Cat pooing outside door

shays_mum

Hi,
Would appreciate some advice:

We have a woman next door who has a number of pets, cats & dogs.

I caught her cat blatantly pooing in my garden (dug a trench in the mud), just outside my patio door, i bashed the window & it just started at me carrying on with its business!.

Now when i asked the neighbour to look into this, she said it was foxes & not her cat, taking into account its the same spot that's been used constantly to poo on.

The nasty bit was, the cat left a nasty huge rat there as well. :eek:

How can i stop this happening again?, i have a disability & am finding it increasingly difficult to clean up the mess, esp with kids who also love playing in the garden.

Can i call the council or something?, am not a animal hater, but its not right that owners think its ok to be so disrespectful to their neighbours & their private spaces.

Often wondered why don't cats use their own bloody gardens to poo in?!, oh yer right cos they can use mine!!, ok rant over.

z.n

cats like using 'other people's ' gardens- that way they can keep their own nice and clean. It is impossible for the owner to control or train really.

However, cats can be trained to keep off things or away from things but you have to catch them in the act and scare them off. It sounds like this one is pretty brazen if it wasn't bothered about you banging on the window though and you have to move pretty quick to ensure the association is made. A sprinkler would do it if you could operate it from a distance. Or perhaps you could try some of the smell removal spray-it takes away the scent of urine etc that can cause an animal to keep returning to the same place. There are also ultrasonic pest deterrents but I have only heard of those working on rodents-but might be a good idea anyway given the rat?

cabbage

we have cats and get lots of visiting cats. One is quite nasty so I get a water gun and spray it. I've never managed to get it wet but its enough to scare it off. Now it visits about once a year and as soon I as I open the back door its off. Its humane and effective.

The one i use is a plant waterer that attaches to the top of any plastic water bottle. I think its costs about £1 or so.

bryanb

I find a bucket of water is a semi permanent cure. I don't wait for the cat to do anything unhygenic.

regprentice

There are a number of devices/products which can be acquired to try and deter cats...unfortunately they tend not to work very well.

My gran reckons she's had success with a black plastic cat silhouette with sparkly eyes which she bought from better ware. You could make one as a trial ?

I have two (house) cats - when I got them I was given some information about owners legal requirements which stated that cats are one of the few animals which aren't closely controlled by the law as they cannot be controlled by their owner in the way ,say, a dog can. As such tresspass etc does not apply to them in the same way it would not apply to a squirrel or badger etc.

valk_scot

A good water gun is a sure bet for chasing cats away. I've got three (indoor) cats and am a great cat lover but I still use my DD's pump up water gun to squirt next door's Siamese when it goes for the bird boxes in the garden.

Otherwise, you can't complain to the council or police about a cat fouling in the garden, they're basically not covered by a law against this. What I would do is go back to your neighbour and say what you've told us, namely that you're concerned about the hygiene aspect with your kids re rats and poo, and that you can't clean it up as you're disabled. So could she pop round and clean up the mess her cat is leaving?

Also, you could consider putting something down over the area the cat is using, like paving stones or cobbles or planting something spikey.

pogofish

shays_mum wrote: »

The nasty bit was, the cat left a nasty huge rat there as well. :eek:

Often wondered why don't cats use their own bloody gardens to poo in?!, oh yer right cos they can use mine!!, ok rant over.

It left you a present...!

I don't think its you neighbour's cat anymore - It wants to be your cat and the pooping is another way of establishing your garden as its territory.

Person_one

Sorry OP, I'm afraid I don't have any advice, but I have to tell you that your use of the word 'blatantly' really made me chuckle!

shays_mum

Thank you all for your replies.
The little madam dug up a hole where i put some big stones, looks like the big water guns have got to come out, next time anti-freeze - only joking!!

shays_mum

Person_one wrote: »

Sorry OP, I'm afraid I don't have any advice, but I have to tell you that your use of the word 'blatantly' really made me chuckle!

Sorry in a middle of a flare up so what i think may not be what i write, how did it make you chuckle?!

Can anyone elaborate?, its all a learning experience, its nice to know i can still make someone chuckle though lol!

aileth

Unfortunately as cats are really classed as wild animals outside, it's really up to yourself to do what you can to keep them out. I recommend building a twitcher's hut with full camo gear and a water gun with a sniper rifle

If that's too much, I know B&Q do an array of things, like garlic and sound emitters etc. I also heard they don't like citrus, so maybe time to do a round of the garden sporting dual lemons?