Cat Deterrent Talk.? All post of this nature in this thread only.. Humane talk only please.!

No gorse available then gooseberry prunings work, in fact so do mahonia, berberis, rose etc prunings.

 

I am still putting down gorse as and when required. I also planted a couple of Ulex gallii, (Western gorse), which I raised from seed I collected on Zenner Moor. Much lower growing than common gorse.
My next issue is their eating the food I put out for the foxes. I don't put food out in the summer, as there is no shortage around, but winter is coming so I'm starting again.
People have mentioned water spray cat repellents. I can see that this should work with cats while not bothering the hedgehogs too much. I suspect that the water spray, itself, might deter the foxes, and, as they use an oscillating spray head, it will give out a rapid clacking sound.
Has anyone any experience using them around foxes?

 

Regarding the fox food what are you using?
I was told to put worming medicine in a jam sandwich, not suggesting you just feed them on jam sandwiches but the point is foxes appear to like sweet things and cats dont, not sure what that leaves.

I feed them on raw sausages, the cats do have a nibble but mostly are not that impressed.

 

Last winter I used calci worms, bits of suet blocks and a hedgehog food I bought (Not all at the same time). The fox(es) ate them happily, cats ignored. After I restricted access, I used dog biscuits for the fox.
Problem was, and is, that all 3 of them like the dog biscuits.
I have at least 4 cats that come in, and an unknown number of foxes.
Last night the cats scoffed all the foxes food before they showed up, very briefly.
Last winter I had a vixen, two younger(?) ones, one who was very wary of hedgehogs and 1 that I suspect was a dog. Only saw him once driving one of the younger(?) ones off.
All of them were, and still are, very nervous when here, always in the early hours. There would only be 2 creatures around in this area, at those hours, that they might be wary of; other foxes and/or cats. Most of the time the hogs are ignored by, and ignores both foxes and cats, apart from just going flatter.
I won't put any meat out. Where I am is right on the edge of a large area of agricultural land and woodlands. Perfect rat territory. I have caught a rat once, on my trail cam, and some neighbours have had rat issues. I don't want to encourage rats, thank you.
The jam sandwich is not a bad idea, though. I'd prefer to omit the bread and just use jam, because foxes love berries. I've never tried it but yes a bowl of berries each night. and the cats wouldn't bother with it.
Hmmm. Could become expensive.

 

I have known foxes eat a few peanuts.
I sit in my conservatory and throw a sausage onto the grass outside around the same time every evening, I can pretty much guarantee a fox will be there within 10 minutes to pick it up, I then throw another one out, 3 every evening.


If I dont, and I'm sitting in there, and the door is open, then the fox puts his head round the door as if reminding me, as long as I stay still he/she is fine and just moves off.
You could try doggy snacks, the chewy kind of thing.

 

This is worth a read.
Red Fox Diet | The Fox Project

 

We have regular visitors which are fed each night. The main one, who sits patiently outside the porch door at sun down, DOES NOT LIKE DOG FOOD! My wife feeds him chicken! At first it was the old meat pushed to the back of the freezers, now she buys chicken thighs especially for him.
Half a bowl of chicken, half a bowl of dog stuff. Not a big bowl but you can see the pecking order as they seem to wait their turn. Sometimes, she adds the jelly from cooked meats....they all love that, even the big ginger tom that muscles in now and again....pushing the dog food out of the way to get to the jelly. It's quite comical really!
Benefits of having predators in the garden? I don't seem to have as many rodents scurrying through now.
Only recently learned foxes like cockchafer grubs, so another benefit.
Down side now, occasional holes in the lawn looking for these grubs.....and territory marking. The smell is not pleasant in warm sunshine!
Sorry to go off topic with the fox talk, but I did mention a cat!

 

Tonight my wife went out to feed her little friends, when she started calling me in a trembling voice. I thought she'd fallen over, or something so I rushed outside to be greeted with 'oh you frightened him off!'
Apparently, when she got outside, not only was her favourite fox sitting patiently waiting to be fed, there was a hedgehog waiting with it, blinking up at the light!
So, add that to the list of things queuing up to be waited on

 

Being in Brighton, your's are probably more urban than mine.
Mine are so edgy, continually.
I'm not sure why they are so wary. I don't know if it is cats or other foxes, but I suspect foxes.
I've never caught cats and foxes at the same time on video.
I wonder if, being rural foxes, they are less comfortable around cats.
If I can find a way to exclude cats, it would remove one variable.
That was why I was asking about the spray system.
I do envy you and your friendly visitors. Enjoy them.

 

My experience is that cats are usually avoided by foxes, foxes wait if cats are eating the food, but any movement away and the foxes are in there and grab the food and run off.

If there is no food they will almost ignore one another.

 

Good call to create a dedicated space for cat deterrent discussions. It's a topic that can get heated fast. Remember, cats are charming creatures, but managing their behavior sometimes needs a bit of creative problem-solving.

 

Hello Pet Lovers, I am a newbie on this forum and I would like to discuss a topic which I dont understand what to do. I have two cats, one male and another female. They are almost two years old. They are adjustable to each other and they play together joyfully.

But recently I have noticed a change has come between them. Sometimes they are not comfortable with each other. I understand the reason, actually a male cat has started coming to my house and he targeted to my male cat (Muju). As my house is surrounded by a big garden, so sometimes he use the garden as a toilet and sometimes he destroys the saplings and plants of my garden.

I am tense about how to stop the outsider cat. Otherwise he can fight with my Muju or can harm. So I want to resist him coming to my house and my garden. Could anyone please tell me how to do it? Please suggest...

 

I have nothing against cats, per se, as my ex wife had 4.
What I cannot understand is why cats are the ONLY domestic animal that has the right to go anywhere and do what ever it wants, with their owners bearing no legal responsibities.
Why can't we emulate what places such as London, Ontario and other Canadian cities have done. All cats tagged and fines for owners who allow cats to roam.

http://www.concordanimals.com/Responsible_Cat_Ownership.htm

I realise that if we did, there would be a very load outcry over the fact that strays and unclaimed cats would have to be put down in large numbers. No thought or mention will be made of the much higher number of wild animals slaughtered by the cats.