Neighbourhood CATS!!!

[Mimsy]

BLOODY CATS! Someone's stupid pet is coming at night twice a week and digging up my beds, then crapping in them. Just in recent history, I've lost a row of newly planted flower seeds that the cat dug up last week, and last night it dug up a third of a row of newly sprouted carrots. I want to KILL it. Unfortunately, that would be illegal. The wind has been blowing a steady 30-40km/h daily for weeks now, and any frame with netting blows over.
The "Keep Off My Garden" spray from the hardware store does nothing to deter it, neither do generously sprinkled slug pellets (I have been getting a bunch of slugs and snails due to the rain, wondered if the cat would be put off by the pellets I had to spread - no luck).

Does anyone have tips for these pests? I have contacted council to see if they can drop off a cat trap, I don't have a car so can't go pick one up. Still waiting to hear back. Even then, all that will happen is the person will get their cat back and keep letting it out to roam.

 

[Chuck]

A mulch of pecan or walnut hulls works. The sharp edges hurt their feet

 

[Mimsy]

A mulch of pecan or walnut hulls works. The sharp edges hurt their feet

That's a good idea. I could even lay matting down around the raised beds and sprinkle the hulls on there, so the cat can't even get close to the beds in the first place.
Thanks!

 

[YumYum]

Stick some mouse traps out there.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Had the same problem, when I researched it I found a cat deterrent that was a motion detector linked to a high pressure water jet. The cat died and I never got one, but it sounded good.
NZ has the right idea regarding cats in the New World.

 

[Sean Regan]

It depends on your attitude towards cats.

Some cat owners are quite happy to let their cats stay out all night in other homeowners' gardens every night, defecating and damaging plants.
If it gets too much, you can buy a cat trap for less than £50.

If you catch it you could stick it in your car and drop it off in a park or somewhere safe several miles away. Cat's are cats and will soon find other gardens and food. Most cats are chipped, so the owner can be found if someone can be bothered to catch it and take it to a shelter. But most people won't.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Offend their noses which are quite sensitive. Blend up onions and garlic or and soak in water a watering can with a tablespoon of simple soap (not detergent for clothes.or dishes) and 2 tablespoons of kitchen oil. Stir it up occasionally and use the next day. Or buy some extract or essential oils. The garlic is surprisingly protective from fungus and bacteria.

 

[Mike Allen]

I know the feeling. At one time here in the UK. Cats weren't protected. Then the goody goodies managed to get the law changed,and cats became protected under the Protection of Animals Act. Previously the act used the term, 'domestic animal'.

Recalling a day back in the late 1950 early sixties, whilst at police training school. Subject lesson...Protection of Animals Act. The Instructor read out the list of protected animals.
From the students, the voice of a female officer-to-be. Sir! What about my 'pussy?.

I must in all fairness and honesty make it clear. In the police training classroom. The language could be RAW. (After all. A PC would encounter worse out on the street). Needless to say, the poor lass was instantly the victim of some offensive remarks.

Now in my garden. I have spent a few hundred pounds on roses. I love roses, and so did my late wife, to whom my attempts to create a rose garden is dedicated. I have now had to resort to buying pot grown plants and growing them in 15Ltre pots. Thankfully. My local council provide a wheelie bin waste collection, and just this week, I have managed to get rid of the last plastic dustbin full of cat crap.
The local'feline lady of the manor. Is allowed to drop her litter each time in the downstairs flat. It is so embarrassing. Any visitors are soon surrounded by five generations of cats. NO MATE. They are not mine.
The RSPCA and local cats protection groups are not interested. So what can be done.
YOU and Me, the victims have to suffer.
1. The cat waste is highly toxic. It causes, 'Toxoplasmosis' to humans. To pregnant mums. It can kill your unborn baby.
2. To catch and relocate a cat, is an offence.
3. To treat as vervin. Zilch.
Strange thing about cats. They know when you don't love them. So that feline---femanim act comes into play.
I have tried these sonic sensors.....rubbish.
Whatever you do. KEEP MUM.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

My brother had a feral cat that was coming in through the cat flap and eating. He set the flap to let it in , but not out. When it came in he put on a pair of heavy motorcycle gloves. The cat had been round the room three times at shoulder height , bouncing off shelves, before he caught it. It bit straight through the thumb of his heavy duty, reinforced, leather glove and down to the bone before he put it in a cage. He released it twelve miles away the other side of the river. Caution, angry cats are really heavy.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

