Feline Invaders.....AKA Cats

Justin Hopkins

Hi there, I am new to this forum and thought I would join in the hope of getting some advice and also new ideas.

 

I have been searching hi and low for ways to keep problem cats out of my garden for years. I have yet found anything that does not require spending an absolute fortune, for not much more that a 50/50 chance of success.

 

So I have bitten the bulllet and decided to take a little action, and thought that one or two of you may also be interested. Don't worry, perfectly legal and non harmful.

 

I have set up an E-Petition to make cat owners responsible for their pets. I don't think it will rock the world, but if nothing else, it may get our voices heard. I know many gardeners that have a similar problem as me, where by, neighbours cats, let alone strays come into the garden and use it for thier toilet. I am often angered by cat owners reactions to any complaints and always get the standard answer, that cats are wild animals and therefore cannot be trained, and we are not responsible.

Any how, I have set it up, Please have a read and if you agree to the sentiment behind it, please sign and then get your friends to do it too. I only need 100 signatures for it to be passed for consideration, so it's do-able. 

 

Here is the link: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/defra-department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs-make-cat-owners-responsible-for-their-pets?share_id=wOZScpUaKF&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

Please do not misunderstand me,  I know there are many responsible cat owners out there, and this is not directed at them. 

Thanks for listening. Justin. 

SwissSue

"always get the standard answer, that cats are wild animals and therefore cannot be trained". I'm afraid they're right, Justin, whether you like it or not. Experts will tell you the same. Try soaking teabags in diluted Jeyes Fluid and spread them around the garden, lightly covered with soil. Should work, if not, take it easy and get a cat yourself, it will chase the others away and also give you much pleasure!

Justin Hopkins

See I have a problem with that....Rabbits are wild animals, yet people have them as house pets. Rats are wild animals, yet people have them as pets.....if people want to have a cat then they should take it for walks just like dog owners do, and yes I mean on a lead.

Yes it will look silly initially I accept that. But it wasn't that long ago that to see a dog on a lead was strange. I fully believe that if when the cat is a kitten, it is trained by the owner on a lead to go in its own garden, and gets taught the bounderies then training IS possible.

Maybe, if it was made law, people would think twice about owning a cat in the first place. After all, they are in most cases lazy. The get up in the morning, feed the cat then open the door and let it out......then last thing at night they open the door to let the cat back in.....THAT IS NOT being responsible, that is not caring for the animal. If a dog owner did that, he/she would be fined, maybe even banned from keeping another dog. 

I just think it is too easy to own a cat, without accepting that you are responsible for what the cat does and where the cat goes. 

graemegarden

Look - a lot of people have problems with cats-but there are more important things to worry about then them crapping in your garden and I dont want my money as a taxpayer wasted on some daft idea to train owners and cats

You cant train cats-plain and simple

You seem you think you have discovered the wheel-do you not think that others had had this brainwave before you?

So please stop trying to waste my money on some half-baked idea

 

marshmello

Say what !!

Hey, I'm a cat owner, you saying that I am irresponsible. Then you don't know jack russell !!!

Topbird

I'm a cat owner / lover & I KNOW for a fact that my cat only uses MY garden for the necessary. This is primarily because ALL the neighbours in our road have (big) dogs (often several - we are very rural) & also because I am the only person for a goodly distance who has a garden with beds / borders / seed beds / veg beds etc. He has a little routine whereby he nips out for his morning constitututional after breakfast, does what he needs to do (I can see him) & usually comes back in again for the rest of the day.

So, - yes it's not nice digging up cat poo when you're planting / weeding, and yes - it's irritating watching him scrab around where I've just put in new plants but I have to tell you he does hardly any real damage - unlike the squirrels, pigeons, rabbits, mice, runaway dogs and, worst of all the muntjac that I have to contend with.

I think the government have more than enough on their plate without worrying about disturbed seedlings and cat poo. How on earth would you police this? CCTV? For cat poo....  Get real....

Koalagirl

I understand how frustrated you feel about the cats but there is nothing you can do about it.  When I find myself getting cross about them digging up my seedlings, pooing, killing plants by laying on them (including several grown from seed aquilegias in their first year), scratching my gate to bits when they climb over it - I just force myself to calm down and think about something else instead.  All my neighbours have cats and I don't want to fall out with the neighbours so I put up with their pets.

waterbutts

I have read somewhere that under English (only English) law a dog owner is legally   responsible for what the dog does but a cat owner is not responsible for what the cat does. So you are going to have to change the law if you live in England. I don't know about the law in the rest of the UK .

Justin Hopkins

Hey people, everyone has a right to voice their opinion and that is all I am doing. 

As far as how it would be policed.....well it already is, we have dog wardens don't we? Why cannot they be made Dog and Cat wardens?

All I am suggesting is that the basis of the law regarding dogs is extended to cats. Should cost no more money to impliment, in fact, when you add up the fines it may even pay to introduce the issue. 

And Top Bird, I salute you for being a responsible cat owner! If only the other cat owners were as responsible. 

I am getting ever increasingly fed up by cats coming into my garden. The most popular advice I am given is to get a cat of my own.....What a crock!!!! 

I don't have a cat or a dog, and I would not have one. So why do I have to put up with other peoples cats? At least if I see an unattended dog roaming the street I can call the dog warden, but if I have a cat problem, I am supposed to put up with it. Well that's not right.....Oh and by the way, I pay my taxes too, and I could name many initiatives that I would rather my money spent on. 

The fact of the matter is this, if all cat owners were as responsible as TOPBIRD, then I and thousand of other people would not have this problem.

addict

Hello Justin. I do gardening for a living and yes cats are a problem but then so are many other animals. I wear gloves ALL the time but I'm sure if I can live with the animals you can too Is it really worth raising your blood pressure over? I can think of more important things to get hot and bothered over.