Humanely prevent cats from crapping all over my yard

[Greg]

IMO people with pet cats (as opposed to barn cats, those are *supposed* to live outside for a reason) who let them out are idiots- you're endangering your pet's life, opening a highway into your home for parasites and disease, and for what? Because you have some fetish that it's more "natural" for the cat?

Depends where you live I reckon. Out here in the boonies our cats go where they please.

We have fleas, *serious* ticks (and we're a major Lyme disease hot spot, you may not be aware of it over yonder but it's NOT something you want), coyotes, a large raccoon population with endemic rabies (you should see the map my town keeps with markings of rabid animal sightings)... Not to mention the motor vehicles. I've seen a lot of roadkill cats. You want to keep your cat healthy and nasty shit out of your house, you keep your cat in.

We did permanently remove a local feral female who was spitting out kittens left right and centre, but that was done by trapping her, getting her neutered and then re-releasing her 20 miles away.

Anyone who might be thinking of killing a pet cat should ask themselves if they are ready to cope with the consequences if they get caught. One guy back in England who poisoned three of our cats found out the hard way that certain individuals take the law into their own hands when that kind of thing happens. As of last year ( just before we emigrated ) he'd still cross the street when he saw me coming - 15 years after the original run of bad luck he had, what with his car exploding for no reason and his jaw getting broken.

A responsible man does everything he can to avoid having to kill anything. Including trying to deal with the owner, fencing (doesn't work with cats), going to the authorities if necessary... But if none of those work, and if I were to find myself in a situation where someone's animal is shitting on MY private property where, say, my children play... that animal is going to disappear. I guess it's a matter of perspective.

[308Mike]

Workin', if you decide to try one or more of the "humane" methods, please let us know which one and if it's having the desired effect. Thinking about McClarkus' cat's experience with the glue trap makes me think some similar effect could be had by cutting up chunks of VERY sticky duct tape and placing them sticky-side up. Cats don't like ANYTHING which sticks to their paws.

[Highspeed]

We have fleas, *serious* ticks (and we're a major Lyme disease hot spot, you may not be aware of it over yonder but it's NOT something you want), coyotes, a large raccoon population with endemic rabies (you should see the map my town keeps with markings of rabid animal sightings)... Not to mention the motor vehicles. I've seen a lot of roadkill cats. You want to keep your cat healthy and nasty shit out of your house, you keep your cat in.

A responsible man does everything he can to avoid having to kill anything. Including trying to deal with the owner, fencing (doesn't work with cats), going to the authorities if necessary... But if none of those work, and if I were to find myself in a situation where someone's animal is shitting on MY private property where, say, my children play... that animal is going to disappear. I guess it's a matter of perspective.

Lyme disease is in Europe too. The collars and treatment we use on the cats must be pretty good because we do find ticks in their fur which have failed to attach and are half dead. Not a live inflated one yet. I reckon that is awesome performance.
Rabies....in theory yes, in practice no.
Feral dogs, but no coyotes.
Motor vehicles - maybe one comes by every couple of days.

I don't want to be argumentative but everything in nature that walks, crawls or flies shits on your property Greg, not just cats. Cat shit is unpleasant and carries parasites which can be harmful to humans, especially little humans, but then pigeon shit is a major source of salmonella infection. You obviously have to make your own risk assessment and deal with it however you think fit, as is your privilege as a free man.

My own personal position is that I love my cats and if anyone screws with them for any reason whatsoever then bad things will happen.
It's not logical or defensible, but that is how it is. Me and my furry little homies are a tight crew

[HTRN]

Don't worry Highspeed, we'll ship you some coyotes, and that will solve your feral cat problem.

[308Mike]

Don't worry Highspeed, we'll ship you some coyotes, and that will solve your feral cat problem.

Perhaps some WOLVES too!!
Do you need a few pigs to go along with that order so you'll have something to hunt all year 'round???

[Greg]

I don't want to be argumentative but everything in nature that walks, crawls or flies shits on your property Greg, not just cats. Cat shit is unpleasant and carries parasites which can be harmful to humans, especially little humans, but then pigeon shit is a major source of salmonella infection. You obviously have to make your own risk assessment and deal with it however you think fit, as is your privilege as a free man.

Oh I understand perfectly, not really arguing... and it really is a matter of perspective. What's no big deal to someone can be a real problem to someone else. And you can't be safe from everything, you can't control everything- but you have to look out for yourself and your own where you can.

My own personal position is that I love my cats and if anyone screws with them for any reason whatsoever then bad things will happen. It's not logical or defensible, but that is how it is. Me and my furry little homies are a tight crew

I'm right with you on that one. I've always loved cats, and for the most part they like me. I know what the dangers an indoor-outdoor cat faces around here are- it's a rough neighborhood. I (well I don't have one right now, but when I did) love cat(s) too much to want to subject them to that- I'd rather they stay cozy, healthy, happy and alive for a long time. I've got some stories along those lines....

Last place I lived was a garden apartment complex. There was an indoor-outdoor kitty I interacted with a lot and got kind of attached to. I called her "neighbor kitty". I saw her whenever she came and went. For whatever reason, she *really* liked me. She would occasionally try to follow me into my car or even my apartment, to look around but mainly to keep getting more rubbing. It was very sad when neighbor kitty disappeared. And no, her owner didn't move away.

A number of years back, when I was in college and living with my mother summers.... one summer a feral/stray cat decided to make friends with me. (Chris will understand, I was in Plymouth MA with no job that summer and no car. I was BORED and spent a lot of time at home, when I wasn't cadging some money to hop the P&B into Boston.) She was SWEET. She even won my mother over (NOT easy) but still I got shot down when I asked to adopt her. We talked our neighbor, who wanted a cat, into adopting her. The neighbor, well she didn't want to turn our little stray friend (I called her "Pirate") into an indoor-only cat, said it was too confining. Shortly thereafter Pirate was hit and killed by a car. We lived on a local arterial road, it really was only a matter of time. (Bloody Rt 3A, for those who know the area.)

Letting your cat out is STUPID, especially if you actually care about the animal.

[HTRN]

Especially as shooting Feral/abandoned or even just pets running free is par for the course in much of the US. Did NJ ever pass that Feral Cat law they were considering?

[Greg]

Especially as shooting Feral/abandoned or even just pets running free is par for the course in much of the US. Did NJ ever pass that Feral Cat law they were considering?

That's only a rural thing. But yeah, I know my FiL shoots ferals. You do NOT want a pack of feral dogs on your property when the *soonest* a sheriff's deputy can reach you is 45 minutes, even if you don't have livestock.

And I have no idea about a Feral Cat law. Now I'll have to look it up.

[HTRN]

And I have no idea about a Feral Cat law. Now I'll have to look it up.

This is what I was talking about.

[Aglifter]

Feral dogs, and cats, are a major problem. Feral dogs are just dangerous, feral cats are a hazard to US wildlife - may not matter in Europe, as they have a native wild cat. (TX does have a handful of ocelots, and bobcats, but those are both quite skittish.)

I don't have any desire to kill pets, but feral ones are a real problem.