My neighbors leave 4 cats out at night to wander, urinate, and deficate in the mulch of my garden! What to do?

Question

I can not sit on my porch because the cat urine odor is unbearable. Isn't there a law against roaming cats? I have had cats and I never allowed them out. I have two dogs who do not "wander". This is a real problem. My one neighbor told me her cat is an "outside cat"! Help!

Answer 1

Spray citronella (natural insect repellent) around your house, cats hate the smell and it will deter them, before doing so, wash your porch with warm water and an enzyme laundry detegent which will break up the protein in the urine, rinse it well with white vinegar and water.

Call animal control as i'm positive there are laws about nuisance animals, which is what these are.

Good luck with it.

Answer 2

The first suggestion I might give you is to get some "Boundary" pet repellent granules and sprinkle them around the areas that the cats are defecating and urinating on. This should help to ward them away and will not harm the pets or the plants. You can usually pick this up at a large pet store such as PetCo or PetSmart, but I've had better luck finding such things at small local pet/feed supply places.

Another solution is to keep a spray bottle or squirt gun full of water near the porch, if you catch the cat while you're outside, give them a face full of water. They'll learn to stay away after a while.

These are non-threatening, non-violent solutions to this problem. Have you talked with your neighbor about the issues? Felines that are not spayed or neutered shouldn't be let outside to wander in the first place, as this creates more kittens and increases the stray animal problems. Emphasize that you're worried about them getting hit or hurt somehow, rather than your "mulch" problem first, and then mention the issue with your garden/landscaping.

If they are not wearing collars and tags, they technically can be considered strays, and theoretically could be picked up by the animal control. Sadly, many animals that go to animal control in many cities are not taken to the shelters, and are simply euthanized because they're considered "wild" animals. If you decide to take this course of action (which I DO NOT endorse) call a shelter that will come pick them up. This kind of retaliation or action will cause a lot of strife between you and your neighbor, and would most likely make things worse in the long run, not better.

Above all, please do not blame the cats, they are simply enjoying natural reactions and behaving thus. Being a pet owner, I'm sure you understand this, but I feel it necessary to say the following to any who read this. A negative behavior in an animal is generally in response to their owner's training (or lack thereof) or an environmental or medical circumstance. Frown on the owner, and not the animal, and please do not hurt any of the critters. It's not their fault they are behaving in a natural way for them.

I hope some of this helps. Good luck!

Answer 3

Cats are territorial animals and seek a private, secure place to do their business. Your landscaping soft soil or mulch provides an ideal spot. After soiling the area, an age old instinctual fear of detection by predators, motivates them to cover their waste. Here's a link for cat powder to keep the cats away.
Or Cayenne red hot chili powder and spread it in the garden they will learn their lesson within a couple weeks of getting it on their feet and licking it off

If you don't want to spend the time or money and your neighbor won't keep that cats inside check with the city animal pound. Here where I live they give out/lend out animal traps, when it's full just call and they come pick up. If the cat has a collar/tag, the owner gets a call. If not, the animal goes up for adoption then gets gassed if not adopted within a certain period. Free and painless for all but the cat owner. My next door neighbor has trapped 3-4 cats this way, and peed off our other neighbors heh.

Answer 4

I have four cats who stay outdoors and they wonder into our neighbors yard. Fortunately, our neighbors do not mind, they enjoy watching our cats play. Whatever you do, do not harm these animals. They do not know that what they are doing is wrong, afterall, they're animals. If you have beef with anybody, talk to the owners. I know that if my neighbors had a problem with my cats, I would do something about it by keeping my animals indoors from now on or by monitoring them when they are outdoors and then bringing them back in the house after they have played and wondered for a little while. Let the owners know how you feel because you do have valid issues. But whatever you do, do not harm the cats or have them picked up, they are just being cats.

Answer 5

I agree with the others don't blame the cats there just being cats. If all else fails you could buy a motion activated sprinkler. Put it in the area where the cats go to do their business and the water willcome on and spray them. Soon they will learn to avoid that area...
Also cats dig to cover up there poo...You couldbuy a couple of boxes of plastic forks. Stick them into the ground the tines up close together in that area. This will not harm the cats but often it will stop them from digging as they encounter the plastic forks. If they can't dig they will find another place to go..This is a cheap easy way to deter them. Its worth a try and it does work..

Answer 6

Here is a tip for you. You can ALWAYS call animal control not just to report an issue but to ask questions about the laws on owning pets and having them run around free. You can at least know where you rights stand with it. For heaven sakes you should be able to enjoy your own yard! And cat urine is the sickest smell ever. I myself have 2 cats that I let out only in the day time hours and they never go out of the yard. They are scared to.... anyway, good luck to you!

Answer 7

First try the diplomatic tactic, explaining to your neighbors exactly what you've explained to us.

Then during the course of the conversation be sure to mention the dangers outside cats encounter *especially* at night! Dogs, wild animals (such as coyotes, racoons, foxes & fishers), cars. If those don't get the cats, disease such as luekemia or FIP might. Outdoor cats have a life expectancy of only a few years compared to 15 or 20 for an indoor cat.

If those tactics don't work to deter her "outdoor" cats, bring on the citronella, pepper, etc.

I agree with the person who mentioned contacting animal control with questions. Depending on the size of your town or city, it will give them a "heads up" a problem is brewing without necessarily picking up these poor cats for the humane society to deal with (and probably euthanize).

Try to work with the owners, first, easily. If you must, eventually bring out the stronger tactics.

We have 10 (indoor) cats & I sure wouldn't want them in MY garden like that! Good luck!

Answer 8

Ok, my neighbors cat had 3 kittens in my utility room. I could not get them to come get the cat or kittens. My county does not have animal control officer, so now I am feeding the cats. I don't have money to get them spayed so I will have to go in debt on my credit card to get 4 cats fixed that don't belong to me because of negligence from neighbors. Now, I do know that moth balls will keep the cats out of certain areas, and it will keep snakes out of your flower garden to. Something else to use is pine cones, if it hurts your hands to pick them up, it will hurt the cats paws to dig for a potty also. Just layer in your flower bed. The smell from spraying is awful, and you should use a bleach product when you clean the painted surface to kill any disease left behind in the urine.

Answer 9

Sprinkle pepper and pray Citronella in the areas the cats go. Make sure to tell your neigbor about it and mention if they don't do something about it then you will take care of it yourself by making complaints or taking necessary actions to protect your property. Do not harm the cats in any way. Not even with a BB gun. In some areas it can get you in trouble and its not the cats fault that they have irresponsible owners who don't respect other people's property. Also you need to first get the stain of cat urine out. You can buy stuff at the hardware store to seal any cement that has been contaminated.

Answer 10

If the cat is wandering onto your property, you do have the right to trap it. Oh yes, someone mentioned that cats don't like cayene pepper on their paws. Try that in your garden where the kitties seem to be doing their business.

And if the neighbor can't or won't control the pets, check with the city ordinance and see what you find there.

Good luck!