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Cat mess

(101 Posts)
Leemaria Sat 16-Sep-17 07:47:57

My daughter has just moved into her first home and is three months pregnant, next door have two cats who constantly use her back garden as a toilet - a lot. Her fiancé will be away for four weeks with his band very soon. My question is: is it reasonable to ask the neighbour to clean up the mess due to the risk of my daughter doing it? She has tried various over the counter deterrents but nothing seems to work. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance (smile)

Leemaria Sun 17-Sep-17 15:13:36

Good idea

charliebb Sun 17-Sep-17 15:32:01

Coffee grounds are odious to cats!

BlueBelle Sun 17-Sep-17 16:04:00

Teddy why are you so determined it's not cats leaving it on the surface Many posters have said they have watched the cat leave it on the grass ...for the umpteenth time it's NOT foxes it's NOT dogs it's NOT birds it's blooming cats
So after your always, always, always I ll answer cats do,they do, they do

starlily106 Sun 17-Sep-17 16:28:31

If you Google 'Plants to repel cats', you will find the names of several plants cats don't like, I know one of them is called Coleus Canina. Maybe worth a try.

JanaNana Sun 17-Sep-17 18:14:04

It's possible that it's not only their cat/s that is pooing in your garden but other neighbourhood cats besides theirs. When my daughter put shingle down in an area of her garden all the neighbourhood cats thought it was one large litter tray and used it accordingly. All covering it up. You have only to watch a cat using a litter tray to realise that the covering up is part of their ritual although some may not be as efficient at it as others. You might well have foxes in your area that could be the culprits. Although it is unpleasant to clear this up the law recognises that cats are a law into themselves.

MissAdventure Sun 17-Sep-17 18:21:34

I wonder if you provided a nice bed of earth, all freshly dug and inviting looking, whether the cats would just use that? At least you would know where the offending deposits were.

Auntieflo Sun 17-Sep-17 18:40:10

After reading all the recent posts, and feeling smug, what did I find on our, artificial, lawn, but 4piles of cat poo. Ughh
I cleared it up, and sprayed around with diluted vinegar, having run out of the Silent Roar granules. I don't know if it would have worked, cause it rained quite a bit. I think I know which cat is the culprit. She belongs to a neighbour, and is such a pretty little thing, but got antsy when we didn't allow her into the house, cheeky little devil.
By the way, when I posted the name of the repelling granules, I said "Lions Roar", when it should have been "Silent Roar".

codfather Sun 17-Sep-17 19:51:20

I remember when we first moved into our house 40 years ago! We were all newly arrived from London and the houses were brand new!

One neighbour proudly planted the first plant and invited us all to admire it! As we all stood there, our cat came up and did her business on the said plant much to the amusement of the onlookers!

Cats love newly dug earth as half the work has been done for them but it is unusual for them to do it straight on a lawn. One solution, for the moment, might be to prepare a small area of freshly dug earth where they might go instead. As a long term resolution, I favour the water-pistol.

Esspee Sun 17-Sep-17 20:51:00

It is of course perfectly reasonable to request that the cat owner takes responsibility for their pet, ideally in a friendly manner.

Magrithea Sun 17-Sep-17 21:59:54

We had an indoor cat when I was pregnant with DD (33years ago! smile) and I did the litter tray regularly. I wore rubber gloves and made sure I washed my hands.

My daughter came up with an interesting deterrent! Get your DD's husband/partner to pee around the garden (preferably at night! grin) as that works, apparently!

Cagsy Sun 17-Sep-17 22:02:38

I had 3 children and had cats whilst having all 3, emptying litter trays etc with never any issues. Have a young cat now, they all used the litter tray but also go outside, there's no way you can stop them. We are cat central, think most of our neighbour's have them so there's always one or two in the garden, can't say I've found lots of waste, unless they've buried it well!

thecatgrandma Sun 17-Sep-17 22:38:42

The Lion Roar stuff is useless. My daughter had the same trouble when she first moved into a house, it hadn't been lived in for a while, and all the cats in the neighbourhood used it. But cats like privacy, and they will keep going back to the same 'toilet' spot. Once they realise this spot is constantly being cleared up they will feel threatened and gradually stop using it. Obviously as she is pregnant she can't wait for that to happen. I can only suggest she gets a big box of latex gloves, they're quite cheap on Amazon. Or gets her own cat!

