Do most owners of outdoor cats provide a litter tray indoors?

[SylvanMoon]

I was just listening to Sliced Bread on Radio 4 about kitty litter. The woman who was being introduced as wanting to know which type of litter was best to use said that she was new to having to deal with kitty litter as this was the first time she'd owned an "inside cat". The implication was that she'd previously owned "outside cats" and didn't ever provide a kitty litter for them. I was quite surprised by this and wondered how common it is that cat owners just expect their cats to defecate on other people's property. My neighbour has two cats who roam around outside, but have a litter that they use inside. (They also poo outside.) I don't have a cat or dog, but I do have a front and back garden where I grow fruit and vegetables. And it's cost me quite a lot to cat-proof my soil with scat mats and netting so that the neighbourhood outside cats don't use it as their toilet. Are cat owners comfortable with that or do they think their cats are considerate and only poo on wasteland rather than in their neighbours' gardens?

I provide my cat with a litter box, but he has not used it for a long time as her prefers to go outside. So providing it makes no difference at all.

I’ve always had a litter tray for my cats, for the exact reason that I don’t think it’s ok to let them go to toilet in other people’s gardens.

Honestly in my experience no they don't. Most owners cannot wait to get rid of the litter tray once their cat is able to go outside.

No, I don't have one. I did but it was a waste of time as my cats never ever used it so no, I don't have one at all now.

I've had outside cats all my adult life and have never had a litter tray in my house beyond the time they started regularly going outside. Only had one when they were a kitten or when I moved house and they need to stay inside for several months to acclimatise to the new area.

I do have a cat flap, though, so they come and go as they please.

Yes. I mean she probably poos outside but her litter tray is there.

I do not have a litter tray for my cats, but I do have an acre of garden in the countryside. Of course their favourite place to shit is my vegetable patch, or somewhere I have just sowed some seeds.

So to those of you who have outside cats and don't provide an inside litter or they don't use it, are you comfortable that your cats are shitting in your neighbour's gardens? Or do you feel that's the price we have to put up with to have a neighbour with cats?

What do you expect me to do about it? I can't make my cat use the litter tray.

I can’t stop my cat pooping outside either, I would if I could. Same as I can’t stop her hunting the field mice in next doors garden. And yes, she willl stay an outdoors cat.

My cats will sit in the garden all day and come in and out for the litter tray - you clearly haven’t trained them right 😁

We have a litter tray but he very seldom uses it.

What exactly do you expect cat owners to do to prevent cats from being cats? Its inhumane keep them indoors.

What's your thoughts on fox poo?

Said as an owner of a litter tray, but also a semi feral cat who moved into our garden and subsequently, home.

Its a cat, doing cat shit. Literally.

I clearly havent - they on the other hand have trained me to perfection 😂

IMO it’s strange wording to ask if cat owners are “comfortable” with it?
Am I aware of it? Yes. Do I ever feel bad for my non-cat owning neighbours? Sometimes. Will I lose sleep about it? No, because there are many things I put up with from them, such as noise. It’s one of the compromises of living in society.

I have one for my three and they all use it. In fact they come in via the cat flap then go back out again.

Surely people without neighbours who have cats do not have shit free gardens though? Wild animals presumably shit in their gardens regardless? I don't have a cat BTW so I am not defending cat owners.

Would you be interested in charging an exorbitant fee to train mine? He's a real prick 😂

Exactly! There’s a reason she rushes downstairs when I get up. And a reason she goes into next doors garden to catch the field mice.

If I'm being honest, I think you should be keeping your cat inside if you can't control where they're going to the toilet (which I accept is impossible). People who have dogs for the most part accept that part of the social contract is that they don't just let their dog shit anywhere and that they clean up after them. Cat owners, however, seem to be oblivious to the problems their cat is causing to the rest of the community.

How do you make them use it?

Train?! Train? Have you ever met a trained cat?

My neighbours' cats shit in my garden, and I know they have a litter tray. My cats have the decency to shit on the railway that runs behind our house. I don't have a litter tray. They wouldn't use it if I did.

I never used to have litter trays when I had a cat flap as the cats prefer to go outside. I don't have a flap at this house, so I do have litter trays, for nighttime or bad weather use.

They rarely get used in the summer as the cats spend more time outside.

Well not sure what I can do about it really. I personally don't agree with inside cats (obviously sometimes it is unavoidable but I'm talking about the standard moggy) and they won't use a litter tray. When I started letting them outside once they were done I did say to my neighbour if you ever see them doing a poo in your garden I will clear it up, which she's never asked me to do. Not really anything else I can do about it so I honestly never give it a thought.