h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Any ideas?

There's been some new cats arrive in the neghbourhood, and of course now they think they own the place. The dog isn't allowed out at night, so don't say 'get a dog'. They dig up stuff, ruin plants, and I don't think Rufus has had a decent nights sleep in months.

Are there any tricks or products or, um, things that would stop these feline fiends from invading poor Rufus's territory, and stop spoiling our garden?

Cheers

Ste

The best way is getting yourself an even bigger tomcat who will defend his territory, and do the same things you dislike

A .22 pellet up the arse.

The cat's arse, that is, not yours.

Obviously.

I hope.

H.

when it is better it will just come back to spite you ..cats are like that. There is stuff you can get called cat pepper to sprinkle on the garden..try pet shops and garden shops.you have to replace it when it rains.Or get an ultrasound machine that emits a sound they don't like but it might drive the dog away!

There's a plant which has been bred to smell disgusting - I think it's a Coleus canina or something like that. It's not too awful unless you get really close to it but it's supposed to repel cats.

I sympathise Ste. There have always been loads of cats in my neighbourhood but none of them have caused me any major problems - until now. I have a new neighbour with three cats who roam around my garden trying out every bare patch of earth as a litter tray Not to mention drinking from the bird bath and snoozing under the tree with the bird feeders in it.
I've resorted to putting sticks in the border to make it less comfortable as a feline sofa and toilet and plan on strewing holly leaves and other spiky vegetation around to encourage them to move on.
I'm also thinking of planting some catnip in a corner so I regain control of where in my garden they like to spend their time.
Anybody else got any ideas?

My grandmother used to hate having s in her garden. Her chosen method of repelling them was to save her used teabags, let them dry and then dab them with eucalyptus oil. These weapons she would then distribute about the borders in the garden, the teabags blending in and not looking odd.

I suppose you could use something other than teabags to put the oil on, but I never saw any cats in her area The teabag idea is quite eco-friendly as well. They ain't toxic and eventually they'll mulch back into the ground

How about talking to the owner of the cats, asking them to keep the animals off your property. If that doesn't work you could always call your local animal control people to pick up the cats, though doing that might just escalate into a war with the neighbors.

"How about talking to the owner of the cats, asking them to keep the animals off your property."

If you can stop cats doing what they want, then you can juggle soot and nail water to a wall

If they're out and about they'll go wherever they please. The teabags/eucalyptus idea sounds good, and twigs or bamboo poles strewn across flower beds, while quite unsightly, will put them off digging up your borders and vegetable plot.

sorry Gosho, fell off my chair laughing at your post! (the beginning bit)

To be honest there is very little you can do about cats in your garden, as has been suggested there are various potions and lotions to sprinkle around your garden but they very rarely work (according to the feedback vets get anyway)

Putting up obsticles as has also been suggested is a good idea for keeping them off specific areas such as flowerbeds etc.

Trouble with cats is when they find a place they like they see it as theirs and not yours

The anti cat plants a good idea but i dont know what they are.

If its new cat(s) to the area they may just be trying to establish their territory and once they have satisfied themselves it is theirs they may spend less time their as they widen their patch.

The other possibility in a built up area, with lots of cats, is not enough territory go round so they are restricted to a small patch ie your garden which may happen to be the only place other cats havent yet claimed.

The smell of the dog may be enough eventually to put them off but if your dog regularly does the 'you know what' elsewhere then there will be little scent as such in the garden. (scent marking is done when passing poo as the glands empty at the same time aswell as the urine smell - particularly with dogs)

Seriously one of the best methods and less favourable is getting some cat poo (fresher the better) and leaving it in strategic places tricking the cat into thinking the garden has already been claimed by another. You may have to keep this up for a while to reinforce this each time the cat visits.

Of course if you dont have a friend with a cat and a supply of poo, it can be a problem!

You could try dog poo but the average cat is not as bothered by that as it would be cat poo

Mort

My memory's not as bad as I thought it might be!

I googled 'Coleus canina' and it came up with a few hits for this.
The first is on a site called cathate.co.uk/ . This also has quite a lot of info regarding legal and humane ways of deterring cats.

Some of the suggestions are:
Water pistols
Well-rotted horse-manure
Pelargoniums, petunias, marigolds and fuchsias

Coleus canina is apparently a hybrid of some South American nettle and an Australina plant.

Just for the record - I do not hate cats! I don't like the mess they leave in my garden and I am extremely allergic to them but I like most of them - at a distance.

A few years ago, our screen door was broken, because the flywire had come loose, and one summer night, my family found a cat lurking around in the house which had come in through the broken door, and for quite a while, we didn't know how it got there!

My dad usually squirts 'em with a hose...

You can try using empty unwashed mil bottles/containers and filling them with water and putting these out in the garden. I think anything with a strong unpleasant smell will stop a cat

sorry should have been milk bottles

Hitting them with water - hose, water pistol, garden sprayers, but you have to hit them, and hit them every time they come back.

(RSPCA approved method!!!!)

Totally agree with the water method! Cats absolutely hate it. And it doesn't hurt them...

I have three cats who have shared my home for the last 10-15 years.

They obviously go where they please, are well-behaved, and thankfully for the most part are tolerated by my neighbours.

Until a new resident who is so pyschopathically anti-feline, feels so 'threatened' by them that he has now hit them all with airgun pellets (the cowardly sicko).

At £80.00 per removal, wanton animal cruelty is an expensive business.

I reported my experiences to the RSPCA, and they tell me they will not hesitate to prosecute if they get the opportunity. The police also have taken a keen interest.

If you wish to make an animal feel unwelcome, then do so humanely.

Damn straight I hope he gets hauled away.

I think people believe cats can't be trained because cat people are too pussy-whipped. My cat knows exactly how far she's allowed to venture from the doors of my apartment. The few times I caught her going futher I called for her to come and when she didn't come immediately I locked her out and let her meooooow at the door for a while. It only took a few times before she got the idea that there were limits. There are surfaces in the apartment that are Verboten and that only took a diligent weekend with a water pistol.

If the owners haven't figured out how to control their pets then maybe they need to keep the cats inside. It'll prevent them damaging other people's property and it'll also prevent them being hurt.

That wouldn't work with my Dewey If we leave him miaowing outside, he'll just say "Well bugger you then" and that's the last we'll see of him for six hours

Last weekend we let him out just as we were leaving to go to a farmers market where Mrs Gosho sells pet treats. We came after four hours, Dewey came after 12 hours. I don't think leaving him outside is going to worry him in the least - he'll just wander into someone elses apartment and say...

Hello, I'm Dewey and I'm cute as all hell. Got some food for me?