Im scared of cats and now there's one in my garden permanently!!

[90sWasAmazing]

Im scared of cats, I actually have a huge phobia. Luckily I haven't had to deal with any where I live but a neighbour at the end of the road has one and it keeps appearing in my garden. It was on my windowsill. It's freaking me out.
How can i get it to move on? It runs away bit then 5 mins later its back.
I sprayed some water from a spray bottle which it ran but then came back sitting by the front door. Any suggestions? Im really nervous of it and am scared to go out and dreading coming back!
I dont have any food out or anything, why is it even here?

I love this suggestion, my 3 cats hate the noise made by the vacuum cleaner more than anything!

We have a cat interloper who appears in our garden on and off, much to our cats’ annoyance. I've found that going into the garden and shouting at it makes it scraper really quickly.

Seriously, OP, that’s a tough phobia to deal with, with cats being all over the place throughout the year. My phobia is wasps, thankfully they’re only around for 3 months or so.

Water won’t deter some cats. Mine love water, if you squirted them with a water pistol they’d keep coming back for more.
For areas I don’t want the cats in, orange oil or orange peel works well.

Oh thank God, someone else like me!! They terrify the living daylights out of me!!

There is a herb called Rue which cats absolutely hate. You can buy it quite easily (it’s even available from Amazon!) and it’s not expensive. Plant some in your garden and if that doesn’t deter the cat, break off a few leaves and rub them on your windowsill and anywhere else the cat sits. Probably a good idea to wear gloves in case of a skin reaction. That should see it off without harming it!

Call a veterinary practice and ask for humane advice.

Not sure if this has already been suggested but i get you OP, I also have an extreme phobia of cats. When I moved to my current house a neighbours cat used to sit on my window sill. I bought some cat repellent from amazon ( non harmful ) and sprayed the windowsil , and all around and it worked cat stayed away . From memory I needed to re spray every 5 or 6 weeks. But they moved a few years ago , so not needed it at all . [ i take it on holiday with me though, just in case !]

We had a problem a couple of years ago when a couple of local cats decided our front patch of grass made the best litter tray in the road. DH bought a couple of ultrasonic cat carers. It took a couple of weeks twiddling with the frequencies, but once it was sorted, the cats use someone else's garden. amzn.eu/d/0bCAOoAD

One other thing. A new neighbour moved in with 2 labs, and cats started avoiding our back garden. We now have to put down rat poison. Much prefer cats in the back.

Don't spray fairy liquid at the cat. Incidentally I've sprayed plain water at a cat from near my house, because he's a fighter and I have a female cat. Neutered female. She's a chicken! He still passes through my garden.

I love cats so can't understand your phobia.

Cats hate citrus I'm led to believe. Put some lemon peelings on the window sill.

Rattle silver foil or plastic bags, they don't like it.

Don’t do this.

Can you try desensitising therapy?

CBT is the best treatment for phobia-nor hypnotherapy, Although its a scary thought, it's actually quite straightforward and it would free you from worry in your day to day life. I see cats every day and can't imagine how hard it would be to be scared so often.

Categorically do not do this! You could make the cat really ill. If I found out someone has done this to my cat for the heinous crime of basically existing, there would be hell to pay 😡

OK so from what you've said I really don't like you, so would it be OK for me to squirt washing up liquid onto you and make you lick it off?

They know when people don't like them and will often approach that specific person. Cats go where they like, they don't care wether you like it or not. Not all cats will react to squirting, my cat and would carry along her merry way. All you can do is ignore it and maybe it will give up. Or you man up, face your fears, go give it a cuddle, cure your phobia, congratulations you've got a cat!

When I come into your garden uninvited you can squirt me from head to toe. I probably won’t lick it off though.
People are not talking about neat fairy liquid. They were probably talking about 2mls in half a litre of water. This wouldn’t do me or your cat any harm. It will just be a nasty taste when licked off. Unlike the nasty things that the uninvited cats do to the birds.

Your phobia must really limit your life. Seek out a good therapist. Try again. Cats do seem to be drawn to,people who dislike them, as pps have said.

Several years' ago, I moved into a house with a very large garden, but I had a problem with seemingly all the neighbourhood cats using it as their toilet. I had a small child, and her small friends visited often. I tried all sorts of remedies and deterrents to stop the cats unsavoury visitations. I tried the pistol and hose which was quite good but the best deterrent was throwing soft tomatoes at them when there was a glut. They really disliked that. I don't know if it was the noise or the smell, or perhaps they got splashed sometimes, but it worked really well. They would creep along the top of the walls avoiding jumping to the ground and look very paranoid. It only took about a year! But they remembered, and didn't come back. Btw, I personally don't mind them, and have owned them occasionally.

You are mental. It’s a cat. Ignore it.

hope it takes a massive crap in your garden.

Nice .

(not)

Do you know what a phobia is .
I bet your next advice will be "Why don;t you get your own cat/s to keep it away ?"

CherryKerry Not to mention the suffering of it goes into their eyes 🥲

Being afraid of something is debilitating, I know. I was petrified of snakes for years, I couldn't look at a picture of one without freaking out. Even seeing the word made me feel uncomfortable. And then a friend, who was a hypnotherapist, reluctantly agreed to 'treat' me - he was convinced that I wouldn't take it seriously and would laugh. It took all of ten minutes and at the end he asked how much on a scale of 1-10 I was afraid of snakes. I couldn't answer because I had NO feelings about them.

Twenty years on I've seen them in real life, been close to them, touched them and have very little fear. So it's worth getting some treatment. I was unlikely to see snakes very often, but cats are everywhere. You deserve to have a life where you don't experience these daft fears, please get help. You could start by watching the cat from a safe place, telling yourself how nice it is, until you're comfortable doing that, and gradually getting nearer and nearer. Then go in the garden when it's a distance away. This is exposure therapy and is what DD did for her fear of spiders with a therapist. It took a while but did work. Good luck!

So many grown women are scared of spiders, and they are not all belittled or told they need to get therapy or "man up and go give one a cuddle". OP doesn't need "fixing" any more than every single person who is scared of spiders. A cat phobia makes so much more sense than a spider phobia anyway as they're bigger and have claws and teeth. I don't know why some posters are being so rude to you OP.

Very reasonable to just not want them in your garden, and hopefully you have enough decent ideas on here (alongside the jibes) to be able to sort that.