Re: Re: OT Question= How to discourage a stray cat

[Guest guest]

The ideal would be to catch the cat, take him to the vet to be neutered and bring him back to his habitat. Some vets cooperate charging les or nothing. Perhaps there's some feral cat group around that can help.

Rena

Re: OT Question= How to discourage a stray cat

Funny,,,, my dog is a useless watch dog, he would probably let the catin the house. No, I don't know why he is suddenly hanging out here. Some of theother cats from his litter (neighbors have tons of strays and none arespayed or neutered) hang out around in my woods and so I assume hejust followed them over here. In early September I thought I smelledsomething foul under the deck. Thought maybe a mouse, chipmunk orsquirrel may have died under there but we couldn't see anything. Thecat started hanging out about a month ago and we're not sure if hesmelled that too and maybe that's what attracted him. He's alwaystrying to get in the garage so we keep everything pretty closed up.When the raccoons show up for the onions and orange peels, what willchase them away? LOL Ah, the joys of living in the country!!Thanks for the advice. Going now to fill two spray bottles, one withwater and one with vinegar.Chain a large hungry dog to your porch!> > KIDDING!!!> > A friend of mine used to discourage her cat from "enjoying" theChristmas > tree by putting half an onion in the base. I have also heard that cats > don't enjoy orange. You could try some onion slices and orange peel in > strategic locations and see if that offends him enough to go elsewhere.> Beyond being on hand to catch the kitty in the act, in which case aspray > bottle set on "stream" can be very eloquent, maybe setting upsomething that > will make lots of noise (pennies in a can sort of thing) should hetrip the > trap. (Not to be confused with tripping the light fantastic).> Also maybe washing down the targeted areas with a VERY strong vinegar > solution may be off-putting to the lil' rascal.> > Do you know why this boy suddenly decided to own your porch?> > Ev>

[Guest guest]

You could try hanging small bags of mothballs around your porch.

There is a product called Nature's Miracle that removes the urine and musk

smells. It can take away his scent so he may not feel obligated to refresh

it.

Gayla

Always Enough Ranch

Acampo, California

http://bouncinghoofs.com/alwaysenough.html

aeranch@...

[Guest guest]

Warning!!!....This post not for vegetarians......

Neutering a male cat can be done for about 3 cents. True! I always use the green rubber bands that we use to castrate calves and goats. It may sound awful, but it is not and it works. Saves $100 a cat. Let me know if you need more details.

Gayla Always Enough RanchAcampo, Californiahttp://bouncinghoofs.com/alwaysenough.htmlaeranch@...

Re: OT Question= How to discourage a stray cat

Funny,,,, my dog is a useless watch dog, he would probably let the catin the house. No, I don't know why he is suddenly hanging out here. Some of theother cats from his litter (neighbors have tons of strays and none arespayed or neutered) hang out around in my woods and so I assume hejust followed them over here. In early September I thought I smelledsomething foul under the deck. Thought maybe a mouse, chipmunk orsquirrel may have died under there but we couldn't see anything. Thecat started hanging out about a month ago and we're not sure if hesmelled that too and maybe that's what attracted him. He's alwaystrying to get in the garage so we keep everything pretty closed up.When the raccoons show up for the onions and orange peels, what willchase them away? LOL Ah, the joys of living in the country!!Thanks for the advice. Going now to fill two spray bottles, one withwater and one with vinegar.Chain a large hungry dog to your porch!> > KIDDING!!!> > A friend of mine used to discourage her cat from "enjoying" theChristmas > tree by putting half an onion in the base. I have also heard that cats > don't enjoy orange. You could try some onion slices and orange peel in > strategic locations and see if that offends him enough to go elsewhere.> Beyond being on hand to catch the kitty in the act, in which case aspray > bottle set on "stream" can be very eloquent, maybe setting upsomething that > will make lots of noise (pennies in a can sort of thing) should hetrip the > trap. (Not to be confused with tripping the light fantastic).> Also maybe washing down the targeted areas with a VERY strong vinegar > solution may be off-putting to the lil' rascal.> > Do you know why this boy suddenly decided to own your porch?> > Ev>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Rena! (Thanks for the welcome! I already feel at home here!).

