Cat poop in mailbox

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LoulouGJ
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Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 12:49 pm

Cat poop in mailbox

Post by LoulouGJ » Sun May 29, 2016 7:56 pm

So we just moved to a semi rural property with our cats and dogs. It seems the cats have started going over the road into one and maybe two of the neighbours' (extensive) yards at night. I appreciate not everyone is an animal lover and/or may not want cats in their yards for a whole variety of reasons. I totally get that and empathise with it. However, yesterday we found someone had gone to the trouble of gathering some cat poop (it was dry, covered in sand!) and putting it in our mailbox. I find this really shocking, juvenile and disturbingly passive aggressive. Why not just come and say something if it's bothering them? Or, why not write a polite note and ask us to keep our cats away? We would be very open to that and trying to come up with a solution that way. I would even put in cat proof fencing if it was really bothering this person and disrupting their quality of life. However, this I have no respect for. I am posting this not because I need opinions on what one should or shouldn't allow one's cats to do, but how on earth to deal with this. Initially I was really upset, now I'm just angry. Is this really the Finnish way? Cat poop in someone's mailbox rather than a polite, frank discussion? It's rather intimidating tbh.



Cat poop in mailbox

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betelgeuse
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by betelgeuse » Sun May 29, 2016 9:35 pm

LoulouGJ wrote:I am posting this not because I need opinions on what one should or shouldn't allow one's cats to do, but how on earth to deal with this. Initially I was really upset, now I'm just angry. Is this really the Finnish way? Cat poop in someone's mailbox rather than a polite, frank discussion? It's rather intimidating tbh.
Similar incident with human poop:

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art-2 ... 11335.html

The act can be reported to the police as a crime but unless it repeats it's probably not going to lead to much. You can make a crime report easily online. It least there's a record then.

inkku
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by inkku » Sun May 29, 2016 10:56 pm

What is semi rural?
If you have noticed that they are going to other people's yards and you emphatize with it, what you yourself have done?
Last edited by inkku on Mon May 30, 2016 8:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

Flossy1978
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Flossy1978 » Mon May 30, 2016 12:29 am

How do you know they are going into those yards at night?

Anyway, you need to keep them inside. That would be the only real solution. I don't know how well a cat fence would work. And how big are the yards? If they are big, that's a lot of whatever fencing is needed.

Good luck.

Rip
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Rip » Mon May 30, 2016 4:00 am

Best to keep your cats on your own land. That would be best in any case, the fact your neighbour might do something drastic is an additional reason.

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rinso
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by rinso » Mon May 30, 2016 7:47 am

Is this really the Finnish way? Cat poop in someone's mailbox rather than a polite, frank discussion? It's rather intimidating tbh.
You might have entered a closed rural community. As outsiders you're not part of the social circle and open discussions are not yet on the agenda. You have to look further than the poop in the mailbox. Try to get excepted as newcommers in the neighborhood and slowly integrate. Showing your frustration over this incident might not help you.
That being said; poop in the mailbox is not a normal reaction, certainly not in a rural community. So your neighbor might be a city dweller who cannot cope with the rural lifestyle.

llewellyn
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by llewellyn » Mon May 30, 2016 8:09 am

Well, it can't be totally rural - most farmhouses still have cats and they roam free. I was born in rural Finland and return there every summer, anyone complaining about strange cats would be seen as a weirdo. But if it's kind of suburban with small gardens and fences people might be more negative - but still not a normal thing to do, one of your neighbours is a serious idiot.

inkku
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by inkku » Mon May 30, 2016 8:54 am

That is why I was asking what is semi rural, suspecting it is suburban area where cats are not allowed to roam free.

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Keravalainen
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Location: Finland

Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Keravalainen » Mon May 30, 2016 10:09 am

Hi!
The way your neighbor is communicating isn't nice.
However, that's not a threat - they just used the concrete evidence to get their message to you.

