feral cat under house needs evicted

[Autumn T]

I have spoke before on the 40+ feral cats on my block. Well one took up residence under my pier and beam home. I have tried sealing it out but she digs under in the nice soft flower bed. The cat has taken over my kids' swing set and made it so nasty they can't play on it. We plan to get chickens at some point so kitty needs to not call us home.


SSS is NOT an option as I am 1 block from City Hall
I do not want to poison the cat as the neighbor (org owner of cats) feeds her and the others and knows when they go missing...plus I can't be cruel like that.

so how do I encourage kitty to move out?
is there a smell or something I can put under the house?

AC will not touch her as she is spayed and rabies vaxed thanks to a spay and release group. though she is sick and her eye is swollen shut it is 'not their problem'

 

[nnbreeder]

At least it is not a skunk!!

No help eh? There is a product made that is a spray that is supposed to repel unwanted critters away from flower beds and such.

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_pest_rodent_control;pg106160.html

They also make a motion detecting sprinkler that could be effective against cats. But I don't know who sells them.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
I have never heard of AC refusing to handle spayed cats.......but in any case, you might try contacting the local spay/neuter group and see if they have a program to place feral cats as barn cats. If they do, it's fairly easy to trap cats -- so that part shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Also, that motion detecting sprinkler may be a good idea. I think they're called Scarecrows. They are pretty expensive, but they're supposed to be pretty effective.

 

[Judy]

I used to live across the street from a good friend who insisted on feeding multiple feral cats. They aren't going anywhere. We did find ways to work out any problems.

Are they causing you a problem?

 

[mcnamarm]

My vet suggested this (after my neighbor's cat inflicted about $1600 worth of damage on my cat this winter.)

Get a Havahart trap, baited with cat food. When you catch the cat, dump one or two buckets of water on it while it's in the trap. The cat will then associate your place with waterboarding, and when you let it out of the trap, it won't come back no more, no more.

I have to say that I haven't yet done this, so I can't testify that it works. However, I do have the trap out in my chicken yard right now, so I'll let you know if I have any results.

Good luck. I like cats a lot, and it's not their fault that their cat-nature conflicts with what we need.

 

[sealsandwich]

Quote:
I have never heard of AC refusing to handle spayed cats.......but in any case, you might try contacting the local spay/neuter group and see if they have a program to place feral cats as barn cats. If they do, it's fairly easy to trap cats -- so that part shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Also, that motion detecting sprinkler may be a good idea. I think they're called Scarecrows. They are pretty expensive, but they're supposed to be pretty effective.

I know this to be true because I have an inlaw that owns a problem cat. Because she has her up to date on shots and she is fixed, she technically can "run" the neighborhood and do what she wishes. AC won't touch her-even though she messes in the neighbor's flower beds something awful. And just to make clear... I don't take my inlaw's side in this. But I can corroborate what the OP is saying.

 

[firedove]

Go to a sporting goods store or sportsman's store and buy yourself some coyote attractant. It is made of coyote pee, sprinkle it around your foundation. Cats and coyotes are like oil and water so the smell should drive the cat away. I'm told it works for fox too. As long as you don't have a coyote problem in the area you should be alright.

If you do have coyotes in your neighborhood I wouldn't use this suggestion as you will attract the males especially into your yard.

Various types of pee work great for all kinds of predators. If you ever have trouble with random small predators at your coop (fox, bobcats, etc...), collect some of your own and sprinkle it around. The smell of just humans might not deter a predator, but the pee works pretty well. My friend does this with her rabbitry and hasn't had a single predator in there even though her rabbitry is just a carport and there are plenty of nasty predators out her way.

 

[jjthink]

You might see if the spay and release group would be kind enough to catch her to address her eye issue and then you can employ one of the deterrents folks mentioned above. Sounds like she is looking for a soft safe place to rest - perhaps an alternate such spot could be provided by the lady who feeds her - in an outbuilding if she has one (and she could be re-released there), though this kitty may have been edged out of that yard by other kitties with territorial issues

A feral I knew was doing much the same - in time, we became good buddies. The first time I touched him he jumped 3 feet up in the air - so did I! Poor fellow had never been touched. He had been all alone in the world, with a very difficult life, and no one to count on. Eventually he would run to greet me and I could snuggle him - he morphed into the most gentle being. Got him med care/neuter etc. Miss him tremendously now - cancer took him. He was brave right up till I carried him in my arms to the vet for that final moment, even though he seemed to know and another part of him was just terrified.

Hope it all works out for all.

JJ

 

[LynneP]

If a feral has taken up residence under your home, I'm betting you have a rodent problem. There are little wax tie-ons that you can get to keep her away from the swing set, or simply offer sand/litter under one corner of the house. We keep an average of 15 cats on our farm for rodent control and I have never been sorry- even the occasional squirrel won't last long. Also, to deodorize what is now stinky, get a small bottle of pet urine neutralizer from the pet store or feed store, sometimes hardware stores have them For one cat it will last a year or more. Smells like baby powder. If you can find it in your heart to feed this cat, you will never again have to deal with rodents.

At least this one will not be having kits-

 

[JupiterFarmer]

Mothballs work too... just make sure they aren't visible so other critters won't get into them. Dad put it outside of our fence cuz a neighbor with a horse would time it just so that her horse would poop here and another did it with his dog. Since he put mothballs once scattered about they take a wide swing away from our driveway. Had to do it again when a cat deicide the roof of our cars is where it wanted to sleep, leaving scratches all over the place