Keeping cats out of garden?

Silverfish

Sapsorrow wrote: »

If it were realistic for you to contain your animal (ie a dog that can't scale ten feet high walls) and it was aggressive/dangerous I would expect it yes of course, but if it were a cat or other animal that is too athlethic to keep contained and not a dangerous threat to the general public or other pets then I would have the sense to understand, no matter how upset I would be. Do you think all cats should be locked in their whole lives?

But your cat is a dangerous threat to other pets?

I have a rabbit, and a fully secure garden that she gets the full run of when I am at home. However twice now I have literally taken my eye off her for two minutes and have had to run out to pull someone's Snookums pussycat off her.
It's her garden, that's not fair, surely, that if I can't stand over her every second of her being outside, that she has to be contained in her hutch?

It seems you're suggesting my rabbit should be locked in her hutch her whole life so someone's cat doesn't have to be contained to their garden? I hope that's not the case

smellslikeshoes

Sapsorrow wrote: »

If it were realistic for you to contain your animal (ie a dog that can't scale ten feet high walls) and it was aggressive/dangerous I would expect it yes of course, but if it were a cat or other animal that is too athlethic to keep contained and not a dangerous threat to the general public or other pets then I would have the sense to understand, no matter how upset I would be. Do you think all cats should be locked in their whole lives?

If you can't keep your cat out of someone else's property you shouldn't have a cat.

leeomurchu

TillyGirl wrote: »

Is it possible? There is a cat wandering around the last week or so. The "owners" have been so kind to put a bell on his collar so that it wakes my dogs up and they bark which wakes us up. I just want to keep him away from my garden if at all possible. Obviously I dont want harm to this cat but I cant keep getting woken up at night when I have work in the morning.

I really wish cat owners would have a bit of cop on and consideration to others and not let their "pets" roam.

Its probably not even possible, we have 8 foot fence but the gates are only about 4 foot.

Not to point out the obvious but it's your dogs waking you up mate and probably the neighbours both sides. Why can't dog owners control their dogs :rolleyes:

toadfly

leeomurchu wrote: »

Not to point out the obvious but it's your dogs waking you up mate and probably the neighbours both sides. Why can't dog owners control their dogs :rolleyes:

Not everyone lives in a terraced house believe it or not.

Cats need to be contained to their owners property and stop annoying everyone else. Its simple really.

leeomurchu

TillyGirl wrote: »

Not everyone lives in a terraced house believe it or not.

Cats need to be contained to their owners property and stop annoying everyone else. Its simple really.

Well there's a stupid comment who said anything about terraced houses. :rolleyes:

DBB

Sapsorrow wrote: »

you can't control a cat's pooing habits like you can a dogs, so while it's not a nice thing to happen the owners aren't necessarily being careless if it's happening to you.

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Cats need bells 24/7 or they will kill things, not just at night. A cat doesn't just poo at night either, so locking them up at night doesn't necessarily help.

demanufactured wrote: »

As a cat owner myself I would like to know how you keep your cat on your property???

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I know right!? I'm intrgiued too, please do tell! I wonder are we thinking about the same animal at all!

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Seriously!? You clearly have no idea just how curious/wilful/ determined/stubborn most cats are. The only thing you could do is actually keep them locked down in your house and never let them see the light of day, which is just plain cruel as far as I am concerned. I also live on a big old georgian terrace with railway lines at one end and a shared front path and open almost communal gardens so there's no way I could barricade my garden off even if I wanted too.

Sapsorrow wrote: »

If it were realistic for you to contain your animal (ie a dog that can't scale ten feet high walls) and it was aggressive/dangerous I would expect it yes of course, but if it were a cat or other animal that is too athlethic to keep contained and not a dangerous threat to the general public or other pets then I would have the sense to understand, no matter how upset I would be. Do you think all cats should be locked in their whole lives?

http://www.cat-lovers-only.com/outdoor-cat-enclosures.html

http://www.cats-on-line.com/

http://www.catworks.com.au/gallery.html

http://www.safepetpens.co.uk/?page_id=91

I got bored googling the vast range of these products you can get.

