Wow… I just had to deal with this problem yesterday.
We have an outdoor cat. About two weeks ago another cat decided to hang around. Our cat was afraid of this new cat, and would run and hide whenever the stranger cat came around. The worst problem is that the stranger cat would eat all of our cat’s food.
I tried scaring the stranger cat, but it didn’t work. Yesterday I decided to finally fix the problem. I filled the cat dish with food and placed it about 20 feet from the rear porch (in the grass). I then grabbed our cat and placed him in front of the bowl. I sat on the porch with my daughter’s bolt action .22. Sure enough, the stranger cat came out from under the porch, scared our cat away, and began eating our cat’s food. I shot it in the lung area. It leaped two feet in the air, ran toward the porch, and collapsed a few inches after crawling under the porch. This morning I went out there and it was gone. I’m thinking the coyotes got it.
I certainly understand this solution isn’t for everyone. But I guarantee it works.
Right, it’s not for people who actually have a heart and enjoy the company of animals. Let’s hope there isn’t another sadistic sociopath like you in your neighborhood, who might do this to your own cat.
If you like “sprinkler”, they make a very specialized kind for just such situations. It’s called a Scarecrow. Basically, it’s a motion-activated sprinkler that emits a noisy three-second burst when it detects an “intruder.” Pretty effective at scaring animals away.
The same company also makes something called “CatStop”, which is some sort of motion-activated ultrasonic repeller. I’d put more trust in the water, but hey, it’s your yard.
My city, Anderson, Indiana, USA has a cat leash ordinance. Councilman Bob Scharnowske made himself the object of ridicule by sponsoring the rule. I wrote a letter-to-the-editor, dripping with sarcasm, praising the courage of Scharnowske in saving us from the vicious, marauding kitties. Let no mouse live in fear!
You could try a Havahart trap, baited with tuna or some other feline delicacy. Then present your neighbor with their trapped cat and tell them that next time the trap goes into the lake.
I raise poultry and have no patience for stray cats whether they are pets or feral. They will destroy an entire flock just for fun. For those coming down so hard on Crafter_Man, your beloved little cutesy-wootseys are heartless killers themselves.
Somehow I don’t see it as a negotiation. And testosterone has nothing to do with it. If you choose to raise an animal, you are responsible for it’s behavior. Allowing cats to roam at will is irresponsible pet ownership and shouldn’t be tolerated.
Obviously there are subtler ways to express displeasure with trespassing cats, and if you are on friendly terms with your neighbor then, by all means, use them. But if you have presented your neighbor with this problem in the past and it is continuing I believe my solution, though crude, is effective.
Believe me I have no interest in, and derive no pleasure from, killing a cat. But if your cat , or dog, or ferret, or whatever attacks my turkeys or ducks, I will not do you the courtesy of attempting to trap it first.
It seems like that sort of thing would escalate. You kill the guy’s cat, he kills some of your fowl, you retaliate.
First thing you know, you’re stealing the kid’s lunch money and sticking potatoes up tailpipes.
I’m curious; how do you protect your birds from raccoons, foxes, weasels, coyotes, hawks and whatever else lives in Wisconsin and not domestic cats?
Well like any other animal, remove the source of food. If you have a chipmonk paridise on your property you need to expect predators will come in. We run into this all the time with birds, someone doesn’t like cats killing wild birds on their property, but the cats are there because you lured them there by installing bird feeders and bird baths - what did you expect?
Now I don’t know if the OP’er has intentionally allowed cat food to develop on his property, but it’s basically the same result, preditors will follow prey.
Cats don’t like alum, probably for the same reasons they don’t like pepper, mentioned earlier. I think you can get powdered alum in bulk at health food stores. You can also get powered dog/cat repellent at the garden shop.
I cannot testify for how well either of these work.
Most of the animals that are a danger to my birds are nocturnal or hunt at dawn/dusk. During those times the birds are inside in their coops. During the day the turkeys are in a large enclosure that has a fenced roof, but there are some gaps in the wire fence walls big enough that a cat or raccoon (or small adventurous turkey) could get through. Cats are really their only danger during the daylight hours. The ducks roam around freely if I am outside and they watch out for each other and will let me know if there is something to worry about around. My dog helps out by patrolling the yard as well.
Cat attacks are easy to tell apart from other predators, they are the only ones I have seen that will take out every bird they find, they eat the head and then work their way down into the breast and will do it right in the pen.
As far as things escalating goes, I am entirely within my rights to destroy any animal that even harasses my birds. If a neighbor retaliates by killing something of mine I will call the police and let them deal with the law breaker, no reason for me to retaliate back.
Cats (feral and domesticated) can be readily caught in Havahart traps and relocated. There of course might be legal and social repercussions to trapping the neighbors’ cats, in spite of the fact that it is a sociopathic act to allow ones’ cats to wander around the neighborhood killing small animals and creating other nuisances.
Sigh, yes I am. I am not saying I WOULD do such a thing. As I said earlier, I get no pleasure from killing. I am sorry this hijack has had to continue.
If your cat is in my yard and I see it has a collar I’m not going to bust out the .22, I will try to call it, identify it and let you know that your cat is in my yard and that I would rather that you kept it in your yard.
If it’s the 4th time your cat has been in my yard and I have politely explained to you 3x why this is a problem, I will trap it if possible and give you the “next time it’s the lake” speech.
If your cat is actively attacking my ducks I will shoot it dead. My birds have names and personalities of their own and are as important to me as anyone’s pet.
Hello, Dopers! I am a newbie to your forums and have just had to truncate a narrative on the problems of irresponsibly managed outside cats.
My county animal control has suggested drowning and antifreeze as suggestions for unwanted cats. Of course, this is highly illegal and I have found other, more agreeable options. However, my problem is feral cats rather than nearby pets.
The citrus is a very good idea. Many retailers have a cat-repelling spray in their pet-section. I think it is green apple and/or citrus based and is used by pet owners who wish to keep their animals off furniture and such.
Regarding the Havahart traps, I have found that after capturing the animal a time or two, that it becomes wary of the trap. When my property was overrun with ferals, it became easiest to rig the trap to stay open. My cats were able to eat the food inside, while the ferals were too wary to go inside. However, I realize that is not the issue for you.
I, personally, would choose the sprinkler idea in combination with the citrus. Both are very good options, and I think the combo would work wonders.
