Cats!!!!!!

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Mariposa

New Member
There is a cat in the neighboorhood who has decided to use my Baby's Breath plant as a bed. What can I do to keep him out?
 

Crabbergirl

Super Moderator
Staff member
Ground red pepper sprinkled on the ground and the plant. It will bother his nose and he should go somewhere else. Also you can lay any cutting with thorns on it around and maybe he will step on it and leave.
 

palmettogal

New Member
1. Put some sardines in critter trap
2. Catch cat (trap doesn't harm them)
3. Relocate cat (crossing water is required or they COME BACK)

That's the method we use for the irresponsible no-spay, no-neuter neighbor's prolifically reproducing animal kingdom.

But, actually, I've heard you can place pine cones at the bottoms of plants (inside or outside) and cats will stay away because they don't like to walk on anything that is prickly.
 

Kya D

Active Member
Luz maybe a fence around the plant just until the cat finds a different place to sleep.
I go with a live trap idea too. It doesn't hurt the cat but the trap is really spendy.
 

Blueaussi

New Member
Crabbergirl's pepper idea is good, or you can put citrus rinds, lemon basil, or anything that smells of citrus. You can also buy a child's jacks and scatter them under the baby's breath.

palmettogal, you really shouldn't dump cats, then they become someone else's problem. If the city or county animal control won't help you out by citing your neighbor, you should take the animals to the pound. Columbia has a good shelter, if the cats are personable, they'll be neutered and put up for adoption. If they're feral or carrying a disease like FIV or FeLV, they'll be humanely euthanized.
 

Bernie

New Member
I've tried the nontoxic chemical war fare but not all cats dislike pepper. I've actually seen one put his paw in it and lick it off. Citrus doesn't work on all cats either and I find when it does it is only temporary. I put chicken wire over my veggie garden to keep the little stinkers from digging. I would either put a circle of chicken wire or some sort of fence around the plant or go with the pine cones or jacks. All cheap solutions that don't hurt the cat. I'd get one of those motions sensor sprinklers but I know I would forget and it would get me more then the animals.

I agree DON'T dump animals. It's not their fault they are where they don't belong and I don't think they mean to be distructive. Besides they end up in my garden. Right now I have five that visit every day or night. There was a small dog that was using my yard as a toilet for over a month. Last week I couldn't take it anymore. The dog catcher came and took him away. I hope he finds a good home. Who ever owned him didn't love him enough to keep him home and safe and he was never home to give them any loving anyway. Pets need more then food and water on the back step.
 

GardenBear1

New Member
a squirt gun with water mix with ammonia (sp?) will make the cat think about finding a new bed and it wont hurt him,but he won't like the smell, I have a high power one that I use on the chipmonks that think my climbing roses are there play ground. and it keeps them away
 

palmettogal

New Member
typically, aussie, they are pretty much feral cats around here. my response was more tongue in cheek than anything (although we did relocate them once after one managed to somehow work it's way through my air conditioning ductwork and come up through the return during the middle of the night!). i should have been clear about that in my post. we're out in the country and it's not so much that the neighbors intentionally breed cats and dogs as it is that they feed anything that shows up and show up, then stay is just what they do...probably as a result of somebody else's relocation process. i have used the Columbia shelter from time to time when i thought there was a good chance a cat or dog might possibly have adoptable qualities. i never have bothered to ask the outcome. humane euthanasia? i've no need or desire to debate that issue because, quite frankly, there are more differing opinions on that subject than there are animals running loose and the firestorm of controversy would serve no better purpose than to get people ticked off at one another. to each his own, i say.

that's why i offered up the pine cone theory. i hope it works.

as a gesture of goodwill and sincere atonement, i also heard that you can put sand/litter in an area nearby and they will use that instead.
 

Mariposa

New Member
I think i'll use the pine cones and pepper. I am real upset because the person who owned the cat let it get infested with fleas and then dumped him outside. Now the cat is always in my yard in my flowers and I am not a cat lover. He sparays and poops in the yard. SIGH!!!!
Thanks for all the suggestion. I did but a lemon balm plant and will save my orange peels.
 

Crabbergirl

Super Moderator
Staff member
a squirt gun with water mix with ammonia (sp?) will make the cat think about finding a new bed and it wont hurt him,but he won't like the smell, I have a high power one that I use on the chipmonks that think my climbing roses are there play ground. and it keeps them away

You might actually be working in reverse with amonia. My vet explained to me amonia is in cat urin and naturally cats go were other cats have been so you could just turn your garden into a littler box :eek:
 

SandiB

New Member
I have 3 cats (inside)..my neighbors have many many cats (outside) that they feed and they LOVE my CatMint to sleep in (of course!!) I use the cut back/stems from my rose bushes to place around & even drop some inside the CatMint...it works great! Just cut them small & scatter around.
 

