Keeping cats off of cars and out of our yard

[Mokat76]

It is a horrible thing to do and I am sorry that your mom had to suffer that loss after the loss of your father.
I don't think the neighbor owes the cat owner anything as far as telling them it bothers them. The cat owner should assume every single time they let their cat out that it is going to be bothering neighbors. If it isn't staying in your own yard then it is going into other's.

No, they don’t OWE the cat owner anything, but common courtesy or neighborliness would say it’s the nice thing to do. People are quite myopic about their pets and can’t imagine Fido or Tigger could bother anyone.

 

[StitchFanZ]

The worst cat offender is a cat that one of my neighbors has kind of adopted in that they feed it and provide some shelter. I like the idea of the motion activated sprinkler and will try that as a first attempt. I don't want to make my neighbors mad but I also do not want to get any more scratches on my car. This cat also likes to walk along the road and driveway in front of our house which drives my dogs nuts. I really hate that some people think its OK to let some animals run loose in a residential neighborhood.
Thanks everyone for you ideas.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

I just saw a piece on Inside Edition last week. They talked about keeping rodents and such away from warm cars and suggested lightly spraying the engine, wheel wells and inside the car with mint or lavender.

 

[Pooh2]

Our neighbors allow their cat to roam and scratch up my car and use my garden as a litter box, allow their chickens to freely roam the neighborhood eating everyone else's lawn and their dog has never been leashed.

On the upside, their dog and cat must be pretty close to their expiration dates. We have asked them to contain their animals, they get their feathers ruffled.

We've tried various sprays and natural methods to repel the animals without success.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Our dog chased a neighborhood cat into the top of one of our pecan trees, about 30 feet up, and the traumatized cat stayed there for three days til a concerned neighbor told DH we had a dead cat in our tree. DH got out the hose and sprayed the cat. Apparently it was very much alive, and more afraid of the stream of water than the dog. A leap and a bound later, it was down, and we never saw that cat again.

 

[ReneeA]

I just saw a piece on Inside Edition last week. They talked about keeping rodents and such away from warm cars and suggested lightly spraying the engine, wheel wells and inside the car with mint or lavender.

I'm surprised by the mint suggestion to keep cats away. Catnip is in the mint family. I used to use a peppermint scented lotion that bath & body works used to sell at Christmastime and every time I'd wear it, my cat would follow me around rubbing and licking my legs.

 

[ronandannette]

I'm genuinely sorry that your mother suffered this trauma especially so soon after your father's death. Killing a cat is not ok and I agree it was a horrible thing to do.

But I don't understand the bolded part of your post. Why would anyone need to tell her to keep her cat out of their yard? Seems like common sense to me.

Agree.

It is a horrible thing to do and I am sorry that your mom had to suffer that loss after the loss of your father.
I don't think the neighbor owes the cat owner anything as far as telling them it bothers them. The cat owner should assume every single time they let their cat out that it is going to be bothering neighbors. If it isn't staying in your own yard then it is going into other's.

I feel like I can safely speak for everybody, everywhere when I say "Yes - we are bothered by having to dig your cat's disgusting crap out of our flower beds".

No, they don’t OWE the cat owner anything, but common courtesy or neighborliness would say it’s the nice thing to do. People are quite myopic about their pets and can’t imagine Fido or Tigger could bother anyone.

Common courtesy and neighbourliness on the part of the "myopic" cat owners would entirely prevent the issue in the first place.

 

[Mokat76]

Agree.

I feel like I can safely speak for everybody, everywhere when I say "Yes - we are bothered by having to dig your cat's disgusting crap out of our flower beds".

Common courtesy and neighbourliness on the part of the "myopic" cat owners would entirely prevent the issue in the first place.

That’s the problem with myopia though, and why I chose that terminology. The myopic one sometimes needs a nudge to see something he/she is missing. That’s where the other person—the one seeing the problem—might reach out. It might not be perfect but it might work.

 

[scrapquitler]

The dining room cat thread brought to mind another problem with cats. We have a few neighborhood cats that seem to like the cars in our driveway. We have seen one of them pee on a visitor's car and have also found paw prints and some scratches on our car. Any suggestions on how to keep them away from our cars - I would really like them to never come in our front yard but am not sure if that is possible.

Park your car in a garage?

In my neighborhood the problem with not having enough garage space for our cars is the darn cardinals. They LOVE to perch on the side of my car and look at themselves in the mirrors. My mirrors are constantly covered with smudge marks that they leave (not to mention the regurgitated berries and excrement) not only on the mirrors, but also on the side of the car.

 

[mousefan73]

BB gun

Seriously hoping my DH doesn‘t go this far. Our neighbor‘s cats ( farmers) have a huge wandering range and love to crap in our flower beds and lawn. .

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

My neighbor's cat has been on my vehicle... I know this because I have seen the paw prints. This cat has also been in our garage, and hangs out in our yard and driveway sometimes. I really do not mind because I really like cats. I never let my own cat outside because of all the dangers out there.

 

[LSUmiss]

Seriously hoping my DH doesn‘t go this far. Our neighbor‘s cats ( farmers) have a huge wandering range and love to crap in our flower beds and lawn. .

In this state that’s animal cruelty & he would be arrested for using a BB gun.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I think the BB gun comment was tongue in cheek

 

[LSUmiss]

Sometimes it’s not that simple & it’s not anyone’s cat, but ppl just feed an outside stray cat. I don’t do that & don’t have outside cats & would never b/c of the dangers. But, also don’t get bent out of shape about cats in the neighborhood. I can’t imagine worrying about this! And some ppl suggest killing them or seriously injuring them?? Wow! We get raccoons, possums & all kind of wildlife so I can’t control that either.

 

[MomofKatie]

We lived in a neighborhood with quite a few "indoor/outdoor" cats (and dogs). Our next door neighbor had 2 mostly outdoor cats and a free-roaming dog, AND liked to feed all the strays over the fence behind our yards. We had cat poop and pee on/in every area of our front and back yard.

It was pretty gross and really maddening- we have 3 cats who are strictly indoor only. We never inflicted our cat waste on them, but they didn't have a problem letting their pets use our property as their private toilet. We managed to break the cats of their habit of pooping in the front mulched areas by switching to rubber mulch and mixing ground cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes into the mulch. We never got them to leave the back yard alone, though.

We moved to a different state a few months ago, and our new neighborhood HOA has a very strict "no outdoor pets" rule. It has been great not to see any cats, dogs, or their poop around anymore.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the BB gun comment was tongue in cheek

Perhaps it was but it's not something I would say without really meaning it..in other words I would take that pretty darn serious should I meet someone in person advocating that..it's not something one should joke about IMO.

 

[BagOLaughs]

BB gun

That's disgusting.

 

[tvguy]

https://www.petsmart.com/cat/cleaning-and-repellents/repellants/

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Here in our city: Cat trap. Surrender its contents to Animal Control. If the cat has any ID, the owner is either fined $250 (the first time) if it's a registered animal and if it's NOT, that became a $750 fine. No ID, well, sorry it's just a cat and takes its chances in the shelter. Large posters put up all over the neighborhood informing people that this cat was trapped and surrendered to Animal Control, which is about the nicest warning anyone gets. Because it's illegal to let your cat outdoors here.

 

[L&Lfan]

I hope they spay or neuter them while under Animal Control custody! Sterilize those buggers!