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?

But so do foxes and mice and rats (yes rats) and birds. Animals, and animal poo is part of the great wide world. Any vegetables you buy in the shops have been grown in literal manure. You wash them.

I kept a litter box for years and my outdoor cat never used it once sadly.

Your point about dog owners also isn't right. It's not a social contract, it's a legal one. Dogs' behaviour is the legal responsibility of the owner. Cats are considered free spirits under UK law, ie: it's recognized the owners can't train them.

How do you stop a cat from roaming? And no I’m not keeping her inside or getting a catio.

The study I read said that new buildings were more to blame. My cat couldn’t be arsed to jump up for birds anyway, too old and too much effort on her part.

https://www.birdspot.co.uk/a-wildlife-garden/cats-and-their-impact-on-garden-birds

I have a cat litter tray. The cats only use it when it's raining though.

You've just answerd your own question, with a Catio or inside. How you achieve either of those two things is not my problem.

I think Cats environmental damage goes further than just birds. I wonder how many times neighbours cats poo features in homeowners decisions to pave over their gardens.

I always have litter trays. Little buggers go outside for a play then come in to use their tray, lol.

That's how you do it. It works on the same principle that all other pet owners operate to stop their animals roaming - it's not a difficult concept to understand. Many pets would roam and shit elsewhere if their owners let them, but we take responsibility for our pets.

She wanted to berate us for legally owning a cat.

Shall I post on Pistonheads and berate all the men there for legally owning cars? Do you think I'd be reasonable to want engagement from car owners? Do you think I'd reasonable to tell them how their vehicle's emissions destroy the environment and trigger children's asthma?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yj3lkegm0o

It will be interesting to see how Caerphilly council manage this case and if they don't, what happens next.

If the car owners on pistonhead come onto your private property and sh*t on it or otherwise damage it then this would be a reasonable analogy. Do you have this problem with men with cars?!

Edited - to add that that was a sneaky quick little edit of your own to extend the last sentence and completely change the meaning of your comment.

No, drivers just poison the air for all of us, and there's no escape from that. Paving your garden and netting your veg won't keep the carbon monoxide and particulates out of your lungs.

My point is that coming onto a board dedicated to a subject to criticise the enthusiasts of that subject is unreasonable behaviour.

They are flea treated wormed and fully vaccinated. My current cats dont use the loo.

In that case, you are choosing to accept the environmental consequences of your cat's roaming.

Wildlife/environmental protections also exist and they are becoming more stringent. Just as waterways shouldn't be contaminated, cats should not harm local ecosystems.

People have a responsibility to prevent their cat from doing this.

Tell you what - why don't you go on the dog forum here and complain about people not picking up their dog's shit or letting their dog shit in other people's garden. I'm willing to bet there won't be the same level of support from dog owners' to have the right to allow their pets to do that.

I didn't extend the last sentence, I added a whole new sentence. The new sentence doesn't change the meaning because the point, that haranguing subject enthusiasts in their own space is bloody rude.

I spelled out explicitly something that is actually common knowledge: that non-electric cars directly pollute. That doing so rebutted your later argument just shows that you don't think of what is common knowledge when framing your arguments.

I'm autistic, so I tend to redraft comments to catch thoughts that turned up after I hit send. The alternative is twice as many posts and filling the thread.

OP wanted to specifically comment about cat shit. I think her post revealed some clear tendencies among cat owners, who were her target audience. These tendencies are:

• Cat owners don't consider the environmental impact of their roaming cats to be their responsibility
• Their cats' right to roam trumps their neighbours' right to have a cat-shit free garden
• Cat owners will resort to whataboutism to deflect any responsibility towards their cats' behaviour

The law treats dogs and cats differently because, shock horror, they are different species with different behaviours. Just because both are pets doesn't mean they should be treated the same in law.

Here are further examples of superficially similar things that the law treats differently:

• Pedestrians and cyclists versus car and lorry drivers. All are road users, but only the latter must take a competency test and pay vehicle excise duty.
• Adult students and school children. Both are in full-time education, but only one is required to be there.
• Self-employed workers versus PAYE employees. Both work for a living, but only one must fill in a tax return.

It's normal for the law to treat different things differently.

Yes, I do. Her Majesty Dorothea has a super duper, igloo cat litter in the lobby by the back door. She has complete privacy while using it. She also has a cat flap so she can come and go as she pleases. As does the cat who lives in the next street who comes in, eats her leftovers and uses her cat litter. Cheeky!

I don't have a right to a shit-free garden. There are foxes, seagulls, and pigeons all shitting in my garden. My cat adding to that is a drop in the ocean of shit that is in my garden.

Why don't you all go to the Tack Room and tell the horse riders to clean up after their horses? A face full of horseshit when riding my bike is no fun, yet the riders have no obligation to clean up after their mounts. Oh, wait, they'd tell you to fuck off, that's why you don't.

I think a litter tray if your cat goes outside would be quite unusual. I also think the cat would prefer to go outside.

We don’t have a cat, but I honestly don’t care if I see a neighbouring cat shitting in our garden, which is admittedly, rare.

We have a litter tray for our outdoor cats and they do use it though they go outside too.

Wee isn’t a problem outside but I don’t like having poo everywhere, having to check the grass before DC play etc.

Nothing you can do about it though really, cats will do as they please.

I don't have a right to a shit-free garden. There are foxes, seagulls, and pigeons all shitting in my garden. My cat adding to that is a drop in the ocean of shit that is in my garden.

Some people object to cat shit because of the toxoplasmosis thing. There isn’t the same risk with other shit.

Have you heard of avian influenza?