I’ve owned a lot of cats over the years, mainly rescues (and the offspring of the one that was pregnant with at the time she was rescued as I couldn’t bring myself to part with any of the kittens). Many of them were adults when I got them. One was abandoned when her previous owners moved house, and for a long time she kept trying to go back to the house where she lived when she was left behind like a piece of unwanted furniture.

As I live on a fairly busy road, I would have much preferred it if my cats would stay in my garden. I went to a lot of time, trouble and expense with trellis and mesh to raise the boundary of my back garden to NINE FEET to try and keep them in. It didn’t work. In fact it made the situation worse, they could get out by utilising the roof of the outbuilding (which I couldn’t find a way to stop them getting on) and after getting out, they could not get back in. My neighbours were more annoyed by the appearance of my attempt to confine my cats than they were by them free roaming. Eventually I gave up and took it down. It was a waste of time, money and effort.

Keeping them in the house is almost impossible. For starters, it means you can’t have any doors and windows open on hot days (even upstairs, I used to have one who would come in and out through the upstairs windows). It means you, and everyone who visits you, have to be ultra-careful coming in and going out because it’s really easy for a determined cat to sneak through your legs as you go through the doorway. Plus, when you have adult rescue cats that have always been used to being allowed outside, they hate being stuck in the house. Think how your dog would feel if you never walked him/her and you get the picture. I’ve lost two cats to the road here and both incidents were extremely upsetting, but unfortunately the risk of death is part of living. I could go out to the shops next week and get killed in a car accident. Does that mean I shouldn’t go?

At the moment, I have just the one cat. He’s a rescue and will be eleven this year, but I’ve had him since he was four months old. He very rarely leaves the back garden, and when he does it’s normally just to come with me when I go to get something from the car or to sit and watch when I do stuff in the front garden. He comes indoors to use his litter tray when he needs to, he doesn’t leave things outside. One of his favourite things is sunning himself on the slate roof of the outbuilding and he’s done this since he was big enough to get up there. No doubt certain people on here will suggest he does this to annoy the dog in the garden behind, but he was doing it long before the people with the noisy dog moved in. He doesn’t care whether that dog is in their garden or not and I don’t think he’d even understand the idea that him being on the outbuilding roof is winding the dog up. He wants to be on the warm slates in the sun, he doesn’t give a damn about the dog and why should he?

To be honest, if the only thing you have in your life to annoy you is cats coming into your garden, count yourself lucky. Many people have much bigger concerns. Life is too damn short to get wound up over minor issues. Save the raging for something that really matters and go out and find something to make you smile instead.

I have no problem with pet cats at all.

If the dogs ever see a cat in their garden yes they go mad around the boundary, but the cat always is gone before they even make it to the the wall.

What drives me mad is stray cats. On several occasions I have had to keep the dogs out of their own land because a stray cat chooses to have kittens in our barn

I honestly had no clue that people got so wound up about cats in their garden, prior to reading this thread!!!

Why is it ok for people to keep suggesting keeping cats inside 24/7, but if we did that to our dogs we would be cruel?
It's just as cruel to keep cats inside ya know

Apparently so.

I wish all I had to worry about was a cat coming into my garden.

Like the way this post has been ignored by people telling us to keep our cats inside

I don't like cats in my garden...purely coz of my dogs who are not cat friendly. Having already had an accident with Danny and a cat...it worries me.
I have put my hands in cat poo in the garden accidently whilst weeding....do I care? Not really. I don't like it but it's life. I now wear gloves to do the garden!!
Personally I find the fact that my son with special needs who poos in his nappy at night then smears it far more worthy of my attention than a cat who may poo in my garden! If that's all I had to worry about in life, I would be one happy person!

No point in stressing over something you cant change.