Despite trying everything possible to deter the trespassing felines from the neighbour’s uncontrolled ‘herd’ of 30 or so (and still breeding), my tomato garden is still a targeted area for litterbox activities!!! This has got to stop! What gives people the right to allow their animals to totally destroy neighbouring properties??? Why would anyone even want to be that inconsiderate??? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
—Oceanlady
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.
That’s why God invented dogs. Get one.
Haha, good one kay.
A dog would be great! I would lovvvvve to have a dog! However, in fairness to the dog, I do not currently have the time a dog deserves. Besides, allowing a dog to roam/patrol the yard, defeats the purpose when the objective is a toilet-free back yard in which to grow food.
Another neighbour who does own a dog has the same litterbox problem associated with these cats. The dog is not much of a deterrent to such alarge number of cats. They have a large territory that affects properties up and down our street, both sides! To be effective the dog would need to roam the yard freely 24/7 which would necessitate the huge expense of installing adequate fencing and gating the driveway.
All the cat-person needs to do is spend $100 or so to build a cat-run to confine the herd. They are not interested in showing consideration, to either the many neighbours affected or the very cats themselves who are un-neutered and breeding new additions all the time! It is nothing more than a feral cat colony that is being housed and fed by an elderly incompetent who perpetuates the problem under the illusion that she is ‘helping’ the poor kitties! It’s is absurdity at it’s best! And utter insanity at the worst.
… invest in a shotgun?
Sorry Fizz, it is illegal to harm the animals and as a pacifist, I would not, even if it were allowable. Besides, it is not the poor moggy’s fault that the owner is inconsiderate and inept.
I’m sorry that your having this problem. That is quite a large herd of pusses. Its just insane that they are un-neutered. Ugh. Its expensive to get cats neutered and its likely that she couldn’t afford to do it.
There needs to be a way to spay and neuter cats in situations like this as not doing so just leads to a never ending cycle of more and more unwanted cats and also a lot of difficult cat behavior. Perhaps as well as spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on subsidising rock concerts on the commons for the people who can afford $125 tickets, the city could spend a bit to help to spay and neuter some of the feral cats on the penninsula. Owners should be doing this themselves, but in cases where cats don’t get fixed maybe there could be a program in place to help.
We adopted a stray a couple of years ago and had him fixed. Now he is fat and happy and has stopped his ceasless wandering and fighting(judging by his scars).
One of our cats was using our neighbors side yard as a litter box on occasion. By the time our neighbors brought this to our attention, it turned out that another of our cats (also a male) was getting interested in using the same area. We talked to the neighbors about strategies that we could follow to try to solve the problem.
What finally worked was when we gave their side yard a once over every night and removed any cat droppings and then immediately sprinkled hot chili powder on that area and randomly onto the lawn. It took about a month of doing this but the problem now seems to be solved and our cats no longer use their yard.
The chili powder is available from the foodstore in a large bottle and seems to last quite well on the lawn. It should be renewed after the rain. It seems to have no negative effect on the plants that it touches.
We have several large litter boxes in the house that we clean at least once a day, this is a must. We also keep a patch of earth in our own back yard tilled and bare so that they can use it as a litter box.
I have read of folks having success by sprinkling human urine in the areas that the cats like to use will deter them(and should act as a natural fertilizer!!!). I guess the idea is that the territory would then be “marked” by the human smell and thus would be off limits to the cats. It may be necessary to use male urine for this, hormones and all that.
We also beefed up the fence between our yards so that our cats could no longer get into their back yard. This entailed adding hardware cloth along the bottom of the fence to prevent the cats from going under it(they can’t jump it).
We were very pleased that our tactics worked and if they hadn’t we would have tried another way.
Maybe you could try the chilli pepper Oceanlady. It won’t solve the whole problem but it might work for your garden patch.
Instead of a shogun, use a slingshot. That way the pussies will just be a little bruised.
Maybe you should build a greenhouse.
Or good ole fashion chicken wire if you’re on a budget.
Barbed wire? Or Deet?
Popsicle sticks.
Go to the dollarama and buy several packages of popsicle sticks. Stick them in the ground all over your garden, pretty close together. Everywhere a cat tries to squat, a stick pokes it in the ass. It doesn’t hurt them, it just inconveniences them. It’s cheap, environmentally friendly, humane, and above all, effective!
