Don't You Ever Feel Bad?

We have a neighbors, who I love dearly, but who have 5 cats. Three of them are outside most of the time and yes, I have to admit, as much as I like them and their cats I don't appreciate them pooping in my garden and disrupting my plants.

The only nice thing about cats is that most of the time they at least attempt to cover their poop, so it isn't left in the middle of the lawn for me to step in.

I have two cats who are indoors. Sometimes I think of scooping their box and leaving it in my neighbors garden, but that would just be childish. Still, sometimes fantasizing about being childish makes me feel better :)

It's not. Cat poop can contains toxoplasmosis, which can be extremely harmful to people. And the cats most likely to have this in their poop are outdoor cats with "varied" diets.

I am a cat person. But I get very irritated by nearby cat owners who let their kitties roam and poop in my garden. The raccoon poop can't be helped (and tends to be in the grass). The cat poop is completely avoidable (if the owners were responsible pet owners) and tends to be in my garden beds.

Major pet peeve of mine. No pun intended.

Do you have a garden? I found this about cats pooping in gardens...

http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Cats-from-Pooping-in-the-G...

Our neighbors have been able to get rid of their pest control services because of our cat. She has rid the neighborhood of rats, then mice, and has started in on the scrub jays, raccoons, and squirrels. (Yes, raccoons.) I think cats are on par with other "wild" animals - cats live outdoors because they refuse to live indoors, not because their owners don't care about them. Our cat, for instance, if we try to contain her indoors, will just wait behind the front door until we come home, and the second the door is open, she streaks out into the yard. A cat that wants to be outdoors will find a way. (Our other cat sees the benefits of being an indoor cat, and doesn't go outside.) But in exchange for us feeding her, she kills ALL of the vermin in the neighborhood (well, not all - some of them, she brings home maimed for us to enjoy). I guess our neighbors could all pay the pest control guys that they had before, and lay out poisons in their yards that their dogs or kids could potentially get into... or they can put up with the occasional presence of a cat in their yard, and allow her to take care of the problem for free.

It's interesting that as a dog owner, you don't see that your dog could potentially cause problems for your neighbors (other than pooping on their lawns). For instance, our neighbors on all three sides have dogs. It's rare that they're not barking. When one barks, all the others bark. I suppose I could complain that my neighbors don't feel badly about this, and point out how annoying it is to listen to their dogs bark all the time. However, the dogs serve a purpose just as much as the cats do. They help keep our neighborhood safe from burglars and alert us to strangers walking by. In exchange for that service, yeah, I listen to them bark. It is what it is.

Cats bury their poop. That's why they poop in soft soil...and not on the sidewalks, lawns, gravel pathways and every other place our children are known to run and play. I am so done with dogs! Also, if you are finding unburied poop in your garden, could it be raccoons? I am also a gardener, and had my techie husband set up a night camera, so I could see who was soiling my soil. Apparently our yard is 'coon hangout after 11 pm.

I don't let my cat out, so I am not guilty of this. But don't cats bury their poop? I would have figured that was why cat poop might be slightly less obnoxious than dog poop.

It depends where you live. When I lived by the sea, we had seagull poop. Huge and stinky. In the country now, we have deer/racoon. coyote, dog, possum, rabbit. Poop is natural out here, doesn't bother me.
If I lived in a suburban setting, it would piss me off if peoples cats pooped in my flowers bed, cat poop is rank.

I love all these people on here declaring their hatred for cats when the cat are just doing what nature intended them to do. Get annoyed with the owners who let them out instead of keeping them under control and indoors.

That being said, cats tend to bury their stool, so it's much less likely you are going to step in it in the grass or find it on the sidewalk like you would with a dog. Our neighbors always let their dogs out without a leash and they always come into our yard to poop. Our dogs only go out on a leash and are kept in our yard to potty. This isn't about the cats, but the responsibility of the owners. I also have 3 cats - they are indoor only.

Keep in mind there are a lot of stray/feral cats out there, so no owners to be responsible for them. If you suspect that is going on, you can contact Animal Control or your local animal rescue organization about trapping them, getting them spayed/neutered, and then releasing them elsewhere.

I live in a rural area. Cat poop is pretty much the least of our concern. Right now we have some mysterious animal pooping in the middle of our driveway. Too big to be a dog. A deer? A raccoon? A coyote? We are quite perplexed (and it likes lots of berries).
I'm pretty sure the great outdoors is a bathroom for many, many furry critters. Throwing a cat or two and their poop into the mix is just trivial. At least for our neck of the woods it is. Besides, if I had to get upset with an animal pooping in my territory, it would be birds. I swear I think they target my deck umbrella. Unfortunately, I have no one to hold responsible for their antics so I just have to deal.

First off, I rarely let my cat out.

So, if I were to go out in my front yard right now I would find some dog poop, a mess of bird poop, probably some cat poop that isn't mine, deer poop, raccoon poop, honestly I am not going to categorize all the poop in my yard! Pee too I would imagine.

