cats in my garden grrrrrrr

JodyBPM

I love the way the people get so het up about cat poo, but think that acceptable suggestions to combat it are man pi$$ or lion poop. What's so different about cat's waste products that makes it so much worse than man or lion's waste products? And lets be honest, many gardeners actively put manure (horse poop) or chicken poop pellets in their gardens.

What about poo from birds, foxes, rodents, hedgehogs etc? How come no-one is jumping up and down about that? None of those animals have the decency to bury their poop like cats do.

Basically, cats cannot be fully trained, and cat poop in the garden is a fact of life. You can either wind yourself up trying and failing to make your garden poop free, or you can chill out, get over it and enjoy your life. As for children playing in gardens with potential poop in, well just tell them not to play with poo! If they are too young to understand that, then they are too young to be left unsupervised anyway, as there are many other potential dangers in gardens too - poisonous plants or berries, snakes, wasps and bees etc

bitemebankers

JodyBPM wrote: »

Basically, cats cannot be fully trained, and cat poop in the garden is a fact of life. You can either wind yourself up trying and failing to make your garden poop free, or you can chill out, get over it and enjoy your life. As for children playing in gardens with potential poop in, well just tell them not to play with poo! If they are too young to understand that, then they are too young to be left unsupervised anyway, as there are many other potential dangers in gardens too - poisonous plants or berries, snakes, wasps and bees etc

This, exactly.

FatVonD

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

The smell from fox crap is a billion times more powerful than cat - but lots of people assume, because of the similar size - that their turds are ones from the local moggies.

The poop on the doormat (sorry, can't seem to find that post again now!) was almost certainly fox poop. Foxes love to poop on 'things', cat's don't.

charliemonkeyface

JodyBPM wrote: »

I love the way the people get so het up about cat poo, but think that acceptable suggestions to combat it are man pi$$ or lion poop. What's so different about cat's waste products that makes it so much worse than man or lion's waste products? And lets be honest, many gardeners actively put manure (horse poop) or chicken poop pellets in their gardens.

What about poo from birds, foxes, rodents, hedgehogs etc? How come no-one is jumping up and down about that? None of those animals have the decency to bury their poop like cats do.

Basically, cats cannot be fully trained, and cat poop in the garden is a fact of life. You can either wind yourself up trying and failing to make your garden poop free, or you can chill out, get over it and enjoy your life. As for children playing in gardens with potential poop in, well just tell them not to play with poo! If they are too young to understand that, then they are too young to be left unsupervised anyway, as there are many other potential dangers in gardens too - poisonous plants or berries, snakes, wasps and bees etc

The main reason i get het up about cat poop is Toxoplasmosis which is carried buy meat eating animals the main proven carrier's are cats, not horses or hedgehogs, as well as other serious infections such as e.coli. My children like to play in the garden, dig in the soil looking for worms and bugs or making mud pies doing things that kids do. If there is a turd sitting on top of the soil i can remove it from the garden before they go outside and play as i do with the occasional fox poop or dismembered bird, but because cats have the decency to bury their poop it is impossible for me to remove it.
I work hard to pay for my home to provide my kids with a safe place to play and if i wanted !!!! in my garden i would put it there myself.
As for getting getting over it and enjoying life we do, one of the most enjoyable pass times in my garden is seeing who can knock the first cat of the fence with a super soaker or garden hose, infact my kids would miss them if all the cats disappeared.

bitemebankers

charliemonkeyface wrote: »

The main reason i get het up about cat poop is Toxoplasmosis

You're significantly more likely to find the toxoplasmosis pathogen on the uncooked meat in your fridge, than in cat poo. I'm afraid your information is an (depressingly common) urban myth. Ditto E.Coli - it's most commonly found on chopping boards and dish cloths.

Lighten up, or the stress will kill you before any bacteria has a chance!

Person_one

The most common e.coli infections are UTIs, caused by the bugs in your own gut. Technically you're more of a danger to yourself than any cat poo!

Takeaway_Addict

Troutwrestler wrote: »

Nothing has worked for the abhorrent old witch across from me... She resorted to threatening to poison my cats with antifreeze. I keep my cats in now.
If you have a zoo nearby lion poop in the soil is supposed to deter them?? Might be an old wives tail though

You could argue that it did work, it stopped ur cats going in her garden by making u keep them in

charliemonkeyface

This is a non argument, people who own cats will always justify how it is acceptable it is they can roam free crap where they want and be allowed to terrorize our wildlife. Studies have shown they kill up to 55 million wild birds a year and are threatening entire species of our native birds As long as it's only cats causing this damage then it's ok. If it was any other species of pet then cat owners would be equally outraged.
Next time you moan about fox mess in parks or your garden or foxes or seagulls raiding bins or badgers or moles digging up your garden, mice in your home or rats in your compost remember you are a hypocrite.
And these animals are native to our country unlike the vermin that is domestic cats.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cats-birds.html#cr

FatVonD

charliemonkeyface wrote: »

As for getting getting over it and enjoying life we do, one of the most enjoyable pass times in my garden is seeing who can knock the first cat of the fence with a super soaker or garden hose, infact my kids would miss them if all the cats disappeared.

As a cat owner I'd have no objection to you soaking my cats if you didn't want them in your garden, if it works it seems the perfect solution to me, far better than the sonic thingies and potentially poisonous stuff.

FatVonD

charliemonkeyface wrote: »

Next time you moan about fox mess in parks or your garden or foxes or seagulls raiding bins or badgers or moles digging up your garden, mice in your home or rats in your compost remember you are a hypocrite.
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I don't though, I've just persuaded DH not to get rid of the ants nest on the drive because I love ants