A group of cats is called a clowder or a clutter… just thought I’d pass that along.
get the hose
Or, call the cops and report the neighbour. It’s a total asshole thing for them to allowed their cats to do. No one should have 30 cats.
Ha “cat person” “she is ‘helping’ the poor kitties!” come on just say it cat lady. Just find a single old man and send him over.
Dino jr knows how to do cat calls now from all her experience with them, Perhaps she can come over and speak to the neighbours cats for you and ask them stay away.
And I am sure TTFN could unleash a verbal beat down on the neighbours for you.
I say the bitchers start a service were we show up in real life to dole out the solutions to OP’s problems. In these tough economic times a little extra income could go a long way no?
Noisy Neighbour having loud sex at 3 am?…Jane D’oh is on it! for $40 she will show up outside their place of work in the middle of the day and play an audio recording on a portable PA system of them do it
Guy smoking in the Bus Shelter? for $200 Miles ( from home ) and I will following him around for a day dressed as marching band members and play an off-key tune to the tempo of what ever he is doing. Extra funny if he takes the bus or walked anywere that day. I CALL THE BIG BASS DRUM!
Someone break up with you in a cruel way and rip your heart out? For $7 Kay will date him ( just kidding kay, I had to it was too easy )
Try placing some rocks around them. Cats like loose soil to scratch in, so any freshly planted garden is prime pooping grounds. Also if you have any extra tomato supports just stick em in. Cruelty free.
Oh fuck you, lovinglife.
what about the cat by-law, didn’t Super Dave Osbourne (Kelly) negotiate this in camera with 14 consultants, a gerbil, the Geico Gekko, a representative of pussies’r’us, and Bud the Spud?
It’s Friday and 2 hours until I can have a Keiths, life suxxxxx
Great idea lovinglife. I’ll bring the trombone most of the time but I gotta use the Tuba for the fatties.
OP, citrus peels broken up in to chunks and tossed throughout the garden work great. Just save the peel from whatever you use/ eat, cut or tear it into bits and throw it in. They’ll work for one to two weeks, then turn the soil over (if you like) and throw some more on.
have a sense of humour Dino!
Just kidding, I love you.
better 🙂
oh fer fuksake, just put some chicken wire (or similar) around your tomato garden, and stop your whining.
btw, have you actually approached/talked to your neighbour about this? that might help.
it seems haligonians are really polarized on the cat issue. there are those of us who like/love cats, and don’t see them as a problem… while others have a pathological hate-on for cats, and will go out of their way to harm them. not you, necessarily, but i do know of one person who is like that.
anyway, try entering this into your browser:
http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+prev…
a little research/ingenuity never hurt anybody, ya know!
Hi Ocean Lady,
You obviously have never owned a cat. They aren’t like dogs. You can’t train them, you can’t kennel them. Cat’s roam. That’s all there is to it. I’m not saying they should use your tomato patch as a litter box, but pretend for a minute you are a cat. You see this gorgeously turned soft soil. It looks like a wonderful place to take a dump (since you bury your poop, unlike dogs.)
So, to deter these cats from pooping on your tomatoes I suggest a 2 part approach which has worked for me for years (I am both an avid gardener, and a cat lover who owns 3)
Part 1:
Go to the bulk barn and buy a whack load (and I mean whack load) of chili flakes. Turn them into the 1st inch of soil in your vegetable garden.
Next time the cats use your garden as litterbox the chili will burn their little paws (ouch!)and they won’t go back and do it again. The chili flakes won’t hurt your tomatoes, and they might even help give them some extra zip.
Part 2:
Provide a new more appealing option! Tend the soil in a nearby flower garden so that it is just as light and fluffy as that around your veggies. Realizing that their favourite poop station now burns, the cats will look for a new location, and your flowers will benefit from the nitrogen in the cat pee and the free fertilizer of the cat poop. This will bring more bees to your garden, which will lead to more fertilization of your tomatoes etc… you have created a positive feedback loop!
And remember, these cats are providing a service by keeping down the mouse and rat populations in your neighbourhood.