Good point about getting the kid fixed, as that will certainly help with curtailing any population explosion. The bad news is, it will likely NOT stop him spritzing the porch - even females have been known to spray, albeit not very often. And once a male has become accustomed to the notion, sterilization may or may not prevent the urge to mark.

Ev

The ideal would be to catch the cat, take him to the vet to be neutered and bring him back to his habitat. Some vets cooperate charging les or nothing. Perhaps there's some feral cat group around that can help.

Rena

[Guest guest]

> Do you have any other pets? If not, I would recommend ceyanne.

> Tincture is okay, but powder is best. I've used it to repel strays,

> gophers and moles, skunks, deer, bear, and fox. Just sprinkle

> liberally around where you don't want them to go, or toss it at them

> if you see them, and you'll send them packing.

>

> Powdered Tonic mash works even better.

>

> Peace, love, laughter

>

Oh, that's interesting. I carry pepper spray when I walk my dogs - it's

astounding how many loose dogs think it's intelligent to approach 3 dogs

traveling together. ? I honestly don't know which is worse - my dogs are

loose and I don't see the intruder in time to call the boys back (my girl is

very good), or being tied to them via leashes and have the " ferenghi " decide

to come over and say hello.

But I hadn't thought of using it to repel unwanted visitors. We tried

cayenne sauce once on some fence posts our horses were chewing. sigh

Apparently, that's not really a functional deterrent to New Mexican horses!

Do you think it would keep the neighbors' cat out of the barn? I sometimes

am obliged to use poison to get rid of the mice, since my own cats can't get

out to the barn, and the neighbors' cat seems to be there to get a head

count, nothing more. But I worry about her whenever I put down poison for

the mice - not so much that she will eat the poison, but that she will eat a

poisoned mouse.

Ev

[Guest guest]

There are special programs all over the country that do it for free, or at a low cost.

Anyone can contact groups that deal with feral cats to find out. There's enough space for everybody without any need to hurt animals.

Rena

Re: OT Question= How to discourage a stray cat

Funny,,,, my dog is a useless watch dog, he would probably let the catin the house. No, I don't know why he is suddenly hanging out here. Some of theother cats from his litter (neighbors have tons of strays and none arespayed or neutered) hang out around in my woods and so I assume hejust followed them over here. In early September I thought I smelledsomething foul under the deck. Thought maybe a mouse, chipmunk orsquirrel may have died under there but we couldn't see anything. Thecat started hanging out about a month ago and we're not sure if hesmelled that too and maybe that's what attracted him. He's alwaystrying to get in the garage so we keep everything pretty closed up.When the raccoons show up for the onions and orange peels, what willchase them away? LOL Ah, the joys of living in the country!!Thanks for the advice. Going now to fill two spray bottles, one withwater and one with vinegar.Chain a large hungry dog to your porch!> > KIDDING!!!> > A friend of mine used to discourage her cat from "enjoying" theChristmas > tree by putting half an onion in the base. I have also heard that cats > don't enjoy orange. You could try some onion slices and orange peel in > strategic locations and see if that offends him enough to go elsewhere.> Beyond being on hand to catch the kitty in the act, in which case aspray > bottle set on "stream" can be very eloquent, maybe setting upsomething that > will make lots of noise (pennies in a can sort of thing) should hetrip the > trap. (Not to be confused with tripping the light fantastic).> Also maybe washing down the targeted areas with a VERY strong vinegar > solution may be off-putting to the lil' rascal.> > Do you know why this boy suddenly decided to own your porch?> > Ev>

[Guest guest]

In any case, sterilization will help the cat and future cats, and may avoid the unwanted behavior.

