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You must be very proud. Do you stamp at pigeons when walking through town also?
Providing my family with a shit free garden IS something I'm proud of.
Pigeons are safe but I do have issues with seagulls.
CougarFull Member
Most cats will bury their poo, the local alpha cat won’t, it’ll leave it very conspicuously so other cats are aware of it and it’s territory,
Is the right answer.
cougar, I respect much of what you post on here, so I am curious as to why you think it’s OK for cats to be a nuisance to your neighbours by shitting in their gardens, yet you take exception to dog owners not picking up after their dogs.
"Think I'll go for my pre-bedtime dump"
I believe this may be a solution 
Looking at our wildlife cam footage, a big ginger cat was crapping in the middle of the path or drive, a small tabby would crap under the creeper at the fence line and a black and white cat prefers the flower beds at the rear.
I don’t think cat owners understand the scale of the issue, the 25 craps I mentioned earlier on didn’t include the hidden IEDs. Being away for a couple of weeks means a lot of being somebody else’s litter tray attendant.
Absolutely stinks in the summer.
Pepper or chilli can work, ultrasonics are useless. The ginger would just crap in front of it. The PIR operated water pistol definitely made a difference.
How is pepper/chilli best deployed? Don't want it affecting frogs hedgehogs or squirrels though....
We’ve a resident dog fox who visits our garden frequently. He keeps the cats away, but his leavings are also even more unpleasant than theirs.
How is pepper/chilli best deployed? Don’t want it affecting frogs hedgehogs or squirrels though….
Pepper you just sprinkle in the affected areas. You can buy big containers of it and it is sold as cat repellent. Important to remove any existing turds apparently.
Chilli I used powder or chopped chillies, added to a large container of water, mixed and left it for a couple of days then poured around the affected area (only really useful on paths and driveways).
We stopped using chemical warfare when hedgehogs appeared, although they didn’t seem bothered, just carried on mooching about. No idea about frogs and squirrels, a bit too urban here I think.
Also in the current weather any powders put down will wash away pretty quickly.
Water based sentry guns are definitely the most useful in our small garden. Quite pleasing to hear it go off, then a scrabble as a cat legs it back over the fence. Friendly fire can be an issue though.
cougar, I respect much of what you post on here, so I am curious as to why you think it’s OK for cats to be a nuisance to your neighbours by shitting in their gardens, yet you take exception to dog owners not picking up after their dogs.
Because,
a) cats aren't dogs. This is a false equivalence.
b) in my 50-odd years on this planet I've yet to find a cat turd on my doorstep or the pavement outside, with dogs it's a weekly occurrence. People walk dogs and can pick up after them, folk don't generally walk cats.
c) I never said it was OK. I'm sure it's annoying. I'm not championing the rights for cats to toilet where they like, rather I'm pushing back against the inhumane and frankly evil suggestions from some quarters as to the treatment of other people's beloved pets.
We have three cats, I fixed this issue by keeping them all indoors.
I don't think anyone's arguing that cats = dogs. I suspect people are really just after a consistent application of rule 1 as applied to pet owners. Certainly I do not care whether or not you own a pet in the same way that you don't care if I have kids, I just don't want to have to deal with its poo whether that's walking around it on the pavement or picking it up in my garden.
Personally I don't think that's unreasonable but if you disagree then I have a 1 year old with a nappy that needs changing please.
I think the arguement though is poo = poo and it doesn't matter if it's from cats or dogs. Cat poo is everywhere around here, where as there will be maybe one anti-social dog owner for a while, which the council tends to deal with and stop once it's reported and they're caught.
Therefore I find cats are far more of a problem and it's annoying reading all the rubbish about them finding their special spot and alpha cats etc. as it's a myth made up by cat lovers to ignore the fact that their loving pet is a bloody menace.
I filled my lawn with spikey brash for a month or two, leaving them nowhere to squat without a stick up the arse. Seemed effective and has since not been a problem as they're creatures of habit and clearly moved their poop-pattern to someone else's garden
You could always sell your garden 😁
More seriously this is an issue. My girlfriend (former cat owner) had a problem with cats poo in her garden . She's a keen gardener and was finding cat shit all over the place after her own cat died. Old plastic lemonade bottles (2l size)half filled with water did the trick for her The distorted reflections scare the cats.
Myself I have a cat and a back yard ( slabs)rather than a garden no cat shit anywhere.
a) cats aren’t dogs. This is a false equivalence.
Not really. Their mess is equally unpleasant.
a) cats aren’t dogs. This is a false equivalence.
Not really. Their mess is equally unpleasant.
Their mess is also equally harmful - In my recent past to my pregnant wife (NHS guidance is to not go near / pick it up) and now with a toddler crawling and stoating about the garden there is a significant risk of Toxoplasmosis.
I don't feel it's unreasonable to wish my neighbours didn't put my family at risk.
Well who knew cats are a forum hand grenade. Cheers for the replies anyway folks 👍 and I'll never mention cats again!!
Providing my family with a shit free garden IS something I’m proud of.
Have you considered the reality that just because you have a piece of paper saying you own your garden and putting a fence around it doesn't mean you have exclusive rights to it? Cats are no different to wild animals. Do you object to other fauna using your garden? If so then maybe you need to take more proactive action to keep them out, surround it in chicken wire perhaps, or build a big box around it so nothing can get in? Or you know, you can just chill out a bit and accept that your garden is part of the natural environment and stop worrying about it. 🤷♂️
No different to wild animals? So we can trap and kill them humanely, like I do with the mice that sometimes break into my house? Are you sure about that?
They're no different to wild animals in that they don't respect artificial boundaries. If you want to exclude animals from your garden then it's down to you to put the infrastructure in place to prevent them getting in. It's garden owners who have the problem, not wild animals cats, or their owners.
Cats are no different to wild animals.
Aside from having owners, who house and feed them, yep exactly the same.
It took a little while but I taught our cat to use an outdoor litter tray, which she does. She is 6kg and used to go completely nuts if other cats came near our boundary, I used to feel sorry for them. She then went blind and cats started taking advantage of her, using both our garden and the litter tray to poop in. Water bombs solved that, just thrown near the offending cats, they stay away now.
They’re no different to wild animals in that they don’t respect artificial boundaries. If you want to exclude animals from your garden then it’s down to you to put the infrastructure in place to prevent them getting in.
This is the argument I'm going to try next time my neighbours complain about my pet elephant.
If you want to exclude animals from your garden then it’s down to you to put the infrastructure in place to prevent them getting in
The law only allows a 6 ft fence. What other wildlife prevention measures do you recommend?
A moat of flaming oil?
Cats are no different to wild animals.
Aside from having owners, who house and feed them, yep exactly the same.
Cats don't have owners, they have staff
A moat of flaming oil?<br /><br />
perhaps I’m mistaken, but I think burning alive the neighbours’ cat both goes against rule 1 and would fairly quickly get the RSPCA and Police at the door!
perhaps I’m mistaken, but I think burning alive the neighbours’ cat both goes against rule 1 and would fairly quickly get the RSPCA and Police at the door!
Great mood lighting though.