Cats!

Christina,
I have 5 cats that come and go from my house everyday. However, I have them tagged with both my address and their rabies tag. Thanks for not being cruel to them is my first thought. I am shocked that others would just trap and send them away without contacting the owners, which is what I think should be your first step. I like the idea of squirting them with water when you see them. If you find the owners, tell them that they need a place to "poop and Pee" that is on the owners property. Cats like sand to poop in, so not only do I have litter boxes ( 1 in house, 1 in garage), I put some sand down in an area of my yard that I want them to go, and they do. My neighbors get visits from my bunch but no one minds since they are just visiting, not peeing. If these cats you have are ferals, then the problem takes a different turn. Sometimes trapping is the only answer, and it saves them from a life of hunger, disease, and one litter after another.
You can ask me more if you want, I hope I was a help to you.
Cat Woman, T.

Next time you see them, call animal control. If you want to make sure they hang around until they can get picked up, pick up a few cans of cat food the next time you're at the store.

Christina,
Cats wander by nature. Ask my Hannibal :-) The only reason my neighbors like him is that he is a GREAT ratter nad has kept half a block rodent free.
Anyway- that said use your hose on the cats! They hate water. Once squirted down a few times they won't come back.
The fact that you have NO pets may be what is attractive to them- they are marking their own territory.
D.

We had feral cats in our neighborhood for a while. If you would like to get rid of them, called your local City Hall or Animal Control office. In my town, the Animal Control office will issue traps to residence. After we caught them, the city picked them up. All it took was a little fresh tuna. (Don't get me wrong. I love cats! But these ones looked unhealthy and were a nuisance. Having them taken to the Animal Shelter seemed like the best way to handle it.)

Moth balls... They hate the smell. Of course you will need to watch closely to make sure your little one doesn't pick them up. I had the same problem with cats "dating" on my front porch when I first moved into my home. This really worked to get them to go away. After they have been gone for a month, you can stop putting the moth balls out.

Good luck dear!!!

J.

Hi C.,

Cats really dislike the smell of vinegar, which is safe to spray around on your patio and backyard furniture (and smells better than mothballs). The water spraying is also a good idea. Once cats start marking territory, they all want to get in on it, so once a cat has sprayed your furniture, walls, doors, etc, they will continue to do so... and other cats that come by after you've run these off will feel obliged to do the same - unless you get rid of the smell. And get rid of it on their level (not ours... they can smell much better than we can!).

There are a couple of things that can help with the smell. Vinegar is good, but requires multiple applications before it is truly effective. There is a good product called Odo-ban that is an enzymatic cleaner that will clean your furniture/walls/doors and get rid of the smell completely. Then you can use a light spray of vinegar to keep them away. I know Odo-ban is sold at Sam's (in big gallon jugs) and I saw a spray bottle of it somewhere recently... I think maybe Walgreen's or Tom Thumb (I can't remember). It's safer around kids than some of the products they sell at the pet store, although PetSmart and PetCo both have enzymatic cleaners that would also probably work (you want the enzymatic cleaners because they actually break down and remove the urine instead of just trying to wash it away or cover the smell).

Feel free to contact me if you have questions... I have removed cat urine from a lot things (looooong story), so I have other tips if you need them.

Good luck!

P.

Oh, if the urine is on/in concrete, it might take soaking the area a couple of times to get rid of the smell, but it can be done!

A dog?? Ha! just kidding. you probably don't want to get a dog just to get cats to go away.
Cost-effective/free way:: I'd try shooting the cats with a water spray bottle (long aim) or a water gun -- you may need to do this about 3 times before they get the picture that it's too much trouble to come to your yard. Cats hate water.
Also, pet stores have this cat-repellant spray that you can spray around the perimeter of your yard to keep them away....
see this website for more cat deterrent items.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/search/search_results.jsp?...

There are enzyme based cat off and such at Petsmart, and Lowe's has one as well that you need to spray on your yard...all areas...and test it on spot of furniture as well.
It has and enyme that is to get rid of odor that attracts them
to the spots they go and a smell to stop them from going by making them want to leave. Names of products: Get serious, Nature's Miracle, Petzyme, Boundary *harmful while wet**no play outside that day*, No Mark *more costly for the size you need to cover, yet good for where they spray not potty*,
Catstop *one that is reactivated every time one is near, costly yet worth it for long term use, and makes a noise
to scare them into a puff ball*, No Stay, and another one
activated by motion is Scat, does not cost as much as
Catstop.Go to Petsmart.com and search for them or there in person and find
the dog trainer or even a groomer to ask. They will know. At
Lowe's as a lawn and garden person. At the Ridmar location you
would ask * at Lowe's* Beth, Mark or Teresa or Jeff; *at Petsmart*
Ask for Drew *there are 2, both managers* or go into the
groomers area and ask dang near all of the ones there. *I
forgot the name of the trainer or the 2 groomers I talk to.*

C.,
The pet stores sell a variety of products that you can spray to keep the cats out. Also there are plants that are pretty and keep them away as well. May need to check with lowes or home depot to get the names.

Good luck!

I too had a cat problem. I called the city to pick them up. My daughter got a ringworm from playing in our backyard. After I took her to the doctor for the first one she got two more. The doctor finally asked if I had pets. We did not and he suggested maybe neighborhood cats. I kept her out of the yard for about a month and they all cleared up. It was embarrassing for me to have this "afflicted" child and I wasn't even the one with the animals! I raked and raked the backyard almost daily just to keep the poop up. I couldn't walk outside or the smell would make me sick. I caught four cats in 2 days. After keeping the trap for a week I caught 7 cats. I didn't even see that many cats. I didn't feel bad for sending them away because these cats were affecting my childs health. One of the cats had mites crawling all over it. As cute as they are they are huge disease carriers. My animal control officer (who know knows me by name) says that rabies is a major concern with cats moreso than dogs because cats seem to like to fight other rabies carrying animals. After my experience (and I was raised on a farm ~ cats galore!) I personally think it's irresponsible for cat owners to not keep them on their own property, ratters or not!

Hi C.,
We had this exact same issue, the neighbors cats were urinating on our front door, car tires, etc. and ruined the finish on our front door and garage door. We tried moth balls and pepper spray to no avail. My 2 year old picked up a piece of cat poop and that was the last straw! We had to call the city for help, this solution might seem cruel but it is a solution. In the city of Fort Worth, there is an ordnance that basically says that you need to keep you pets on your property or on a leash (including cats) and once they are on your property, you can take appropriate action. The city will temporarily give you a Have-A-Heart trap for the cats. You have to sign paperwork that states 1) You will check the trap daily and call if you have captured anything 2) You will not do anything mean to the cat like pull its whiskers :-)

When you have captured something, all you will need to do is call the city and they come out and get the little darling and take it to the humane society. If these people really cherished their cats they would either be inside with them or they will be smart enough to call the shelter when they are missing. Please let me know if you need additional information.

Good Luck!
E.

I've always heard that the most effective way to repel cats (and safe for them) is to get a sprayer bottle of water and spray it on them. Also, if you have a sprinkler system, you could wait until you see them and then go manually turn it on.