#catshitgate

[RosieCockle]

I’m getting all upset and wound up about this and need some advice.

We’ve lived in a row of 6 houses since 2013. Three of us have cats. Next door don’t, but have cats living either side. The back gardens have no fences between them.

Next door neighbour has said before about cats shitting in the pebbles outside their downstairs bedroom window. I said if it’s my cat I will come and clean it up.

On Friday she sent an email to all 5 homeowners saying she’s sick of picking up shit as she wants to enjoy the garden, especially as she has a 3-yr old. Fair enough. And that their cars’ bodywork has been damaged. So we should a) create a schedule for collecting poo; b) explore options for claws to avoid them causing damage; and c) get on to our civil liability insurers.

I was quite upset by the tone and didn’t think it reasonable to include the 2 houses who don’t have cats, but not include 2 houses opposite who do. Although I guess it’s more likely our 3.

I wrote to the 2 cat houses and said could we chat 10 mins next week to discuss the email and what are your thoughts?

Husband thinks instead of repeatedly cleaning up it would be better to find a deterrent (coffee grinds, sprays etc) to resolve the problem once and for all.

He’s looked up the law in our non-UK country and cat owners (unlike dog ones) are not responsible for what their cats do as they’re free to roam. So insurance wouldn’t be interested anyway.

As for a schedule - do they really want us outside their and their daughter’s bedroom window. How do we coordinate it with the others, eg we go away for the weekend quite often. I don’t want the neighbour the other side of me crossing my lawn to go to the other lawn. The whole thing feels barmy and impractical.

So no one has replied to her or to me. I hate feeling rude for not replying, as if I don’t care, but I can’t speak for the others.

Today she has sent another email to the same 5 saying she’s picked up 14 poos, happy Sunday.

Well our cat is still in the cattery from Fri 29th while we were on holiday.

What the heck do I do? I have a conscience. I hate conflict. I don’t want to fall out with any neighbours. I also don’t want to be the mug picking up the poos of someone else’s cat!

Thanks for your advice/opinions if you’ve managed to get this far!!

As the owner of a cat for 22yrs they most definately can cause scratches to cars when jumping up or startled. Its automatic for the claws to come out.. To disregard this damage is pretty poor form. We thankfully didnt have any issues with our neighbours because a) having a cat meant non of the other cats came in our garden b) Ours wouldn't ever go further than our garden and came indoors for the toilet.

Solution since our little Lucy (22yr old cat) went is to get two dogs. We moved into our new house about 6mths ago. For a couple of months whilst we redid the garden the cats were very cocky walking past them at the patio doors whilst they werent allowed to go out to play. The odd cat poo but nothing i got worked up about. Dogs play out all the time now, a couple of 'incidents' where the dogs gave the cats the shock of their lives means we dont see cats in our garden, in the street or anywhere near our house anymore. Its lovely.

OMG there's no way I'd think of declawing. I told her we have a cat tree and our cat uses it.
If it helps re the fencing/garden situation, this is the aerial view... The far right house does have a fence actually.
But even if we keep ours in it doesn't stop the others, including the ones from across the road (who are still unaware of this).

I think your neighbour is batshit and I wouldn't be worrying about or indulging their nonsense tbh OP, it sounds like that's exactly the approach the rest of the houses are taking by not replying and you should follow suit. No harm in using some of PP's suggestions (making a cat-friendly place in your own garden is a really good idea and a camera to find out whether it is actually cats is inspired ) in the interests of just generally being a responsible owner but that's all you need to do. Don't engage would be my advice, mess from cats and wildlife is unpleasant but humans don't have sole rights or control over outdoor space so it's a fact of life.

I’ve never known a cat to damage a car, we have four and have had others all my life. Our cars sit in the drive snd the cats use them to jump down from my bedroom window. Could have been anything that caused the car damage. She sounds nuts.

So glad to hear it. Sorry. I hope I didn't offend but so many people don't realise what declawing actually is and think it's just cutting the cats 'nails'.

They don't realise it's the equivalent of cutting off our fingers at the last knuckle.

Fwiw regarding 14 poos. I have 5 indoor cats (litter trays galore here!) and so far this morning I have cleared up 3 poos and 7/8 wees from the litter trays - it’s clumping litter so easy to count. That is from over night to just now. So around a 14 hour span. They tend to be more productive in the afternoon!
From that I would expect 14 poos to be produced from around 15 cats, if it was all in one night. So either your neighbour is exaggerating or it’s not all cat poo or everyone’s cats are all silently lining up to use her gravel as a toilet - not something I would expect to see outside of a cartoon.

cameras are a good idea!