Hello. We have two cats who recently are disturbed by visits of a local cat. We know it lives in the house behind our garden. It’s being quite cheeky, walks up to the French door they sit by etc. and scares them (they are indoor only, we do take them out but on a leash). The other day one of them was so scared she hid and didn’t eat after that. It’s just really annoying because they love chilling by open windows (secured) and we even thought to build them a catio but now I don’t think it’s a good idea.
Any good ways on how to deter that cat from coming in? I scared it away every time it came around but keeps on coming back. I know that it uses low fence at the back to hop in (seen it with my own eyes), but since we live in a rental property I don’t think I can change it. We also live in a terraced house so if it ain’t gonna use our fence, it will use neighbours next door to come into our garden. Do any other things such as some cat deterrent plants or maybe ultrasonic deterrents work/exist?
I also take a guess it’s a tom looking for a girl, would it make sense to suggest the owner neutering maybe?
9 comments
A water pistol would be my vote; they hate it, but it doesn’t hurt them.
Yes, I’m just looking for an excuse to buy a super soaker
Second water pistol.
Get a garden sprinkler that you can set off when they come into the garden.
Put orange peels into a jar then cover with vinegar and leave 24 hours before decanting into a spray bottle. Spray where the other cat sits and its route to your house, within the confines of your own property. Do not spray on plants, it will kill them.
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The ultrasonic thingies do work. I absolutely hate them myself (I can hear the frequencies) but they work. Our neighbour got a cat. On day 2 we found shit in the garden. Then it was rainy and cold back in winter so I didn’t check the garden, but 2 weeks later I counted 13 poos. Got a thingy off amazon, not a single shit since. Face it where they come in do it’s not triggered bt you moving about in the garden, but the cats will bounce back where they came from
*Cat walks in* your cat: oh MaN I’m EmoTioNally dAmaGeD I’m NoT gONa EaT foR wEEks, let’s TrY TO GeT thEir cAt NeuterED
Cats love height, and use height for dominance. When the cat sits outside your doors, is the cat on the same level or higher than your cats?
You could try to give your cats comfy options which are higher up, so they can look down on the cat when it comes in your garden, and feel more secure. Something like a multi level cat tree. Or try to break up sight lines so the cats can’t just sit and stare at each other through the window/door.
It is a known issue for cats, being stressed by stranger cats coming into their perceived territory. Another thing you could try is giving your cat treats when the cat comes near, so they start to experience a positive association with the cats appearance in your garden. I have no idea how effective that would be, but eating near a new cat, when they can smell them is one of the steps of introducing new cats to each other, so it could help.
A super soaker is a good idea if you are able to target the cat. If my cat was causing an issue in one of my neighbours gardens, getting wet is a painless deterrent, and would be a decent compromise in trying to get my cat to avoid their garden
Edited to add: it’s not necessarily a Tom cat. Cats have decent sized ranging areas, but a Tom cat will go a lot further. Coming in from the bottom of your garden really isn’t far for a neutered curious cat. Mine will follow me 150m up the road happily. Our bottom of the garden neighbours’ cat regularly does a square loop of the gardens, quite often popping in through our cat flap for a little snack at night before going further on down our road.
I’ve got cat scarers in my garden to deter neighbours cats. My cat doesn’t take any notice of them and enjoys the garden to herself.