As any vet will tell you, cats are better off as indoor pets. They shouldn't be allowed outside unless you have some type of effective boundary control. It's safer for them and everyone else. Our two are never allowed out of the house (or the motorhome when we travel). However, there are a few cats in the neighborhood that are a real nuisance - not that it's their fault. I have hosed one or two down and they get the message. Staking netting on or just above the ground also works and it's quite amusing to watch. I also have a large live trap I used to use for coons down in Oregon. Not actually caught a cat yet and not had a problem lately, because I use generous applications of Cayenne Pepper when necessary, which also works exceptionally well on that other obnoxious crapping critter - the dog. At least cats bury it - unfortunately sometimes with your seeds. Neither are a problem if controlled properly by their owners. The owners are the ones at fault and with dogs they can be worse, walking their pet and deliberately letting it leave it's stinking pile on your property as well as public property. Then there are the do-gooders, who insist on feeding the local feral cats, mistakenly thinking they are doing a good thing. They should be captured and taken to the pound or humane society and at least spayed and neutered. While I am, as you can tell, a cat person, if I ever catch one in our yard, I will politely return it to the owner (if I can find them), along with their other property deposited by their pet, my comments and if necessary a seed bill (not that I expect they would pay it). Otherwise or on second offense, it will go to the humane society (where we adopted ours from) - but minus it's collar, if is even has one. It's the people who are irresponsible, not the animals.

I knew someone once who had a reoccurring problem with dog owner. Finally, he scooped several days worth in a paper bag and dropped it through the letter flap in their front door with the message "You forgot this." No further problems. Here, it's easier to video and call the police. The fines are every effective and it doesn't even take up their valuable time, as we have a dedicated code enforcement officer and she takes care of all kinds of issues. Fortunately, these days the vast majority of dog owners are responsible and carry their little roll of poly bags. If they want to bend down and invert the bag and pick up that warm gooey mess in their hand and carry it home, I have to respect that. Unfortunately that's not happening for cats, though you can leash train them when they are very young. Cat litter boxes at least are a bit less personally interactive.... and some self-cleaing ones are pretty clever these days.

BTW: I don't dislike dogs, I am just not particularly fond of them. I'll borrow someone else's for a minute or so now and then. Overall for me, they are too dependent and demanding of your attention - that and they tend to stink up your house, your car (and heaven forbid if you take them in your RV), even if you groom them regularly - cats do that themselves, they are auto cleaning. And before anyone flames me on that, yes there are exceptions to both, just like human beings.

One last comment. Cayenne Peppers are easy to grow and prolific - which makes them cheap. Just don't try to grind them in a food processor or you will regret it - they are not sealed devices! Use a blender or similar blade type coffee/spice/herb grinder....... but this year....... ah, this year ....... I grew Carolina Reapers!!! - for human consumption of course, but I'm willing to share, heh, heh.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I am told people using chili to deter squirrels from eating things like bulbs have found that, just like humans, they can acquire a taste for them. Sorry, not really relevant to cats who don't actually eat plants, but interesting.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Quite possible I imagine, but if they eat enough to acquire a taste, I wouldn't think of that as any kind of deterrent, just a waste of good chili. But squirrels are looking for food and are very persistent, whereas cats are just looking for somewhere convenient to take a dump and cover it up and there's usually plenty of alternatives. The real difference is eating verses smelling. You have a good point, I think one might be able to guess which critters it would work on on the basis. Of course cats are proud creatures, they tend to take a fool me once - not going there again attitude and are also surprisingly creatures of habit. If you get the better of them, they tend to give you the cold shoulder from then on like it's beneath them or not worth their precious time to deal with you. They have better things to do like sleep and wash and crap on someone else's garden who is to soft to fight back. Had another thought too. Squirrels are apparently good eating - cats not so much.

 

[Sean Regan]

I could never understand why some cat owners let them roam everywhere all night and then allow them to come back into the house and sit on the furniture.

We're down to one visiting cat, I think he looks for Marcel the mouse who occasionally appears from the azalea bed that I fenced off so that only the birds and 'arry the hedgehog can pass through.

 

[cntrlwagdnr]

Yes, true day or night. Same applies to dogs too, whether they are loose or leashed, but they have some pretty disgusting eating habits (which don't always require being outdoors) and then people let them lick their faces...

Another morbidly interesting difference between the two species is cats usually only puke a dainty amount but dogs can puke to make a drunken sailor proud. Of course, the larger of our two cats can poop to make a small dog proud too, but fortunately it always uses the little boxes. He's a big boy. Not fat but long - he can stand on his hind feet and reach 43 inches up a wall! Jet black, looks like a small black panther - another good reason to keep him indoors - don't want to scare the neighborhood! His sister is half his size and a tortoiseshell - Mom must have been a bit of a loose unit.... and out at night!

We did have an indoor/outdoor cat once when we had 1 1/3 acres of fairly secluded property. Lived to 22 years and never strayed outside the boundary. I carried it round the boundary when we moved there and it seemed to understand. But we always kept it in at night. It would follow us all the way up to the mail box sometimes, but sit and wait a the end of the driveway while we went over and got the mail.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Squirrels are apparently good eating - cats not so much.

Cats are eaten quite a bit, told they taste like pork with a slightly sour aftertaste. Personally I think it mad to eat a carnivore, but then I am not a meat eater anyway.