Cats - do they serve a purpose in life?

[mbames]

Right then, time for me to moan about The EvilOnes™ (again). I fail to see the purpose of these animals, and infact they seem to be causing me hassle.

The key points of complaint are:

• One has taken to using my garden as a toilet - This is since I ceased to have dogs, a black manky cat has started to appear in the garden.
  
• I found one in my house the other day (livingroom) - the back door was open and the cheeky animal decided my livingroom was somewhere nice and warm to lay
  
• It has fleas - or something has bitten me since it was in the house
  
• The stupid animal walked over my car - bonnet, windscreen and roof, multiple times with muddy wet feet last night - while the car was washed the day before and parked in the garage.
  

I am wondering if this cat is doing this to annoy me after I ran over one of its friends on my road bike a few weeks ago (and I ended up with 5 stitches in my arm). The dumb animal rain cross the road in front of me while I was doing a 60 mile MacMillan charity ride.

The possible options I can see for resolution are:

• Removal of said cat from the planet (probably not legal)
  
• IR based sonic thing
  
• IR based water jet
  

I suspect the water option might be best, but I guess that means I am going to get soaked everytime I walk past it. I am worried I might hear the sonic device (as I have heard them in the past).

Any (legal) suggestions welcome. Ideally lost cost solutions/suggestions are better, unless I can find the owner of said nasty animal and present them with a bill. My garden is fenced on both sides with wooden fencing (top is about 7-8foot high), but I would rather not have to put spikes on the top (as they are less pleasing on the eye).

Thanks,

Matt

[PhilP1903]

get another dog

[snow_muncher]

My grandmother used to keep washing up liquid bottles ( filled with water ) at strategic locations round her house - any cat that came along got a soaking

I believe there may be some kind of smelly stuff ( to cats ) you can put down: here's a few from google

[GnatG]

Sonic devices don't work to be honest, but you can't hear them. Neither will the cat if it's deaf. We "trained" my neighbour's cats with a low pressure hosing whenever they entered the garden, either using the garden hose or a water pistol. They soon associated our garden with bath-time and stopped coming over the fence... As I got on well with said neighbours I did inform them of this first. We did also try a mix of paprika, lemon juice and dried garlic around the border but the cats found ways of getting over the fence and avoiding it.

[john999boy]

Any (legal) suggestions welcome. Ideally lost cost solutions/suggestions are better

I'm not too sure that this is the low cost option you were after Matt but at least it's a solution!

[Vrs Shark!]

I find this subject to be a bit silly realy. I own 2 cats and love them! I can see cats can be anoying to toilet in the garden but what about all the other animals in the wild then? rabbits, foxes, badgers etc? Do you hate them as well? Have you ever owned a cat before? It seems like you're just pointing the finger at the poor cat because it's a cat and you don't like them. Regarding the cat you killed on the road accidently I hope on your bike, I hope you reported this or had the decency to look on the collar to see who the owner was to report to them the bad news. Not reporting the death of someones pet is a criminal offence!

I don't like some dogs that much myself, they're too agressive and people don't always look after them properly these day (agressive dogs I don't moan about them or try and find loads of ways to protect myself from them! Cats are lovely animals and people should leave them alone and worry about other things?

[hertsnminds]

You could get some pet behaviour spray and squirt that just inside the open door. This will stop the cat coming into the house. There are various chemical (smell) solutions on the market for keeping animals out of gardesn which are not that effective. In general loud noises and water are the things cats don't like. The things they do like are warm car engines (so they sit on, under or in engine bays) and certain plants, like cat nip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepeta so make sure you have none of these in your garden.

[sharkrider]

cats are lovely animals , and provide great joy to their owners, great company, genuine affection and intelegence... I could go on, but fear it will fall on deaf ears. My last cat was with me for ten years, and was a cherished part of our family, we were all gutted when he didn't come home one day :( genuinley.

from your point of view, the water thing people are talking about is fine, as I said, cats aren't stupid, spray them with water (gently) when they enter your garden, and they will soon learn not to.

or get another dog?

[rwbaldwin]

Was going to suggest that you take a look at http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/174868-cats-in-the-house/page__p__2112787__fromsearch__1#entry2112787 but that was your thread too.

