[Chris G]

Hey Guys,

New to this site, so HELLO. I have two lovely children (cats) Caleb & Scarlet who are spoiled rotten and strictly live indoors as Caleb is deaf and has never been outdoors.

Situation: We have recently purchased out first house and C & S love it. Problem is that EVERY cat in the neighbourhood, we can specifically distinguish atleast 12 different ones, hang around our house, use our the lawn as a litter box, scratch up the garden, pee on our concrete outdoor area and chase every other living thing out of our property. and finally they give our cats hell by teasing them through the windows.

I have tried numerous remedies to stop the cats. From spraying them with water wen they come around to planting different plants, and to even buying expensive chemical deterrents. Nothing works.

Our next door neighbour owns like 4 or 5 of these cats - let loose to roam and kill everything. Is there anything other than me catching them and sending them to the pound as I am about to do. This is the last thing I want but....

Your help is muchly appreciated !

Chris,
Cranbourne, VIC
"I'm that close to purchasing a dog to control my cat problem"
owner: www.fuglypets.com

This post has been edited by Chris G: 25 August 2008 - 02:52 PM

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[fleabag]

Silly as it sounds ..CAN you borrow a couple of big dogs for a few nights?? lol
The other option is to add a dash of vinegar to your supersoaker and go hunting !!
There are repellants available from vets but I understand it smells REALLY bad..
Good luck!

[Tiger2]

We had a similar problem with a couple of cats getting into our backyard and upsetting/annoying our cats in their enclosure.

We now use a Scarecrow motion sensor sprinkler every night and it seems to have solved the problem. Here is a link to it Scarecrow Link - this is a US site but we bought ours at our local irrigation shop.

It has an adjustable motion sensor that detects movement and then sprays a decent jet of water in an arc (you can adjust this too). It is powered by a 9V battery and you just need hook it up to your hose.

We only have it on at night as that is when the cats used to visit.

[Furkidz]

I have also heard that citrus works well too - just scatter some peel from lemons, oranges etc around your garden.

[Trifon]

We now use a Scarecrow motion sensor sprinkler every night and it seems to have solved the problem. Here is a link to it Scarecrow Link - this is a US site but we bought ours at our local irrigation shop.

This sounds great and would be what I would use in your situation. One front and another for the back garden.

Wouldn't it be nice if people kept their cats inside or confined within their own gardens.

My dog does help patrol the back yard and she does a pretty good job of scarring away a black and white cat that likes to visit.

[flipflop]

I have this problem too.... dammed cat from next doors comes here all the time - I want to be able to leave my little Stud boy out in his enclosure during the day - but I can't because of this cat... the thing that makes it worse is it belongs to the Council Pet Inspector !!!

[Chris G]

WOW, thanx for all the responses. Didn't expect an answer so quickly.

I have a few lemon trees around the place so I will scatter a few slices of lemon throughout the garden and a few on the lawn..see how that goes. Otherwise I'll just collect the lemons and piff them at the cats when they jump the fence.

I don't want to sound like I am being mean to them. It is basically the owners responsibility. The big problem is usually at night. They come up to the windows and torment our poor children.

FLIPFLOP, you need to catch the cat in your yard after dark, get it in a cage and ring the pound. Make sure you put a note on its collar telling the Pet inspector that next time it is caught it will go to the pound and the local media will be notified. Last thing he would want is a revolt.

One thing I have been thinging about is getting a few life size cut-outs of a few dogs and putting then in the windows facing out. sort of like a scarecrow for cats or I'll scrounge up a dis-used sensor light and make it hiss when the cat walks past. I don't think the local councils would like me having the hose going off every few minutes with water restrictions and all.

Well. Till owners take responsability (Like most of us here) we will do our best to keep the garden cat free.

Chris
www.figlypets.com

[Chris G]

WOW, thanx for all the responses. Didn't expect an answer so quickly.

I have a few lemon trees around the place so I will scatter a few slices of lemon throughout the garden and a few on the lawn..see how that goes. Otherwise I'll just collect the lemons and piff them at the cats when they jump the fence.

I don't want to sound like I am being mean to them. It is basically the owners responsibility. The big problem is usually at night. They come up to the windows and torment our poor children.

FLIPFLOP, you need to catch the cat in your yard after dark, get it in a cage and ring the pound. Make sure you put a note on its collar telling the Pet inspector that next time it is caught it will go to the pound and the local media will be notified. Last thing he would want is a revolt.

One thing I have been thinging about is getting a few life size cut-outs of a few dogs and putting then in the windows facing out. sort of like a scarecrow for cats or I'll scrounge up a dis-used sensor light and make it hiss when the cat walks past. I don't think the local councils would like me having the hose going off every few minutes with water restrictions and all.

Well. Till owners take responsability (Like most of us here) we will do our best to keep the garden cat free.

Chris
www.fuglypets.com

[gazey]

Is it a possibility to raise the fence height to keep yours in, and everyone else's out? Maybe a bit of netting a couple of feet high, attached onto stainless wire, strained between brackets, if you know what I mean?

gazey

[Monty74]

I don't think the local councils would like me having the hose going off every few minutes with water restrictions and all.

No but I am pretty sure the cat curfew is in effect at cranbourne too isn't it? For one or two nights I am sure that you would be okay, and if someone wanted to make trouble for you it is a warning the first time. I like the scarecrow idea....

[flipflop]

FLIPFLOP, you need to catch the cat in your yard after dark, get it in a cage and ring the pound. Make sure you put a note on its collar telling the Pet inspector that next time it is caught it will go to the pound and the local media will be notified. Last thing he would want is a revolt.

It doesn't wear a collar - (presumably it is not registered....) and it runs when I come out of the house... hopefullyl I will move soon so won't have to put up with it......

[KathyW]

Welcome to the site!

Wouldn't it be nice if people kept their cats inside or confined within their own gardens.

Wouldn't it, though? As fond as I am of letting my cats outdoors, I would have apologized profusely and responded immediately if I'd heard so much as a whisper of our cat bothering our neighbors. They all loved our former cat, and our current ones are confined to our yard, but if there had been any complaints, we would have remedied the situation pronto. It is absolutely inexcusable to just shrug it off when told that your pet is annoying other people on their property.

If that were me and I got a cold shoulder like that, I'd warn the neighbor that if they didn't keep them off my property, I'd start taking steps through Animal Control. Harsh, perhaps, but there are plenty of ways to let cats outside without letting them wander.