Rena

Re: Re: OT Question= How to discourage a stray cat

Hi, Rena! (Thanks for the welcome! I already feel at home here!).

Good point about getting the kid fixed, as that will certainly help with curtailing any population explosion. The bad news is, it will likely NOT stop him spritzing the porch - even females have been known to spray, albeit not very often. And once a male has become accustomed to the notion, sterilization may or may not prevent the urge to mark.

Ev

The ideal would be to catch the cat, take him to the vet to be neutered and bring him back to his habitat. Some vets cooperate charging les or nothing. Perhaps there's some feral cat group around that can help.

Rena

[Guest guest]

I just remembered...try a squirt gun... I used to use one on a inside cat who liked the table... I could squirt from a distance and he didn't like it and it didn't hurt him.. abbottteresa1 <tabbott@...> wrote: Thanks, I will try using vinegar. I scare him off at least once per day.> Try spraying with acv or white vinegar... and put up some thingsthat blow in the wind to startle him.. besides chasing him off ifyou're around.

[Guest guest]

, Spray the vinegar on the porch not on him... in case I didn't make that clear. Suziabbottteresa1 <tabbott@...> wrote: Funny,,,, my dog is a useless watch dog, he would probably let the catin the house. No, I don't know why he is suddenly hanging out here. Some of theother cats from his litter (neighbors have tons of strays and none arespayed or neutered) hang out around in my woods and so I assume hejust followed them over here. In early September I thought I smelledsomething foul under the deck. Thought maybe a mouse, chipmunk orsquirrel may have died under there but we couldn't see anything. Thecat started hanging out about a month ago and we're not sure if hesmelled that too and maybe that's what attracted him. He's alwaystrying to get in the

garage so we keep everything pretty closed up.When the raccoons show up for the onions and orange peels, what willchase them away? LOL Ah, the joys of living in the country!! __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Complete or super tonic.. It's natures antibiotic.. it's in the files under Natural Herbal remedies... ACV, garlic, horseradish, ginger root, white onion/ habeneros or hot peppers, basically. Suziabbottteresa1 <tabbott@...> wrote: I have an indoor cat and our 12 year old lab who is mostly inside. Iwill try the cayenne and just keep the dog off the deck. What is Powdered Tonic mash and where would I find it? __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

>I wish his owner would have thought to have all of them taken care of

> but they won't spend any money on them. We used to help find homes

> for the kittens but since they just keep coming it's too difficult.

>

> He is very skiddish and we can't get too close before he runs.

~~~~If you are determined to try and find someone to neuter him for

cheap/free, well, do that first! Find out whoever might be willing. Then

check with your local county animal control folks for a trap. Here we have

to pay for it, but get the money back when we return the trap.

Then bait and cover the trap and hope for the best.

Ev

[Guest guest]

You can rent a have a heart trap. That works. Anneabbottteresa1 <tabbott@...> wrote: I will never be able to catch him. And, he's not mine.>> > > >I wish his owner would have thought to have all of them taken care of> > but they won't spend any money on them. We used to help find homes> > for

the kittens but since they just keep coming it's too difficult.> >> > He is very skiddish and we can't get too close before he runs.> > > ~~~~If you are determined to try and find someone to neuter him for > cheap/free, well, do that first! Find out whoever might be willing.Then > check with your local county animal control folks for a trap. Herewe have > to pay for it, but get the money back when we return the trap.> Then bait and cover the trap and hope for the best.> > Ev>

[Guest guest]

>I will never be able to catch him. And, he's not mine.

>

Mm. Well, I expect you'll do the best you can with discouraging his hanging

out.

But if I talk to my neighbors about their own pets creating problems with

unwanted visiting, and they do nothing to correct the situation, then I feel

whatever I do with animals on MY property is entirely within my rights.

Mind you, I'm certainly not talking about shooting anything, unless there's

a dog pack going after my own animals!

If you are more comfortable trying the other options first (and I don't

blame you), let us know how they work for you!

Ev