To spike my garden

[CuntingToms]

Because of cats (I am a cat owner myself)

Name changed because combined with my other posts, info about problem neighbour could be outing..

Honest to god it’s really starting to get me down now.

My neighbour won’t neuter his cats, I dread to think how many are inside, the female is on heat every few months and the street is absolutely overrun with entire Tom cats now and they are really giving me the fucking rage.

It wasn’t too bad at first when it was just the one Tom, they are breeding and there’s now at least six entire toms I see (and hear) regularly!

A huge tray of violas binned after they constantly dug them up and left crap all over the top of them, a dead hebe from spraying it, dead herbs from spraying, sometimes I come downstairs and my whole downstairs heaves of cat urine where they have sprayed the front door.
Pooing on top of clumps of flowers, I’ve just seen one of them has pooed on top of yet more of my flowers and then scratched the shit out of the surrounding plants shredding them and no, they weren’t trying to hide the poo.
It’s sat right there in the middle as a clear territory marker 😡😡😡

I deliberately left patches of bare earth all over my garden specifically so the cats could toilet away from my flowers!!

My garden is their favourite haunt and I’m starting to feel like giving up trying to make it nice as they are just ruining it.

Am I allowed to put varying heights of cocktail stick/bamboo skewer all amongst my plants or am I going to be punished if one of the bastards lands on one and injures itself?

I can’t really cat proof it’s my front garden so ‘open’ massive fences and cat mesh will look really odd
😖

I’d be very pissed off too. I took leaves off holly bushes and spread them around it was a deterrent - not massively but a definite improvement

I wonder if RSPCA or Cats Protection League could help? Might be seen as neglect if he's just allowing them to breed like that, are they all fed and well looked after or do they look like strays?

I wonder if RSPCA or Cats Protection League could help? Might be seen as neglect if he's just allowing them to breed like that, are they all fed and well looked after or do they look like strays?

I’m 99.9% sure each and every cat belongs to the same person...
Two of them definately do do I worry that if I report neighbour will know it’s me that has reported them.

They look in alright condition yes.

Do you think the cats are neglected in any way? Is it worth talking to someone like the RSPCA to see if there's anything they can do in terms of talking to him about the increasing number of cats? It sounds like they are becoming a health hazard and they might be able to force him to have them spayed or remove them if there are signs of neglect.

Ah, sorry cross posted. It could still be worth a quick call without leaving your details and ask if they could come and take a look as you're concerned about the numbers of them?

Lion poo from a zoo? As in territorial marking by a bigger predator and you get to place it where you want (in a cut down milk bottle partially buried?)

Do you think the cats are neglected in any way? Is it worth talking to someone like the RSPCA to see if there's anything they can do in terms of talking to him about the increasing number of cats? It sounds like they are becoming a health hazard and they might be able to force him to have them spayed or remove them if there are signs of neglect

Well, I think allowing a female to have litter after litter after litter is certainly neglectful, as is keeping large numbers of entire toms who not only trash my garden but spend a lot of their time yowling and intimating each other and mating the female.
I was woken just this morning by yowling, two toms surrounding the female presumably arguing over who mates her first.

But because they look in okay condition I’m not convinced the rspca or anyone would do anything and as they aren’t collared and probably not microchipped how could you prove who they belong to?

If the rspca specifically approached the neighbour, he’d know someone nearby who knew him and knew about the cats reported him, I don’t want neighbour tension on top.

I just want a way to keep these bloody animals out of my garden that I won’t get in trouble for.

I was happy to co exist at first as I have a cat myself and did put areas of bare soil around trying to be kind so they would use that and I could still have a lovely garden but they are just taking the absolute piss!!
Literally!!

I once watched one spray against a plant, I then observed maybe 4 more cats afterwards smelling then spraying over the last cats spray.
I was absolutely fucking incensed!
The plant died of course

Am I allowed to put varying heights of cocktail stick/bamboo skewer all amongst my plants or am I going to be punished if one of the bastards lands on one and injures itself?

I use sticks not skewers to deter grey squirrels and foxes. Plus other people I know use stems of roses bushes and chilli. Cats are cleverer so they should avoid those areas. Well two of my neighbours' cats did who just wanted to lie on my lawn. One would then chase the grey squirrels away.

Oh god I feel your pain, we have a similar problem and it’s terrible, my fences are being trashed from being scrambled up, there’s crap everywhere and every time I look out of the window there’s a cat sitting on the shed/fence/gate looking in.

I don’t think you can use cocktail sticks, you need to find something that should be there, shallow trays of water, things of varying sizes that are easily knocked over and noisy can work, I put some tin trays propped on sticks by my back gate which fell when they jumped down and it stopped them crapping there. Tin cans on a string?

I understand your frustration OP, but please don't put cocktail sticks etc down, that's horrible.

Do they come in to your garden while you're there? If so, the garden hose could be of assistance! A good squirt should sort them out, might take a few repetitions but I just couldn't bring myself to do something that could physically hurt them.

I would behave as though they are feral, since it's unlikely they are chipped.

You can work with one of the cats protection charities to get traps down in your garden and catch-neuter-release.

I know someone who rescues pregnant queens, but if he spots an entire male nearby, he has no qualms about kidnapping it and having it neutered before returning it.

They do but I can’t keep watch 24/7.
I threw a pan of water at one of the toms when I saw it shitting in my flowers two days ago.
I’ve seen it multiple times again 😡
They don’t seem deterred.

I’m thinking of buying lots of this:

www.amazon.co.uk/Mrinb-Deterrent-Anti-Cats-Network-Protective/dp/B082CZWBX4/ref=asc_df_B082CZWBX4/?hvlocphy=1006933&hvlocphy=1006933&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvnetw=g&hvadid=427881625368&hvadid=427881625368&language=en_GB&hvpone&hvpone&hvlocint&hvlocint&ref&hvpos&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-906611337283&hvtargid=pla-906611337283&hvrand=4230207233744342149&hvrand=4230207233744342149&adgrpid=99265833763

Says it’s humane 🤷‍♀️

Defiantly cats protection RSPCA useless or ant one near you who has anything to do with cats it isn't right to have so many tom cats they will come and talk to him or they will put traps down for them

We had a neighbout who had muliple cats and the males wouls spray our patio doors, made me heave. I was told to wash it all down with bleach water, then once dry, sprinkle cracked black pepper all around the patio doors, if it rained I had to re peppper. Shocked to say but it actually worked. I bought a massive catering container of black pepper from Costco so I could do it often.

My husband put down chilli flakes in his parent's garden in the places where the neighbour's cats would use. It worked. A friend tried citrus peel as apparently cats don't like the scent of citrus.

I have just read online to put some cinnamon down, I guess it works the same as the black pepper - might be worth a try in the short term?

I used an sonic cat repeller when I had lots of cats using my front garden as a toilet. It did seem to work as the problem stopped. If your cat uses the garden a lot though it may not be much good unless you kept turning it on and off...

The cocktail stick idea is awful, don't injure the cats. Could you speak with your neighbour about this.If you only have proof that 2 cats belong to him that's hardly unreasonable. I think communication with the neighbour is the only way forward, if you go for the cocktail stick option you could face cruelty charges.

I had the same issue with sunflowers, they'd just begun to sprout and a cat dug up half of them. Luckily, one of the limbs on my monkey puzzle had been brought down by a storm so those, arranged in a grid pattern slightly too small for the cat to comfortably squat between completely deterred it and still left enough space for the sunflowers to sprout. Once they were knee high, I removed the monkey puzzle pieces and the cat hasn't disturbed them since.

99% works for us just buy some lemon scented detergent - dilute it then spray the garden with it every 2-3 days. We had a horrendous problem too but now no cats in the garden and we spray once a week.

I threw a pan of water at one of the toms when I saw it shitting in my flowers two days ago. I’ve seen it multiple times again

You need to be persistent with the water, the bigger the soaking the better. Had a stray who used to visit my garden would continually spray my property and attack my cats.
Kept a jug of water by door, as soon as I saw him, soaked him every single time....took about 6-8 drenchings before he moved on.

I would buy the deterrent from amazon, but probably after trying the chilli and the pepper.

Hopefully you use something that won’t harm the cats, it’s not their fault is it? Frustrating for you yes but don’t harm them.

Is your cat an outdoor cat?