My cats are using neighbours garden as a toilet, mortified!

[BibiBlocksberg]

Communal Garden & despite having absolute acres of space to poo in (plus an always clean litter tray) my little buggers insist on using a particular neighbours set of bushes as their loo.

Not surprised their upset, must be rank to sit outside in summer surrounded by cat elimination smells!

Measures tried so far include topical treatments such as cayenne pepper, citrus peel, tin foil, sonic repeller & motion activated water sprinkler.

And their still going in neighbours bit of the garden, grrrr!

Considering spikes of some sort and/or chicken wire plus an outdoor litter box filled with either earth or sand but then there's the problem of it getting soaked when it rains.

Any real life solutions gratefully received pls

Yep. So typical of cats! Hope your skewers work OP.

Thanks for the info fluffy, I'm pleased it's not too dangerous but I won't enlighten DH in case I have to start cleaning it up.

@talonofthehawk That attitude is disgusting. Animals shouldn't be harmed due to their owners actions.

Holly leaves? They look like regular garden undergrowth matter, but are bastards to step on!

Well, have put skewers out & been doing 'poo patrol' before leaving for work each morning.

Found nothing & can't smell any cat 'business' either.

Was informed by neighbour tonight that environmental health will be round at the end of the week so obvs my measures are not enough.

Has anyone been through this before? Pooping myself a bit as been informed neighbours have loads of photo & video evidence (which they are not willing to share)

V worried as they are heavily leaning on the aspect of NN son's health being compromised (heart condition & claiming particles of cat poo might kill him)

Even though he smokes which I have seen & he has openly told me about (though have no photo evidence of this) so am thinking that would just come across as 'tit for tat' nonsense to a council official?

Can they make me re-home my fur boys in the worst case scenario?

Can you not just keep them indoors with a litter tray?

I don't have any experience of environmental health getting involved in this scenario (though I do have lots of experience of the neighbours' cats relieving themselves in my garden! pointy sticks and running at them shouting seem to work best as deterrents) but I'd be surprised if they could do much in this situation. I don't think they have the legal powers to insist you rehome the cats, so don't worry too much.

Poor environmental health.

Nothing they can or should do. Unless he's eating cat poo it won't harm him.

The world is full of poo, bird, mammal, insect, fish. Everything's pooing everywhere.

Grated coal tar soap, a whole bar, has to be applied liberally and frequently though as soap will obviously disintegrate in a good downpour.

Lion roar cat repellent from the garden centre. This also works.

Environmental health have far better things to do than be dealing with cat poo. What if it was a fox?

They sound batshit. Cats shit everywhere and a) there's no way they can tie the shit in their garden to your cats

There is no way that EH are going to be bothered

I have considered that Mumof56, they are a complete nightmare if kept in all the time, screaming & pawing at the window all night.

Doesn't help that they've had their freedom up to now (1 grew up abandoned in the countryside, complete snuggle puss mummy's boy but demands his freedom ifswim)

Poor environmental health indeed, from what I & landlady plus other neighbour have seen & smelled there is nothing there but goodness knows what 'evidence' they've collected.

Picturing being presented with time stamped photos & a big bag of cat poop they've gathered from goodness knows where at the end of the week.

Internet research seems to suggest that favour tends to come down on the side of the party making the allegations hence my worry.

LL is supportive & tenancy agreement states permission for the amount of cats I have so home that will help.

Gaaaah! Of all the bushes in this garden cat could be messing under it had to be unreasonable neighbours one didn't it :(

Well they must have lied through their teeth and massively exaggerated the amount of poo being left for EH to even bother coming out. EH will give them short shrift. In their garden will be a mix of cat, fox, hedgehog, bird, rat, mouse poo and not a single thing they can do about it. If their son has a health condition that is exacerbated by animal faeces then they will know how to limit his contact with animal faeces as they have kept him alive so far.

Offer them some water guns.

What you could try OP is to create a little litter area in your garden to encourage your cats to go in yours instead. Mine seem to favour the gravel borders in my garden. you could make a small gravel area in yours.

I'm not a legal expert but I doubt it.

I was reported a few years ago because my cat was going round the corner into people's houses and spraying soft furnishings, with video evidence. The arsehole who informed me he and other neighbours were sick of it told me in between screaming abuse that he'd reported me and I never heard from environmental health or anyone else.

Probably just as well as his evidence featured a cat that was the wrong sex and colour to be mine. And I'm sure he reported me because after he'd screamed and sworn at me with dd I didn't set him straight, just assured him my cats only piss on filth. Although I did tell his neighbours weeks later it wasn't my cat.

As a last ditch attempt could you try a covered litter tray and if they use it gradually move it away? Or keep them in for 24 hours after they agree it's clean, and then go back round without telling them the cats have been in to see what they claim the cats have done?

Next door's cat digs holes in my lawn and shits in them. Fucking annoying but to be honest I accept that not much can be done other than them keeping cat in at all times which I wouldn't ever countenance - not fair on the animal.
However if I catch her at it again I'm going to have to resort to the hose. Little bugger.

I'm considering an outdoor covered tray with compost in it to encourage my supposed culprit (one 1 out of three as confirmed verbally by the 'bat shits' :))

Won't that send a message to his cat brain that he's now supposed to poop exclusiveky in loose earth though?

He is my green eyed boy who can usually do no wrong but I don't agree with him leaving his deposits wherever & spoiling the garden space with his emissions.

Horrible, bit like having someone smoking right under your window especially if your a non smoker.

Have told neighbours plenty of times to chuck water on him, won't hurt & he has to learn that his territory & bottom needs are not appropriate everywhere.

That is always met with 'oh no, we wouldn't want to put him off coming around'

Did politely state at that point they can't have it all ways - be the good guys & put Kitty off their bit of the communal garden at the same time.

Not neighbours responsibility to police what my cat does either though, it's mine.

Just so odd there's no concrete evidence of his misdeeds now.

Offered to buy NN one of those motion activated water sprinklers which they bought themselves in the end.

Thought it had worked a treat as my fluffball never walks towards the forbidden area any more when I'm watching him.

Rambling now I realise, sorry, thanks so much for replies everyone!

Won't that send a message to his cat brain that he's now supposed to poop exclusiveky in loose earth though?

Ahh the mystery that is the inner workings of cat brain. If only I knew the answer myself!

:) MeanAger how true, that:s my life's work right there, and figuring out a cats inner workings :)

I think cats are like phone apps. You get used to serving using them and then they get a system update and start working slightly differently but you're never sure what is going to be different until they do it.