Cats in the garden

Try as I might to be compassionate towards cats that come into my garden,  a red mist of hatred descends when I see one slinking it's way across my lawn either intent on having a  dump or killing the birds.

No doubt cat lovers will be appalled at my wanting to chuck a brick at Fluffy but I do want to very much. In fact I could cheerfully do worse.

Please tell me I am not the only one

I live next door to a farm, they have cats but do not take care of them nor feed them, they rely on them to catch their own food.
Recently one on them brought three kittens to my door begging for food, being a soft touch and animal lover, especially cats, I fed them a few weeks later another cat brought three more kittens....I now feed at least eight cats and kittens every day !
They have ruined my troughs and my front garden, scared off the birds and generally make a nuisance of themselves......but they are the most beautiful fluffy playful kittens and I am a sucker !

You sound like my neighbour who has now thankfully left along with her 7 cats plus their many friends. As you say so many cats wreaked havoc on my  beautiful bird and butterfly friendly garden. As for the cats mess  and urine the garden became unusable.

It has taken me over a year to get the garden and lawn  back and the birds visiting again although not in the same number yet. The wrens have gone for good as they were all killed.

All my neighbour who had a concrete garden which her cats hated would do is smile and say "well cats will be cats " and they do like grass. Grrrrr

I have only just spotted this topic.  Have not seen you for a while.  I too loath the vermin in my garden, and if I get half a chance I get them with a hose.  Personally, I think they are most unsuitable pets for built up areas, due to their extreme nuisance value.

http://www.mostfungames.com/kill-a-kitty-2.htm



http://www.funny-games.biz/kitten-cannon.html

I hate the dam things-people say they are no trouble--no trouble to their owners --i have a greenhouse and behind it i always have a bucket of water handy they dont like it,also i keep a large brush handy.

I have managed to block most ways in to our garden now.  There are fire thorns and other growth keeping them from scaling most of the fences.  I have purchased some plastic spikes to attach to the unprotected areas.

Buy a dog, mine chase them out of our garden

meerkat12 wrote:

Buy a dog, mine chase them out of our garden

We had one many years ago, and she chased them until one turned round, jumped on her back and dug its claws into her head.  She became religious after that, she was a very devout coward.

What was its name Andsopme---dog i mean

ourjimmy wrote:

What was its name Andsopme---dog i mean

Goldie. She was the friendliest and most intelligent pet you could wish for,and no trouble at all. We were so upset when her life ended,we have never had another,it is so traumatic to loose them.

We have new neighbours they have just bought a dog which is barking most of the day locked up while they are at work  --then suddenly 4 weeks ago they got a cat which has started crapping everywhere  -mostly in my back garden --my wife planted 20 winter pansies last week in pots only for this pest to come and root 6 up--it has to go on a long ride.

Make sure that all low level entrances are blocked, and look on my link below.  There are plenty of company's who can help you out, and I can vouch that the spikes are effective.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=plastic+fence+spikes

We have no cats in our area.
My next door neighbour has an air-rifle fitted with a silencer.

I feed the feral cats in my area every day.
I love cats and would shove your neighbor's rifle complete with silencer up his arse.

I too feel that cats in urban areas are a pest. We are lucky that we live in a retirement private road where residents are not allowed to keep pets and cats are thus rare visitors in our garden.

We live just off the very busy A41 main road which tends to cull cats from further afield.

What we do get - which is worse - is visits from rats that live in the railway cutting 500 yards from our road. They are never seen in summer but as soon as the cold weather appears they use our road as a short-cut to the row of shops on the A41. The shops include 3 take-away food shops, with waste bins along the frontage, where people deposit uneaten food and wrappings.

We have CCTV on our house and you can sometimes see on the video taken in the early hours, rats scurrying up our road and across the traffic free A41.

I have installed professional bait boxes in our garden - I don't think they do any good - but it is of comfort to my wife. I used to have a .22 air rifle to cull vermin (rats and pigeons) at a previous house - but I re-married and it had to go.

I can thoroughly recommend anyone getting an air rifle to go for a CO2 capsule powered one - hardly any recoil, very accurate and low noise. Spring powered guns don't cut the mustard.

http://www.pellpax.co.uk/airguns/air-rifles/co2-powered-air-rifles/rat-sniper-combo-kit-22/3931