DBB

leeomurchu wrote: »

Well there's a stupid comment who said anything about terraced houses. :rolleyes:

Mod note:
Leeomurchu, please watch your tone. If you read back through the past few posts, you will see that Sapsorrow mentioned she lives in a Georgian terrace. This is what Tillygirl is referring to, presumably.
Let's keep it civil, as per the forum charter.
Thanks,
DBB

Edited to add: for the record, in your post which Tillygirl quoted, you mentioned her "neighbours on both sides" as contributors to keeping her awake. This, I assume, prompted her to point out that not everyone lives in a terrace, or row of houses, or has neighbours living close by on both sides.

leeomurchu

DBB wrote: »

Mod note:
Leeomurchu, please watch your tone. If you read back through the past few posts, you will see that Sapsorrow mentioned she lives in a Georgian terrace. This is what Tillygirl is referring to, presumably.
Let's keep it civil, as per the forum charter.
Thanks,
DBB

I didn't attack the poster as per the charter I attacked the post and there's no need for me to read back through the posts. Reference was made to my comment and I replied to this comment. I will respond to a comment aimed at me with whatever tone I see fit.


Mod note: leeomurchu, as you're such an authority on the forum charter, you will have noticed that both the forum charter, and the general boards charter, demands civil behaviour towards other posters, and to that end, no, you will not answer any comment in whatver tone you see fit.
You will have noticed that answering back to a mod decision/warning on thread will result in an infraction for the first offence.
Thus, an infraction has been issued to you.
As per the forum charter, do not respond to this post on thread.
Thanks,
DBB

Well you know what you can do with that attitude. Boards.ie would do well to get rid of egomaniacs like yourself. I to have reported your actions to boards.ie directly. I attacked the post not the poster and don't you dare tell me what tone I can take!!!


Mod note:
Sigh. Thank you, leeomurchu, for your rude PM.
Enjoy your holiday from this forum.
DBB

Sapsorrow

DBB wrote: »

http://www.cat-lovers-only.com/outdoor-cat-enclosures.html

http://www.cats-on-line.com/

http://www.catworks.com.au/gallery.html

http://www.safepetpens.co.uk/?page_id=91

I got bored googling the vast range of these products you can get.

My cats would be miserable and bored stuck in one of the those for the rest of their lives.

The world does not involve around your cats. Keep them on your property or don't keep them. Telling everyone else they have to adjust because you can't be arsed dealing with your own pet is really pushing it

Cedrus

Is it not the case that cats are legally classified as vermin? There was a petition to change this doing the rounds recently. Is this not precisely because of their natural habits of roaming, hunting and fouling where they want?

It does seem archaic, but if they can't change their habits and cat keepers aren't willing to do something to control or modify their behaviour then the law can hardly change.

I don't necessarily agree that one or two domestic cats would present a verminous threat, but I would feel that a feral colony next to a kids playground or a small animal farm could warrant a humane and legal intervention. I do not condone cruelty towards any animal.

Sapsorrow

bluewolf wrote: »

The world does not involve around your cats. Keep them on your property or don't keep them. Telling everyone else they have to adjust because you can't be arsed dealing with your own pet is really pushing it

There isn't a problem with my cats, I'm lucky enough to have neighbours who are all very fond of cats and have never had reports of them being a pest. I'm not telling anyone to adjust to anything, I was offering advice on how to keep them out based on my experience of cats if you bother to read my previous posts. I'm just being realistic, all the people with cats aren't going to suddenly start locking them up and never letting them outside and make their beloved pets miserable in the process just to save the odd person a bit of potential inconvenience.

Silverfish

Silverfish wrote: »

But your cat is a dangerous threat to other pets?

I have a rabbit, and a fully secure garden that she gets the full run of when I am at home. However twice now I have literally taken my eye off her for two minutes and have had to run out to pull someone's Snookums pussycat off her.
It's her garden, that's not fair, surely, that if I can't stand over her every second of her being outside, that she has to be contained in her hutch?

