My backyard reeks of cat's urine. I mean really bad, when I open my windows at the back the smell comes into the house.
The cats are from my neighbours so they are not strays.
Does anyone have a proven method of deterring cats? Would love to hear them!
Methods not involving getting an animal or condoning violence :)
Thanks
Mothballs, one every metre. I use them every spring after planting my seedlings. Keeps birds away too.
Bet it looks like it hailed massive hail balls in your backyard
Mothballs?! but how do you get their little legs apart?
Motion activated sprinklers
Hmmm, maybe add motion activated flood-lamp for night and sprinklers for day ?
It worked… but it seems the cats don't learn.
Might have to go back to getting a friendly pet Carpet Python instead.
Cucumbers!
Has anyone seen the videos of cats freaking out over cucumbers?(No-one seems to know why).
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151117-cats-cucu…
Certain cats only, mine didn't flinch. past warranty as well so can't do much
Now that is inhumane, but very very funny.
Holy crap, listen to this guy:
John Bradshaw, a cat-behavior expert at the University of Bristol and the author of the book Cat Sense, agrees, saying the “despicable” videos are “an incitement for people to scare their cats and then invite people to laugh at them".
As i don't have a cat i think it's great that owners are providing this service. Suck on my cucumber Mr Bradshaw.
If you put anything that shape, unknown to a cat it will freak out.
It's not the cucumber, the cat just thought it's some creature right behind it.
Catnip…i heard they're great to make them not even come close….
They hate catnip. Plant it in your garden.
You guys…
Lmao +1000 for planting catnip
Apparently they dislike citronella …
https://www.cuteness.com/article/natural-oils-repel-cats
… by diluting it and spraying, 1 litre should go a long way …
https://www.bunnings.com.au/classic-1l-citronella-lamp-and-t…
https://www.bunnings.com.au/multicrop-400g-keep-off-dog-and-…
I used this stuff, once a week for a couple of months, now they don't use my yard as a litter box.
Just a little sprinkle. Don't get it on your hands, hard to wash the smell off.
I used to have a really bad problem with my neighbour's cats a few years back. They bloody didn't care about them and let them breed to who even knows how many. Even though they were 'owned' they acted much like strays and were causing significant problems, similar to yours. Except they'd mate UNDER my house, piss everywhere… one even decided to leave their faeces on our door step…. lol. We were at wits end but found that leaving filled-up water bottles around the front yard kept them away. Not sure what's the science behind it but something worked. Even though it made our front yard look like a junk yard, we were desperate and haven't had an issue since lol.
Back in the 80s everyone had water bottles on their nature strips to stop dogs crapping on them, don't see that anymore now that people actually pick dog crap up and put it in a bag in their pocket to warm them up on a cold morning.
Cats use urine to mark out their territory. Just piss hard everyday where the smell is strong so you tell the cat that it is YOUR territory.
Problem solved.
Price it up and see how much it is to do a full perimeter. Not a bargain!
Many Councils require cats to be restrained to the owners property. Maybe worth checking.
I agree. For example, my council has the following information:
https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/waste-environment/animals/…
You can even hire a cat cage to catch it and get the council to pick it up.
Yep, came here to say this. In my area, any cat out after a certain hour of night is free to be caught and turned over to the council.
I did this to my neighbor and handed their cat in maybe 5 or 6 times. Each time they received a fine. Only ever trapped their cat at night when the kitty curfew was in effect. After being fined so many times, the started bringing their cat inside at night…
Go to the zoo and ask for some lion poo. They wont set foot in the garden then. Possibly not even the street.
Nothing on four legs will approach.
Or snake poo
This was tested and found to be false.
That is surprising. I read about its effectiveness many years ago. An Englishman won a prize for best-kept lawn by protecting it with lion dung at the perimeter. He even said far fewer birds visited.
If that doesn't work then you add the lion dung machine (an actual lion).
I've tested citrus too yet people are claiming that works. I squeezed a whole box of oranges I got for free, sprayed it all around my car, broke them in half and left them on the concrete too. The cat walked up, sniffed the oranges, walked right through and stood where it was and peed on the car. Oh - and same result with vinegar.
Also, speak to your neighbours. I would hope mine would speak to us if they had issues.
Not everyone is nice like you. Been there done that
Exactly. More than likely to get the “nah, not my cat…” talk and end up with a yard full of cat shit from over the fence as well as the piss already there.
Best way to make a great neighborly relationship stronger is to ask them to stop their prized pet from pissing in your back yard. Can only go well…
Citrus. Get a whole bunch of lemon, lime and orange peels and just scatter them around.
Otherwise, instead of getting a dog, just ask someone you know to bring their dog over and pee everywhere.
