Battling the stray cats for territory ...

[robnplunder]

Well, 6 months ago, a new tenant moved in to the next door house. Unknown to us, they have been feeding stray cats by leaving dog food outside. Before I realized it, number of stray cats around our house increased and they have been using my side yards, back yards as litter box. When the cats started to use my artificial golf greens as litter box, that was the last draw and I hit the youtube & google to figure out how to repel the cats. The fight to regain my territory has begun.

First, I used a commercial product to spray around the house. It worked for a couple of days and I had to spray it again. I knew then that it was not going to be a long term solution. It was expensive, smelled bad for us and not good for our vegetation.

Next, I bought solar powered ultra sound "cat stop" devices and put them facing the oft used litter boxes. Well, that stopped the cats from defecating on those spots. But the cats still run around everywhere as they owned the place.

Then, we made homemade spray (lemon juice, vinegar, rosemary mix) and sprayed it around. We also scattered rosemary leaves, branches around the border between the two houses. We may do the same with lemon peels. Meanwhile, we are anxiously waiting for the result.

DW and I don't love stray cats or any domestic pets. Cats give us the creeps (sorry, cat lovers). I hope things work out well and I get my territory back. No more poop smells around my house - knock on wood.

 

[ownyourfuture]

Hope you can remedy the situation.
In the past, there would've been much simpler solutions, but being as sensitive as the world is now, I can't even mention them because there's no doubt in my mind, someone here at ERF would be offended.

Good luck

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Good luck. I have not tried them but Amazon has small pest repellent products that have predator urine, like coyote urine. I never appreciated cat poop in the kids' sandbox or cats coming in our yard and killing the song birds.

 

[robnplunder]

Hope you can remedy the situation.
In the past, there would've been much simpler solutions, but being as sensitive as the world is now, I can't even mention them because there's no doubt in my mind, someone here at ERF would be offended.

Good luck

I've seen news of neighbors taking drastic measures and ending up in jail but that's not what we are about. We are looking for peaceful solution.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

This may be the most effective solution, outside of a large dog.

 

[youbet]

Despite living in the shadows of the Chicago skyline, we have lotsa critters visiting our yard. I've live-trapped dozens of possums, racoons, squirrels, woodchucks, skunks, etc. and relocated them. I use peanut butter on a bit of bread for bait.

I bet if you used smelly cat food for bait you could live-trap those stray cats. Then just pick up the trap and take it to a shelter (if you're nice) or just haul it 20 miles away (if you're not so nice).

Unfortunately, you might trap someone's cat who lets it out at night (not actually a stray). But having their kitties get run over, mauled by a coyote or whatever is a risk they know they're taking when they do that. So....... Cats are hardly an endangered species.

youbet (known and documented cat lover)

 

[robnplunder]

Good luck. I have not tried them but Amazon has small pest repellent products that have predator urine, like coyote urine. I never appreciated cat poop in the kids' sandbox or cats coming in our yard and killing the song birds.

I considered the urine solution but going around spraying animal urine around our house didn't appeal to us. It is also a costly short term solution. My strategy now is to "train" the cats not to invade our territory. If they come back, I react with my arsenal of repellents. That's the best I can hope for now.

 

[braumeister]

Not exactly a quick solution, but we had an interesting situation in our HOA. There were quite a few feral cats around and nobody could figure out why. Finally it emerged that one resident was feeding them, leaving out cat food and water all the time. Unfortunately, she was the wife of the HOA board president.

A word in his ear and he was stymied. He didn't want to hurt his wife, but recognized that the unwanted felines were a problem. Fortunately, there was a solution. The cats were caught in a humane trap, one by one. Then local animal control office picked them up and took them to the shelter where they were spayed/neutered. Alas, their rules require that the animals be returned to where they were picked up. Still, it's working and we have hardly any strays around now.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Trap/neuter/release works really well but few shelters practice it. It takes a ton of volunteers to put out the traps and check them.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I've found .22LR to be an effective solution. Given that this isn't an option everywhere, live trapping and disposal is the next best thing.

 

[robnplunder]

Trap/neuter/release works really well but few shelters practice it. It takes a ton of volunteers to put out the traps and check them.

It's not an option for us. We are too lazy to do this.

Motion detecting water spray that another poster mentioned isn't an option for us either (logistically).

 

[robnplunder]

I've found .22LR to be an effective solution.

In a fit or rage , this thought came to my mind. But we live right in the middle of civilization and my aim isn't too good anyway.

 

[Amethyst]

My sister and BIL have championed many feral cats in their neighborhood. Trap, neuter, release;no kittens = no more cats once the existing ones die off (and feral cats don't live that long, poor things). Your local veterinary clinic can give you leads to spay/neuter clinics that will take care of it for free or very little cost.