It seems you're suggesting my rabbit should be locked in her hutch her whole life so someone's cat doesn't have to be contained to their garden? I hope that's not the case

Sapsorrow wrote: »

There isn't a problem with my cats, I'm lucky enough to have neighbours who are all very fond of cats and have never had reports of them being a pest. I'm not telling anyone to adjust to anything, I was offering advice on how to keep them out based on my experience of cats if you bother to read my previous posts. I'm just being realistic, all the people with cats aren't going to suddenly start locking them up and never letting them outside and make their beloved pets miserable in the process just to save the odd person a bit of potential inconvenience.

So threatening the life of another pet, a rabbit, or expecting someone to supervise or lock up their rabbit 24/7 is a "bit of potential inconvenience" and "being realistic", but keeping your own pet contained in their garden is making them far more miserable than anyone else.
right so

SillyMangoX

With the large number of these threads of people complaining about cats fouling in gardens would it be worth setting up a 'name and shame' thread? Basically if you find a cat who has been doing the dirt in your garden, throw up a picture and state location in the hope someone here owns or recognises said creature, because a big mind set of "my fluffy tiddles wouldnt do a thing like that" is going on. (i admit I can be guilty of this at times!) so seeing your cat all over the web messing up someone's garden might be the kick up the posterior that some people need to contain their critters! ( as for me, I hope my felines wouldnt be guilty as I often see them going in my garden but who knows!)

Sapsorrow

bluewolf wrote: »

So threatening the life of another pet, a rabbit, or expecting someone to supervise or lock up their rabbit 24/7 is a "bit of potential inconvenience" and "being realistic", but keeping your own pet contained in their garden is making them far more miserable than anyone else.
right so

I was actually referring to the OP's issue about the cat with the bell, but as far as the rabbit thing goes, rabbits are easy to contain being very small and not very smart. They also don't need anything like the roaming space to be happy either and a having to supply a hutch for one is inevitable whether there are cats around or not. We had rabbits and cats growing up and our cats never managed to get into our rabbit hutch, cat's aren't going to gnaw through chicken wire. I don't see how exactly they are a threat to it unless it's being left roam around unsupervised which would be silly regardless of whether there were a cat about or not. This argument is getting more and more irrational by the minute, clearly people just don't like or understand cats needs and want to find reasons to give out about them being a burden to society. Dogs are a pain in the ass sometimes too, but that's just life, we all have to live together especially in urban environments things are rarely perfect people often have to suffer a bit of inconvenience from time to time. There are much much bigger fish to fry.

Silverfish

Not all rabbits are very small. Mine is very large, she does need to run about and rabbits should not be contained all day.

I understand your cat has needs, but so do my animals. That's the equivalent of people saying they should not be made control their dog from attacking sheep because dogs have needs. You try tell a farmer it's his job to keep his sheep safe from pet dogs let wander.

It shouldn't matter. My animals are my animals, and are entitled to be free while contained on my property however I see fit. What people are not entitled to do is allow their animals onto my property to harm or kill MY animals.

If you think a rabbit should be contained in a hutch it's whole life, then you don't know a whole lot about rabbits.

In theory, if someone arrived at your doorstep complaining your cat had killed or harmed their rabbit, would you pay for the rabbit / the vet bills?

Rommie

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I was actually referring to the OP's issue about the cat with the bell, but as far as the rabbit thing goes, rabbits are easy to contain being very small and not very smart. They also don't need anything like the roaming space to be happy either and a having to supply a hutch for one is inevitable whether there are cats around or not. We had rabbits and cats growing up and our cats never managed to get into our rabbit hutch, cat's aren't going to gnaw through chicken wire. I don't see how exactly they are a threat to it unless it's being left roam around unsupervised which would be silly regardless of whether there were a cat about or not. This argument is getting more and more irrational by the minute, clearly people just don't like or understand cats needs and want to find reasons to give out about them being a burden to society. Dogs are a pain in the ass sometimes too, but that's just life, we all have to live together especially in urban environments things are rarely perfect people often have to suffer a bit of inconvenience from time to time. There are much much bigger fish to fry.

