Cats and more CATS

[bobm]

People have been dumping their unwanted cats in our neighborhood since last fall. One of our neighbors started to feed 2 orange longhaired semi- wild female cats. Last Dec. they caught and then spayed these 2 , then braught them home and let them have the run of their house and then let them out in the evenings. These cats started to use our back yard as their poty... digging in our mulch , deficating, but will NOT bury it. Soon , a couple other cats ( feral as well as dumped and now semi- wild cats ) started to show up doing the same. Followed by MORE cats ... my wife and I now can identify 14 regular nightly deficators and how many more , I don't know. Another neighbor told me that the cats are starting to use their back yard as a potty too. Next, about 3 weeks ago, they started to deficate in our front flower bed, and boy does our front door area starting to stink. 3 cats have now been killed on the road just beyond our back fence. Two weeks ago, the male cats started to have fur flying fights in both our front and back yards in the evenings, all night as well as early mornings. lack of sleep as well as BAD ODORS are becoming intolerable. I called the SPCA shelter in Vancouver, Wa., 3 cat rescue groups in Vancouver, Wa., Cascade cat rescue, and Portland, Ore. feral cat rescue .They all said that I have to trap the cats, bring them in and they would spay / neuter them, then I MUST turn them loose again into our yard. All at my expense and not solve the cat defication in my yard. Oh ... would I like to make a donation to their cause ? All of the former County Pounds have closed, leaving the no kill rescues to fill the vacuum. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get these cats out of our yard and neighborhood. ...... P L E A S E

 

[flowerbug]

the semi-feral kitty that comes through here once in a while does use one of the more sandy gardens as a potty place, but i've never found a nugget/present from them so they must either be burying or know better to not poop there.

luckily this is a minor annoyance and balanced out by them hunting some of the chipmunks and rabbits for us (and perhaps other things like mice and baby groundhogs).

one thing does get my blood to almost an instant boil is people who dump pets out in the country and since there is a farm field road along the north side of our property sometimes people do use that for dumping stuff including pets. they may fool themselves into thinking that the pets will have a good life running wild, but the reality is that they are often dead within a few days (coyotes, cars, other dogs/cats, etc.). we've transported a few to the county animal control which will hold them for a while to see if someone will adopt, but otherwise kills them. have to pay $8 (last time i did it) when you drop off. luckily last time i had small kitten someone dumped, was very friendly, was able to give it to a lady who'd just lost her kitty and it happened out in the parking lot so kitty didn't even have to go through paperwork or $8 fee. good karma day there.

in your case, setting up things to startle cats who are having a too easy time of it back there. set up some tripwires to drop things on them or make noises. see if you can find their main routes and pepper them with annoyances. snares and other hangups which can make them go find another place to hangout.

as a temporary measure chickenwire barrier around garden beds...

 

[majorcatfish]

live traps...either take them to a shelter or rehome them in the country......

 

[seedcorn]

Take to shelter or SSS. No re homing......

 

[majorcatfish]

sure you can find a farmer/rancher looking for cats...

 

[seedcorn]

At least here, farmers do not want cats crapping in their sheds. Livestock people don’t want them due to fact they are disease carriers. Just kill them like coons & ground hogs. They aren’t endangered.....

 

[bobm]

live traps...either take them to a shelter or rehome them in the country......

I have one of those traps set up and baited with sardines for the past week ... not a single cat has entered the trap. Yes ,this trap works just great as I have caught racoons, possoms, cottontail rabbits and ground squirrels in it in the past. I have tried most of the items recommended on the internet that are touted to repel cats ... orange and lemon peal, coffee grounds, vinegar, lavender ( I have 18 lavender plants growing in my yard), chicken wire , etc. but I guess that these cats haven't read the memos. Oh yeah, Major... the shelters will NOT take ferral cats. Why should I rehome these cats out in the country ? That would just move the problem down the road if the cat decides to stay or more likely than not, they will be back in a day or two to be back in their own familiar territory as cats are very terratorial by nature. Or ... as on our ranch in central Cal. , the average life span of a dumped cat is about a week due to predation by coyotes by the dozens.

 

[seedcorn]

Environmentalist, feeding endangered coyotes and maybe wolves...

 

[baymule]

Is your fence wire or wood plank? Can your neighbors see what you are doing in your back yard? If they can't, get a pump up pellet gun and shoot them.

At our old house, the old lady next door fed feral cats. They came from everywhere. They stayed out of the back yard, our Great Pyrenees hates cats and likes to kill them. But they sprayed pee on the front porch, corner of the house, crapped in my garden and flower beds, screamed all night outside the bedroom windows and were a nuisance. I hated them. We had chain link fence or I would have shot them.

 

[flowerbug]

live traps...either take them to a shelter or rehome them in the country......

you do this, i'm rehoming all my Gilligans where you live... you've been warned...