The IR water scarers are very effective.

[mbames]

but what about all the other animals in the wild then? rabbits, foxes, badgers etc?

I believe they are wildlife, where as cats are seen as pets, are they not?

Have you ever owned a cat before? It seems like you're just pointing the finger at the poor cat because it's a cat and you don't like them. Regarding the cat you killed on the road accidently I hope on your bike, I hope you reported this or had the decency to look on the collar to see who the owner was to report to them the bad news. Not reporting the death of someones pet is a criminal offence!

I did not say I killed the pet - it ran off and left the scene of the crime, otherwise I would have contacted the owner about repairs where were needed to my bike. It is true, I can't see the purpose of a cat. Dogs are trained, and their owners (generally) pick up the mess they make. Cats seem to be allowed to get away with what ever they like. I guess I am annoyed the cat did not make a mess it its owners house rather than walking over my washed and polished car with its dirty feet. :'(

[KenONeill]

Not reporting the death of someones pet is a criminal offence!

{Cite needed} Particularly since IIRC cats are officially classed as "wild animals".

[bettsy]

heres a thing

if my neighbours cat craps in my garden - " its what cats do"

if my dog craps in his garden i wonder what he would have to say.

i walk miles with my dog and have a good supply of poo bags at all times.

have you ever seen a cat owner with any ?

[BossFox]

While I don't really see the point of cats, it's inconsiderate dog owners I dislike.

Nothing like walking in the park with your two year old son and trying to dodge all the turds. :(

[mbames]

While I don't really see the point of cats, it's inconsiderate dog owners I dislike.

Nothing like walking in the park with your two year old son and trying to dodge all the turds. :(

Indeed, there are always a fed bad people who let the side down. I observed a chap dragging his dog up the road while it was taking a dump on the pavement outside my front gate one evening. As he was a chav looking and it was a some "ugly" (in my view) pitbully-thing, I thought it best to keep my mouth shut, but went into my house and return with a bag and collected said mess to save someone from walking in it and it ruining their evening. I considered bagging it up following the owner home and returning it to their garden....

[KenONeill]

heres a thing

if my neighbours cat craps in my garden - " its what cats do"

if my dog craps in his garden i wonder what he would have to say.

i walk miles with my dog and have a good supply of poo bags at all times.

have you ever seen a cat owner with any ?

How often do you see a cat "owner" taking the cat for a walk?

[bettsy]

How often do you see a cat "owner" taking the cat for a walk?

just because the owner doesnt take the cat out

this doesnt absolve him of all responsibility

[Mort]

Get a cat yourself.

It'll stop other cats coming to your garden.

Your cat will use a litter tray/other people's gardens.

Your cat will not have fleas if you look after it.

Your cat will likely not walk on your car (and stop other cats coming close to do it)

You will learn to love cats. And obey them like you should.

Simples.

[KenONeill]

just because the owner doesnt take the cat out

this doesnt absolve him of all responsibility

When did you ever see a dog even try and bury its mess? Cats normally at least try and do this.

[bettsy]

When did you ever see a dog even try and bury its mess? Cats normally at least try and do this.

and that somehow makes the situation more acceptable ?

[LexVRS]

cheap option to stop it coming in your garden (also stops burglars) there are these spikes you can put on top of fences they work well and are only made of plastic we have them to stop molly our house cat from jumping ever

Or you could go through the lengthy process of getting a restraining order on the cat hahaha

[trundlenut]

heres a thing

if my neighbours cat craps in my garden - " its what cats do"

My neighbour has somewhere between 6 and 8 cats, that leads to a lot of cat crap, dead birds etc. Especially annoying is that the vegetable plot seems to be their preferred location - last year they destroyed all of my carrots and parsnips.

They have learnt that sleeping on our cars on in our greenhouse leads to a soggy experience though.

My neighbour also has 2 dogs, an owl and an indeterminate number of children, which are variously noisy and keep escaping (well except for the owl).

[gallego1968]

We have had our cats nearly a year now and they are boring, but we bought them for the kids who love them.

[cheezemonkhai]

Lion **** works apparently.

[vRS_Pagey]

[snow_muncher]

:rofl:

(just make sure no cctv about )