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The chicken wire sounds like a great idea. Not expensive, no fun for clawing, and removable. Also not too noticeable from a distance.
I have used chicken wire around young trees due to cats. Worked well. I have also laid it down in garden areas to keep cats from digging. I love cats but they can't be allowed to rule the world.
Please do not take them to the pound. I suggest you find a no kill place for them and donate as much as you can so they have a chance to be spayed, neutered, rabies shots and distemper shots.
They all need to be trapped and medically taken care of. If not TNR then adopted, if all else fails you have to take them somewhere else to be safe and not reproduce or be euthanized.
Find a place you can get the trap that won't hurt them. Stop free feeding them and only put food inside the humane trap that is covered to be so obvious it's a close trap.
I hope you do this soon and not assume they are all spayed, neutered and given much needed vaccinations.
Anyway, I'm here to ask if anyone has any suggestions on what I can do to keep them from shredding the neighbors' porch posts. And from peeing on their front door, if they're doing that. Has anyone dealt with this before and if you have, what did you use and did it work?
Stop feeding them. Eventually they will get the hint and go elsewhere. And hopefully stay away from your neighbors house. And if they don't well your neighbor can catch them and take them to the pound. They are not your cats so its not your responsivity to keep them from your neighbors house.
......... so you can see where I'm feeling sort of responsible.......
Sorta responsible? More like fully responsible since the cats have been hanging around because you feed them. If no one fed them, they would have wandered off long ago to find a better neighborhood.
Do not feed stray cat in general and specifically do not feed cats that you know belong to someone else. All you are doing is bringing them into your neighborhood to stay, and while, apparently they do not bother you, none of your neighbors appreciate having them staying around because you are encouraging them.
And I suspect that the owner of the combed long haired cat does not appreciate your luring their cat away and alienating its affections.
Sorta responsible? More like fully responsible since the cats have been hanging around because you feed them. If no one fed them, they would have wandered off long ago to find a better neighborhood.
Do not feed stray cat in general and specifically do not feed cats that you know belong to someone else. All you are doing is bringing them into your neighborhood to stay, and while, apparently they do not bother you, none of your neighbors appreciate having them staying around because you are encouraging them.
Exactly. I do NOT understand why people feed ferals. I don't get it.
Exactly. I do NOT understand why people feed ferals. I don't get it.
People who feed cats should do TNR. If they don't want to do TNR then at least be humane and do the Trap and bring to the local animal shelter. We caught feral cats when I was young and my Father gave them to the animal shelter. I use to feed strays born locally and they were so darn cute and sweet I adopted two of them and another from work that was born a stray but I got that kitten before being forced to be feral. I knew they were not meant to be wild or live like wild predator cats.
Many people feed ferals out of empathy for them and some people I know have actually go the cats to become indoor cats. It took them a long time to get the cats to trust but to them it was well worth the patience. But as I said do TNR or be humane get them help.
I came here to see if anyone had any tips about stopping cats from scratching, not to be lectured by the cat police.
First of all, I live in a 5th wheel. There's no possible way to make an outdoor cat into an indoor cat inside a 5th wheel. I know these cats roam over several acres.
Secondly, I wasn't feeding them when they showed up. I do feed birds but I don't think that's the reason the cats showed up. I think they just roam over the area in a circle.
I didn't adopt the black cat - the black cat adopted me. I didn't want a cat. They showed up in winter when we had snow on the ground for two weeks and looked hungry, so I put some food out for them. The black one took that as an invitation to move in. The long-haired tortoiseshell goes home after eating and I don't usually see her again for the rest of the day.
If the owner doesn't like me getting his cat's affection, then he should let me know. I wish he would! I'd like to know who the owner is! But if he pet and brushed his cat and loved her up the way I do, maybe the cat wouldn't have hung around my place and moved in.
There is no cat shelter where I live. The only shelter in the largest town in this county is for dogs only. There are several independent cat shelters, but they only adopt out to inside homes only, so they won't accept outdoor cats. The shelter in the next county will only accept animals from residents of their county. Besides, as I said, I believe these two cats already have an owner here.
Tortoiseshells are by color almost all female, but if I haven't seen any sign of kittens in two years, then she's probably spayed. I also think the one that adopted me is a neutered male but even if he wasn't, I haven't seen a sign of kittens in two years and that cat has been here on a daily basis for the last two years.
I'm sure no one likes the cats roaming around, me included. We have bobcats, coyotes, bears, and cougars up here. I worry constantly about them getting eaten. But as I said, you can't make an outdoor cat into an indoor cat inside a 5th wheel, so it is what it is.
Even my birds have adjusted to the cats. They know when the black one is gone and then they all come to feed.
Please, can we stick to the title of this thread and not try to cat shame everyone who doesn't match your cat morality ideals?
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.
Last edited by beckerd2; 02-03-2024 at 10:35 PM..
Reason: abc
RodentRaiser is right and I've seen others, myself included, who come here for advice because there's a lot of good advice to be gotten here. BUT if you want to shame people and drive them away, you may think you're doing some favor for cats, but your outcome will be just the opposite.
Cats where I live are considered free roaming and animal control doesn't give a hoot about them. My motto is I will feed any hungry cat that comes around because being healthy is going to be more help to the general cat population than otherwise. I have one that adopted me and he also sleeps on my bed after spending a lot of his days outside. I have two indoor only cats, so no one else gets in, but anyone hungry gets fed.
I hate that #3 won't stay in, but he's not the same cat and didn't come from socializing at a shelter. But because of me, he's healthy, he's neutered, and he has flea and tick preventative. He's also well fed and less likely to snack on the neighborhood wildlife, such as it is.
As for people (like me) with cats who roam, I am fully aware that my cat may have other friends and family, but he, like most cats, roams in a kind of circle around this house. I'm more worried about traffic and eagles/vultures here, but that's the deal with a cat who goes out. I just have to live with the concerns.
Meanwhile, after almost 7 years of living here, I found another cat lady and we worked on finding a shelter that did TNR (far, far away), asking town hall to keep their cards to give out to anyone with a cat needing neutering, and trapping and TNR'ing as many of the cats in town as we can. I made reflective collars for any that got done to help with traffic issues, we held a fund raising sale, and our good work continues.
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