# Poo Advice



## tigertiger (Sep 16, 2008)

Dearest Cat Lovers,

I am not a cat lover, nor am I a cat hater, in fact I am generally an animal lover. What I am interested in is a point of view. I live in a quiet culdesac where a number of my neighbours choose to keep at least one cat (I think you know where this is going) Their general view when quizzed about how they feel about their cats pooing in my garden is 'well it's not really my problem', there isnt really any sense of regret or a scent of apology for the potential risk to my kids who have before chanced upon a pile of poo.

I suppose I'm interested to know if all cat owners share this view, I think I would be lifted to know that there are some out there who take a more responsible view. At the end of the day I entirely respect an individuals right to keep a cat. However, I have not chosen to and so reserve the right to not have to deal with their cats poo. 

Once I have established a proven method for identifying which cats have delivered which presents (colour cctv for which I will gladly pay hundreds for) I shall embark upon a regular exercise of returning poo to the gardens of the respective cat owners, obviously in the state that it was delivered and probably in the middle of the garden (not thrown in anger, nor delivered vie the letterbox). As a serious question, would any of you good people consider this to be unacceptable behaviour. If yes, why so?

On to the next question. As you all assumabley live with cats (do they poo in your gardens too?) Can you suggest any methods that are non-harmful that will stop the poo?

Any advice gratefully recieved apart from the school of 'my cat can do whatever it wants and stuff you', which is one response I have had from a less enlightened neighbour.

Thanks for your patience


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## Janee (May 4, 2008)

Actually I can understand where you are coming from especially if you have children who play in your garden or you yourself are planning on having more children and also garden.

That said, problem is an outdoor cat will wander 0.5 to a mile from his home garden. Therefore you can see it is almost impossible for a cat owner to 'know' where their cat goes.

Also urine and faeces are scent markers for cats. Therefore they may 'overlay' where another cat has deposited with their own scent marker.

I know this does not help you but I hope it makes you understand that from the owner's viewpoint that they cannot control an out door cat. A lot of owners will deny the cat has left their garden!

Sooooo - you want a solution to keep cats out of your garden. Apparently tiger/lion faeces works (local zoo). However if you are really serious about this have you looked at cat proofing your garden? It is as effective at keeping cats out as keeping them in.

Google it - 'cat proof fencing'


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## widgetdog35 (Apr 25, 2008)

I would not like to think any of my animals are pooing in someones garden, would be hard to stop a cat but would offer help as its not nice digging plants in to cat pooh.

You can get sprays etc
good luck


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2008)

I completely agree - it is my choice to keep cats and therefore my responsibility to make sure that I clean up their mess. I will admit I used to let a couple of my moggies roam outside but after realising how annoying it is when for example dog owners don't clear up their mess on the street, I realised how annoying it must be for other people if my cat messes in their garden.

I now only have one cat who roams outdoors but he is only out for an hour a day if that and rarely leaves the garden. Plus he uses our litter tray twice a day and I would hope that he therefore doesn't do it anywhere else!

He has always been an outdoor cat and I am trying to train him to go out less and less so that I can start putting him in our outdoor enclosure without stressing him out.

As for deterrents, I know it sounds harsh but if you catch them doing it, a squirt of water won't hurt and you can also buy sonic motion detectors that will scare cats away from your garden. Also, look up on google because there is a plant that cats hate and I think even if you put it in pots around your garden, it may deter them.

Hope this helps.

Louise


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## xxSaffronxx (Apr 2, 2008)

While i can see your point as to why you find it frustrating - there is really not a lot a cat owner can do other than keep the cat in.

I do see what you are saying though - i would hate it if i kept having a dog poo on my garden if i dont own a dog. I do own a dog and it still annoys me even though its my own dog! LOL


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## rottiesloveragdolls (Nov 2, 2007)

*i am sure there is a spray you can get for the garden to deter cats from soiling in your garden and it wont harm the plants ect, i will see if i can find out what it is, if thats any help to you, *


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## Lumpy (Jun 5, 2008)

I've got a number of cats and they all go outside. 

I encourage them to use my own garden to mess in - have an area of dug over earth that they use regularly.

My neighbours one side have a sonic motion detector that seems to work - my cats won't go in that garden. My neighbour on the other side have a cat of their own so can't use one of those. I keep some cat deterrent granules and if one of my cats does make a mess (not sure how he knows it is one of mine) he comes and gets the tub and scatters them around the relevant area.

I would be quite happy to remove the mess from my neighbours' gardens - and have told them this.

I do understand it is a problem and praise my cats lots when I see them go in my garden.


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## Leah100 (Aug 17, 2008)

I completely agree with you. My cats are indoors with trays, and I hate finding other people's cats' poos in my garden where my children play and I garden. I do find it extremely inconsiderate. Even cats that have outdoor access can be litter tray trained so that they do not foul neighbours gardens.

My dog is a fairly good deterrent as he will bark if a strange cat comes in, and I have been known to chase them out myself.


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## tigertiger (Sep 16, 2008)

I've always liked airedale's ;-)

Thanks for all your comments and advice, your balanced opinion is much appreciated.


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2008)

If you're willing to spend hundreds on CCTV why not spend £20 on an ultrasonic cat deterrent/repeller? Or as mentioned above get a dog! 

Owners can't control where their outdoor cats "go" and I don't see how you can train a cat to just go in a litter tray if they are outdoor cats. Mine will go in the litter tray if they are stuck indoors but if they are out they won't come running back in to go to the litter tray. 

As far as I can tell my cats seem to go in my own garden at least the majority of the time but I really can't stop them going where they want unless I was to keep them inside which I'm not going to do.