Well you clearly don't know all that much about rabbits. They are quite intelligent and some of the breeds are small. Not all of them though. And they do need quite a bit of space to roam around and stretch their legs properly, and surely it is only fair that one's pet can roam unhindered on their own property.
I recently dragged a cat out of the hedge of our back garden, the stupid animal had jumped the wall and landed amongst four large dogs. How it wasn't torn apart, I dont know, but thankfully because the dogs live with several cats, they just wanted to play with it. But imagine if they had torn it to pieces, I would probably have someone battering my door down to complain because their pet climbed into my garden and got killed.
At the moment there are five cats and four kittens living here, not one of them leaves the property. They are inside only for now, while we are saving to catproof the garden to keep them in. Between them ****ting in other people's gardens, hopping in peoples windows and getting themselves in trouble with so many potential dangers out there (other cats, dogs, cars, drunk/drugged-up teenagers) there is no way in hell I would just let them out to do as they please. You wouldn't my dog hopping to wall to have a **** in your garden would you? And before you say anything about cats' burying their poo and so on, one of the dogs here buries his poo too. You still wouldn't want him ****ting in your flowers though would you?

Sapsorrow

Silverfish wrote: »

Not all rabbits are very small. Mine is very large, she does need to run about and rabbits should not be contained all day.

I understand your cat has needs, but so do my animals. That's the equivalent of people saying they should not be made control their dog from attacking sheep because dogs have needs. You try tell a farmer it's his job to keep his sheep safe from pet dogs let wander.

It shouldn't matter. My animals are my animals, and are entitled to be free while contained on my property however I see fit. What people are not entitled to do is allow their animals onto my property to harm or kill MY animals.

If you think a rabbit should be contained in a hutch it's whole life, then you don't know a whole lot about rabbits.

I don't know much about rabbits particularly, just a bit from the two we had, but I know they inevitably spend most of their time in a hutch or running around the house. I'm not saying I wouldn't care if my cats killed someone elses pet, I love all animals and hate the thought or aything suffering unecessarily so of course I would find that upsetting. My only real point is, I am not going to suddenly start locking up my 8 year old cat just in case. Especially as no one around me has anything smaller than a dog that they could harm. She would be horribly depressed if I did and I love her too much to suddenly take her freedom from her. People are always going to let their cats out, just like some people will let their dogs roam or bark all night or whatever. Everyone has to just do their own best to keep their pets happy and safe as best they can if they live in urban environments as they are know because I don't think things will ever change. You can give out about it all you like but that's the reality of the situation, and keeping your rabbit safe shouldn't really be all that hard with a bit of chicken wire and supervision.

EDIT: Yes if it was proven to be my cat of course I would pay, I'm actually a pretty neighbourly person, cats and all

newmug

SillyMangoX wrote: »

With the large number of these threads of people complaining about cats fouling in gardens would it be worth setting up a 'name and shame' thread? Basically if you find a cat who has been doing the dirt in your garden, throw up a picture and state location in the hope someone here owns or recognises said creature, because a big mind set of "my fluffy tiddles wouldnt do a thing like that" is going on. (i admit I can be guilty of this at times!) so seeing your cat all over the web messing up someone's garden might be the kick up the posterior that some people need to contain their critters! ( as for me, I hope my felines wouldnt be guilty as I often see them going in my garden but who knows!)

Sapsorrow

Rommie wrote: »

Well you clearly don't know all that much about rabbits. They are quite intelligent and some of the breeds are small. Not all of them though. And they do need quite a bit of space to roam around and stretch their legs properly, and surely it is only fair that one's pet can roam unhindered on their own property.
I recently dragged a cat out of the hedge of our back garden, the stupid animal had jumped the wall and landed amongst four large dogs. How it wasn't torn apart, I dont know, but thankfully because the dogs live with several cats, they just wanted to play with it. But imagine if they had torn it to pieces, I would probably have someone battering my door down to complain because their pet climbed into my garden and got killed.
At the moment there are five cats and four kittens living here, not one of them leaves the property. They are inside only for now, while we are saving to catproof the garden to keep them in. Between them ****ting in other people's gardens, hopping in peoples windows and getting themselves in trouble with so many potential dangers out there (other cats, dogs, cars, drunk/drugged-up teenagers) there is no way in hell I would just let them out to do as they please. You wouldn't my dog hopping to wall to have a **** in your garden would you? And before you say anything about cats' burying their poo and so on, one of the dogs here buries his poo too. You still wouldn't want him ****ting in your flowers though would you?

