slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
A significant number certainly. As for their deluded owners............
Sell me on cats
- Thread starter slow horse
- Start date
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A significant number certainly. As for their deluded owners............
Time Waster
Veteran
Only because they're in your neighbours garden! Cats travel cross country so it's obvious that is where their poop is. If you walked cats on a lead they'd be pooping on the pavement like dogs.
Just because you don't walk where they poop doesn't mean it's not a problem for people where they do it. Trust me it is! It's also why a lot of keen gardeners will chase cats off often with a well aimed stone or stick!
My grandad, despite being a trophy winning all-rounder in cricket in his sporting days, was not a good aim which is why local cats never fully got the message. Also why his greenhouse kept needing new panes of glass! It was also why he got a catapult with a big bag of dried peas to keep in his greenhouse.
He also lined his boundary with vicious thorns even tied cut off brambles to the top of the fences the cats jumped up to get into the garden. Cats jumped up, tried to walk along it then jumped back down in a confused look licking their sore paws.
Ridgeway
Veteran
- Location
- Lausanne, Switzerland
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
If they can, the cats will always go in the soft soil of the flower or vegetable beds, so they CAN cover it up. And that is why gardeners chase them off so much.
From a gardener's perspective another damaging aspect that (some) cats can cause is tree damage where they "sharpen their claws" (scratch-up) tree trunks. When I had a cat (in city) neighbour had an apple tree in their small garden and they raised that my cat was damaging their tree with its claws. We ended-up wrapping rope round the trunk to protect it (though I've no idea if it worked).
You can get sprays to discourage cats. I planted a new tree earlier this year and we suffer a plague of rabbits and deer and garden centre suggested this spray to help protect lower trunk and label on container also listed "cats". Not tried it yet as the plastic spirals seem to be working OK and I'd prefer avoid chemicals.
Ian
You can get sprays to discourage cats. I planted a new tree earlier this year and we suffer a plague of rabbits and deer and garden centre suggested this spray to help protect lower trunk and label on container also listed "cats". Not tried it yet as the plastic spirals seem to be working OK and I'd prefer avoid chemicals.
Ian
OP
OP
slow horse
Well-Known Member
T4tomo
Legendary Member
My neighbours cat pops into our garden, I'm a cat lover so happy to see it, its also quite friendly and likes its ears tickled. It did started to use the one uncovered bare soil flower bed to poop in. Rather than hurl hard objects at it, like some neanderthal, I popped a bit of weed suppressant cover over the bed and some trimmed off rose branches from the rose that grows out of that bed.
Problem solved, it still visits on its travels but now poops elsewhere. They go for ease and convenience, so a bit like making sure your bike lock is slightly stronger than the bike your parked next to, you just need to ensure your potential toilets are harder to use than neighbouring ones...
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
My son had a rather strange cat. It had been a rescue and for a while was indoors in a top floor flat. After he got her she had full access outdoors and after getting enough cinfidence went out regularly but always came back indoors to use a litter tray.
lazybloke
Ginger biscuits and cheddar
- Location
- Leafy Surrey
Just because.
Time Waster
Veteran
One grandad of mine used a particularly thorny climber and attached cut off branches along the top of the fences on the boundary that local cats used to get into his garden. He stopped getting so many cats.
Another grandad hammered nails through a strip of wood so there were 3 or 4 inches of nail sticking through. He then nailed it to the top of the fenceline that the local cats used as a highway to avoid having to drop into gardens patrolled by dogs. While they could get up there they could not walk along the fence so eventually the local cats on either side of us stopped visiting each others patches and there were fewer nighttime catawails and fights in the area. It stopped all the barking dog issues too when the cats used to take that highway.
Please not that no cats were hurt by doing these things. Well if they were smart enough to work it out they werent and cats are smart right?? Answer is no as I once saw a cat halfway along the fence and regretting trying it. Not least while my grandparents dog and the dog that lives the other side of the fence were going mad at it. I felt bad but could not get to it. I held my grans dog back and it escaped probably feeling it has one less life!!
PS I do not condone hurting any cat and TBH I think these defences were a little cruel. They did however work and cat visits did stop. I would also say that one set of grandparents were immaculate in how they kept their garden so cat poop was something obsessively moved. The other grandparent was a keen grower of his own fruit and veg so he too had a keen dislike of cats pooping in his veg patch. Which the local cats always chose to use not the garden patches but the food growing areas. If they had used the rose patch for example he might have let the cats alone. But of course I do not condone his actions against cats.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
The next door neighbours fixed 'gripper rod' to the top of their fence, Maz told them in no uncertain terms that if one of our cats were injured then they would be getting the Vet bill............it was gone an hour later.
Things being pushed off the mantle piece.
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Nice fur lining for your gloves
Ridgeway
Veteran
- Location
- Lausanne, Switzerland
Christmas themed now:
Bring back the Christmas Panettone and in a blink there’s a cat in the bag😂
Then bake some Gingerbread men place under the cover and you get a levitating cat 😳
Bring back the Christmas Panettone and in a blink there’s a cat in the bag😂
Then bake some Gingerbread men place under the cover and you get a levitating cat 😳
welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
I haven't had any pets for over 30 years, not since both my cat and dog died.
It's horses for courses of course. Cats can be independent or if an inside cat very loving and they depend on your for everything . Litter trays are needed of indoors. Of course you can't leave for days on end as they need you. Then they become old, ill and need expensive vet treatments that can cost thousands of pounds..
Dogs needs are, they take up more space, need more food, cost more for food, they shed a lot of hair ( unless you get a non shedding one) they beg for anything, they need to be walked, they bark, they fart, they drool all over the place and you can't leave them and they also become old and will cost an even bigger shed load of money on vet fees possibly than cats.
So all in all, a cat is the better option. However if it's an outside cat, be prepared for it to decide it prefers one of your neighbours and decides to abandon you forever. 😀
It's horses for courses of course. Cats can be independent or if an inside cat very loving and they depend on your for everything . Litter trays are needed of indoors. Of course you can't leave for days on end as they need you. Then they become old, ill and need expensive vet treatments that can cost thousands of pounds..
Dogs needs are, they take up more space, need more food, cost more for food, they shed a lot of hair ( unless you get a non shedding one) they beg for anything, they need to be walked, they bark, they fart, they drool all over the place and you can't leave them and they also become old and will cost an even bigger shed load of money on vet fees possibly than cats.
So all in all, a cat is the better option. However if it's an outside cat, be prepared for it to decide it prefers one of your neighbours and decides to abandon you forever. 😀
