Pesky Neighborhood Cats
OK, serious question, and I’m not asking this just to get a rise out of the cat people. I have a real problem I need to solve. There are a couple of neighborhood cats that have taken to pissing and humping and fighting in my back yard. They like to hang out under the back…
OK, serious question, and I’m not asking this just to get a rise out of the cat people. I have a real problem I need to solve.
There are a couple of neighborhood cats that have taken to pissing and humping and fighting in my back yard. They like to hang out under the back steps, right next to my bedroom window, and it’s starting to smell like cat piss and they are waking me and my wife up at night. I have started opening the back door and throwing rocks and stuff at them, but they haven’t gotten the point. I assume it’s illegal to deal with the problem the old fashioned way, so I have to resort to other measures. Is there any kind of cat repellant out there? Do I just need to borrow a friend’s mean dog for a while? Any suggestions?
All the feral cats by my house are quite plump and well taken care of, as everyone feeds them. So, don’t think these may not be feral, they probably are. Obviously you need to block the access to underneath the stairs, if possible. Then, get yourself some super soaker squirt guns, something with a nice strong stream – so they’ll get the point.
If you’re serious about borrowing someone’s dog, don’t. If the dog does manage to catch the cat, it will kill it and it won’t be pretty AND you risk having any neighbor that hears all this call Animal Control on you(and your friend’s dog – think quarantine)!
If you go the trap route, you do risk sending someone’s kitty to the pound and if they are in fact feral, they will most likely be euthanized in a shelter, as most of the time feral cats are not a adoptable.
Maybe someone makes cat repellant?? They sell it for everything else(deer, bear, moose)…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danburgmurmur/2963290957/
[ducks and scurries quickly out of the thread]
The Mrs has informed me that the buckets and hose are at the ready.
i love how people are all giving you suggestions that cost $$$ and lots of time and effort. F that noise, get them out however you can the cheapest and quickest way possible. (im not advocating doing anything really mean or killing them) but go with the simplest approaches, they often work best.
*rob*
Hm, after reading this thread rethinking my plan to plant catmint. Maybe not!
I read this morning you can buy a sprinkler that turns on automatically when it detects motion. Isn’t that amusing? Someone was saying it will scare away deer. Hope the cats are not tougher.
I think citrus and banana are unpleasant to cats and that they’ll stay away from areas dosed with them. You’d have to keep applying in the zone of your rear windows.
I’ve semi-adopted my back yard cat. He showed up about a year ago and seemed starving to death. I don’t know how he got to my place as it’s a low roof but he’s friendly in his own way and has rendered the area rat free. He’s a very strong cat with razor-like claws and doesn’t seem to have any cat friends, probably due to his definition of play.
I don’t know how I’d feel if he fought with friends by my window at night…
I have the same problem and have used a Water Scarecrow for many years and have found it to be quite effective:
http://www.smarthome.com/6120/Scarecrow-Water-Spraying-Animal-Repeller/p.aspx
I used to have a whole bunch of feral cats in my backyard in Park Slope. They peed everywhere and killed all my plants. I love cats, but that situation was awful.
I found an effective way to keep them out, but it took a full day of work. I erected a cat fence out of flexible chicken wire (cheap, buy it at Lowe’s) and angled brackets. Looks like this: http://www.felisafe.co.uk/images/Wesite%20Images/Index/Cat%20Fence%203.jpg. Worked BRILLIANTLY. Cats won’t climb on this stuff. I don’t know why, but I never had another cat in the yard after I put up the fence.