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You are trying to justify your actions on feeding these cats and letting one of them sleep in your bed at night by being snarky about others "morality ideals" and being the cat police. Yes, some, like usual, have a rude way of saying their opinion and could he a little nicer but honestly, people have given you very good advice on your situation that may save you financially.
Your neighbor may have legal recourse against you for making the area a nice place to be for these cats (by feeding these cats and letting one sleep in your bed)....depending on the laws where you live.
Stop feeding the cats is the simplest solution, as others have mentioned. Also, take the one that adopted you into a no kill shelter. That cat is technically yours, no matter how you look at it.
I am assuming your neighbor would be pretty happy if you stopped putting out food and letting the one sleep in your bed (then let out). I would be super ticked off if my porch railings were damaged and front door being stinky because of stray cats someone was feeding...l would not care what their reasonings are.
Here is a list of deterrants your neighbor may want to know about (advice given from animal contol), YOU may want to buy your neighbor one or more of these things as a gesture of good will.....
Smells that repel cats: dried rue, Citrus or lemon scents (orange peels, lemon peels), garlic, ammonia, vinegar, coffee grinds, pipe tobacco, mustard, citronella, or eucalyptus all deter cats as well. The scents diminish over time, so re-applying is necessary.
May have to spray the porch posts with one of these scents OR maybe put a bowl of ammonia/vinegar/coffee grinds or whatever next to the scratched posts.
Motion-activated sprinklers: These have motion sensors that trigger a short blast of water. Motion-activated, ultrasonic alarm: This alarm emits a high-pitched sound that repels cats, but can’t be heard by humans.
Your advice is in my face where it doesn't need to be and is unneeded and unwanted. Get a dime and call someone who cares.
As several people have mentioned that cats don't like citrus smells, I thought I might get lemon pledge and spray that on the wood posts. The owner has already given his permission so I bought two cans today. I'll be going over tomorrow to do the spraying. I would like to update people on this, but I'm already fed up with people here who insist on minding my business when all I asked for was some advice on cats that scratched things. So this will be my last post here.
Life is too short to put up with other people's crap. For those of you who don't like me feeding the cats or bringing one into my home, sit on a long stick and take a spin around.
Edit to add: to those who were trying to be helpful, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Last edited by rodentraiser; 02-05-2024 at 08:09 PM..
I have two spayed male cats. If you look under their tales, it looks like something was snipped off under the rectum.
I was feeding a 3rd cat for a while. I did look under its tail and I could see he still had his testicles.
So, for me, it was easy to tell the difference.
Even though I already have a sisal cloth scratcher on my porch, a friend gave me an extra one of those cheap cardboard scratchers. The cats love it! They often use it after I get home from work. Maybe your neighbor would be willing to keep one of those on his porch?
Those of you telling him to stop feeding the cats - are any of you cat owners? If you love cats, it's not easy to turn away a hungry cat.
Around here in the Bay Area, many of the vet clinics are understaffed and it can be hard to find a shelter with the capacity to take in more TNR cats. I read the cost of spaying a male cat can range from $250 - $2,000. If you're on a fixed income, that is a lot of $.
I have two spayed male cats. If you look under their tales, it looks like something was snipped off under the rectum.
Unfortunately, this particular cat hates to have his/her hind legs or the lower part of her belly touched and will sink her teeth into anyone who tries. Ask me how I found this out. LOL
The cat is generally very affectionate though, and I am desensitizing her to touching her back legs. Veeerrrry slowly.
Unfortunately, this particular cat hates to have his/her hind legs or the lower part of her belly touched and will sink her teeth into anyone who tries. Ask me how I found this out. LOL
The cat is generally very affectionate though, and I am desensitizing her to touching her back legs. Veeerrrry slowly.
I just found this thread tonight and I am sorry you got the “cat police” on your case. You were doing a good thing trying to stop the damage to your neighbor’s property. Good luck with the Pledge. I hope it works.
If both cats are altered, the spraying should stop.
We have 5 cats.
They've all been 'fixed' for 6 odd years.
4 are males.
They ALL spray to mark areas in our yard, here & there . . . bushes, fences, wherever . . .
3 of them were fixed at 3 1/2 months of age, 1 at about 8 months, & the older papa cat, age unknown.
But they ALL spray . . . even the female.
HOWEVER, a fixed male's spray is much less potent & smelly than an intact male's!
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