So no, I don't feel bad when my cat sneaks out.

Oh and I have never tracked down the owners of the dogs that have pooped in my yard, I clean it up, I call it yard work and I am not too fussed about what is involved with it.
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People shouldn't be letting their animals run free but getting your knickers in a twist about it, why? I see it I clean it, I don't go hating on the owners.

Great question! I came to dislike cats greatly a few years ago because the "cat lady" who lived behind us had a mess of them and they had no issues sleeping all over our patio furniture and leaving their hair everywhere as well as fight like crazy in the middle of the night outside our bedroom window and even on top of our roof. Sorry to be offensive but they were a nuisance and I wished every day that the animal control officer would trap them and take them away :-(

We have always lived in a setting where our cats were roamers. I tried to keep them in, but they wouldn't have it. (And lived to ripe old ages... One was 19 when she died, and the other is still alive at 21... Granted, she isn't much for roaming these days.)

Of course, we were in the country, where they roamed on our land. And all the neighbors had outdoor cats as well, so there was really no way to distinguish whose cat the poo belonged to.

Living in the city, I have yet to get a cat. I actually enjoy that the neighbors let theirs roam, because that means I get the benefits of mousers and affection (from two that live across the street) without the responsibility of pet ownership. :) A little poo here and there is no big deal to me.

because i live on a small farm, and it's my cats' job to be out there mousing. (i'm also a crazy cat lady and adore my cats.)
but when i lived in a neighborhood, i actually talked to my neighbors, and while my cats weren't a problem, there were cats that were. my next-door neighbor was upset that another neighbors cat was crapping in her flower beds and stalking the birds at her feeder. i suggested that she spray the cat with a hose or squirt gun whenever she could, and she did. the cat learned to stay away, and its owner wasn't offended. (the owner was not a great responsible pet owner at best, she also couldn't believe that someone was offended when she let her dog pee on their new trees until they died. terrific gal, but a little clueless.)
khairete
S.

Cats are usually pretty good at hiding their scat, the only public place I've ever seen it is in the sand at the park. I've never seen any around my yard, ever, and I've lived in every type of environment there is, city, suburb and country.

Sounds like a problem particular to your neighborhood, is there a "cat lady" on your street?

AMEN! We have an indoor cat. I don't have a dog because I don't want to follow it around picking up poop in bags. And yet, we have cats in the neighborhood who regularly poop in our yard, have ruined our porch furniture, and have scared our song birds away. Worst of all, one neighbor had two beautiful cats, brothers, who roamed our neighborhood. One got hit by a car and dragged itself to our yard. I had to run to her house at 6:30 in the morning to let her know he was dying. She came and scooped him up and took him to the vet, where he ended up dying. He was a beautiful, sweet cat, and he and his brother were inseparable. It was incredibly sad, especially for my kids who saw it all. But did she bring the second cat in? Nope. Even after finding a coyote in my yard one morning, she still let the cat roam freely. I haven't seen the cat recently. I assume he's been killed as well.

I grew up on a farm and our cats roamed. But we are in a neighborhood. This isn't a safe or fair place to let pets roam.

I have indoor only cats. They live longer than an outdoor cat, you don't have the constant battle with fleas, you don't have to worry about them getting hit by cars, you don't have to worry about them getting into fights with other animals etc.
We get a number of outdoor cats in our yard as well as other animals. I don't get all hot and bothered about their droppings though I would certainly prefer not to have them.
I am less upset about them leaving their droppings as I am about their overall health and happiness. All of our cats are rescues. One was from our neighborhood streets. We tried to save her and a litter of kittens she had but sadly all the kittens died and we were unable to get her. She immediately got pregnant a second time. Thankfully we were able to save her and her 2 kittens this time. Poor little girl was so tiny and scared! Several years later she is a happy, big, healthy long haired Maine Coon (she certainly didn't look that way when we saved her!) and her 2 kittens are cuddly, loving fur balls that we've watched grow up since they were 2 days old. This is what angers me more about cats roaming the streets then cleaning up after them!

We'd love to just shoot the neighbor's cats. I've sprayed them with water before. When we first moved into our house, we'd find the one cat sleeping on top of our cars!!!! A cat was on my brother's 60k truck---this was 9 years ago too!

It isn't OK.

How about dead mice! We find body parts all over the driveway between our houses all the damn time!!!!!!!!!

Did I mention that i didn't like cats much before living here? Now I loath them.

So sorry, C. B....I am not a cat or dog owner (but not opposed to pets). I HAVE to chime in on this from a non-pet-owner perspective. I don't think it is acceptable for anyone to allow their pets to do their business in my yard and not clean up after their pets.

We lived in our previous house for 5 years and got along great with all of our neighbors, but they would all let their pets do their business anywhere. Our neighbor across the alley had a fenced in back yard and would actually OPEN the gate every morning and evening to let their dog out to go do its business in someone else's yard. Our neighbor right next door had a smaller dog, who they let do its business anywhere it chose, but had the gall to complain to us about the neighbor across the alley letting his dog out of the gate to do its business. I kept quiet, but wanted desperately to say, "You're just as bad!"