Good for you if that's what you choose, it's great you take such efforts, you clearly don't live in a very good place for cats. I choose not too and still don't have any problems with my neighbours or the neighbourhood. Like I said, I have litter trays.

Rommie

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Good for you if that's what you choose, it's great you take such efforts, you clearly don't live in a very good place for cats. I choose not too and still don't have any problems with my neighbours or the neighbourhood. Like I said, I have litter trays.

And you also said that they dont all use them as well didn't you? So where could they possibly be pooping? Have you asked your neighbours if they're ever bothered by your cats? Or are you just assuming they're fine with it. And yes, I dont live in a good place for cats; it's called modern day Ireland

staker

What am I legally entitled to do if I see a cat roaming through my garden? I do not know who owns the cat and I have a small girl who would like to play uninterrupted in her own back yard without getting scratched or me being fearful of it happening.
I can't catch him and don't know why I should incur costs in keeping a stray cat off my property.
Soon enough I'm gonna have to start feeding the bloody thing.

Qualitymark

Motion-activated sprinklers ftw. Won't harm the cats but they'll avoid them.

staker

Qualitymark wrote: »

Motion-activated sprinklers ftw. Won't harm the cats but they'll avoid them.

That's all grand but why should i be inconvenienced and who pays for this solution?

DBB

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I am not going to suddenly start locking up my 8 year old cat just in case. Especially as no one around me has anything smaller than a dog that they could harm. She would be horribly depressed if I did and I love her too much to suddenly take her freedom from her

I need to know the answers to some things, because I just don't get this strident defence of letting your cat out unprotected, and yes, bothering people. My neighbours cats bother me. They have cost me a fair amount of money because they destroyed MY plants, that I paid for and I cared for, in MY garden. So much so that I have had to give up gardening: it will only be destroyed. I don't see why anybody should have to put up with this. I have ended up with their faeces on my hands several times thanks to their middens. They destroyed items of MY clothing by spraying all over them. My almost infinite patience is running very, very thin at this stage. I'm all for you allowing your cat express her natural behaviour, but she can do so on YOUR proprty. Not mine.

However, what owners of cats allow their cats do on MY property is a not what I want to know here. What I want to know is:

What happens when you find your roaming cat splattered all over the road some day? How will that make you feel?

What happens when the dogs you don't know live nearby get out of their garden by accident one day, and rip her to shreds? (I've had two calls from dog owners in the past week whose dogs had just killed their neighbour's cat. One cat was killed quickly, The other took hours to die of her injuries). How will that make you feel?

What about Halloween coming now, when some kids from a not so nice neighbourhood catch your cat and stick a banger up her rectum, or throw her on the bonfire? How will that make you feel?

What happens if she gets into a fight with another local cat and gets severely injured? How will that make you feel?

What happens if she eats poisoned bait laid by an aggrieved neighbour, or an extermination company? How will that make you feel?

What happens if your cat doesn't come home one day? How will that make you feel?

All of the above are common, everyday occurrences for cats throughout Ireland.
I think it's reasonable to say that a responsible pet owner will (a) ensure their pet does not impact on other people, or at least impact on them as little as possible, and (b) take all measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their pet.
Owners who allow their pet out on its own, whatever the species, simply cannot ensure their pet's safety and wellbeing for the duration their pet is gone. Indeed, they risk their pet coming to a horrible end. Deliberately. How, please tell me, how, can any responsible pet owner reconcile this? I just don't understand.

Mo60

Rommie wrote: »

And yes, I dont live in a good place for cats; it's called modern day Ireland

This sums it all up really.

This subject has been discussed here so many times here before, and usually just ends up just going round in circles.

Birdnuts

staker wrote: »

That's all grand but why should i be inconvenienced and who pays for this solution?

