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Neighbourhood Cats

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Misschrysalis  Send Misschrysalis a private message!


Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 11:00 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi. I just found this forum today, and it looks like a great place! I'll jump in right away, and ask a question. We have a lot of cats in our neighbourhood, and I've noticed that at least one has been using my front garden bed for a litter box. I've read that citrus peels will help deter them, and I plan to give that a try. Will it still be effective if the peels freeze or are covered in snow? Is there any other/better solution you can suggest? Thanks!
~Joanna

Misschrysalis - Alberta, Zone "3a"
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Joanwaldrup  Send Joanwaldrup a private message!


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Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 12:11 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Misschrysalis wrote on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 12:12 pm:


hi :i use crushed red pepper.i sprinkle it around the plants.it won't hurt the plants ,but the cats won't like it.i've never tryed it in winter.but it won't hurt to try.
good luck joan

Joanwaldrup - penna, Zone "6"
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Nibbs  Send Nibbs a private message!




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Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 01:11 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi, Joanna! Welcome to gardenbuddies! There is a product called Critter Ridder, too. It's like a fine grain that you sprinkle in the area, or around the area you want to deter to the animals from using. I used it for our dog, to keep him from going in the vegetable garden (a few years ago now). I sprinkled it around the perimeter. It worked on the dog, but also kept the deer out. Bonus. You'd have to repeat after rain, but it's a product that is not harmful to anything.

Diane British Columbia Zone 7b
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Misschrysalis  Send Misschrysalis a private message!


Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 09:31 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Hi, thanks for the ideas! We just had a big dumping of snow, and after shovelling, we now have a 5-foot tall pile of snow on that bed!! That should deter the cats for now. I'm loving the moisture for my thirsty plants.
~Joanna

Misschrysalis - Alberta, Zone "3a"
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Valia  Send Valia a private message!




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Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 09:34 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Cats just love that soft dirt!

I have a friend who has this problem, and uses nylon net over scraps of the big-hole chicken wire just below the surface of the soil. The cats can't find good places to scratch in it.

She tried several other home remedies and a commercial product or two, but this is the only things that works. She lives right on the river and her yard seems to have a game trail going across it, which attracts half the cats in town. It's also popular with deer, skunks, raccoons, etc.

Nylon net alone works for the cats, but all these critters respect chicken wire. They don't like to step on it.

Anne, Washington State, Zone 5
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Alaskabird  Send Alaskabird a private message!


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Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 02:31 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Greetings from Southeast Alaska! Cats are a problem in my area too, and the only thing I've found to be effective to keep them out of my soft dirt is those wooden shish-ka-bob squewers (sp??) broken in half and pushed into the soil. Space so that the kitties don't have a comfortable place to scratch or hunch... its the only thing that works for me and you can buy big packages of them for around $1.00, even in Alaska!

This is my first post, but been reading along for a couple of weeks. Hello to all, and I hope to learn more and hopefully contribute some.

Sunny day to you!
Arilee / Alaska Zone 6b (Temperate Rainforest)

Alaskabird - Alaska, Zone "6 - N Lat 55"
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Freddie  Send Freddie a private message!


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Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 12:31 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Misschrysalis, hope you check back! I just found this site! What did you use to keep cats out of the flower beds and did it work? I have that problem all summer long (a full 90 growing days )! In the winter it is no problem as we are at over 6400 ft. in Zone 4. Once the snow sets in, it stays and I don't know where the cats go - but they are back in the summer!

Freddie - Nevada, Zone "4"
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Greth  Send Greth a private message!


Posted on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 06:09 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Welcome, Miss! you will find a lot of lovely stuff here I am sure. Can't really help with the cats, but I can give you a nice quote :

One of the anomalies of English law is that whereas it would, as I understand it, be an offence to clamber over your neighbour's fence and defecate among his vegetables, you can send a feline accomplice on precisely the same errand with total impunity. It has always amazed me that the manufacturers of slug bait, and other such garden aids, should proudly announce on the label that their product is 'harmless to pets'. A pesticide that could guarantee to cause pets irreparable damage would, I'd have thought, sell like hot cakes.
John Carey : 'The Pleasures of Vegetable Gardening'
I just love this quote, I can't help giggling when I read it, Greth

Greth - South Australia, Zone "?"
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Kniceone  Send Kniceone a private message!




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Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 07:25 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I had the kitty problem too from neighbourhood vagrant kitties. I solved it my laying pine bark mulch. I've also read that pinecones discourage kitties. They don't like the smell of the pine sap and they sure don't like the crunchy feeling on their little paws.
I wish no animal harm but I sure do everything to discourage them in my gardens.
p.s. Cridder Ridder doesn't work for groundhogs.

Jodi, ONT, Z4, Great White North Click to hear a voice greeting from Kniceone
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Greth  Send Greth a private message!


Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 08:12 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Pinecones are good, also fireworks, if you have good aim. An open tin of enamel paint will encourage the owners of longhair cats to keep em inside!

Greth - South Australia, Zone "?"
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Gardenbug  Send Gardenbug a private message!




Posted on Sunday, June 25, 2006 - 08:23 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Things must be far different in Australia....Here you would be hauled away for harming a cat. I certainly hope your fireworks and enamel paint are aimed at the owner and not the cat...but why not SPEAK to the owner in the first place?