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## helz (May 24, 2008)

Cats are natural roamers (as recognised by law) and the owner cannot be held responsible for where it does and does not do its business. I completely disagree that an outdoor cat can be trained to use a litter tray, of course they use litter trays indoors, but as AJ said, they will not come inside to use it if they are outside.
I have what I would call litter friendly areas in my garden, to encourage my cats to go to the loo in my garden, and I have seen them use my garden on many occasions, but I do not know that they are not going else where. Not only that, but there are a lot of cats in the neighbourhood, so it would be impossible to tell whose cat was going where.
You can take measures to keep cats out of your garden, there are plenty of deterrents on the market that probably wont cost you very much money, to go to the extreme of trying to prove the cat that is doing it, would be a pretty pointless exercise as far as I am concerned.


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## rottiesloveragdolls (Nov 2, 2007)

*I do agree with Aj and helz as there are probably more than 1 cat doing it, so when you do find the cats that are doing it how will you know who they belong too will you follow them to their homes  to inform the people of what their cats are doing im not sure there is anything you could do  *


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## tigertiger (Sep 16, 2008)

I live in a small culdesac and 'know' where each of the cats live. From a sonic deterrent perspective the majority of the cats I have actually seen doing their business are of the Siamese variety. As some of you know they are virtually completely resistent to this frequency of sound put out by such devices.

The reason I am at the end of my tether and am prepared to go to extreme lengths is to prevent my young children iadvertently developing a nasty illness such as Toxicplasmosis. In reality colour CCTV is not actually that expensive.

Because we do not have cats or a dog (yet), and because they are very young they are not primed to expect piles of poo over their play areas. Ergo, tracing the 'poo' back to it's locational origin is not - in my view - over the top. The fundamental bottom line is I dont have a cat therefore I should not have the poo.

I think a combination of jeyes fluid, pir activated water sprinklers, olbas oil soaked teabags, lion poo, CCTV, sonics, citrus smelling plants, cat proof fencing and a dog of the terrier variety should do the trick!


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## helz (May 24, 2008)

Poo in the playing areas? By this do you mean in the middle of your garden? If you do, I doubt very much this is a cat, cats gnerally bury their poo, so you are most likely to find it in your flower beds or plant pots.

I am also suprised there would be many (if any) roaming siamese, as peds are normally kept indoors all the time.

I believe putting garlic cloves where they do their mess is a very good deterrant, the strong smell keeps them away.


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

tigertiger said:


> I think a combination of jeyes fluid, pir activated water sprinklers, olbas oil soaked teabags, lion poo, CCTV, sonics, citrus smelling plants, cat proof fencing and a dog of the terrier variety should do the trick!


........

I think just the dog will do! If he doesn't catch them coming into the garden or catch them in the act at least he'll clear up after them!


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## big blue betty (Sep 3, 2008)

I have free roaming cats and have offered to pick up any poo that my cats have left, my next door neghbour has contantly complained to the council etc about my cats but wont accept my offer to pick it up. I have put things on the top of the fence to deter them from going in and I have even offered to buy him a super soaker but he wasnt happy with that either. I cant remember the last time I saw one of my cats in his garden.
I dont want my cats to mess in other peoples garden I would prefer they do it in mine but I dont have any control as to where they go. 
When the dog warden visited she said there is nothing that can be done as cats are legally allowed to roam and do as they please. 
I agree it must be very annoying for you if you have chosen not to have cats but still have to deal with the poo and its sad that the owners of the cats dont really seem botherd about it but I dont think there is much that you can legally do about it. Even if you caught the cat on CCTV I cant see it would help you in any way. I wouldn't return the poo to the owners garden if as you may get in to trouble!

Tanya xxx xxxxxx


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## Cats Slave (Sep 12, 2008)

I know where you're coming from - we've seen at least four different cats doing their business in our garden (inc on the lawn) - we live in a road next to a cul-de-sac so lots of gardens backing onto each other and it drives my Husband nuts, especially when a big tux cat chooses to do it on the top of our ornamental grass! We have a flat roof extension and have to keep our back window closed cause they walk along the fence and climb in the window - we'd be sitting on the sofa and a cat would appear down the stairs.
Now we have kittens of our own we're going to put something along the top of our fence to keep our babies in and everybody else out - it might look a little unsightly but prevention is better than cure?


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## Saikou (Apr 2, 2008)

tigertiger said:


> From a sonic deterrent perspective the majority of the cats I have actually seen doing their business are of the Siamese variety. As some of you know they are virtually completely resistent to this frequency of sound put out by such devices.


 I breed siamese and orientals, and I have never heard of their hearing being different to other cats  What they are good at is being completely independant and purposefully contrary.

That said, my cats are indoor with access to a covered run and a completely enclosed garden so they can not get out and other cats can not get in. I take responsibility for what my cats do, unlike my neighbour who allows her four cats to do their business where they feel like, anywhere as long as it is not in her garden. It used to be in my garden until the fencing went up so I know how you feel.

The thing to remember is that it is not the cats fault, its their owners you should have the issue with. I would be careful with whatever you decide to put around your garden to ensure that there is not a possibility of harming or poisoning any kind of visitor.


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## catz4m8z (Aug 27, 2008)

I'd go with the cat proof fencing coz once its up you really don't have to think about the problem anymore.
I think its horrible that people have to put up with poop in their gardens and my cats are indoors with a large cat run outside. I learnt the hard way tho as I lost 5 cats in the space of 1 year. 1 was run over, 1 poisoned, 2 caught in traps(somebody in the area really didn't want cats pooing in their garden) and the last disappeared. It was especially hard with the 1 who had his leg amputated and then sadly died of post surgery complications.
You sound like a reasonable person but I'd like to say to anyone who lets their cats roam that crazy pyscho's, like the person in my neighbourhood, do exsist. If you love your cat don't let it roam


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

Sprinkle white pepper where the cats leave their dump.


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