Their clear message obviously is...
"We found this in our kids' sandbox. We don't like your cats coming over and messing up our sandbox, because we don't want our toddlers to eat your cat's poo. Therefore, please, keep your cats away from our property. Thanks!"

Just keep your cats away from your neighbors', and then try to start communicating with them in a normal way. At some point apologize for your cats messing up their property.
- They might turn out to be nice people anyhow, despite the harsh beginning.
Image

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Pursuivant
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Pursuivant » Mon May 30, 2016 11:17 am

Oh how sweet. Your cat went into someones kids sandbox and left a present. Really so rude to return it, maybe you should feed the felines some glitter for your neighbours to appreciate it more. :lol:
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."

TeppoKroatialainen
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by TeppoKroatialainen » Tue May 31, 2016 1:03 am

They were just returning what your cat gave them. :D

I mean if you don't like your cat poops in your mailbox, why do you think someone else like your cat's poop in their sandbox?

Marsh04
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Marsh04 » Tue May 31, 2016 12:15 pm

The neighbour did the right thing. You are new with many cats and dogs. He/she doesn't know if you are a normal person or a weirdo/psycho. People go and murder neighbours for little fights (especially in countries like the USA and you might be a gun fanatic from that part of the world). So why to go and argue with a stranger? Message is conveyed without any confrontation, you should be thinking more about controlling your pets instead of bothering about the way the message is conveyed.

raskarhu
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Location: BE

Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by raskarhu » Tue May 31, 2016 3:50 pm

Hei

"Passive aggressive" You have just captured a very important feature of the 'Finnish spirit'. On the one hand the Finns' reserve has its upside: they do not unnecessarily disturb you in public spaces e.g. nor do they 'talk too much without saying anything really', and so on. The downside translates into this, well, passive-aggressive attitude. Very childish indeed, but what can you do? Nothing. Forget it. Stubborness (often mistakenly taken for Sisu by the Finns) is also a national characteristic in my opinion. I think the only solution is to train the cats to poo in a well degined place.

Cheers

Raskarhu

Upphew
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Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by Upphew » Tue May 31, 2016 4:14 pm

raskarhu wrote:"Passive aggressive" You have just captured a very important feature of the 'Finnish spirit'. On the one hand the Finns' reserve has its upside: they do not unnecessarily disturb you in public spaces e.g. nor do they 'talk too much without saying anything really', and so on. The downside translates into this, well, passive-aggressive attitude. Very childish indeed, but what can you do? Nothing. Forget it. Stubborness (often mistakenly taken for Sisu by the Finns) is also a national characteristic in my opinion. I think the only solution is to train the cats to poo in a well degined place.
There are newer generations who lack the passive attitude and push their agenda aggressively: http://murobbs.muropaketti.com/threads/ ... 1717352991
http://google.com http://translate.google.com http://urbandictionary.com
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LoulouGJ
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Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 12:49 pm

Re: Cat poop in mailbox

Post by LoulouGJ » Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:28 pm

Thank you everyone for your comments. By semi rural I mean the homes are on small acreage type land parcels. Most of them are fenced, including ours. Other people in the area have cats, and just about everyone else has dogs. I don't know how this person knew it was our cat, or even if in fact it was our cat. We have a huge forest at the back where we thought the cats would roam. Most of the time they do hang around our property or the forest. Unfortunately it seems they have elected for some reason to go over the road and check out the neighbour's place. I get that people don't want cat poop in their sandbox or wherever. I don't have an issue with that, I just have an issue with the childish way the message was conveyed. However, now we know about it we can do something about it. We have catproofed properties before and can do so again. I just wish whoever it was had the balls to tell us to our face. We will talk to the neighbours and try to find out who it was. Most of them we already know and they are friendly, stop to chat etc. One or two are not friendly so we can probably ascertain it's one of them. Oh and for whoever made the gun-toting Americans comment, neither of us is American and my husband is Finnish! I'm more worried about a gun-toting Finn shooting one of our cats.


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