Seems some are very eager to shoot the poor beasts. Would you feel the same way about stray dogs I wonder?

 

[Senator]

A 220 conibear trap works best. Put a fishhead on the trigger and no worries.

 

[joeea]

Well, 6 months ago, a new tenant moved in to the next door house. Unknown to us, they have been feeding stray cats by leaving dog food outside. Before I realized it, number of stray cats around our house increased and they have been using my side yards, back yards as litter box. When the cats started to use my artificial golf greens as litter box, that was the last draw and I hit the youtube & google to figure out how to repel the cats. The fight to regain my territory has begun.

1) When you pick up the cat poop you should deposit it in a pile in the neighbor's yard.

2) Call your local animal control officer to get rid of the stray cats, and potentially talk to the neighbors.

3) If you live in an HOA, notify the board and make it their problem.

 

[MRG]

In a fit or rage , this thought came to my mind. But we live right in the middle of civilization and my aim isn't too good anyway.

Personal liability is huge. A .22 lr travels a mile. It could pass through a cat and kill a kid.

 

[harley]

Motion detecting water spray that another poster mentioned isn't an option for us either (logistically).

Just out of curiosity, why not? It's an easy solution. Garden hose and device. It works fairly well against the geese in our neighborhood, and they like water. I guess if you're xeriscapers or something like that it might not be a solution, but otherwise...

 

[Teacher Terry]

Rob, if your local humane society does this program they will have a volunteer come to your house to do this.

 

[socca]

Well, 6 months ago, a new tenant moved in to the next door house. Unknown to us, they have been feeding stray cats by leaving dog food outside.

This is a mistake. At my previous residence I used to scatter birdseed on the ground to attract birds. This worked, but it also attracted mice and rats (HUGE rats). Some hungry animal got the bright idea to chew holes through all of the screens in my condo to get inside, and one of them climbed onto the kitchen table and gnawed holes in a tomato sitting there. Since then, I have a strict policy against attracting vermin.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Seems some are very eager to shoot the poor beasts. Would you feel the same way about stray dogs I wonder?

If by 'stray' we mean 'feral', then no I don't feel the same way. I'd get rid of the dogs faster. Cats kill birds/rabbits and pee on your doorstep; dogs will kill livestock, all types of game animals, and can be dangerous to humans.

I love animals - including dogs and cats, I own both - but feral versions of either are a menace and need to be dealt with appropriately. If you have the time and money to get them neutered and adopted, then more power to you.
But please don't re-release them in my neighborhood.

 

[MRG]

This is a mistake. At my previous residence I used to scatter birdseed on the ground to attract birds. This worked, but it also attracted mice and rats (HUGE rats). Some hungry animal got the bright idea to chew holes through all of the screens in my condo to get inside, and one of them climbed onto the kitchen table and gnawed holes in a tomato sitting there. Since then, I have a strict policy against attracting vermin.

A buddy of mine did the same thing with bears.

He had to cover his doors and windows with hog panels.

 

[Another Reader]

If you have stray and/or feral feeders in your neighborhood, and pretty much everyone does, TNR is the most effective form of population control and the most humane. The sterilized colony sticks to the feeder's property, and the feeder is no longer running the cat equivalent of the Friday night singles bar in your neighborhood. Alter enough cats, and the breeding process is disrupted, similar to the government releasing a few million sterile mosquitoes into a population many times that for mosquito control. The population declines over time, as long as new arrivals are trapped and altered diligently.

You can't stop the folks that feel sorry for the cats from feeding, no matter what the law or the HOA rules say. They just hide what they are doing from the snooping neighbors or animal control officer. TNR stops most of the behavior issues. Trap and dump means you will be doing that every year for as long as you live in the neighborhood. The population is reestablished within a few months.

 

[Teacher Terry]

AR: you did a much better job of explaining this then I did.

 

[Texas Proud]

My wife feeds a couple of stray cats.... we also have a few opossum and at least one raccoon and too many squirrels....

The two cats that eat are very good at chasing away any other cat... I have seen one of 'ours' chase one 5 houses down... I have also seen him chase a racoon away....

I cannot do anything as DW loves all the critters for some reason... but at least we only have 2...


BTW, even if you got rid of any around, the gap will be filled eventually with others... there is no way to permanently get rid of stray cats....

 

[brucethebroker]

Had a similar problem with a single cat abandoned by the prior owner of the home we bought. Cat would stand outside and Meow at the top of her lungs in the middle of the night. Trapped with a humane trap, and drove to the OTHER side of the interstate (about 10 miles), to a farm type area. Released cat. Never saw it again.