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?

Always have a litter tray indoors even though my kitty goes outside on the most part for her ablutions. Sometimes she uses it when it’s raining outside and she doesn’t fancy going out! Good for her to have the option so she doesn’t get caught short as it were.

We provided a litter tray outdoors under cover. Outside is the best place for litter trays.

Same. Mine comes in to use the tray. But I’d rather that than annoy my neighbours.

@SylvanMoon I wanted my cat to be an indoor cat, however his personality is such that he does not want that, and it would be cruel to keep him in. It is one of those things. He doesn't use neighbours gardens in our case as we live semi rurally, so he goes in the fields.

We have one. Our cat is allowed to go in and out all day until around 5-6pm. He always chooses to go in the litter tray. We got him from Blue Cross and they explained a lot of cats like to go in the tray even if they’re outside cats as they feel safer and it can actually help to prevent crystals in their urine / kidneys which is one of the main causes of health issues in cats. (As they go more and for longer rather than rushing outside).

We do and our cat comes back in to use it! However that is very much his choice. I wouldn't be able to stop him if he wanted to go outside. I don't think it's kind to keep most cats inside some prefer it but most don't. Ours had major surgery last year which kept him house ridden for more than 6 months, he stopped eating, his fur became thin and dull, he slept all the time didn't want to play etc. Being allowed back out he is like a different animal, he's animated, playful , full of energy.

You say dog owners clean up no they don't, picking up a poo in a bag doesn't stop it being on the pavement , in parks etc and not just where people haven't bothered to pick up, traces and a smear are still left. A woman let her dog defecate on the edge of my drive last summer, she "picked up" but it still left an almighty mess behind, which I had to hose down.

Didn't for my last two - we now have a pair who have been allowed out since Februar but not got rid of indoor, as next door have two cats who, despite seeming much meeker than our two, turn out to be quite possessive about our garden. Our two can and do go to the loo in ours, but friends with more experience of cats have warned me they may feel constrained from using the garden if other cats are around, so sticking with litter for now.

We have a tray inside as we keep the cats in overnight but they rarely use it as they prefer to poop outside.
We've made an area in our garden for them to use - basically a patch of loose soil right at the end of the garden. We clean it up regularly so know they use but can't put my hand on heart and say they never poop elsewhere though. It does annoy me a bit though when cat owners just throw their hands up and claim there's nothing you can do - you could at least try to encourage your cats to use your own garden so you're the one cleaning up after them!

My cats come in to go to the loo ! So yea I have 2 litter trays as they need one each and I am glad they don't do their business in the neighborhood!

My cat definitely doesn't rush outside! He's 18 and his pee sprays about ten meters with his tail waggily swaying from side to side. He looks as happy as a pig in shit spraying his urine far and wide! Oh to be a cat.

Agree with this. We have a cat that no doubt shits in our neighbours gardens. Next door has a cockerel that crows loudly at 4 AM every morning in the summer. House opposite has a dalmatian who keeps getting out of their garden and chasing all the local cats down the road. Other next door has a puppy that barks at everything in their garden. Nobody is a perfect neighbour.

Yeah but the thing is you can’t stop them. I have no idea where my cat shits. I’d clear up her poo too. But she doesn’t/can’t tell me.

Yeah I wasn't complaining. Cats are cats. My goal is just to get the cat shit out of my garden before one of my dogs eats it 😬

I do as she is shut in overnight but doesn’t use it much. Just picked a few poops from the lawn; I do worry if she decides to start enlarging her territory and pooping further afield But hasn’t happened so far…

This response always amuses me.
I have a whole family of foxes in my garden, badgers pass through regularly.
I see zero animal droppings.

It's always cats.
I try not to get attached to the neighbourhood kitties, they tend to only have a short lifespan here due to being free spirit animals. (I'm guessing by the volume of faded laminated posters left stapled to trees)

Mine won’t toilet outside, and there should always be a tray in case they are unwell or feel unsafe anyway
he has two trays

We provided litter for our cat when he was a kitten but once he was fully vaccinated and had a life outside he stopped using it.

I have no idea how it might have been possible to "train" him to do otherwise?

I’m another one whose cats would be horrified by the very idea of crapping outside. “But mammy, that’s where we PLAY” posh buggers

The foxes and badgers do poo somewhere though... in some cases that will be in peoples gardens (even if it's not in yours).

Ours have an indoor litter tray which they mostly pee in

They have two outdoor toilets they use for both

I'm always fascinated by the cats supposedly pooing in other people's garden argument. When I've not had cats, I've never had random cats coming into my garden to defecate. From what I can tell around here, the outdoor cats are far more likely to poo in the bushes and slightly wilder areas. It's the bloody foxes that are the problem - just shitting outside on the grass in my front garden etc.

The thing is if you put it there they'll use it. Which kind of defies the point of letting them outside.

When I got my two as kittens, a year or two apart, I had a small litter tray by the back door. Then once they were desperate for out and could be trusted to go out and could be recalled I just withdrew the tray. I think there were a couple of accidents.

But in very poor weather I think you might have to temporarily.

The street I live on has a lot of cats. I get heaps of cat shit in my front and back garden. It literally makes me feel sick.

The irony is, if any dog shit is found on the street there’s an outcry. It’s apparently ok for cats to shit in other people’s gardens. I don’t get it.

We have two trays - one upstairs and one downstairs between three cats. The cats do go outside for long periods, particularly in the summer months, but we get them to come in overnight. Apart from one, who appears to be nocturnal and Will Not Come In.😂

As a precaution so they don't poo in your house somewhere else if they can't get outside. It doesn't really ever get used as they go outside 99.9% of the time.

(Had cats as a child)

Never had one as a pet as an adult because I don't like what they do to wildlife.