraged my cat to use our garden. I was lucky that he followed the dog and would copy. Where he was praised for going. It is possible to encourage them to go elsewhere. Including having a litter tray as well as letting them go out.
you have nothing to feel bad about.

I thank you for trying other things first. And honestly I think I would have had enough after trying for a year.

Just to say that cats can still use fence posts to climb over or some manage to still get over with the spikes. Hedgehog gutter brushes sometimes work if the spikes fail. Hope it keeps them out. Cat poo can be a health hazard for young children.

Oh OP, we have had exactly the same issue, everytime we dig something, they crap in it, new boundary fence, dug the ground ready, yep the next morning it was absolutely stinking and boy does it stink - it's way worse than dog poop! We then starting using chicken wire on the ground if we dug anything, but it looks awful and isn't a long term solution, I will, without hesitation, be using cat spikes this summer and I sincerely hope you do too, don't worry the cats, they will just crap somewhere else..

Put the poo back in their garden which will make tidying up a bit easier. They will at least get some sense of what you’re dealing with.

Neither tbh. The dog is secured in its own garden, and cats aren't stupid and typically avoid aggressive dogs. You have made up a non issue.

We hag the spikes on top of the fences.
inch sharp gravel on the flower beds.
And anti scratch wrap on around the base of the younger trees.
We also used to have a sprinkler system that was motion sensitive but the neighbours decided to damage both the sprinklers and the tap.

You’re not being unreasonable. But if you’d put up a fence years ago, it wouldn’t have gotten this bad. No, it absolutely not fall on you to control their cats. But if they don’t and you want a clean garden, that might be the sacrifice you need to make. Ask yourself what’s more important to you, having a garden your family can enjoy or the satisfaction of being in the right.

I bet some of the pearl clutchers wish that the government really did order the genocide of roaming cats in 2020, as they considered doing. (They would have had to kill ME first, before I would let any representative of Boris Johnson get their hands on my cats!)

Ive always had cats but I agree this is not fair for you. Cats poo is disgusting. If you like pets perhaps get a cat or dog.

They can secure their own garden so the your cats cant get out. That's what they can do. It happens in other countries.

If you seriously can't control pets to that extent they really shouldn't be kept as pets.

Sod the songbirds, long as I'm happy 😁🙄

I had this in a previous house where it was a back to back and I had a big decking planter box. Tried all sorts as apparently my garden planter was the local public cat loo 😂 The only thing that eventually stopped them was to put slate chippings on top of the soil (covered as best I could with weed suppressant first) it meant less flowers, but they stopped using it as a toilet.

If it was that bad, personally I would have to grass the lot of it and just have planters (with slate in 😂). It isn’t pleasant at all for you when you can’t even let your children play out or enjoy your garden. And I’m with the throw it back into their garden and sprinkle chilli pepper everywhere brigade!

OP, YADNBU. This would be really upsetting. As a cat owner of 18 months, I have already said to both my neighbours if our cat causes any issues, pls let me know and I’ll be round to pick up the cat poo. I know what you mean that cat owners can be blind to their cats’ faults/problems they bring but hopefully we are not all ‘selfish and obnoxious’. Our cat has a litter tray too and I have seen him go in our garden so I would hope he doesn’t bother the neighbours too much.

Not sure what else you can do, op. We have a right to peacefully enjoy our home and garden. Have you tried installing the device that emits a high pitched noise to deter cats?

I have numerous cats passing through my garden . I don’t have the problem of them using my garden as a toilet . I have plants that cats don’t like the smell of. In the winter I just put netting on my flower beds. It works .

A dog with high prey drive is not aggressive. There have been threads on here where OP lost a cat to a neighbour's dog (usually a lurcher or greyhound) It happens, and is not really a non-issue at all.

I a huge cat lover and have my own cats, who are my babies. YANBU, cat shit is vile. I hope the spikes work!

Get a dog maybe?

I’m a cat groupie and have two Siamese, I live in a cottage that has communal gardens. My cats have two litter trays indoors and I follow them with poo bags when they go out, so I’m right with the anti cat shit team. I do know how you feel. I’ve fallen out with my neighbour as she lets her cat do enormous poo in the communal beds which I plant up and care for, it’s very upsetting & the worst is that the other two neighbours think I’m unreasonable at the cat owning neighbour is 85 years old. So fecking what, old enough to know better then 🤬

If you own the fencing or have a shed they climb on, you could also try anti vandal paint. It sticks to them and they would track it back home, making a mess in the owners home. Prob need to make sure its not toxic to ani.als first tho!