I love (most) dogs. I have absolutely no fucking use at all for any cat. I hate the little fuckers. In my entire 31 years on this planet I have only met 1 cat that I did not actively hate with every fiber of my being. He was one seriously cool cat.
Now then, even though I can’t stand the useless little shits, I won’t do anything to actually harm them.
My neighborhood is over run with these fucking pests. None of them have a collar, and they roam the subdivision like they own the damn thing. Fine. I can handle that as long as they stay out of my yard. That’s all I want. Seriously. I simply want them to stay out of my yard and quit fucking it up. They shit all over the place, turning my lawn and flower bed into a big sandy litter box. They leave dead critters in my yard and on my porch.
There are easily 30 cats that roam my area. That’s too many for me to try and trap and deal with. The local animal control doesn’t give a shit and won’t do a god damn thing. I’ve tried calling them, but they have never responded (even when I called them because a very large chow was walking up and down the street without a tag and was growling at everyone).
So, the question now is how in the holy hell do I keep these useless wastes of skin and fur off of my land? Is there some kind of chemical (or anything else) that I can put down on the ground to keep them away. I don’t care what the hell they do to anyone elses yard, just stay out of mine.
And as long as we’re in the pit…All these geriatric nimrods on my street that keep feeding these little bastards can go right to hell. If you want to take care of the fucking animal, then bring it the house and take care of it. Don’t just sit a bowl of food outside and keep feeding these cats. Either take responsibility for them and get them the attention and care they need or just stop feeding them and see if they go the fuck away.
PS - I have read the thread in the pit about WI residents possibly being able to shoot their local feline pests in the near future, but I live in TX and I don’t think I could do that anyway.
They do sell cat repellant chemicals… I’ve seen it at Tractor Supply (there’s one off of Loop 288, just across the street from Lowes), and I wouldn’t be surprised if Home Depot and/or Lowes carried it too. Might be worth a shot.
As much as I love cats (and I really do), I understand the problem large numbers of feral cats can cause. If you want them to stay off your property, what we always did was sprinkle hot sauce around the perimeter of your yard, and all around it. My mom would buy a big bottle of a cheaper hot sauce like Crystal and scatter it around, and the little fellas would stay pretty clear because of the smells. That way you don’t have to harm any cats, and you get them to give your property a wide berth.
I’ll go check down at the HW stores this afternoon after work. I have a feeling that these treatments will require a reapplication after it rains. Since it is spring time in TX, and that means the weekly bout of thunder storms, I may have to find another option to keep these fuckers at bay.
I can’t afford to treat my lawn on a weekly basis, but I may be wrong about the rain screwing with it.
One option that may be more trouble than you want to bother with is to get a humane trap or two, and take the cats one by one down to the local animal shelter.
I can’t really see myself trapping and transporting 30 (maybe more) neighborhood cats.
I can’t even put my trash out on the curb to be picked up on trash days, unless I sit on the porch with a BB gun to keep those fuckers out of it. Every trash day I come home from work and there is trash all over my yard. I know they get the neighbors too, but they are old and don’t work so they have time to pick it all up. I get home after dark and can’t wait until the weekend to clean up all the damn trash these bastards scatter about.
I like cats, myself, but there’s an elusive neighborhood tom that keeps digging up and shitting in my newly-planted raised beds for vegetables. I think I’m going to put an armed rattrap right where it likes to crap!
Many Humane soc/animal shelters will lend for for free a “havahart” trap. One weekend, set one out, and you will be able to take several trips to the shelter.
If you can’t keep an eye on the trap, make sure it isn’t too exposed, and there is water (secured so it doesn’t tip or spill) in there too, along with the can of mackeral you use as bait.
Trash is more likely to be racoons and possums. Use the sprays there, that will work. Using the sprays/repellenta all around your property likely won’t.
Never shoot an animal with a BB gun- the small pellet, while not fatal, can often enter the skin and cause a nasty abcess.
I wouldn’t shoot them with a BB gun. That was hyperbole.
But, I do know for a fact that it is the cats because I have had to call in sick before on garbage days. I have seen them through my living window. They just tear into the garbage and scatter it all over the place.
And before anyone asks, I can’t put the bags into a large trashcan for pickup. The local trash collection only takes bags that are by the curb so they can just sling them into the back of the truck. If you put the bags into large garbage cans then they just drive right by without even stopping.
You didn’t mention caterwauling. A group of cats used to congregate in my old neighborhood and caterwaul on and on and on, sometimes on my front stoop.
Once or twice I opened the door and they would all stop and stare guiltily up at me, and then split. They’d always come back…
I used to work in a garden shop, and we sold some supplies for small ponds and the like. One thing that caught my eye was a repeller for herons & other predators that might like to eat a pond’s koi, etc. It was, basically, a motion-detecting water sprinkler, hooked into a garden hose. The sensitivity was adjustable, so it wouldn’t balk at small movements (like squirrels), but would suddenly squirt at anything larger. Might be useful in your situation.
Oh! just found a link.
Even though animal control would not do anything about the large numbers of cats roaming the neighborhood, most animal control units will pick up and humanely dispose of the animals once you have trapped them. They just don’t usually have the time to place and monitor traps. So check with them first to make sure this is the case and then get the Havahart traps from either them or the local humane society, usually for free on a loaner basis.
If you happen to be outside, and it’s warm enough, squirt 'em with the garden hose. Do it enough times, they’ll learn to stay away, hopefully. (Cats HATE water).
OMG, it wasn’t until the second post that I looked and saw you live in Denton. I lived in Denton for five years and was active in trying to alleviate the feral cat population. Unlike you I am a cat lover but it was exhausting work and even though there are many organizations trying to solve the feral cat population it seemed like we were never even making a dent. It’s not the cats’ faults, it’s the idiot kids who get a cat and then turn it loose when they drop out of/graduate from school.
The cat repellants may or may not work, but they’re worth a try. You might not like my other suggestion, not being a cat lover, but I would say give any help at all that you can to any of the organizations that are trying their best to do something about the amazingly large feral cat population in Denton. This problem bothers us cat lovers as much as it does you cat haters, and the more people who work towards solutions, whatever their motives, the more likely the problem will eventually be alleviated.
The least amount of contact I have with city employees the better. There are some people employed with the city and/or county who would just love to have a nice sit down talk with me.