Is having 5 cats in a council house anti social?

[fattybumbum]

We have had the same neighbours (semi) for 6 years. The woman in particular is a difficult woman but we have always made an effort and got on fine with her. We own our house but theirs is a council property. They have just acquired 2 more cats (kittens), putting their total up to 5. Their front and back gardens are beautiful but are all paved and full of tubs - so guess where the cats have come to shit? Yes you've guessed it!

We have recently done up our garden so it has a nice lawn and now it is full of cat shit on a daily basis. I'm 38 weeks pregnant so don't want to touch it and DS is 3 and has bad eczema. He is the type of child that if you told him to not go near a cat poo, he'd be over in a shot.

Dh said about it to our nieighbour tonight and she (rather sarkily) replied, 'Nothing I can do about it.'

Would it be very mean of me to report her 5 cats to the council as anti social? There is very obviously no place for them to poo in their own garden. I know we could go down the whole route of strips on the fence (though they own the adjoining one so could actually prevent us from putting strips on the most important one anyway) plus lemon plants, sonic devices etc but to be honest I am going to have a baby next week and we just don't have the time right now never mind that money is very tight. Any of the aforesaid purchases would have to be on a credit card.

Would I be an utter bitch to ring the council? They would know it was us for sure and I don't want to get into the whole war with nieghbours thing but I'm just really pissed off that they can have 5 cats in an 8m by 10m paved garden and act like it's OUR problem, not theirs. GRR!

i would try the council. throw the health and safety angle at them, you never know (classic daily mail territory though).

or get a shotgun. god i hate cats. filthy horrible animals if you ask me.

talk about asking to be flamed.

Supersoaker gun everytime you see them coming in your garden

Lob the poo back over the fence

Cat repellent doesn't cost that much

my next door neighbour complained to me the other day (in a nice way) that my 3 cats are shitting in her garden. i sympathise with her as i wouldn't like it, but there isn't really anything i can do about it. i cant strap a nappy on my cats.

she said she used cat repellant and im assuming that has worked as she has'nt said anything since.

i have cats and the primary reason for getting them was to deter other cats form pooping in my garden as it was getting out of hand the number of cat shits I had to deal with on a daily basis...sadly my cats will play outside all hours and come inside especially to shit in the litter tray......brilliant.

Don't think it would be fair to moan to the council - could be worse - you could have a dog barking all the hours which trust me is FAR more annoying than cat shit in the garden.....espcially as the people own their house so think they can do as they please with it......

I think you need to get DH to clean up and just live with it

HerHonesty - if the Op wishes to give birth in a prison hospital, I'm sure she will take your advice and get a shotgun.

The neighbours cats are not a H&S issue unless the home is being kept in an unsanitory condition - e.g. cat faeces in the house etc. From what has been said of the neighbours pleasant garden, this seems highly unlikely. The OP could make this allegation to the Council but she should bear in mind that if she ever has cause to make a genuine complaint she may well be viewed with great suspicion having made one which is spurious.

The OP can try to insist on the council taking steps under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 but the chances of the OP being successful under the circumstances are negligable and the pressure needed to bear upon the council to get them to take action for such a borderline case would not be worth the stress to a pregnant woman imho.

I think this is a lifestyle issue which you may have to accept and move on. You say you have been on good terms with your neighbours until now so why spoil it? Remember, in a few years time, when your children are disturbing the neighbours peace with an argument or your teenager playing his music loudly you might need their tolerance too!

As you are currently housebound and able to spot the cats coming in, have a water pistol to hand - not a little one, a big alien monster version, pump action to shoot the water under high pressure, the distance thry can reach is fantastic. Cats hate getting wet and if they associate your garden with wet they will avoid it. They will also spend the next hour grooming the water out of their fur, this takes precedence and they seem to forget to crap .

Neighbour cannot complain it is cruel, cat is not hurt just educated.

I realise you can't get a cat of your own to 'claim the territory' with son's eczema, it probably wouldn't work anyway; I learned to shoot cats because my two were far too timid to assert any rights over my garden.

You need to drown the cats when no-one is looking

But don't commiserate with your neighbour about her lost loved ones

That would be hypocritical

Our neighbours cat used to pee on our doormat, it stank to high heaven,til the day DH got him with an ice cold glass of water [evil]The cat fell off the balcony and never darkened our doormat again!

I live in local authority housing, and we have a clause written into our lease stating we can only have one household pet.

So council might be worth a try.

I think five cats in a built up area is very much in the realm of anti-social behaviour.

But then I would think that, as my neighbour has seven of the horrible creatures, and one of them recently stole a whole raw chicken out of my boot whilst I was unloading the shopping.

In view of KerryMumbles comment, may I too lay out poison for the HUMANS who offend me or risk causing me or mine harm or distress? Or is it only okay to cause a cat to die in agony because although it can feel pain and fear as we do, it may be a sentient being but its "only a cat"?

I only hope you're joking, as if not, well, words don't fail me but I couldn't possibly say them on a public forum.

One word....

karma.

If its her cats, and you SEE them doing it, can you not keep a plastic poop scoop outside and just scoop up the little offerings and drop them in a baggie and take them round to her with a sweet smile, just say "oh look, this belongs to your lovely kitties, thought you'd like to dispose of it". And when she argues, ask her to find something to keep them off your lawn and you'll stop your deliveries!

Get somebody to collect all the poos up, put them in a cardboard box, put the box on your neighbour step, set fire to it and ring the bell. They'll get a foot full of faeces trying to put the fire out.

Im sure a council tenant can only have 2 cats, not certain but im sure i read/heard it somewhere.

It varies depending on the HA, Mum could only have 2 dogs but limitless cats (she doesn't, but could, and has in the past had 3 rescue cats plus a dog)

Dspite claiming some benefits I have a gbetter clas of cat atm who prefers a drain for all toilet use- freak

Good idea Kreecher. Or they'll get burned ot their door set on fire and OP will end up with charges on her.

Sensible idea

Seriously these threads make we sob

Presumably the last cat we rescued,aged 6 weeks and missing a limb, tail and other parts plus being permantently terrified was 'only a cat' when the bastard / s who attacked him and kicked him almost to death set upon him? he died after a year of care becuase of resulting heart syndrome, breaking the heart of my asd ds1 who ahd made a brilliant bond with him and still sobs after what will be two years next month.

Or the fucker who sealed our remaining cat in a box and took him to a field to die aged 3 months becuase he was 'evil' but whose children boasted to a friend who rescued him and passed him on to us- ok becuiase its just a cat? A cat aged 12 now who has managed to save my life and that of ds1 in that time and is a wonderful companion

Or any of the toehr many abused animals I have rehouse dor my ssiter (now a vet nurse, used to work at an animal sanctuary) has had to save or put down

Horrible attitude