OT: Keeping cats out of my lawn

[Keith A]

Nick -- We have similar problems with critters eating our veggies We've used some thick netting around our plants and this has helped. We put small brown paper bags around our pineapples when they start to ripen. Now if I can just figure out how to get the squirrels to stay away from our mangos

[Gartenmeister]

I also have this problem and it is disgusting.

My vegetable garden and it is used as a toilet almost daily. As is the adjacent compost pile/area. In the winter when the ground is firm (but there is no snow) then the turfgrass is used as the toilet. So I can't walk around my own garden or out to the street (where I park) without dodging piles of cat s.... And this is all the time, not occasionally.

What is actually worse is the spraying. I have a large wrap-around porch setup with patio furniture and whatnot. We get visits from cats every night that spray certain items/fixtures, such as a potting bench. If I leave something out on the porch, such as a bike box, it is guaranteed to get sprayed.

Often multiple cats come and have epic fights right on the porch. Once I found a dead one, right next to my favorite chair. Although I am not sure if he died in battle or got smacked by a car and came up on the porch to die. Either way....

They occasionally get inside my my chickens' enclosure and harass the chickens.

And of course they kill the birds, which creates another mess for me to clean up.

As best I can tell all of the neighborhood cats are fighting over the territory of my property.

I do not have and I do not want a dog, which is probably the best deterrent. Many of the other neighborhood homes have dogs, which might contribute to the popularity of my property.

These cats are not feral; some have collars. I see them all regularly around the neighborhood. There are at least half a dozen, maybe more.

You can't shoot in the city, no matter how pro-2A it is. And nobody really wants to kill somebody else's pet anyway.

The motion sprinklers do work, but for a relatively small area. It is a decent solution for the vegetable garden but unrealistic for the rest of the property/garden. It is also kind of annoying to get surprised and shot by the thing, which WILL happen.

I have tried various deterrent sprays on the porch, and nothing seems to be effective.

I've considered trapping them, but that's a bunch of work/another thing to do and I am pretty sure the shelter is going to tell the owner where the cat was trapped when it is collected. I don't need enemies in the neighborhood.

So veggieburger, I sympathize. And if anyone has real deterrent solutions I am all ears.

[Jaybee]

Not for cats, but for squirrels/rabbits and other herbivore garden pests, I’ve found that deer blood meal works really well. The theory is that these prey animals smell the blood and assume a predator is near.

[redir]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

A “special” tuna casserole with secret ingredients did the trick a few years back

Disgusting and sociopathically cruel.

[CNY rider]

Originally Posted by Gartenmeister

I also have this problem and it is disgusting.

My vegetable garden and it is used as a toilet almost daily. As is the adjacent compost pile/area. In the winter when the ground is firm (but there is no snow) then the turfgrass is used as the toilet. So I can't walk around my own garden or out to the street (where I park) without dodging piles of cat s.... And this is all the time, not occasionally.

What is actually worse is the spraying. I have a large wrap-around porch setup with patio furniture and whatnot. We get visits from cats every night that spray certain items/fixtures, such as a potting bench. If I leave something out on the porch, such as a bike box, it is guaranteed to get sprayed.

Often multiple cats come and have epic fights right on the porch. Once I found a dead one, right next to my favorite chair. Although I am not sure if he died in battle or got smacked by a car and came up on the porch to die. Either way....

They occasionally get inside my my chickens' enclosure and harass the chickens.

And of course they kill the birds, which creates another mess for me to clean up.

As best I can tell all of the neighborhood cats are fighting over the territory of my property.

I do not have and I do not want a dog, which is probably the best deterrent. Many of the other neighborhood homes have dogs, which might contribute to the popularity of my property.

These cats are not feral; some have collars. I see them all regularly around the neighborhood. There are at least half a dozen, maybe more.

You can't shoot in the city, no matter how pro-2A it is. And nobody really wants to kill somebody else's pet anyway.

The motion sprinklers do work, but for a relatively small area. It is a decent solution for the vegetable garden but unrealistic for the rest of the property/garden. It is also kind of annoying to get surprised and shot by the thing, which WILL happen.

I have tried various deterrent sprays on the porch, and nothing seems to be effective.

I've considered trapping them, but that's a bunch of work/another thing to do and I am pretty sure the shelter is going to tell the owner where the cat was trapped when it is collected. I don't need enemies in the neighborhood.

So veggieburger, I sympathize. And if anyone has real deterrent solutions I am all ears.

I have no idea how you can put up with this situation.
Since you can't use a .22 rifle.....
Hint: After you trap them the next stop isn't the animal shelter.

[Dirtdiggler]

put up a sign "NO CATS"... sorry its Friday, ill shut up with my low post count.

[Richard]

It amazes me that there is not an outcry of disgust when people on this forum suggest killing wayward cats. If I suggested that I was going to shoot the dogs that crap on my grass, I imagine I would be thought of as a pariah.

[daker13]

I have both feral cats (who generally try to stay out of sight) and coyotes in my neighborhood. As the summer goes on, one tends to see a lot of missing cat fliers around. If I were a cat owner, I'd keep it inside at night.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Richard

It amazes me that there is not an outcry of disgust when people on this forum suggest killing wayward cats. If I suggested that I was going to shoot the dogs that crap on my grass, I imagine I would be thought of as a pariah.

Glad somebody said it. Yup, when my neighbors dog wanders into my yard to crap, I’ll just kill it or poison it..that’s ok too, right?
No, it isn’t.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by CNY rider

I have no idea how you can put up with this situation.
Since you can't use a .22 rifle.....
Hint: After you trap them the next stop isn't the animal shelter.

What do you propose the next stop be?

[eBAUMANN]

Really interesting what a subject like this brings out of people...as if somehow we humans are the only creatures on earth that have the "right" to "defend" the patch of dirt that we "own."

We are sharing this planet with every creature around us, from ants to whales. I personally dont care who you are or how much cat piss you have in your garden, learn to coexist with the world around you (im not ONLY talking about cats here).

Killing is a lazy (though very American) "solution."

[classtimesailer]

We had that problem when we were between dogs. We got some "have a hart" traps from the city. We set them and when we caught something, the city would come and empty it. If it was a domestic, they put a note on it telling the owner to keep their cat home. If it was feral...? Dogs are the best.
Borrow one.

[gdw]

Originally Posted by eBAUMANN

Really interesting what a subject like this brings out of people...as if somehow we humans are the only creatures on earth that have the "right" to "defend" the patch of dirt that we "own."

We are sharing this planet with every creature around us, from ants to whales. I personally dont care who you are or how much cat piss you have in your garden, learn to coexist with the world around you (im not ONLY talking about cats here).

Killing is a lazy (though very American) "solution."

Most of us recognize that cats can be a major problem and have recommended humane methods to keep them away. Live and let live but using my property as a giant litter box, hunting reserve, or torture chamber is not acceptable.

[pjm]

[eBAUMANN]

Originally Posted by gdw

Most of us recognize that cats can be a major problem and have recommended humane methods to keep them away. Live and let live but using my property as a giant litter box, hunting reserve, or torture chamber is not acceptable.

hey, heres an idea:

cats using your vegetable garden as a litter box? why not put a tall/thin-enough-to-be-a-deterrent fence around that garden and leave another vegetable-less dirt area un-fenced for them to use instead?

you are dealing with semi-wild animals, they aren't going to play by your rules, so why not try to create a compromise instead of increasing the body-count?

the dog sh*t you can find on the sidewalks/yards of most urban/suburban neighborhoods has pretty much just become a normal fact of life these days...does that somehow give me a right to shoot every dog that sh*ts on my lawn? no, of course not.