ASBO cat

I love cats. I really do. But I am running out of patience with a feline I have named 'ASBO'. I have put up with him digging up my garden and planting stinkpods because hey! a cat's gotta do what a cat's gotta do. However, things have now gone too far. He is an animal with a very sick sense of humour. He terrorises my cat and pinches his food. Not content with this, he has now started spraying the front door regularly, so that a not-so-gentle aroma wafts through the house. The final straw came a few days ago when he got into the utility room while I was doing the washing and managed an expertly aimed squirt straight into the open washing machine.

Does anyone have any (harmless) anti-cat devices which actually work?

 

PS Apart from Stu's kitty-consuming viper vine, obviously.

 

air rifle.
lol

 

No idea who the cat belongs to? If you did, a word with them might be advised.

A water pistol (one of those pump action ones!) can work well - harmless but effective. Just don't let the owner see you doing it - our neighbour is now not speaking to a neighbour on the other side after he saw his cat being doused in water, probably because said cat is a pain in the **** and views any open door as an open invitation. Strange though, doesn't come over into our garden and no idea why not...

 

You have my sympathy ClaraLou.
Years ago I had a visiting tom cat who sprayed anywhere he could get to - my doors, windowcills, inside my house if he could get in, on my plants - everywhere.
I chased him every time I saw him and let him know he was not welcome - it made no difference.
The owner just said if you don't want him in your garden just chase him
Eventually I dissolved some mustard in water and put it in a spray gun.
I instructed everyone in the family to spray it at that cat.
One day my 8 year old daughter got him a bulls eye right on the b---s.
He never came back. Harmless but effective..
Give him the mustard treatment.

 

Thank you, Sussexgardener. I've no idea who owns this moggie - he has obviously not been 'done' - I doubt the owner is the responsible type - and I think he's a bit of a wanderer. Anyway, I've just dug out my son's old water gun and I'm getting it ready and primed - hasta la vista, kitty: this time it's personal.

 

Alice - thanks very much for the mustard tip. Now I just have to work out how to lurk behind the front door with a spray gun full of mustard water without the neighbours carting me off to the funny farm

 

I have a similar problem. I know the cat belongs to a neighbour, who until a couple of years back would beg me to shoot another neighbours cat as she did not like them messing in her garden. Now she has one her problems have stopped and the local cats prefer my garden.So far i have collected half a bucket of cat sh___ and will be soon throwing it back into her garden. I don't own a cat and don't even let my dogs foul in our garden why on earth would i want an other persons animal to use my garden as a toilet. Its her cat its her sh___.

 

Yes, there is a problematic loop hole in the law that means dogs have to be controlled but cats can roam free. I love cats, but I don't need a neighbours coming in and using my garden as a toilet.

 

It's so difficult because unfortunately you can't just have a quiet word with your cat and tell it to stay in its own garden. My mum had a cat called Toby who thought that the garden enthusiast next door was sieving the soil in his flowerbeds purely to provide passing moggies with superior toilet facilities. Needless to say, he wasn't the most popular of garden visitors. Fortunately my cat is elderly, toothless and scared stiff of blackbirds, let alone other cats, so he is quite content to stay in his own patch. I do think that toms cause the worst problems and cats which haven't been 'done' generally make rotten pets as well being a nuisance to the neighbours. And peeing in the washing machine? That is just warped.

 

If you have a cat that is repeatedly spraying the same place, it's because the ammonia is breaking down in the scent. The cat will then come back and spray again to remark. Many people go out and wash the area that is sprayed with some sort of cleaner that gives off the same sort of ammonia smell, which the cat thinks is another cat marking the territory. If you use something like Fairy liquid, it doesn't have ammonia, so doesn't alert the cat that someone else is spraying in what he considers his territory. I found that Fairy laundry detergent worked quite well, if I had run out of dishwashing liquid.
I used to have a cat that would come in and spray my kitchen wall, and when he could manage it, my poor little cat herself. I also made up a concoction of strong vinegar, chilli, a bit of mustard, and whatever else came to hand that was rather unpleasant, and kept it in a jar by the door. He got doused twice and never came back.

 

mix some very hot curry powder up in some cat food, then leave it out for the cat.. tust me your never see it again :rotfl:

 

Whatever we do to get rid of unwanted cats, remember there is a difference between deterrence and cruelty.

PS the same goes for foxes that you trap if you keep poultry. The fox must be dispatched cleanly and painlessly...and it's illegal to release it somewhere else once caught.

 

I wouldn't wish any cat serious harm. Not even ASBO.