Cat Infestation :(

eleMental

I know there was a thread about this a few months ago but I couldnt find it and really need some help with this.

I'm living in the Grove and theres always been a good few cats around but recently its gotten beyond annoying. I can no longer open my kitchen (back) windows because within minutes theres one of about 4 cats in my kitchen (gross) - this has now happened on a number of occasions where I've come into the kitchen to find random cats playing with the clean washing or wrecking my plants.

I've also had in the past few weeks a tabby and a white cat (with a bell) hiding and fighting outside my front window almost every night. They also come into my sitting room within seconds of my opening the window more than 2mm. The same 2 cats also seem to have taken up afternoon residence in my flower beds to the extent that a number of plants have been damaged by them urinating and sitting on them :mad:

Please can anyone advise the best cat deterrant they know of that works?! I've tried chucking water on them afew times but they usually escape before I get to them. I know cats are prone to wander etc but its getting beyond a joke now that I can no longer open any downstairs or upstairs windows for fear of having random cats in my house.

biko

You could put up a mosquito net or similar to keep them out.
Try this in the flower bed

ciaran67

biko wrote: »

You could put up a mosquito net or similar to keep them out.
Try this in the flower bed

real essence of lion dung! :eek:

DonJose

I would contact the local county council offices, each county council has a dog warden, I'm sure they also have somebody who take care of cats.

dr ro

don't think council will do anything. I rang them about stray that had kittens in my shed last year.they said they'd 'look after them' if i brought them in to them, but council wouldn't come out. Have heard lion scent is effective.

Greystones Girl

Hi there

An ultrasonic transmitter would work - cats hate the sound..

Also: Cats will keep off the lawn if you place plastic water bottles around the area you want to protect as they do not like seeing their reflection

They dont like the smell of oranges and grapefruit, by placing the skins down they will deter them. Even squeezing lime/orange juice along your boundary should help - it is not pleasant for their paws, but thankfully wont do any serious damage - just deter them.

Cats do not like pepper so a good sprinkling in areas will keep them at bay.

eleMental

Thanks for all those suggestions - much appreciated.

Tomato

There is a plant called cat mint which my dad told me works if you plant it in your flowerbed, but best plant it in a pot as it tends to take over, grows very fast.

Its such an annoying problem, I have woken up in the night when Ive left the upstairs back window open and have found a cat on my bed with me! Im not joking.. now have a small baby and its a real problem as the cats come into his bedroom in the daytime and I presume will do if I ever leave the window open in the summer.

I once put cat repellant down and the neighbour who has a cat came over and confronted me accusing me of trying to poison his cat... so best do so under the cover of darkness!!

builditwell

I cant help but wonder this but does any cat owner actually know where their cat is when they let them out into their garden. I mean if they look out and see them not there, do they actually care. I think not.They are not down in Superquinn getting milk or up at the skate park with their mates are they ? Cats will be cats and will very rarely s£%t on their own turf so they do it elsewhere. Do they ever stop to think for one second where it went to the loo or the poor unfortunate person who has a great garden constantly fouled up by wandering cats. The council has adopted a "not our problem" approach to this and I cant ever see it being resolved.

I have a personal friend whose daughter became blind due to a neighbours cat using her sandbox as a toilet. As the girl was playing "she rubbed sand on her face etc etc as a child does". The family are in peices. So a warning to all parents please cover your sandboxes/pits. A girl in Donegal died of toxoplasmosis related disease in 2008.

zeusnero

i personally would first try to dis-encourage them to continue visiting my property (ultrasonic emitter / plastic bottles of water / throwing water over them) and if this doesn't work, catch them. If they don't have any ID tag bring them to the nearest shelter. If they do, bring them to the owner and advise them that their cat was on your property. If they respond nonchalently and it happens again, catch it, take off its tag and hand it into the nearest shelter.

builditwell

Or do what the farmers do to dogs. Shoot it then hand it back to owner. !

Manny7

Hopefully the change in attitude that happened with dogs (it's getting rarer to see them wandering about be themselves, people seem to have learned) will also happen with cats and people will start to keep their cats indoors - better for the cats, less stress for the owners and happier for all the non-cat people out there: http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/indoors.htm

mikedragon32

Builditwell, are you suggesting the illegal use of a firearm in a built up area?

Any further suggestions of cruelty will be dealt with in the form of infractions and bans.

girl24

Manny7 wrote: »

Hopefully the change in attitude that happened with dogs (it's getting rarer to see them wandering about be themselves, people seem to have learned) will also happen with cats and people will start to keep their cats indoors - better for the cats, less stress for the owners and happier for all the non-cat people out there: http://home.hiwaay.net/~keiper/indoors.htm

This post really irritates me, I am a cat owner and I couldn't possibly keep my cat locked in all day, he would go crazy, most cats want to go outside and to compare cats and dogs in ridiculous. Charlesland would be crawling with mice if there weren't so many cats around, our cat has caught many mice so stop moaning about them. I suppose you'd like people to put a lead on their cats just like dogs?..

girl24

zeusnero wrote: »

i personally would first try to dis-encourage them to continue visiting my property (ultrasonic emitter / plastic bottles of water / throwing water over them) and if this doesn't work, catch them. If they don't have any ID tag bring them to the nearest shelter. If they do, bring them to the owner and advise them that their cat was on your property. If they respond nonchalently and it happens again, catch it, take off its tag and hand it into the nearest shelter.

Oh this is another great post which I just read, basically your telling people to take other peoples pets and hand them into a shelter?? You are really a horrible person if you would do something like this, I would be devastated if someone did this to my cat. Seriously some of you people ranting about animals need to get a life and get some real problems.

Manny7

girl24 wrote: »

This post really irritates me, I am a cat owner and I couldn't possibly keep my cat locked in all day, he would go crazy, most cats want to go outside and to compare cats and dogs in ridiculous. Charlesland would be crawling with mice if there weren't so many cats around, our cat has caught many mice so stop moaning about them. I suppose you'd like people to put a lead on their cats just like dogs?..

Hey, I'm sorry if it irritates you but I'm a huge believer in it. I've owned cats all my life; all of my cats are indoor cats now and very happy. I know it seems alien to people, I didn't want to try it at first but instead of going with my gut feeling I researched it and tried it. It's pretty normal in a lot of countries, my cats have no interest in going outdoors now. It's not perfect, for one thing you have to get used to cleaning the litter tray once or twice a day, but I would never go back.

John Mason

girl24 wrote: »

This post really irritates me, I am a cat owner and I couldn't possibly keep my cat locked in all day, he would go crazy, most cats want to go outside and to compare cats and dogs in ridiculous. Charlesland would be crawling with mice if there weren't so many cats around, our cat has caught many mice so stop moaning about them. I suppose you'd like people to put a lead on their cats just like dogs?..

how true much better to let them roam and destory other peoples houses and property then be a responsible owner
:rolleyes:

mikedragon32

Thread locked.

Animals and Pets Issues is where you can go for a good rant about this.