A blast of a garden hose works just as well

The Sweeper

My new fence is going up next week. 2m of straight timber palings, clean side facing inwards. Going to buy some plumbing fixtures (narrow pipe and elbow joins) to put an inclined wire top on the fence. Should keep the cats in! That means they'll have my 600m2 yard to play in without worrying about the dogs over the left, right and back fence, or the main road over the wing fences to the sides of the house.

planetX

DBB wrote: »

I need to know the answers to some things, because I just don't get this strident defence of letting your cat out unprotected, and yes, bothering people. My neighbours cats bother me. They have cost me a fair amount of money because they destroyed MY plants, that I paid for and I cared for, in MY garden. So much so that I have had to give up gardening: it will only be destroyed. I don't see why anybody should have to put up with this. I have ended up with their faeces on my hands several times thanks to their middens. They destroyed items of MY clothing by spraying all over them. My almost infinite patience is running very, very thin at this stage. I'm all for you allowing your cat express her natural behaviour, but she can do so on YOUR proprty. Not mine.

However, what owners of cats allow their cats do on MY property is a not what I want to know here. What I want to know is:

What happens when you find your roaming cat splattered all over the road some day? How will that make you feel?

What happens when the dogs you don't know live nearby get out of their garden by accident one day, and rip her to shreds? (I've had two calls from dog owners in the past week whose dogs had just killed their neighbour's cat. One cat was killed quickly, The other took hours to die of her injuries). How will that make you feel?

What about Halloween coming now, when some kids from a not so nice neighbourhood catch your cat and stick a banger up her rectum, or throw her on the bonfire? How will that make you feel?

What happens if she gets into a fight with another local cat and gets severely injured? How will that make you feel?

What happens if she eats poisoned bait laid by an aggrieved neighbour, or an extermination company? How will that make you feel?

What happens if your cat doesn't come home one day? How will that make you feel?

All of the above are common, everyday occurrences for cats throughout Ireland.
I think it's reasonable to say that a responsible pet owner will (a) ensure their pet does not impact on other people, or at least impact on them as little as possible, and (b) take all measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their pet.
Owners who allow their pet out on its own, whatever the species, simply cannot ensure their pet's safety and wellbeing for the duration their pet is gone. Indeed, they risk their pet coming to a horrible end. Deliberately. How, please tell me, how, can any responsible pet owner reconcile this? I just don't understand.

I can answer those questions - I will be devastated if any of those things happen to my cats, I adore them. However it's a risk I'm willing to take to see them have the wonderful exciting life they have, to fulfil all of their natural instincts, and to keep my rodent population under control. Yes their lives will be shorter, like wild lions live shorter than caged ones. I might feel differently if I lived in a city, but where I am there's plenty of space and (I hope) tolerance. I often have neighbours dogs passing through the garden, children too sometimes, and I don't have a possessive reaction about them 'trespassing' onto my property.
I have never bred a cat, I've never gone out purposely to acquire a cat. In the Irish countryside there are kittens abandoned everywhere. Most of my cats came in as strays, half-wild, and moved in. I had them neutered and then they stayed around for the food. You can't simply grab a cat like that and trap it in the house. It isn't practical for most people anyway - how do you stop cats slipping out doors when children are running in and out. How could you ever open a window?
I'm not going to post again because these threads make me feel really upset and miserable. I don't understand why people can't live and let live. My dog barks when the neighbours put out their bin in the early morning. Big deal.

Ayla

We adopted a cat from a shelter about 6 months ago, and every day & night since she has lived inside our house. We live on a couple acres & have nothing but forestry around us, but we will not let her outside. And to be honest, she is not a miserable, depressed or bored cat. I think a lot of this "my cat has to go outside" sentiment is overdone.

If cat owners cannot contain their cat within their land (like we can't) then the only responsible thing for owners to do is to keep the cat inside. Others have said it well in this thread - if you can't remain responsible for your pet, their actions while out and their safety, then either you shouldn't have them or you have to keep them in. It's completely selfish & inconsiderate to think otherwise.

Every animal's natural instinct is to roam - there is not a single animal in existence (other than humans) that have chosen to remain permanently planted in any one spot. So why are cats the only ones given this carte blanche hall pass to do whatever they please where ever they please?

It is cruel to assume that your cat is more important than any one else.