Annette99

New Member
Crabbergirl is right about the amonia, it will attract other cats to spray there, I can't imagine getting amonia im my eyes and it being ok, I'd go with fencing the plant in if possible and the pine cones or rose cuttings, I have cats and they need to be taken to the Humane Society if you have a stray, our humane society will give you a have a heart trap if you give them a check for $50 and you get your check back when you bring the cat/trap back. Good Luck.
 

gardenplanters

New Member
Hay,
It will bother his nose and he should go somewhere else. Also you can lay any cutting with thorns on it around and maybe he will step on it and leave.It doesn't hurt the cat but the trap is really spendy.
 

pawswatch

New Member
I have nothing but compassion for this kitty... you certainly cannot fault him for the ignorance and neglect of his owner, who does not deserve to have a pet. He has come to you for help. Please consider taking him to a no-kill shelter... they will do what's necessary to find him a decent home.
 

Blueaussi

New Member
Hold on pawswatch, how do you get to ignorance and neglect from the cat sleeping in some flowers? Taking someone's pet away without discussing the problem with them is both cruel and against the law.
 

Fantasygal1

New Member
Just my two cents.

Blueaussi, I think what pawswatch is trying to say is that there are many people that, say for instance during Christmas, think it's a great idea to give a pet to their children and once the children or people get tired of the pet they discard it by letting it out and not feeding it. So now you have another cat/dog out in the street because of lack of love that they have no fault in. So they try to find a comfortable spot to sleep, eat or whatever. I KNOW because where I live there were a LOT of strays when we moved in 7 years ago. I got to see a lot of people do this and so I started not only taking in the strays but the Feral ones as well and caring for them healthwise, feeding them and locating them a loving home.

I also agree that if you don't want him around to Sprinkle the area with a mixture of some minced onion & garlic, dry mustard, red pepper, and black pepper in a gallon of water. This mixture with keep him away temporarily. If you want him not to come back then you'll have to catch him and take him to an ANGEL shelter where they will find him a good home, Otherwise they WILL kill him. As I said before, just my two cents.
 

Blueaussi

New Member
There's a honking huge difference between a stray and a neighbor cat who has wandered over to take a nap. Cats will pick a sleeping spot, use it for a couple of months, then move on to another sleeping spot. If the owner knows the cat is being a pest, they can take steps to discourage it.

I have done rescue, I'm well aware of the problems, but assuming an owner is ignorant or negligent based on the cat napping in a flower bed is silly. One of my cats started sleeping on my neighbor's car. He's an independent cuss who won't sleep inside unless the weather is bad. Once she told me about it, I bought some cheap astroturf door mats, the prickly kind, threw a towel over the top for the car, and put the door mats on it at night for about a week. He stopped sleeping there.
 

MrsH

New Member
I have a huge problem with stray cats, too! Three of my neighbors feed all the strays. (They put out food in their driveways.) On average, there are roughly 15-20 cats on my little 6-house cul-de-sac!

I have tried a few things, too, but none have worked.

- I used some store-bought deterrent (from PetSmart) that you scatter round your garden. This did not work.
- I have a huge pine tree in my front yard, and it drops its cones all over my front garden. The cats seem to have no problem with the pinecones.
- I use vinegar as my natural alternative to weed killer, and the cats have no problem with that.
- The cats LOVE sleeping underneath my lime tree. I know that a lime tree is perhaps not as pungent as using the cut limes or oil, but the cats sleep right next to (and on top of) the dropped, over-ripe limes.
- My next plan of attack with be putting chicken wire in my flower beds.

One of my neighbors (one who doesn't feed the cats and does not like the cats) called animal control to get rid of the cats. Animal control's solution? Sending out one trap to put in her front yard to catch the cats. One trap for 15-20 cats. My neighbor wanted me to put a trap in my front yard, too, but I refused. As much as the cats annoy me with their spraying and pooping ALL over the place, obviously three of my neighbors care about them because they feed them.

I don't mind having the cats around, I just don't want them using my front and back gardens as their personal toilet. Also, I am *severely* allergic to cats. So I have to wait a while to go near any area where they've been recently. Like when I want to tend to my lime tree (their favorite sleeping spot). Or any other gardening work I care to do around my property.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
I forgot to welcome you too, MrsH. But make yourself right at home here and join in the conversation.
 


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