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?

Unlikely. It's never happened in the three years I've been doing it and they're not strong enough to impale anything. They snap easily but could scratch and be uncomfortable.

Plus, isn't it the responsibility of the cat owner to ensure their cat is safe and not mine? Nothing stopping me putting all sorts of legal but toxic to animals substances and plants down in my own private space if I wanted.

Plus, as the nesting blackbirds in my hedge would attest to, cat owners have very little regard for other animals, so why should I care about their cats that are wrecking my garden?

Did the neighbours say anything? I feel like mine would kick off about this and they’re not inconspicuous.

Ah ok! What did you use? I looked up the cat proof fencing but I’m trying to keep it cheap as already resenting spending out on this.
I could do with it pointing over their garden but that wouldn’t go down well.

You have my sympathies OP, cat shit in your garden is vile! Happend to us a few times, drives me bonkers!

The best thing we used was a hosepipe connected to a sensor that sprays water at them. We also used the high pitched things but they hurt Ds2's ears (teenager) as he could hear them.

Even if they don't get hit with the water from the hose the noise is enough to startle them. Lots of videos on youtube showing them in action. We occasionally need to put it on again when new cats start showing up in the garden. We have cameras which they trigger so we can see them.

You can’t use cat proof fencing - it has to hang over their garden in order to work. The cat will just walk over it and end up trapped in your garden 😂.

What you need is this…….

oscillot.uk/

That's something the outdoor cat owners should be installing in their own garden - for safety of the cat and wildlife (and neighbours). I've seen it before (woman with outdoor heated cattery for a male cat) and the upper netting/fence was at an angle I think and very high.

You might find that a cat could still get in with that, then unable to get out again! It's also expensive to install.

Oh I like that!

Well at least he keeps your rat and mouse problem at bay.

That's just stupid and dangerous. You could injure a person or animal that way. The metal spikes will rust also.

Not sure how much of a myth this is, but I'd love it to be true! Longleat Wildlife Park used to sell it, but I think they now suggest it doesn't work.

It’s been kicking off in our local fb group as a couple of cats have appeared to have been poisoned when taken to the vets. I hadn’t realised til they were all arguing that people didn’t have litter trays inside their homes, so it’s of no surprise that that cats are going in people’s gardens. I thought the cats were just doing it when they were out, not that they had no option but to shit outside.

Bloody hell. You've created an ecological wasteland. Jeyes fluid is very toxic btw.

Get a tiger :). Short of that, you have no chance.

This. An extremely cat aggressive fast hunting dog works well for us. Any cat entering our garden when the dog’s out is likely to have a bad day. Fortunately, they’re intelligent enough to give our garden a wide berth.

I know it’s not ideal but the garden was smothered in cat shit daily and we tried everything else first (water spray, pepper, gel deterrent granules, an electronic deterrent etc etc) the dc literally couldn’t play outside and in summer the smell was foul. It’s only on paving areas and not the grass and we haven’t done it in a while as haven’t had any issues for a bit. We literally had no choice

That was the only thing that worked for us too.

We were trying to keep a cat in the garden instead of out but it does seem to work a bit better but depends on whether you have gates cos that's where he gets through. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235089511965?var=535065037318&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5339019731&toolid=10001&customid=eb%3Ag%3Avms%3Aeb%3Ap%3A235089511965-535065037318%3BCj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe50fb_ID-NXgaVJaiA_DDSt9fdmyKJpKb_wXKhYWH8xEkAqbd_3FsWwaAsOKEALw_wcB&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1Fvbc4iVVR9iqCnLN2OIhdg24&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe50fb_ID-NXgaVJaiA_DDSt9fdmyKJpKb_wXKhYWH8xEkAqbd_3FsWwaAsOKEALw_wcB

I've got them to stop next doors kids climbing my fence to help themselves to their footballs (endlessly kicked over in summer). They've stopped the kids climbing but my cat and neighbouring cats still merrily tootle along the top.

@IgnoranceNotOk no, they would have got a negative response even if the had.

@hannahre they've been there years and still going strong. Don't want to cut your hands to ribbons? Don't try climbing on my fence then.

I put them on the top of my fence to stop my cat going into next door's garden.

I love my little monster, I don't expect everyone else to.

Stop your cat shitting in their gardens then.

Get a dog. I fucking hate cats that shit in my garden. It’s disgusting. I’d love to see how the cat owners would feel if I let my dog shit in their gardens for them to clean up.

Thankfully some random cat took one look at my dog and never came back.

We saved ice lolly sticks and stuck them in the ground where the cats kept digging along with any twigs we could find around the garden so they hadn't got the space to sit their bums down and shit. It worked a treat !

Jesus Christ. Why didn't you contact a rescue centre FFS? I can't believe you'd rip their shelter down leaving tiny kittens motherless. Have you no compassion at all? And then you put a toxic chemical down on top. Fucking disgusting.