I don't know why everyone is suggesting dogs. Cats don't care about dogs. Get your own cat. Cats are really territorial. Once your backyard is your cat's territory, the other one will not mark it so intently. Just make sure they don't actually meet at night or they could get into a fight
So your solution is get a different cat to pee in OP's back yard. Talk about fighting fire with fire.
Yes get a different cat. OP's cat pee situation sounds unusual. Sounds like random cat is trigger happy. Cats can sense each other without peeing. Once the backyard is established as new cat's territory, problem will be solved. This is a solution. Yes it would stop the smell
They don't care about other animals urine either. They smell it and just pee on the same place themselves.
If you want cats not to walk on specific spots, dry eggshells, crush them up and sprinkle them over the ground. They are too sharp for a cat's precious soft pads.
Cats also generally don't like citrus, so you could try orange peel too
I can't imagine egg shells would work? Their pads aren't that soft and they are each separate from one another and pretty flexible.
I had a housemate who did this to stop a cat digging up their garden. It worked
I guess you already exhausted all "civilized" ways as Council Animal Control, chat with neighbors or setting a "humane animal trap" (and then calling the Council to retrieve the animals) … so:
We were very successful with common household WHITE VINEGAR sprayed liberally. Yes, it does smell a bit to us humans but it was very effective against unwanted animals.
Some cats (from our irresponsible and selfish neighbors) will return after several months (last act of defiance?) but overall it was very successful.
Cheap Coles SmartBuy white vinegar or Aldi PureVita were/are good enough. High percentage of acidity is preferred but you may wish to balance cost versus benefits.
We also noticed that spraying white vinegar along the footpath minimized dog's feces and, surprisingly, the common/wild grass stuff growing looked a lot greener and happier.
Also, how do they get in your yard? Do you have fencing all round? If so, you could get something put across the top of the fence to deter cats from coming over.
Nothing dangerous like barbed wire but you can get fence spikes etc (just don't get anything that will harm an animal).
From our experience and also researching about it, virtually nothing (nothing relatively cheap and simple) seems to work.
Other than white vinegar to dissuade them and make them look for another place.
We have watched (CCTV) cats jumping a 1.80m fence … from the ground to the edge. Pure elegance in the jump. Pure evil in the intention.
Cats are curious. And cats in suburbia are bored to death. Sleeping all day. Nothing to do. Food on tap. At night they come alive … and all around is dead quiet and inviting … lets go and explore … it is going to be so much fun! So, a fence, a mesh, barbed wires they are all challenges in their adventure.
On the other side of the scale, feral cats are a real problem because they are such good survivors. Hard to spot, almost impossible to trap and even harder to destroy.
Pure evil in the intention.
???
Intrusion.
@nocure:
MY post was clearly refering to MY experience.
No mention of your cat.
It is not about you (nor your cat).
It is all about ME and MY experience. And it is all it counts for ME.
Got it?
Very cat like, isn't it? ;-P
https://m.facebook.com/RSPCAAustralia/posts/1015193227239798…
Simple pvc pipe trick looks good amd easy
get a novelty toy that shoots water when things cross its path. Replace water with citronella, situate in an open area backed up to a wall so it has a good angle of attack, cheers
Nah - fill it with florescent dye. Or motor oil. Cat runs home, owners get the message real quick, when they have to keep getting their carpet cleaned.
A truck load of bicarbonate soda.
Contact a dim sim manufacturer. They will sort it out
lol. I had to log in to vote for you.
Username checks out.
Adopt them.
pfffff
Find where they are shitting and pissing, it will be dry dirt
Buy some cheap cayenne pepper, mix it into the dirt
Get a "Scarecrow Sprinkler" for under $50:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digoo-Solar-ScareCrow-Motion-Act…
Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinklers are safe, effective and low-maintenance animal repellents. Just assemble, hook up to a hose and turn on. Keeps pests away from designated areas of your yard with little worry or effort on your part.
Looks interesting .. do you have any experience on its effectiveness?
I picked one of these up from Bunnings earlier this year with a similar (feral) cat problem.
As fun as the sprinkler looks,it was a complete dud. I ended up returning it. I caught the cats sitting next to it a couple of times. I came home one day and it had triggered itself on permanently and flooded the yard. The connections would all leak. It's incredibly loud. Can't suggest it.
Well, these cats are smart and they have feeling too, just show them that you dont like it a few time they will never do it again (poo poo in my backyard)
Whenever i see them in my backyard, i run overthem and shout at them, a few time, they know and never do it again in my backyard!
To be honest, even having 2 dogs doesn't work, the neighbour's cat just sits on my shed roof until my dogs are inside the house, then uses my garden as a toilet!
