Cats and more CATS

[bobm]

Water cannon/ scarecrow is your best bet. No cat likes being sprayed with cold water

If cats do not like being sprayed with cold water, why do they live in the PNW... we have lots of rainfall (ranging from thick cloud cover to mist, drizzle, showers, to heavy rain to a 15 min. period of sunshine, followed by more of the above per day ) . When the sun does shine it is the event that the weather reporters call a "sun break" .

 

[bobm]

I am certainly not one to kill right away because an animal has gone to the bathroom. This has become a major problem that you don't want to give to someone else. Are you a good hunter?

There is a cat that occasionaly goes in my garden. It drives me crazy. So I understand how you feel multiplying that number by a lot.
eGood luck and let us know how it's going.

Mary

Yes Mary , I am a good hunter. However there are city folks that frown upon a .22 or BB or pelet gun being discharged within the city limits.

 

[bobm]

When there was a mamma cat and her kittens using my parents' front door area for a potty, I hit upon something that worked but with all the cats you have, I don't know if it would work for you: I cleared out all the mulch and all the cat mess, and put down the large nugget mulch, the kind that has pieces about the size of a TV remote. Then I bought several cheap containers of red pepper flakes, and spread them on top of the mulch. This took care of the problem. The large nuggets are unstable under their feet, and of course they don't like the pepper smell.

But this should not be your problem to solve. @bobm, have you tried talking to some of the area vets, to see what they would recommend? Surely they are not all on the same "save the strays" bandwagon.

I don't like the idea of shooting stray cats, but in some cases, there doesn't seem to be any other solution. Feral cats are really hard on the song bird population. I guess killing them humanely is a choice we may have to make to save other species, and, of course, to keep our property from smelling like, well, tomcat teen town. Could you even shoot them with a gun in your neighborhood? You don't want to poison them; valued pets might be killed.
Good luck on your efforts.

Of the local Vets that I talked to, they are cut from the same cloth as the bleeding hearts that run the rescues. As for shooting them, the local police frown upon anyone discharging a gun of any caliber within city limits. I guess that placing a cat into a gunny sac and throwing the gunny sac into the Columbia River is no longer seen as an answer since the old days when everyone did it before the City / County pounds came to be.

 

[flowerbug]

Ha Ha! MY Vet, who lives in another small town 7 miles from us solved THEIR exploding cat population problem that their town had some 10 years ago. It was the same deal, people dumping unwanted cats and a "cat lady" (Let's call her "Numnut Nancy", with apologies to anyone here Named Nancy), who HAD to feed them all. She said that the cats were everywhere and doing just what the butoriginal post described. My Vet starting trapping and euthanizing them in the trap. She has given shots to my cats in their crate prior to spaying & neutering, so I have seen this done. Numnut Nancy complained about my Vet, so my Vet asked her if she was the Owner of all of these cats and would like to reimburse her for the drug fees and euthanizations. Nancy said no, so my Vet continued and solved the problem. My Vet SHOULD have gotten a commendation from her town for this! Still, My Vet said that the real losers were the trash men who had to endure the smell of rotten cat during all of the pickups.

i'd certainly give her kudoes for just dealing with it. except i'd bury them in the gardens (deep enough, of course)...

 

[Nyboy]

If cats do not like being sprayed with cold water, why do they live in the PNW... we have lots of rainfall (ranging from thick cloud cover to mist, drizzle, showers, to heavy rain to a 15 min. period of sunshine, followed by more of the above per day ) . When the sun does shine it is the event that the weather reporters call a "sun break" .

What are they suppose to do hob a train to the desert

 

[Carol Dee]

My son's ex in-laws had the same problem. A neighbor that feed strays that stayed and had kittens until the populations was huge. It was finally solved with several neighbors doing the SSS and a county that was willing to pick up / take the ones live trapped.

 

[flowerbug]

Yes Mary , I am a good hunter. However there are city folks that frown upon a .22 or BB or pelet gun being discharged within the city limits.

also consider that it does take a pretty powerful weapon to take down larger animals with a single shot. powerful enough to go through most wooden fences and will easily shatter windows if you get an unlucky bounce off a rock or metal pipe... with the many rocks here i have to be very aware of where i'm shooting when i varmint hunt (always want target to be well away from the house) also i make sure i'm not lined up on any of the neighbor's places so i have only certain firing lanes i will use. i doubt the ammunition i use goes that far anyways, but just to be safe...

 

[thistlebloom]

A sudden burst of water from a motion detecting sprinkler is a lot different than rain. It's mostly the surprise factor. If you move it around frequently they wont get habituated to it's location.

It works on the deer (that get rained and snowed on) that aren't frightened by humans or pet dogs. It also can make a gardener a little more mindful when working near one.

 

[majorcatfish]

... you could buy this

 

[baymule]

... you could buy this

I wish I would have had this when we lived next to the cat hoarder! I stuck plastic forks in the garden beds so the durn cats would get a stick in the but for squatting in my garden!