Some advice please

[Emma&Freya]

We have just had a knock at the door by a woman acrpss the road saying our cats have been pooing in her garden. My OH apologised and went over to clean it up.

When he came back he said that she had picked most of it up.

This morning though me and OH were on our way out and at the bottom of our path on our driveway there was alot of cat poo. so from what I can gather she has dumped it on our path.

I cant stop my cats from going the loo anyewere as when they go out they go out. All I can do is apologise. I understand its not nice but there really isnt nothing I can do.

OH wants to get CCTV cameras put in incase she does it again, does anyone no were we can get one that also records?

We aree prob thinking alot into it but then as OH says it is also for our security

 

[Button#]

I would offer to buy one of those cat deterrants for her garden.

 

[lilyd]

Not meaning to be rude or argumentative, but what happens if she does do it again?

I know it's not very neighbourly, but I'm not sure she is actually doing anything you could do anything about.

 

[lau86]

I would realllllly hate a cat pooing in my garden. I know nothing about cats but it doesn't seem good enough to just say there's nothing I can do. It is completely disgusting to dump cat poo on your driveway though.

I think some cat owners may have suggestions on how to resolve this.

 

[MrsBop]

Not meaning to be rude or argumentative, but what happens if she does do it again?

I know it's not very neighbourly, but I'm not sure she is actually doing anything you could do anything about.

I agree with this and as someone who has a serious problem with cats crapping in my garden I can understand her frustration and if I knew where the cats that do it in my garden lived I'd be tempted to do the same. She has to put up with crap in her garden so she probably feels you should too. I've read so much stuff on keeping cats away and nothing works, a lot of owners have a patch of soil in their garden where their cats can happily go, would this be an option? Cats are a nuisance in a lot of areas, not only do they poop where they want, they spray and scratch cars. If it's definitely your cat making the mess could your OH not go clear her garden daily?

 

[katherinegrey]

I'm not being rude but I'd have told her to go away. You can't control cats. Everyone knows that. Cats go where they want, when they want. I know it must be frustrating for her, but it's hardly your fault just because you own the cats, what can you do, put them on a leash to keep them away?
As for her dumping poop on your garden, that's disgusting. If you were the one pooping on her garden, fair enough, be annoyed. But being annoyed with you for something you can't control is ridiculous to me.

 

[special_kala]

I hate cat poo in my garden so i can understand her frustration. Id offer to buy some kind of deterrent

 

[suzib76]

I guess at deterrent is a good option, although don't bottles of water and oranges or something repel cats?

I would be a bit miffed that she dumped a pile of cat shit on your drive BEFORE coming to talk to you though, I mean as soon as she said your oh went to clear it up. She should have given you guys a chance before dumping it like that, that would wind me up!

 

[Emma&Freya]

whats a detterrent?

Im annoyed that she dumped the cat poo before talking to us as I was not made aware of it. To me now its very awkward because I will be seeing her on a day to day basis.

I understand her frustration I really do, but again, I wasnt made aware of it.

My sister studies law and she said if she does it again shes tresspassing and I can file a complaint with the police, but I dont want it to come to that

 

[HBGirl]

Actually, you are under obligation to ensure your pets are not causing a problem. There are domestic animal laws for a reason. If your cats are causing a problem, which they are, you need to contain them.

I cheerfully soak the pests with a hose if I catch them in my garden. I choose to not have cats for a reason and I certainly don't need other peoples pets in my garden. It is not fair on your neighbour to just shrug and do nothing.

 

[lilyd]

Did she have to come onto your property to drop it where she did?

I really don't think it warrants getting the Police involved, it is only going to make things worse. What she did wasn't nice, but having to clear up after someone else's pet isn't either.

I would go and speak to her and see what you can agree, a deterrent device, you or OH popping over and picking it up once a day/every other day.

The people across the road from us came over when we moved in and introduced their cat. They asked us not to feed her anything and that if we had any problems with her using our garden as a toilet to let them know. We never have, but I assume they meant that they would come and deal with it.

Was it definitely this neighbour? Just thought it is a bit strange to speak to you after dumping it. Could your neighbours have been talking and two different neighbours have handled it differently?

