I know that I have friends who have kids still in their diapers at 2 and
older, and it's not a big deal. I know that I have friends who find that
some of their kids do best going to bed later than would typically be
recommended, and they're fine.  (As one friend pointed out, gee,
everyone gets their kids to bed by 7 and then wonders why the kids won't
sleep through the night!)  I know that a lot of people feel that letting
kids determine on their own when they're done with diapers is a lot
healthier than forcing it on them, not to mention ending up with far
fewer messes that need to be cleaned up.  I know that for any child
rearing expert that recommends something, there's another who vehemently
opposes it.  You were implying that a kid wearing diapers at 2 or 3 is
at great risk to still be wearing them at 5.  Right.  Because toddlers
don't change much at all in two years *snort*.

I don't have children, but unless you've been keeping remarkably quiet
about it, neither do you.  Having 17 years of seeing the worst that
parents can do is not necessarily conducive to having a realistic view
of parenting.

I don't doubt your concern for the welfare of children.  I just
completely disagree with the reasons you described for worrying about
your neighbors' child.  If you'd said, "They're always yelling at the
child," "They hit the child," or, "I've noticed the parents like to
torture small animals every Thursday," okay.  But presumably clean,
frequently changed diapers?  Give me a break.

Rules here are you do put animal waste in the dumpster.  (The gray one).

We have a service that cleans up the dog poop in the back yard and they make
it clear as part of their contract that what they collect will be put in a
plastic bag and put in your trash as per local ordinances.  They are not
allowed to remove it from  your property and dispose of it elsewhere.

Just so you don't put it in the green waste or the recyclables.

Jo

I don't think it is a matter of feral or indoor, as I have had the same
problem with a feral cat who did eventually come in.  The funny thing
was that my, then, totally indoor cat learned that habit of standing in
the box like a diva, and peeing over the edge.  I learned a few things
from it:

1.  If the box is against a wall, it does make it difficult for kitty
to put front paws and hang front end out of the box so that he can aim
his hind end better.  Ideally, though very difficult in most
situations, is to have no walls abut the box (sorry bout pun).  Even if
you pull it out by two or three inches, it makes a big difference.

2.  I clean my boxes twice a day.  I have three boxes and two cats.
The cat who learned how to pee over the edge is one of them, and is
extremely picky about using a box that has been previously peed in,
including by herself, and rather than dig and risk the chance of
getting her precious paws contaminated, she'll just walk over to some
part of the litter that looks okay and try for it, hence the accidents.
If the box is totally clean, she never misses.

3.  Plus, I clean my boxes twice a day because one of our cats is a new
kitten and they are the only ones that get primary toxoplasmosis,
usually, since most adult cats are already carriers.  Toxoplasmosis is
transmitted by the feces, but only by feces which are more than 48 hrs
old, when the larvae become active, or the eggs hatch or some such.  So
since I want neither the new kitten nor our 5 yr. old child exposed, I
rigorously clean the boxes twice a day.

3a.  Also, for those who have had babies, do you remember how much they
peed?  How many nappies?  Kittens are no different.  Little wee peelets
all over the box numerous times a day are somewhat off-putting to
Luthien the Diva.

4.  One of our boxes is outside, and Luthien the Elder is very happy
about that, as it is a new development.  She hates digging in the clay
soil, and now the backyard is clean as a whistle.  Mind you this is
California and no rain until rainy season, at which time neither the
cat nor the box will be outside.

5.  For the inside, we got a Booda box.....those Igloos with the hood
and the tunnel.  I never thought Madame Luthien would stoop, but she
does.  She still pees on the wall inside, but at least it doesn't go
anywhere else except into the crack between bottom and top, which
problem I fixed by lining the whole edge with baby wipes which catch
the pee and prevent it from running down the outside of the box, and
help seal the crack better to begin with.  The lid is off right now to
give wee one a chance to learn, but it is going back on next week, as I
had already happily forgotten about having to vacuum/hoover (US/UK)
that carpet ten times a day for spilled and flung litter.  And little
Glorio is a most enthusiastic digger and flinger!  Only eight weeks old
but I swear he acts like he's pushing a little Toy Tonka truck around
in there!!  What a boycat!

--tension

Snoopy refuses to cover, I think she's proud of what she's done. Baggy will
sometimes burry it for her, perhaps female cats see males as underlings. ;-)