cats

[mvp79]

How do you keep cats out of your yard.The city i live in has no laws on cats running wild,and animal control wants to charge me fore each cat they catch.Is there anything that will keep them from coming into my yard.

[wildwood]

I'm afraid not. There are pellets and spices available which have varied success rates in detering cats, but to protect your yard you need to buy it by the truckload.

Cat owners appear to have some sort of misguided opinion that they have the right to let their cats roam all over the place, crapping in neighbour's gardens, scratching up every young plant and killing any newly planted shrub by urinating over it. As if that is not enough those feline vermin jump on your car just after you have washed it with their muddy paws - scratching your paintwork, killing birds that you are trying to attract to your garden, and to top it all off the neighbours complain about the barking when THEIR cat is in your backyard upsetting your dog that you keep in a safe kennel so that it won't bother the neighbours.

You can hire a cat trap from the RSPCA and bring them all away as strays. Don't hurt the cats as they only do what comes naturally. It is the owners that fail to provide them with an adequate cat-proof enclosure to keep them on their own property.

I can't wait for the day when microchipping becomes compulsory so that those selfish cat owner will be made to pay for the damage their cats do.

I rest my rave.

[drgnrdr]

>>>applause<<<<

[Catso]

<rant>
What really gets to me is those ******* dog owners who let their animals loose to c**p all over my garden and the local footpaths. And I've seen them, walking their dog, stop, let it s**t on the pavement and then walk off and leave it.

Next door's dogs often wander about our garden - one word from him next door and the dogs do what they want!

And the noise! Howling all night some nights, and when they go out and leave them locked in a shed, they whine and howl till they come back. How can you sit in your garden and enjoy it with that going on 5 yards away. Selfish b*****ds.

I don't want dogs and effectively next door force me to have them.

</rant>

[Catso]

To actually answer: a bloke near us has a little ultrasonic cat scarer. While it doesn't stop them100%, I've noticed it does seem to deter them and they don't hang about near it.

Or, hosepipe them down! They don't like that, at all. Onvce they get the idea coming into your yard means a dowsing, they may think twice.

[Ms.Hijinx]

guess there are dog people and cat people i am a cat person!!i agree with the hose thing ive told my neighbours to water my cats if they venture in i did once live somewhere where they wanted me to sit down and reason with my cats about where they went and put them in cat pull ups!!!! which i thought was a bit extreme , hope i never live next door to wildwood think they might have a coronary about 4 cats living next door!! i am sorry for their troubles though good luck mvp79

[janeo]

I saw an ad somewhere for a motion-activated water sprinkler.

[Catso]

Starbar, if you're in the UK I think the recent animal act (last year?), which basically protects everything, makes it an offence to incite cruelty against animals.

[andy-hughes]

Cats are territorial, and like to 'mark out' an area they take a fancy to. Deterring them is twofold.

First, and most importantr, you need to remove the scent markings they leave being. If the area is paved, scrub it thoroughly with strongly disinfected hot water, rinse, and repeat. The sprinkle moth balls around the borders, paying attention to an ariel access - walls, rooves and so on.

Hopefully the need for cats to re-establish their dominancec, which they do by covering any other cat's spary with their own, will be nullified by removal of all odours, and the moth balls should discourage them from feeling the need to start again.

Be patient - repeat the proceedure once a week, and ensure the moth balls are replaced when they melt away, and you should find your visitors going elsewhere.

[rogerr]

A water pistol is a good way to get rid of them, preferably one of the supersoaker types.
Also, we used to keep a pile of small pebbles by the door, because we used to get a cat hiding in the bushes ready to pounce on the baby birds. DON'T throw the pebbles at the cat, but throw them against the fence. The noise makes them jump in the air and blow their cover.

[~Wingnut~]

Tell you what, not saying go out and buy some, but since we got 4 chickens we haven't had a single cat in our garden, other than our own of course, which the hens have gotten used to and our cats just ignore them lol.
We had so much trouble with neighbours cat's coming in and basically beating up our 2. Hide nor hair of them anymore :o)

[heathfield]

Get a dog.