Our current house we have lived in for 3 years...get along great with these neighbors, too. We are a corner lot, though, and have various pets (both cats/dogs) in the neighborhood. The problem isn't nearly as bad as it was at our previous house, but still an issue at times. About 3 months ago someone's cat (presumably cat by the appearance of the left behind matter) did its business RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR MAILBOX. As in every time my kids (3 and 5 yrs old) would run out to check the mail, I would be running after them saying, "Wait! Watch where you step!" I don't feel like I should have to caution my own children to watch where they step when they are playing in our own yard.

So in response to your question, whether it is a cat or a dog, I don't think it is ever okay. :)

There are no "leash" laws for cats. In my city.
Sure the pooping is irritating.
I've had STRAY cat poop, in our yard.
Ick.
They would, poop in certain spots.
So then, I put garden stakes there. Right in that spot.
And then, no poop.

There are water sprinklers, that are made to shoo animals away.
Like: "Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler."
It is motion activated.
Look on Amazon.

My cats go out, but they always (much to my dismay as we live out in the boonies on a large parcel) pee and poop in the litter box in my bathroom. They are great mousers and they keep the rodent population down.

I used to have an outdoor cat that adopted us. She was really sweet, but stayed outdoors. We fed her, loved her, took her to the vet and made a warm bed in the garage in the winter. There's lots of cats in the neighborhood and my dogs often chase them off. It's just part of life. My cat spent a lot of time in the cow pasture and bringing home rodents that weren't always completely deceased.

We occasionally have neighbor dogs come over to play and we clean up after them too - its life.

I have two in door cats, and I love cats, but I wouldn't dream of letting them out. Cats are not indigenous to North America, and by letting them roam free we have upset the natural balance. Cats are not allowed to roam freely in our city, and the city has just enacted a licensing law for cat owners. Despite this there are one or two cats in the neighbourhood who do wander loose. I haven't found much cat poop in the yard, but I find cat poop easier to deal with than dog poop. Cats do keep the rodent population in check but they also do so much damage to the songbird population and have taken prey away from native predators.

That's why my cats are indoor cats so I don't have to feel bad about them
Pooping 😉 I think if people's dogs who are pets can't roam about the neighborhood then per cats shouldn't either. I understand there are strays, but people should care more about pets and keep them safe.

It's not ok.
And in some places, an outdoor cat will be trapped and taken to the pound by some neighbor who's had enough.
We don't have any outdoor cats in our neighborhood anymore.
Coyotes ate them.

Hi C.,
I am glad you posted this question. I love pets, but the situation you mention is really annoying. There are 4 cats from neighbors wondering around, and they are always pooping in my front yard (I've seen them and other neighbor too); they are also chasing poor birds and killing them. I have found rests of birds in my garden as well. It' sad. I know that most of people are very responsible with their pets, but there are others who just doesn't care, and I ask myself: why do they own pets, then?.

A. :)

We have a cat, but he's strictly indoor. We don't have a lot of strays in the area. Our city has a leash law that extends to cats, so if you live here it is illegal to have a free-roaming outdoor cat.

There was a family in the neighborhood that was letting their gorgeous white kitty wander freely. We kept almost running it over in the alley to our garage. Our next door neighbor got tired of the poop in his lovely garden and called animal control. They got a warning, but did not listen. It took a big honking fine before they started keeping her indoors.

I can see the purpose of free-roaming cats for farms, but in town they belong indoors.

Except, apparently, in the UK. Wandering pet cats seem to be the norm there.

I have an indoor cat. But honestly, I've never noticed any cat poop in my yard and I've lived in a lot of different places over the course of my 44 years. And I live in So Cal and am outdoors in my yard every single day.

We had a loose neighborhood cat that would decapitate mice and drop them in our yard. My son presented me with a Mother's Day list of "Mom's Favorites" from school one year and listed as "My mom doesn't like ..." was "scooping up dead mice!"

Buy a cat trap, and then I bet you don't have anymore poop to clean!

All cats in my neighborhood have to be indoor for their own safety.

We live with a huge wooded park behind us which also is home to many bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, copperhead snakes, skunks, owls and hawks... just to name a few.

No cat that gets outside is ever found alive.

I love our wildlife (with exception to the copperheads that scare me, especially when one gets in the garage).

To your point.... There is a leash law here where you are also "required' to pick up after your dog. You can get ticketed and some people have. I guess since cats don't go on walks with leashes and just scurry through the night it makes it ok for them to be everywhere.

I am the one with the mouse problem. I would have considered borrowing a cat, but unfortunately, I have known allergies. I hate all sorts of outdoor poop, and have already taught my son not to walk in the grass on the medians because he might step in poop.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

I might, after reading your post, except that my two really weird indoor/outdoor cats refuse to use the great outdoors, for some reason (I have a big ol' backyard they could do it in), and run in the house to use the litter box. :( What a pain.