Possibly stupid question re Ring doorbell and cats…

[PauliesWalnuts]

… do they pick up neighbourhood cats?

I have a tiny front garden and am being plagued by cat poo in the middle of the lawn every single night. Could be one of two culprits and I want to tackle the owner but not sure whether to get a wildlife camera, or to get a Ring doorbell and also use it as an actual doorbell. I moved two lots yesterday morning and I’ve just woken up to another pile first thing this morning. It’s been going on for months and I’m so sick of scraping it up off the lawn or gagging as I try to remove it from the blades of my lawnmower.

And for the cat lovers - no, I can’t get a cat as I’m extremely allergic, hence not wanting cat poo in my garden.
I can’t get a dog as I’m out all day (and don’t want a pet in the first place). And it’s definitely a cat - have spent far too long scouring the scatalogical websites of the internet to rule out foxes and badgers. At least this way I can find out which cat and see if they’ll pay for one of those ultrasonic things.

Ours pick up cats and I know which they are, especially when they activate the outside light too!

My Ring doorbell doesn't usually respond to cats or foxes in my front garden. I assumed cats are generally too small to trigger the Ring, unless they get quite close to the camera (my dearly departed old cat learned that she could hop on the half-wall in our porch to trigger the alert, so we would open the front door for her). I have the motion detection set to low-medium sensitivity though, might pick up on high sensitivity? Or, depends how far away your lawn is from the camera?

I think a ring doorbell will help identify the culprits but not sure that helps identifying their owners (though people post pics of cats on fb all the time round here) and getting them to help sort it. Cats will be cats. very very annoying.

What would you like the owners to do about it?

Our Ring doesn't detect cats. They are too low down to trigger the sensor. You might be able to get your sensor to cover your garden though when you set it up. It depends on your front door/garden layout really.

I'm not sure what identifying the cat will achieve though. How do you expect the owner to stop the cat? You can't train them like dogs.

I think some kind of cat repellent on your lawn would probably be a better bet. They don't like lemon peel so some of that in the poop zone is probably a better approach.

Garden is shallow to the pavement - the offending spot is only about 1.5m from the front door. I live in a lane within a small hamlet and think that the offending cat is one of three who live on the lane.

What do I want them to do about it? Well, if they don’t have a litter tray (and some don’t), then get one. Try to encourage it to use it. Pay for one of those sonic things.
I can’t use other deterrents as it rains so much here so they don’t last five minutes - and I really don’t want to be paying out my money to deter someone else’s cat from my garden.

I'm sure if you speak with the owners they'll have a word with their cats.

I have Neos cctv cameras in the house which pick up my cats. They're cheaper than a ring doorbell if you're buying it purely for cat surveillance purposes.

My camera on the garden sometimes picks up cats but my front doorbell never does

Some cats use litter trays, some don’t. My current cat only uses it as a last resort so I don’t and can’t force her.

Previous cat used it all the time, I think I kept him in til about 6-9 months old though so he got used to it.

Two days before that were very good about always using litter tray.

Whichever one you decide to go with, will you come back and update us with your results. I'm interested as to which would work better but not in the position to buy just yet. Thanks

Will do @AutumnFroglets - friend apparently has a sonic thing and is going to loan it to me - will see if that helps. Watch this space.

That same cat probably keeps your garden rodent free.

Our ring doorbell doesn't pick up cats. Our furry overlord would like it if it did so that we would let him in as quickly as possible.

@PauliesWalnuts
Brilliant username OP

We have cats. And have a neighbours cat who poos disgusting unhealthy poos on the pavement outside our house. We use the video clips of a strategically placed ring door bell camera (miles away from our door) to present the evidence to her. Not to tell her off or stop the cat as they are roaming and it's public property but to shame her into clearing it up. It worked.

I just hope she takes the cat to the vet cos it's poo is not right.

Given that we had to get Rentokil out around Coronation time for a lane-wide rat investation due to over enthusiastic bird feeding by some neighbours I suspect not @AutumnBonfires !

Don't hold your breath re the sonic thingy.
I bought 3 anti fox ones and set them up in the back garden.
I looked out one afternoon and there was a fox having a snooze in front of one of them.