 

[Baby Bell]

I've never known a cat to just poop on a drive, in my experience they always bury there poop as they are quite clean animals. I understand this can be unpleasant for your neighbour, but I find it very bizarre for her to dump it in your garden especially before she had spoken to yourselves. I'm not sure how you can deter your pet from going into her garden, but perhaps offer to clean up any poop that your cat has left

 

[lovelylaura]

How does she know its your cat? There are tonnes of cats around. I don't really know hat you can do tbh. I have a cat and i have no idea where he poop's. But i also have alot of other cats that came into our garden in summer to poop but when i saw them i would throw water in their direction (they were also fighting with our cat and coming inside) they didn't come in the garden for a long while.

I know some people don't understand cat's but you really can't control where it poop's unless its an indoor cat which really isn't fair on the animal. x

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Are you sure it's her? Does she have a partner? It seems like a really passive aggressive thing to do for someone who's obviously not afraid of confrontation.
I can understand her frustration, I can't use my own back garden because my neighbour's cats use it as a litter box all day long (I know its her cats because I've seen them coming in). It's not fair on those who choose not to own pets for this reason to deal with shit in their garden from everyone else's pets. Infact I remember a massive debate on the very subject getting locked not long ago

I think it's a bit dramatic going to the police over it, especially when you don't know for sure if it's her. If she's finding the cat a nuisance other people might be too. I'd spend the money you could use on CCTV on some deterrents (a deterrent is something that stops the cat from going into the garden, a certain smell it doesn't like etc, you'll probably find lots in the pet shop) to hand out to your neighbours, and maybe post a few friendly leaflets to explain what has happened and that if anyone has an issue with the cat they are welcome to come and speak to you (before dumping a ton of shit on your path).
Don't go in all gung-ho and make enemies. Yes, what they did was disgusting, but the problem originated with your animal. Be as reasonable as you can and people won't want to dump crap at your door. Literally.

 

[lilyd]

How does she know its your cat? There are tonnes of cats around. I don't really know hat you can do tbh. I have a cat and i have no idea where he poop's. But i also have alot of other cats that came into our garden in summer to poop but when i saw them i would throw water in their direction (they were also fighting with our cat and coming inside) they didn't come in the garden for a long while.

I know some people don't understand cat's but you really can't control where it poop's unless its an indoor cat which really isn't fair on the animal. x

True, but you can create an area in your own garden to try and encourage the cat to go there - Cats protection suggest doing this.

 

[Bex84]

I would just go and talk to her about deterrent's. Cats don't like citrus as someone else has said and bottles of water because of the reflection. I have 2 cats but they are house cats so we don't have the problem (we used to live where car park outside so when kittens didn't go out and now they don't want to) Do you have litter trays available to them. I can see why she is frustrated but is she sure its just your cat. We have only had neighbours cat use our garden once as a litter trey but our cats gave the evil eye to it so they didn't do it again. I would just go and talk to them, it was obviously built up frustration

 

[Bex84]

How does she know its your cat? There are tonnes of cats around. I don't really know hat you can do tbh. I have a cat and i have no idea where he poop's. But i also have alot of other cats that came into our garden in summer to poop but when i saw them i would throw water in their direction (they were also fighting with our cat and coming inside) they didn't come in the garden for a long while.

I know some people don't understand cat's but you really can't control where it poop's unless its an indoor cat which really isn't fair on the animal. x

True, but you can create an area in your own garden to try and encourage the cat to go there - Cats protection suggest doing this.

agree with this, cats have an area they will patrol, I would definitely try make your garden the place for her litter trey, maybe plant some cat grass and mint and make your garden more appealing and maybe dig up an area for her to use as a toilet

 

[MrsBop]

I would honestly look at buying a proper deterrent to keep your cat out of her garden, there are laws stating your cat shouldn't be causing a nuisance to others and she sees it as a nuisance. I must admit if you suggested chucking orange peel and bottles of water all over my garden to deter your cat I wouldn't be happy after all I'd be replacing crap with rubbish! To keep neighbourly peace the deterrents are around £15 might be worth thinking about

 

[Emma&Freya]

Im happy to buy a detterent and she was spotted by my neighbour dumping it on my path

 

[Hunbun]

Dumping crap on your path is disgusting and imo a total over reaction. She didn't even give you a chance to solve the problem first.

Personally I would go over with the deterrent and apologise for the mess the cat is making. I would also be sure to say to her that you would appreciate if this didn't work that she tells you instead of throwing crap all over your path.

The more sickly sweet you are the better.