Gardenbug - Ontario, Zone "4/5"
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Freddie  Send Freddie a private message!


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Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 - 09:40 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I like the idea of the pine cones! I'll try that one! It is just a hop, skip and a jump to pick them up, they are free, environmentally friendly, will not harm children or pets, etc. They will look good as part of my landscape as they are native to the area. Hope this one works as I do not want to harm cats, just discourage them. It is so easy to keep a dog in a yard, but cats need to roam free. Thanks again for a great tip!

Freddie - Nevada, Zone "4"
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Greth  Send Greth a private message!


Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 - 05:40 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Only joking, gardenbug, this household is ruled by a black and white cat who seems to do what he pleases!
The enamel paint was a thought that crossed my mind when the neighbours Persian cat was climbing up my aviary wire every night - ever trying washing a Persian with kerosene?
For beds where animals dig, I put down brown plastic mesh, which makes it undiggable for a while until the plants are established. Munchie has 85 acres to play in, he doesn't seem to bother even the freshly dug bits. And once the peastraw mulch is down, it isn't a problem.

Greth - South Australia, Zone "?"
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Red_twig  Send Red_twig a private message!




Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 09:38 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I have the same problem in my front yard. I am just landscaping it now, it seems to have been a community litterbox, and the cat owners refuse to take any action. Over the weekend, i built some beautiful berms inset with boulders and this week sure enough the berms have been scratched up and a lovely present left for me. In the coming weeks I plan to put down gravel with fabric underneath.....Do you think that will deter them?

Red_twig - New Mexico, Zone "7a"
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Deadlyart  Send Deadlyart a private message!


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Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 07:11 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

hi,
I have heard that rubber inner tube from a bicycle layed out to look like a snake is good at keeping pussycats from your garden,Failing that try a real snake.

http://llamaseven.com

Deadlyart - combe martin, Zone "?" Click to hear a voice greeting from Deadlyart
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Cena  Send Cena a private message!




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Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 01:00 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

In my area, StarBucks has a Grounds for Gardeners program, where they deposit all their used coffee grounds in a bin, free for the taking.

I have three cats, in my yard, and have found they Do NOT like the smell of used coffee grounds, and when I layer them out, they stay out of those areas, and go back to the one I till for them every three months.

Used Coffee Grounds are a great addition to your compost heap, your lawn maintenance, or just as mulch. Worms seem to love them, and new research shows that slugs and snails are truely detered by coffee and grounds.

You may have to pluck out the filters, but it is a cheap, effective way to deal with this problem. I swear, on my cats honor!

Cena - S CA, Zone "10a"
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Greth  Send Greth a private message!


Posted on Thursday, October 12, 2006 - 08:17 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I'm still giggling at deadlyart's real snakes... I can post you one, if it will fit in the harddrive

Greth - South Australia, Zone "?"
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Spuddigger  Send Spuddigger a private message!


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Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 04:30 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Where I'm from, they take animal abuse very seriously. Harm one of your neighbor's cats, or even a stray or feral, and it's jail time for the abuser.

I use Liquid Fence to keep the squirrels away. Another possibility is hot pepper wax. Doesn't harm the plants at all, but the critters hate it. I also use crushed oyster shell to discourage digging. I have no problem with the neighborhood cat, but the squirrels wreak havoc with my bulbs.

Spuddigger - CO, Zone "5"
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Greth  Send Greth a private message!




Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 06:00 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

In Australia, ferals and strays can be killed. Councils will kill any cat which isn't microchipped, or in some cases there is a puddytat curfew, and ANY cat found more than 1 km from a dwelling will be destroyed.
Please don't connect this with me, I love cats, wouldn't live without one or keep one under curfew. Munchie does plenty of good with the rabbits mice and sparrows he kills, but it is true you will find a range of mummified local parrot corpses under our house.
For an extreme view, read up about Dr John Wamsley - his Warrawong Sanctuary is about 30 miles from here. Famous for his feral catskin hat...
http://www.borrett.id.au/weirdmob/cats.htm

Greth - South Australia, Zone "?"
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Spuddigger  Send Spuddigger a private message!


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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 03:27 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I'm glad to say that a lot of places here in America manage feral colonies so that the cats don't get out of control. We have trap-neuter-return programs. Two of my cats were feral kittens in this program, but since they were young, they were fostered out to socialize, then taken to a cat shelter to adopt out. They were very skittish when I first took them home, but now they are loving, happy adult cats.

The idea of shooting cats--much less skinning them--makes me rather sick to my stomach. These aren't vermin. They're friends. And as I said, here in Colorado we have very strict laws about abusing animals.

Spuddigger - CO, Zone "5"
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Freddie  Send Freddie a private message!


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Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2007 - 06:23 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Its great to see people posting again! That must mean it's getting close to Spring! I think I am going to try a combination of the coffee grounds and pine cones this year and see if that works. I'll let you know! Right now the ground is so frozen and so much snow on the flower beds, we seldom even see a cat! That will change as soon as I start working the beds!

Freddie - Nevada, Zone "4"
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Durgan  Send Durgan a private message!




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Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2007 - 08:57 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message