Keep cats out of my garden

katyt

Hi folks, I am lucky enough to have many birds come to feeders in my garden - goldfinches, tits, greenfinches etc. I also have a queue of cats, none of them mine, lining up to catch the birds. I saw a big fat glossy black cat catch a lovely little goldfinch this morning.
I am now at my wits end about these cats, all obviously neighbours' cats that are just left out to roam the neighbourhood. If I let my dogs do that they would be quickly rounded up by the dog wardens.
Has anyone any ideas how to get rid of these cats - and still keep my birds?

baby and crumble

There's not much you can do I'm afraid, it's just nature taking its course. Unless you fence in your garden so the birds can get in but the cats can't.

katyt wrote: »

If I let my dogs do that they would be quickly rounded up by the dog wardens.

To be fair, roaming dogs are quite a different story to roaming cats...

katyt

To be fair, roaming dogs are quite a different story to roaming cats...[/QUOTE]

Sorry, but I don't get that at all. I don't want roaming dogs living in my garden - and I don't want roaming cats there either! To me there is absolutely no logic in subjecting other people to my pets whether they are cats, dogs, ferrets or whatever. I guess the issue is how do I get people to be responsible for their pets?

Knine

katyt wrote: »

To be fair, roaming dogs are quite a different story to roaming cats...

Sorry, but I don't get that at all. I don't want roaming dogs living in my garden - and I don't want roaming cats there either! To me there is absolutely no logic in subjecting other people to my pets whether they are cats, dogs, ferrets or whatever. I guess the issue is how do I get people to be responsible for their pets?[/quote]

Put the bird feeders out in the open where cats cannot creep up on the birds. That is all you can do really. There is no law regarding cats roaming unlike dogs.

baby and crumble

It's unlikely cats will defecate out in the open, or threaten passersby, or attack children/ other animals.

I'm not saying ALL dogs do that (AT ALL), I'm just pointing out facts.

You won't get people around you to keep their cats in simply because you want wild birds in your garden, as there is no law against cats being outside, even if they have a home to go to.

Consider higher perches/ birdfeeders attached to walls (which the cats can't scale) instead of on tree branches etc.

One_Of_Shanks

there are cat repellents on the market. I have no idea how effective (or ineffective) they are.

Have a gander here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cat+repellent

intheclouds

katyt wrote: »

Hi folks, I am lucky enough to have many birds come to feeders in my garden - goldfinches, tits, greenfinches etc. I also have a queue of cats, none of them mine, lining up to catch the birds. I saw a big fat glossy black cat catch a lovely little goldfinch this morning.
I am now at my wits end about these cats, all obviously neighbours' cats that are just left out to roam the neighbourhood. If I let my dogs do that they would be quickly rounded up by the dog wardens.
Has anyone any ideas how to get rid of these cats - and still keep my birds?

Let your dogs into the garden? The dogs will keep the cats out and not be bothered by the birds. Everyone's happy!

pm1977x

While giving out about neighbours cats and their 'irresponsible owners' have you ever stopped to think what effect your bird feeders have on the surrounding neighbours? You're attracting a crowd of noisy birds to the area first thing in the morning, waking people up, pooping on their washing and/or windows etc... are these birds not basically your own 'pets'?

I don't want 'roaming' birds living in my garden either, but if I was your neighbour I would say live and let live, but don't expect me to keep my cat locked up all day at the same time, it's a bit hypocritical.

Knine

pm1977x wrote: »

While giving out about neighbours cats and their 'irresponsible owners' have you ever stopped to think what effect your bird feeders have on the surrounding neighbours? You're attracting a crowd of noisy birds to the area first thing in the morning, waking people up, pooping on their washing and/or windows etc... are these birds not basically your own 'pets'?

I don't want 'roaming' birds living in my garden either, but if I was your neighbour I would say live and let live, but don't expect me to keep my cat locked up all day at the same time, it's a bit hypocritical.

Seriously the op is talking about little song birds. I feed them. I don't hear them making any noise, you would not notice their tiny poops & who puts out washing in this weather? Roaming birds lol. They are wildlife. I'd hate to be your neighbour

pm1977x

Knine wrote: »

Seriously the op is talking about little song birds. I feed them. I don't hear them making any noise, you would not notice their tiny poops & who puts out washing in this weather? Roaming birds lol. They are wildlife. I'd hate to be your neighbour

It was a joke! But the point stands, I love birds (and cats!) but her neighbours may not and she is 'subjecting' them to these birds by attracting them with feed, no?

katyt

pm1977x wrote: »

I don't want 'roaming' birds living in my garden either, but if I was your neighbour I would say live and let live, but don't expect me to keep my cat locked up all day at the same time, it's a bit hypocritical.

There is actually logic in that - there are a lot of wee birds and this is a valid point! I still don't understand why people let their cats out all day long. I know several cat owners and they would not dream of letting their precious cats out. That used to be the way long ago - people opened their doors and out went all the pets. It shouldn't be happening now.

Knine

pm1977x wrote: »

It was a joke! But the point stands, I love birds (and cats!) but her neighbours may not and she is 'subjecting' them to these birds by attracting them with feed, no?

No I'd say the tiny little birds are attracted to the garden the food is in & most houses are subjected to the wildlife regardless of birdfeeders. I love cats too but if they come into my garden after the wildlife some of which is getting rarer by the year, it is very likely the cat will be the prey!

baby and crumble

katyt wrote: »

There is actually logic in that - there are a lot of wee birds and this is a valid point! I still don't understand why people let their cats out all day long. I know several cat owners and they would not dream of letting their precious cats out. That used to be the way long ago - people opened their doors and out went all the pets. It shouldn't be happening now.

I'd much prefer my cats to be able to come and go- that was always the way our cats worked when I was growing up in the countryside. Unfortunately one of my cats has only one eye and about 3 teeth, the other has a gammy paw where she broke it as a youngster and it healed wrong. Otherwise they'd be free to come and go as they please. Cats locked up isn't ideal for them really. But safety comes first.

Ms Doubtfire1

Cats that have been living inside all their life don't mind doing that, they aren't used to anything else. Bu re-training a cat that has live din and out like he or she pleases is a different kettle of fish altogether. But, re the issue: You can't keep cats out of your garden unless you put up a cat fence. repellents will work to a degree. What you can do is cat proof the feeders so the birds can feed without being attacked by a cat. The birds will cop on to that very very quickly and you will see even more birds come.And the cats? well, they have free TV...:P...I have 20+ cats...and plenty of birds in the garden as well.(on a cat safe feeder) They have a peaceful balance. Except with the magpies..those magpies respect nothing...

Nody

OP you have basically two realistic options on the table depending on your garden size; first of all is to get a Y net set up pointed out looking like this (except the bending needs to point out from your wall to stop them from coming in; the below image would stop them from leaving); the angle out part is what makes them not try to get up (but if they can jump above it they don't mind walking over it; hence the need to be on top of the wall).


That would prevent them coming over the wall and obviously you'd need to fill in any holes in the wall etc. they could use to get in to your garden.

The other option is a motion activated sprinkler system along the lines of this (never tried any so can't recommend brand etc.) but this would obviously also trigger on other things and is not 100% foolproof as it's limited in angle etc.

Beyond that raising up the locations for the birds to eat to not be reachable by a cat (they can easily jump quite a bit both in height and length) to help the birds would not hurt.

shar01

Hi OP,

If you're handy with the DIY, you could make a wooden frame, cover it with large hole chicken wire* - wide enough for small birds to get through - then hang your feeders inside. It keeps cats and larger birds out.

Doesn't have to be too big if you don't want an "eyesore" in the garden. My dad made one - about a meter high and half meter square - if that makes sense....

S.

*Don't know the technical term for it:)

pablo128

This might be suitable. https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjM3erYu7DQAhXiDsAKHYjIDxAQFggvMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FFence-Wall-Spikes-13-5M-40-5M%2Fdp%2FB0046ZFBQI&usg=AFQjCNHLHNTuyPOqkaMWlfkbVBGUE1IjCw&sig2=St9lYZsniwF1-SmWKfAubA

katyt

Thanks folks - quite a few ideas here. I like the look of that sprinkler system and there are some other cat repellent thingys on Amazon. Interestingly, they also have cat traps - but I don't think that will win me friends among my nice neighbours!

Fakediamond

I have a cat that loves to hunt and I also love feeding the birds. I hang my feeders high up on the washing line with clothes pegs, which works for me!

The cat very occasionally catches a bird but I'm successfully feeding up to 20 goldfinches plus a variety of their garden birds, with very few problems. Meanwhile, the cat is kept busy catching the mice and occasional rat, attracted to the falling bird seed.

katyt

Fakediamond wrote: »

The cat very occasionally catches a bird but I'm successfully feeding up to 20 goldfinches plus a variety of their garden birds, with very few problems. Meanwhile, the cat is kept busy catching the mice and occasional rat, attracted to the falling bird seed.

Yes, I had thought that might be an advantage of having the cats. All the feeders are up high on spikes, but the cats are hiding in the bushes and jumping out at birds on the ground feeding on the dropped seeds.

forgodssake

OP I totally see where you are coming from. I have 3 cats and 1 dog . They are indoors all of the time. My animals my responsibility to clean up after them . Really grinds my gears when I see a cat\ dog poop in my yard knowing its not from my animals . The sprinkler idea seems to be a good one !

Fakediamond

Try and keep the feeders away from the bushes, birds are quick enough when they can see the cat approaching. As I said, it's not 100% foolproof, but harder for the cats.

I have heard of people darting cats with a water pistol, not to hurt, just to scare and wet them. Apparently it's best done covertly, as in they shouldn't see you doing it, otherwise they'll just watch out for you and stalk the birds when you're not around.