At my old joint I had color bond fence on 3 sides.
Purchased a good ammount of graffite grease and went to town on the capping. As for the front I had sprinkler system with a modified detector to turn on and off as they come in and run out.
Needless to say the owners didnt look too impressex but what else could I do.
Put in a Cat trap or other wild life trap with some Bait near the affected area.
Probably save about 20 animals lives a night
Sounds like your neighbours cats are not desexed…. Maybe have a nice word to them about it. Males that are NOT desexed like to mark their territory. As you have nothing to deter them, they have claimed it as their own!
My dad used to keep the toads from fishing trips and throw them in the garden. Not recommended for animal lovers though.
What do the toads do?
Poison the cats.
By being eaten?
Can you get in trouble for this?
Call your local council, ask them to drop off some traps to catch the cats. They will come collect the cats and send owners a fine.
Warm your neighbours first if you like them a little.
Warm it with love…
love fire
The eveready had me in tears
He should have also put some dye and foul odour in the hose before pressuring it up. Might help to get the owners to contain their cat's.
trays and trays of cactus at the points of ingress/egress.
I love cats.
I would suggest using the automated sprinkler as well - except - you could get fined for watering outside of your water days. Check with the water authority first. Also they seem pretty expensive.
Outside of that if you can identify the owners tell them to spay them.
If they have no collars though then you’ll need to trap them and have them collected by the council or neutered yourself and set free again.
Frankly the second one does the most good. Neutered community cats don’t spray and beat down other cats that would otherwise spray the area. If you just get the cats removed then it’s possible for more to follow (though I guess if you keep trapping and calling the council then… it might be free but is a little sad).
Then again people need to be responsible owners. I don’t really care if people let their cats outside but neutering and collars, preferably bird safe collars, are a must.
"Neutered community cats don’t spray"
Can't confirm this, sadly. We've got a 5 year old male cat who was neutered when he was supposed to be, and he still sprays. Some cats just do it.
Do you like your neighbours?
Check your local council laws.. many of which don't allow cats to be let out and roam freely anymore due to disease transmission and breeding problems.
Report them to the council…
Or spray lemon water around. I don't think Cats like citrus smell and lemon makes your garden smell good too
I had the same problem (maybe not as bad as yours) so I bought a dozen plastic rat traps. I set them in a grid. Now they're not baited…this is about the cat accidentally bumping one in the dark, which snaps shut and makes a big bang (it doesn't touch the cat), scares the crap out of the cat and after one or two events, the cat stays away. Plastic rat traps worked better than mouse traps or wooden traps because they make more noise. Don't get your fingers in the way!
I've used this to stop a pesky fox from visiting too.
on a related note, does anyone know if vinegar keeps dogs away as well?
vinegar keeps dogs away as well?
Yes it does kind of work.
Not 100% but, from our experience in a suburban footpath, a large number of animals prefer to go and smell somewhere else.
And as posted before: it seems to help for greener grass!!
Thanks. Will give it a go
If they let their cats out they don't care about other people or their cats, and talking to them about it only gets YOU blamed for what other people nearby do to stop it. The local RSPCA told me to catch and bring in any cats that enter my yard. So I'd probably put an anonymous note in their mailbox, explain what will happen if they don't keep them inside. They'll either get sick of paying to get them back, or of buying new cats when the RSPCA gives them away to other people.
I think it's good for the cats to let them roam and get exercise.
Cats exercise!? Who knew, LOL. (The negs weren't me.)
White vinegar and water in a spray bottle - if you see the cats, spray. They will get the message pretty quickly.
I've nothing against cats or owning cats but idiots who own cats and let them wander around all day really annoy me. Do they have any (profanity) idea how much damage cats do to native wildlife? Or do they just not give a shit?
Keep your cats inside. If that is too much of a challenge for you then don't buy one.
Sprinkle chili powder wherever you think they enter the property/like urinating.
LOL that guy is a high roller…… a hoselink spray gun AND a canon 5D. nice.
Bikies
Bird netting can be a really cheap solution. Attach from eaves to top of timber fence with threaded stainless hooks, or better yet eyelets. Steel fence? Be creative, but note I'm not encouraging you to drill dozens of holes.
Join netting edges with the cheapest, most durable stuff available. That might be fishing line, old guitar strings etc.
Use UV stabilised clothes pegs for joins you'll need to open periodically.
Of course, there's not much point doing this if there are gaps elsewhere, but at least they won't be jumping into your yard.
After a while there will be spider webs all through it. You'll have less flies and mozzies, but you'll also trap the odd bee and…no birds for you!
Keep 1/2 filled plastic water bottles in the area they will be distracted. Do not ask the science behind it. But, that works
dogs
sworn enemies