Keep your cats to yourselves

Can't stand them, Totally pointless and once Kitty thinks your little bit of back garden is its' toilet, you are doomed.

You're very brave Bodach....the cat lovers will now come out en masse.
I must say though, one of my neighbours has a cat and a very well trained one it is.

I am equally annoyed at the fact that cats can roam and foul and kill unchecked! Yes, a fox will kill small mammals and no doubt birds but they are wild animals. Cats are deemed to be domesticated animals surely?!?! I'm constantly getting little piles of cat faeces in my garden and I have tried countless ways to deter them to no avail. The very day I discover who the cat belongs to they will be receiving the faeces on their drive, no messing!!!!!!

How, may I ask, are we supposed to keep a cat in our own garden? Mine has her litter box but if she decides to go next door there's not much I can do about it.

Have you just trod in a poo, Bodach?

Well, a dog is a pack animal and learns how to fit in with the team (presumably the owner will train them) but cats have no such hierarchy to follow. So, dog behaviours can be subject to the law (and local byelaws). No such laws in regard to cats since our lawmakers have recognised that a cat is its own master.

"I yield to no-one in my approbation of dog owners who fail to control and clean up after their pets beyond their boundaries…"

I think that comment rather undermines your point.

I'm a cat and dog owner and our cat has never been out of the garden. He has a litter tray indoors and it works fine for us. Unfortunately, there are several cats around that use the front garden as a toilet on occasions and there is one that simply poos in the middle of the paths and driveways, no sniffing or scratching. It grieves me as I'm picking cat poo up and it's not even my cat!

I don't know the answer because if you have a cat that likes to roam, there's nothing you can do to keep it close, apart from shutting it in the house.

Dear Hetty58 and NanaRayna: I would suggest that saying "there's not much I can do about it", and "a cat is its own master" does not absolve you from being responsible (in moral, if not [sadly] legal terms) for the depredations of the animal you have chosen to own as a pet. If you cannot control its behaviour when outside, then keep it inside. If you think keeping a cat inside is unreasonable, then don't keep a cat.

Completely agree with you Bodach. My garden is full of cat s..t from my neighbours 3 cats and I am sick of it. I wonder what would happen if I let my dog roam her garden and crap all over it. Would be very happy I imagine.

Sorry, absent: fat fingers. I meant disapprobation, of course.

‘Wouldn’t’

A battle I fear you cannot win! Have you tried training them yourself? Perhaps you can try loud clapping or banging dustbin lids to deter them. If it works then whoo hoo if it doesn't then at least you will get a new appreciation of how difficult it would be for an owner to stop their predatory roaming..
My advice.. Let it go!

I have cats but I don't have to run the gauntlet of avoiding mess on pavements left by dogs !

Bodach

You might not be able to win, but you can have fun: if you have an outside tap, keep a hosepipe attached to it, then keep an eye out for cats in your garden ... need I say more? ?

How funny - the emoji I used looked like a smiling devil till I posted, then it turned into a cat!

Cats are deemed to be domesticated animals surely?!?!

I think that all 'domesticated' animals are still basically wild and have to be regarded as such. A cat, if trained, will use its litter tray, but there are no guarantees that it will never use gardens.

Even with dogs, training can only go so far and deep down they are still 'wild' pack animals no matter how loving and soppy they may seem.

My neighbours two cats walk into my back garden and I don`t hassle them, I have no lawn and only use hoes and a rake so gardening is not a problem. The reason I don`t hassle them is that they tend to keep the garden clear of rats.

It’s a cat, it does at it likes.?You are being unreasonable to expect cats not to patrol their territory.

I think it's unreasonable if I am planting a few bits and pieces to make contact with cat waste ( polite version)

Wear gardening gloves.Use a fork or trowel.
It’s no good anyone moaning about it, there is no answer, cats may go where they like.You can chase them off etc but easier in the end to just accept it.

I wonder who first domesticated a cat as they can be pretty fearsome when wild
I suffer the same problem but I ve kind of given up having tried everything on the market to deter them without ANY success

Just wondering, who do you blame if there’s ever any Fox poo deposited in your garden? We have three cats. The 2 girls don’t go out of the garden and use a litter. The male cat uses our garden and a litter. We often end up with fox poo in the garden, tough really. Our front garden often has piles of dog mess left. One of the few around here that isn’t paved over. Your garden must be like a drive through for the local cats Bodach, a captive catch.

I have cats, who come in from outside to use their litter tray and then go back out!

I love birds too, and have several feeders in the garden. My older cat no longer has any interest in birds, the younger one I try to scare away from the birds as much as I can.

I really can't see how a cat owner can fully control their pets behavior unless they are kept inside all the time?