Cat Sh*t!!

Jotter

with regard to your kids and their health make sure they wash their hands after playing in garden regardless of cat ****, toxicplasmosis is the disease associated with cat poo but it can be found in the soil anyway and you can get it from eating unwashed lettuce, carrots etc, it mainly affects kids and pregnant women, its rare that it causes any side effects apart from flu like symptoms but it can be severe and cause blindness so its worth making sure their hygiene is up to scratch when digging in soil etc - in saying that I was a manky kid, never washed my hands after anything, ate chewing gum off the road, had cats/dogs all my life and have never gotten it!
With regard to the cat pooing im amused at how you all think the owners have some control over their cats - what exactly do you expect them to do put them on a lead??! I can understand people not wanting cats in their garden in which case do as others suggested and buy the stuff that supposedly keeps them out but come on - theres a certain level of stupidity to think that its the owners fault and they are irresponsible as a result - my cats are neutered - one wont go anywhere but in litter tray, the other is a wanderer and i have no idea if he poos outside or not and if a neighbour complained bec they pooed in their garden then id be a bit amused at what they think im going to be able to do about it!!

Arcadian

Here's a thought Jotter, can't you control your cats because it's not possible or because you can't be arsed?

Jotter

I cant control my cats bec its not possible! Luckily I get on very well with my neighbours and theres never been an issue - well except for a landlord who rang to say my overly friendly cat was trying to get into his property and the girl in the house was scared of him - I told her to throw rolled up socks at him, problem solved within the week! What I ment by my post is that cats roam and owners have little or no way of knowing what they are getting up to - if someone came to me complaining of the cat pooing in garden then theres little I can do except tell them to make the garden as inhospitable as possible for the cat - Ive no problem with people doing this once its not cruel or harmful - what I would have a problem with is people blaming me for the cats actions -cats by nature are hard to control, the easiest way like i said is to make the area inhospitable for the cat in which case its up the garden owner not me!
If it was my dog crapping in gardens then I would be more than happy to take him in hand, dogs are easy to control and shouldnt be allowed wander freely anyway. Theres one issue I have with the roaming cat and thats fighting with other cats at night, I didnt want it to get to the point where neighbours complained so I take him in at dusk - so I do control where possible.

RandomOne

Nicely put, but I have to question you suggesting someone throw rolled up socks at the cat. Mine would think this great fun.

TempestSabre

So basically, since the problem doesn't effect you, screw the neighbours. Nice.

EGAR

I have had cats here, I wasn't worried about the cat faeces as I live on a remote farm BUT I was worried about the cats because of my dogs. I got advice from an old cat savvy friend and it worked.

Place old CD's with the shiny face up on strategic points in your garden. For whatever reason they hate the reflections and leg it. Sounds weird but did the trick for me.

darkflower

the reflection advices works! but better still, get a dog!:cool:

demanufactured

I have to say guys that for people who live in a country that is 65% rural there seems to be a lot of animal hating going on in these threads

I thought they were designed to help people not suggest ways to maim, hurt and possibly kill animals who poo or even wander in to your gardens (blackwidow catapult would probably kill a cat)

There are lots of humane ways to prevent cats coming into your garden which many people have suggested on this thread - and from my own experience most of the advice is good.

I have cats myself - 4 infact and have had no complaints from neighbours and no poo left on my doorstep which by the way would be deemed as harrasment (as told to me by a Guardi) Most people are reasonable when spoken to but you have to understand that for the majority of people who own an pet there is a certain amount of emotional attatchment and to be told that the animal is "misbehaving" can be quite embarrasing - if approached in the right way most pet owners will listen and do what they can to prevent any inconvenience caused by their pet.

TempestSabre

demanufactured wrote:

...would be deemed as harrasment (as told to me by a Guardi)...

Why did a guard tell you that?

Grem

Its impossible to control where your cats do their business so complaining to the owners wont do much good. What are we meant to do - follow them around watching them all day?

Putting bottles filled with water in your garden might deter them because apparently the bottles let off a high pitched sound that only animals can hear. This might be made up but ive seen so many people use it over the years - especially my neighbours because we have 4 cats.

TempestSabre

Grem wrote:

... especially my neighbours because we have 4 cats.

I bet they're not smiling.