Urgent Advice - Cat poop in garden - Arrrrgh!

I think the secret is to eliminate there scent (and a dog ) when i done my front garden there was cat poop in the same place for about a week, I bought a spray that keeps cats and dogs off your borders sprayed around the area and haven't had any more poop
Your cat scarer is gorgeous Kelly, my all time favourite kind of dog..

 

I have been reading a few forums on American and Australian web sites on the problems that cats cause in these countries you are allowed to humanely trap them inform the local authority who keep them for 8 days to see if the owner claims them if they don't the cats are re-homed or euthanased.
A couple of questions come to mind,
1. why should the person who is troubled by these felines have to skulk around with water pistols or go to expense of buying sonic scarers when the owners of the cat should be more responsible for their pets actions.
2.If these pet owners consider themselves pet lovers how can they let their pet roam free and risk it being run over, being attacked by dogs or irate gardeners,being poisoned,or picking up cat flue or feline aids ?
It's time the law was altered make owners accountable for their animals I have heard all the guff about cats being free spirits etc it's time they were brought into line the way that dogs were,many owners do take that responsibility, the term "house cats" has been adopted the cats have a happy secure life in their own home some are harnessed and exercised on a lead their toilet needs taken care of in their own garden.

 

:ntwrth::ntwrth::gnthb::gnthb::gnthb::gnthb::gnthb: Well that post says it all in a Walnutshell. Bang on!

 

Walnut, Cats are cats, free spirits and very intelligent animals. To coop them up as house cats would be nothing short of cruelty. As for leads, all well and good until you meet an uncontrolled dog.

Perhaps we should compell dog owners to keep their dogs muzzled and on leads in public.

 

http://www.cats.org.uk (cats protection league website)

How can I keep the neighbourhood cats out of my garden?

It must be remembered though that cats have territory areas that do not necessarily match human boundaries, and of course they do not realise that they are doing anything wrong by heading off next door. By law cats are protected from physical violence, so do not hit or kick them to get them off your property.

There are many ways to deter a cat from entering your garden, some are humane, others barbaric (like electric shock fences). Cats Protection recommends a number of humane deterrents, which are far more effective than many of the products on the market. Shooing or clapping away a cat does the job in the short-term, but often cats will just learn to avoid coming into your garden when you are present, but will still come through when it is 'safe'. Another alternative is to use a short, sharp jet of cold water: this needs to be associated with being in a particular place, so should be used just as the cat jumps onto a fence or wall, or comes under the fence. In this way, the aversive event will be more likely to be linked to entering the garden rather than you being there with a water pistol! As well as doing this manually with a water pistol, you can also buy a product, such as a Scarecrow, to fire the water for you (it uses heat and movement sensors).

Another product you may wish to try is Catwatch, an ultrasound alarm triggered by the movement and body heat of an animal as it enters the protected area. The idea is that the ultrasound frequencies turn off when the cat leaves the protected area and he learns not to enter that area again or the noise will reoccur. Research has found, however, that these ultrasound products do not tend to deter cats very effectively.


http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/leaflets/EG10-Catsandthelaw.pdf
Cats and the Law leaflet.

I've got both cats and a dog and I hope that none of them are a nuisance to any of my neighbours - no one has ever complained to me about them.

 

I wonder what the automated products, like the 'Scarecrow' and the ultrasonic thing to when other wildlife approaches, such as birds and hedgehogs.

 

Thats true Clueless but what happens when you go out to hang the washing?

 

Just looked on t'internet and found some vids on you tube, some showing how it worked others with kids being soaked and one with a GSD pup playing with the water jet. I would assume it would go off with anything coming into sensor range

 

Walnut, although you are the master in many fields:ntwrth: The dog/cat thing is different. A dog is a pet. A cat isn't. You don't train a cat. It's a wild animal that happens to prefer to live in your house rather than anywhere else. We like them because they're a bit like woman. Totally independent and will hang about while they're happy, if they're not, they vanish, ( at least, the cat leaves the house with you:D) But pets, they ain't

 

Pro said,

Paul it is not strictly true cooping them up as you put it is not cruel,dogs were free spirits once so were budgies and canaries etc,once a cat has been neutered it tends to be a home animal anyway and doesn't wander far,many thousands of cats are killed and injured every year on our roads in my oppinion there is nothing more cruel than that,house cats also live longer than there free wandering counter parts.
The bit about all dogs being muzzled outside I completely agree.
Caj. cats can be trained(there are some that can use the loo) it's just that people don't spend the time with their pets as is the case with dogs and even children.

 

well there is quite a debate on here!

I have an old tarpaulin which i intend to cover the freshly dug ground with. We're not actually living at the house at the moment so i'm not there to use a water pistol, but i reckon when we move in (and have the ground lawned, plants etc) i will prob try to block their way in first of all - will growing climbers along the fence help with this? And i will also use a water pistol when im home as we have house rabbits and they will be allowed to run loose in the garden when we're home. Luckily our lounge opens onto the patio so we can watch tv and keep an eye on the cats - darn things. The water jet thing might be useful for when we're not at home!

Thanks everyone!

PS i'd love a dog to be on cat duty but we both work all day and have house bunnies so not sure a dog is a great idea :-(