Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Oneida, NY
    Posts
    2,849

    How to keep stray cats off your porch?

    OK -- Here's my problem...and hopefully someone can help me out with a solution here. I've got 2 cats of my own (1 male, 1 female, both are fixed). But for some reason, they still attract a ton of stray cats onto my back deck. It irritates me because it's mainly the neighbors cats, who aren't fixed, and they spray.

    So, does anyone have ideas for getting rid of pesky strays/neighbors cats? I've found that coating the edges of the deck with pepper spray does the trick for a few days, but hoping there are more economical choices (as OC spray isn't cheap ).
    Big things coming soon

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    PA, USA
    Posts
    5,143
    Hire a dog! If you need 24/7 coverage, hire several dogs. You may consider outsourcing to Indian dogs as well, they are more affordable
    Fluid Hosting, LLC - Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure: Cloud Shared and Reseller, Cloud VPS, and Cloud Hybrid Server

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Oneida, NY
    Posts
    2,849
    Quote Originally Posted by FHDave
    Hire a dog!
    But I don't like dogs They require too much work to maintain them. Cats don't need to be taken outside to goto the bathroom...and they don't smell (Unless they spray)
    Big things coming soon

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Newport Beach, CA
    Posts
    2,923
    hand your neighbor an estimate for construction to repair your deck to remove the smelll and lay the onus back to who it belongs to.

    This is one reason I hate stray cats. I love cats. but people that just let them run perpetuate this kind of problem.
    Show your reciprocal links on your website. eReferrer

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Oneida, NY
    Posts
    2,849
    Quote Originally Posted by e-places
    This is one reason I hate stray cats. I love cats. but people that just let them run perpetuate this kind of problem.
    Same. My cats go outside, but they spend their time in the wooded area behind the house. My neighbors don't really care either -- even if we did want to get them to pay up, you know how the expression goes: "Can't get blood out of a stone."
    Big things coming soon

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Newport Beach, CA
    Posts
    2,923
    true. I guess the only thing to do would be take it in your own hands.

    This is a tough one for me. Because my home is pretty important to me, as I'm sure yours is. I'd be calling animal services every single time it happened. maybe pressure them.

    man, sorry for the problem you have.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Oneida, NY
    Posts
    2,849
    Quote Originally Posted by e-places
    I'd be calling animal services every single time it happened. maybe pressure them.
    Well, I live in a very small city. We don't have animal control here. If you have an animal problem, you call the police. And their solution (taking it to the shelter to be killed) is not one I'm willing to take. There has to be something that you can put around the deck to keep them out.

    Like I said -- spraying the edges with pepper spray has worked charms. It keeps the strays away and for some reason my own cats aren't affected by it. But, 10% pepper spray can kill a cat if they get close to it within 15 minutes of spraying it, and it washes away in the rain.

    Do moth balls work or is that just in gardens?
    Big things coming soon

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Newport Beach, CA
    Posts
    2,923
    Supposedly mothballs working is a myth. but I've never tried it.

    But if something like pepper spray works that might be the best bet. I am really surprised that worked.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Oneida, NY
    Posts
    2,849
    Quote Originally Posted by e-places
    But if something like pepper spray works that might be the best bet. I am really surprised that worked.
    It only works for a couple days -- I guess it's the smell that keeps them away? It does smell pretty bad and interferes with your breathing. (I've been sprayed a couple times during training lol)
    Big things coming soon

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
    Posts
    36,941
    Get rid of your current cats and the strays might go away

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    1,568
    Quote Originally Posted by anon-e-mouse
    Get rid of your current cats and the strays might go away
    Don't listen to her! She's a mouse!!
    InterNich LLC
    Founder

    Bringing you PicResize.com (More than 95 million pictures resized since 2005)

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    6,896
    Anything you do is likely going to irritate your current cats. Have you considered making them indoor cats first?

    I've always found a hose to be pretty effective at getting rid of unwanted critters (furry or otherwise) in your backyard. If you can nail them out of nowhere (aka unseen) you may produce an air of paranoia around your place (making them unwilling to return in fear that you're hiding in the shadows). Pressure washers (from a safe distance [15'+], dont want to kill the poor cats), or super soakers are equally effective.

    I've heard that sprinkling paprika and other strong spices on the ground can drive away racoons (as they groom their paws constantly, and apparently this seriously irrirates them), however I'm not too sure how well it'd work on cats, especially if yours are amongst the victims.
    Myles Loosley-Millman - admin@prioritycolo.com
    Priority Colo Inc. - Affordable Colocation & Dedicated Servers.
    Two Canadian facilities serving Toronto & Markham, Ontario
    http://www.prioritycolo.com

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    We used to have a problem with stray cats and raccoons getting into our garbage. I started dumping bleach all around the garbage cans and that did the trick. Again, its one of those things you have to maintain...but at 99 cents a jug, its a lot cheaper than pepper spray.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    3,155
    Heres one... and its cheap.

    Bowl of ethylene glycol antifreeze.

    I dont hate cats, but I sure as hell hate when they all tear into the garbage, and I have to dedicate 30-40 mins to pick it all up because its scattered everywhere. Management hasnt taken any action since they havent "hurt anyone", and animal control will only do something if/when you catch one. Which is fine, because I WILL start catching them...

    I'm lucky enough to have access to some cages, and SOON I'll be trapping the 20-30 different cats thats running around the neighborhood. Figure 3 cages, and 30 cats.... 10-15 days worth of calls to animal control. They'll get the point eventually.

    Anyway, I think your best course of action would to weigh out the options of "just dealing with them", or taking 2 other alternatives... Buy a trapping cage, drive out to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and release. If you do this to a cat, it will become a feral animal over time, a dog will less likely survive! However, this may be illegal in your area (like it is where I live)... OR, you can take the final alternative, with the cage, and trapping them and calling animal control and let them deal with it.

    However, some of the other things help on case-by-case basis but in my experience there will always be one that will want it bad enough. Bleach, moth-balls, sticky paper, etc. They work most of the time, but are high maintence.

    So in the end, you have these options...

    * Deal with it. (The animal will still live, but be an annoyance)
    * Trap and release. (at your expense of course)
    * Let police/animal control deal with it.
    * Try the safe home remedies, but have to keep on top of it.

    Hope this helps a bit...

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    4,667
    Cayenne pepper sprinkled around the yard works for me.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Waco, TX
    Posts
    5,623
    Amonia also works but your cats would likley never want to go to the deck again

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Under Your Skin
    Posts
    5,904
    Cats are smart... if you are out in the country shoot at them a couple of times and they won't come back. Don't kill them... but shoot at them... maybe use blanks. Of course, check with local laws... lol... I did this and the cats never came back. They would walk on my car at night and when I woke up I would have paws all over my car.

    After making it uncomfortable for them to come around my house, they would look at me like I was crazy, but no more paws on the car.

    Maybe water will work the same way, dunno.
    Windows 10 to Linux and Mac OSX: I'm PARSECs better than you. Eat my dust!!!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •