To put spikes on my fence!

[IgnoranceNotOk]

Next door’s cat is driving us mad. It’s using our garden constantly as it’s toilet!

We’ve tried chasing it away, when we see it. And I’ve got a spray bottle of citronella and white vinegar I’ve been spraying around the garden (and would love to spray the cat!).

So I’ve seen little plastic strips of spikes you can put on the top of the fence (it’s our fence) and I was wondering what others think about putting them up? I know it’ll look horrible but hopefully it won’t be forever and will put the cat off and then it’ll get in the habit of going somewhere else.

AIBU?

No I wouldn't.

Keep trying to spray the bloody cat, the spikes might hurt the foxes as well.

Those little spikes really don’t stop cats climbing over fences. They will generally stop them walking along the tops of fences or sitting on them but I’ve yet to encounter a cat that won’t just climb over them. I don’t think the plastic spikes do any harm to animals but they are a bit of a waste of money for most cats.

Our neighbours tried spikes, then chicken wire. The cats and foxes still managed to get over them.

We have had them on our fences to try and stop cats. They don't work!

Cat will find another way around. Can you put a load of bamboo sticks poking up out of its favourite places to go?

Leave tho poo where it is and sprinkle pepper over it. Reapply after rain

Thanks all - thought I’d be crucified on here for hating animals! I just don’t want loads of poo in the garden and the kids will be playing out there again soon so I need to sort it.

Thanks for all the advice so far!
I’ll try pepper definitely and will order some bamboo poles - although I feel like I’d need hundreds!

We have the little spikes. We’ve painted them the same colour as the fence which makes them look a lot better.

The cats just crawl under the gate instead…

However if all other routes are blocked off it might be effective. It’s never going to be 100% cat proof but I think the aim is to make it as inconvenient for them as possible so they prefer other gardens.

What about high pitch frequency sounds bars you can get? Not sure of the actual name. I would get them but have young children who hearing can hear them unfortunately.

https://www.primrose.co.uk/set-of-2-battery-operated-cat-repellers-v2-with-hyperresonance-frequencytm-by-pestbyer?source=google&medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe52g17l5f1aTQxdhI4q_pwW6Hgh4UTRRfrJg8j5iWPHHTxIpT6ZkcaEaAttmEALw_wcB

This worked for us

Sprinkle cayenne pepper around. It does the trick.

DH is doing exactly this, this morning. We’ve tried the high pitched repellents but they don’t work, so this is our last resort and they do seem to work for our neighbours.

We’ve seen the cats walk along the fence with 2 feet on the top and 2 on the little ledge below it, so we bought a couple of strips to see what would happen. They don’t like it and jump down from the fence, so hopefully if it’s all round they won’t come on the fence in the first place.

Sympathy OP, I bloody hate cats in my garden.

Same they are perfect !

If only cayenne pepper worked! We have 6 cats living next door. They have totally ruined my garden, I used to grow strawberries, lettuce, spinach, Rhubarb, peas and potatoes. Now I only have fruit trees. No six cats each pooping once a day is 42 poops a week I have to pick up. It's totally unfair to people and to wildlife to let cats out to ruin others enjoyment of their garden. I fully support the cat rescue centres who are campaigning for cats to be kept indoors and will only re-home if this is agreed.

Please don’t use cayenne pepper. It’s a cruel thing to do to an animal. Imagine getting that in your eyes or up your nose.

Thanks all for the reassurance. Neighbours are already awkward and we’ve put up with smoking right outside DS’s bedroom in the summer so we don’t have his windows open, weed smoking out the front and they moaned when DH shooed their cat away before because it was trying to get into our house; I wish I’d let it and then it might not be pooing in our garden constantly!

It has made us want to move in a few years when we can afford to even though we live in a lovely area and all the other neighbours are great.

When we’re not at work we can chase it away and managed twice this weekend to do that and yesterday it went in neighbour’s garden the other side of us so they’ll be pleased!

I’ve had cats and dogs but we always had a litter tray indoors and rhey would bury it rather than poo like a dog leaving it there!

If you do spray the cat, don't spray it with your citronella mix - spray it with plain water.

Try some lion poo. You can buy it on Amazon. I think it's called something like Silent Roar. Has a picture of a lion 🦁 on the box.

The idea is that smaller cats are deterred by the perceived presence of something larger that might eat them.

PestBye® Jet Spray Battery Operated Motion Activated Cat Scarer & Repellent - Animal Repeller Link
These are brilliant. A few days of this attached to a hose then turn off the hose but leave it in place and they will still not want to enter the garden. I moved it round the garden always pointing towards where they entered the garden.
I used with the sonic ones at the same time and now just use the sonic ones. I bring the water one out in the spring when I'm planting up the garden.

Spikes won’t stop the cat getting into your garden.

A motion activated sprinkler would be the best deterrent.

In my previous house, I had a gravelled front garden which was a giant litter tray. As PP suggested, I got a sonic repeller and it worked like magic!

I agree with Anaconda the plastic spikes don't work, I tried them. The water is effective, they only get a sprinkling of water once and then they don't come back. Cats walk along the fence of my garden never entering.

I remember watching a programme with an ex-burglar talking about effective methods of prevention (bear with me), who recommended trellis on top of garden fences. In his situation it was because you couldn't easily jump over the fence from garden to garden, but I think it would also be hard for cats to navigate because it's flimsy. They don't like anything that might not bear their weight. Might be less provocative to your neighbours than spikes? Just a thought.