cassandra264 Sun 17-Sep-17 22:51:53

I have always had cats but as far as I know they only use our (largish) garden when they are out of doors and are not a problem to others. However, as I am a keen amateur gardener there are parts of it I don't want them fouling at any price, and what I have found works well is a plant called Scatacat (don't know the Latin name, sorry)the smell of which they can't stand. It is available from my local garden centre. I quite like the minty smell myself, it spreads well but is easy to dig up if it starts to take over, and it has pretty blue flowers in late summer, a bit like the wild flower blue bugle.

granny2one Mon 18-Sep-17 05:01:11

I have had cats all my life and they all dug a hole to poo into then covered it up. Are you sure it is cats?

Barmyoldbat Mon 18-Sep-17 17:33:46

We have the same problem with cats, they just poo on the surface and don't bury it. My husband has in the past chucked it back into the neighbours garden as this was the offending cat. He has now made the garden just about cat proof with jagged stuff you put along the top of the fence. Don't have a problem now.

aggie Mon 18-Sep-17 18:05:28

I got that plant , the cats rubbed against it and peed on it sad

Bez1989 Mon 18-Sep-17 20:15:49

I think it's time that your daughter had a word with her neibour and explain about her concerns regarding her pregnancy and ask them if they could pop round every day to clear up.

I too get very angry about cats being able to wander about into others gardens.

As a dog owner I'd be mortified if my dog C××××ED in someone's garden or driveway.

So I can't understand cat owners who DON'T feel the same sense of responsibility.
NO WAY !!

MissAdventure Mon 18-Sep-17 20:26:45

Outdoor cats do their own thing. Its impossible to keep tabs on them and where they go.

Tegan2 Mon 18-Sep-17 20:39:10

My poor neighbour used to bury milk bottles with bleach in in an attempt to stop my cats using her garden. She was very understanding as she'd had cats herself at one time.I did then have house cats which solved the problem. One of my neighbours used to get very angry with my cats stalking birds in his garden; he has since remarried a cat loving woman and their current cat is a terrible bird killer. Cats do poo on lawns; never used to believe it till I saw it happening; it really is vile, though.I no longer have cats as it troubled me having cats that had no freedom, but I couldn't cope with worrying about them whenever they were outside, having lost several on the road. A friend of mines husband used to shoot at their neighbours cat with an air rifle, and wondered why the neighbour wouldn't speak to him....

Leemaria Tue 19-Sep-17 20:15:53

Definitely cats as we have watched them.

lemongrove Tue 19-Sep-17 20:54:42

Old cats sometimes do it on lawns, not usually healthy younger ones.
I really don't think there is any deterrent that works well.
There are a lot of cats around, and dogs come to that, and not all dog owners are saints either.
Nobody can be expected to go around removing cat poo, and unlike the US, where most cats seem to be house cats,
Cats here enjoy being out and about.
Hedgehogs are the biggest nuisance where I live and leave mess all over the place.

jit5688 Fri 02-Aug-19 16:46:22

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jit5688 Fri 02-Aug-19 16:47:20

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BlueBelle Sun 04-Aug-19 09:27:33

There is no deterrent and yes they don’t always bury it they do it where they want I m plagued with them and could cheerfully strangle the buggers I ve also tried as well as bought ones ALL the natural products garlic, curry powder cinnamon pepper eggshells water in bottles an artificial cat I ve seen the ginger one and a black one a couple of times (although it’s invariable in the night that they visit) I ve chucked water at them but they are so quick it usually misses
Why can’t people just put the litter tray they learnt to go in outside their own back door
I don’t hate cats but I hate their dirty poo in my flower beds

Maggie74 Mon 05-Aug-19 12:27:36

Any recommendations for a light vacuum cleaner? Cordless. I'd like the new stick type but find them heavy to hold and I find the buttons to convert to hand held impossible to press.